A Breakdown Of The Key Moments From ‘The Boys’ Season 4, Episode 7

My main complaint in Episode 6 and a few episodes before that is that it feels like The Boys is trying to get a meme trending rather than focusing on substance. It has forgotten the reason this series compelled us in the first place was that it’s a good, alternative superhero story. Luckily, Season 4, Episode 7, “The Insider,” the penultimate chapter, shows some promise that the fourth season will end on good terms.

I’ve broken down and analyzed the key moments from Episode 7.

Frenchie and Kimiko struggle with their past before one of them has to lose a leg

Kimiko and Frenchie both regret their past actions in ‘The Boys’ Season 4 (Credit – Prime Video)

Luckily, Frenchie and Kimiko have each other. If they didn’t, they’d struggle to be able to function. In Season 4, both characters wrestle with their pasts, for which they have a lot of regret. Frenchie expresses how he’s ashamed of his past, and Kimiko reciprocates her regrets, too; she explains that after she murdered a girl in the human trafficking cell, she has not been able to speak since.

But most of their therapy session happens while they monitor Samir, who is making a new form of virus for the intended use to kill Homelander. Samir, however, has other ideas and stabs Kimiko in the leg with a needle as he senses that they’ll use the virus on Victoria Neuman, too. Frenchie has no choice but to cut her leg off to stop the spread of the virus and return it to The Boys. They’ve established they can create a virus, but can they just use it on Homelander? That’s where most of the doubt comes from.

Mother’s Milk has to make a decision — family or save the world

Okay, so Mother’s Milk feels too much stress trying to save the world, leading to his panic attack in the last episode. And so he’s taken it extremely the other way, and he is debating dropping from The Boys for good. However, when he’s in the process of making that decision, A-Train confronts him. He doesn’t want Mother’s Milk to stop fighting, especially now he’s inspired to be a genuine hero again.

But I agree with Mother’s Milk’s sentiments in Episode 7; it never ends. And it does feel like the problem with the world of Supes will be a vicious cycle. You can’t blame him for considering leaving, even if he eventually does stay in the episode.

Butcher, Hughie, and Annie uncover a final plan to kill Bob Singer

Hughie (L) and Annie (R) (Credit – Prime Video)

After realizing he’s hallucinating Joe Kessler and his wife, Butcher comes clean to The Boys and tells them that he has Samir, which is why Kimiko ended up having her leg chopped off, as he sends Frenchie and her to supervise him making a new virus.

The Boys also find sinister plans for January 6th (yes, they are clearly using the date on purpose) for Vought and co. to kill Singer when he does a rally. Once they find the plans, Butcher, Hughie, and Annie end up fighting a Supe shapeshifter, who manages to escape them.

This series is becoming repetitive. The Boys find bits of information but do little with it in nearly every episode. It’s almost like Sister Sage is playing with the audience, too.

The Deep organizes an unexpected attack on Annie and Butcher, which exposes A-Train as the leak

A-Train is strengthening his redemption arc in ‘The Boys’ Season 4, Episode 7 (Credit – Prime Video)

It didn’t even feel like The Deep was listening to Homelander, but it turns out that he was ordered to attack The Boys, and so he does. He comes with the fake Black Noir. Unfortunately, A-Train arrives to help The Boys, exposing himself as the leak.

Afterward, A-Train visits Ashley and tries to convince her to leave Vought with him, but she cannot do it. She does give him advice—cut the chip out of him so Vought cannot track him.

I felt sorry for Ashley at this moment. She knows how fragile she is as a human being, so she fears ever leaving. She knows that as soon as she leaves, Homelander can kill her instantly. This is almost metaphoric for those trapped in corporate organizations, who are scared of losing their salary and never leave.

But back to the leak: Homelander is tired of Sister Sage in Episode 7 because she has gotten no closer to the leak. So, he gets her off the mission and, instead, teams up with Firecracker. They first accuse Webweaver of being the leak, and he falsely confesses. Homelander senses he’s lying, so he kills him senselessly by ripping his body apart.

When Homelander figures out it is A-Train behind the leaks, Sister Sage reveals she knew it was him and was leaking misinformation to keep The Boys off their scent. However, Homelander is not convinced and kicks her out of the Seven.

Sage wishes him the best without her, and I have to agree. How is kicking out the world’s smartest person smart? And Firecracker is hardly a replacement for the brains Sister Sage has. As usual, Homelander’s pride is his downfall.

Ryan does not follow the script

Centering Episode 7 is the “Avenue V Christmas Special” on the Vought Kids Channel. Muppet A-Train and Ryan are hosting. They talk about the dangers of Antifa and criminals and encourage children to report their parents for certain ideologies.

However, Ryan is not happy with the script, and when they are live, he tells his audience that he does not like what he is being forced to say. He reminds the audience that “family is not your enemy” and states he thinks about his mother a lot.

This is another win for Butcher, who fears Ryan becoming the next Homelander. There’s nothing to suggest in Episode 7 that Homelander has the upper hand on who Ryan becomes. Ironically, if Homelander trusted in being a parent and trusted Sage as his right hand, his life would be much easier. But villains can be dumb sometimes. Homelander is becoming a dumb villain.

The ending of The Boys Season 4, Episode 7 shows Hughie duped by a fake Starlight

Unfortunately for Hughie, he was not actually sleeping with Annie while she was wearing her Starlight costume – Starlight pictured from ‘The Boys’ (Credit – Prime Video)

Poor Hughie. He finally manages to get Starlight to put on her costume to have sex in, and it turns out he’s sleeping with a shapeshifter. After they have sex, the shapeshifter steals a laptop in their apartment. Earlier in the episode, Annie is confronted by a fan who asks for a photo. Turns out, it wasn’t a fan, but a shapeshifter wanting to take her genetics so she can transform into her.

Annie is imprisoned somewhere in an unknown location. Oh, and Butcher collapses on the floor at a random bar at the end, too. It’s not looking good for The Boys.

Vought Files #7

Here are more noteworthy plot points that will surely tie into future episodes:

• Annie’s mother is disappointed that Annie got an abortion. Starlight did not want to bring a baby into an ending world.
• Butcher sends Ryan a photo of his mother, him, and the dog with the message, “Don’t be a cunt.” This is what Ryan inspired him to go off script in the “Avenue V Christmas Special.”
• Octopus Ambrosius confronts The Deep about his relationship with Sister Sage, and they argue about it. He breaks her tank, which makes her suffocate and die.
• Hughie visits Victoria Neuman and tells her to stop her plans with Homelander.

Read More: Everything that Happened in ‘The Boys’ Season 4 Finale