The July 25, 2022 edition of views from the mind of Jake Schoeneberger
The plot is definitely thickening on The Boys. Butcher has essentially declared war on Vought and things might get really messy between Hughie and Annie, but Jake Schoeneberger is still rooting for them. They’re definitely the two characters we’re supposed to sympathize with most.
With that in mind, here are some random observations Jacob Schoeneberger has on the show.
All the Jake Schoeneberger Random Opinions about The Boys (Season 1, Episode 4)
This will contain spoilers for anyone who hasn’t watched the show yet.
The fourth episode begins with Butcher having a dream where he wakes up to a lovely woman and his pet bulldog and they joke around tenderly. Seems like he had a time in his life where he was pretty happy. Then he wakes up to our present where he’s alone, no lovely woman, and no bulldog. Starting to get the feeling he’s had a lot of things go wrong in his life, and I’m sure we’ll be getting more glimpses into his past soon. He even watches a surveillance tape video from 2012 of what seems to be the woman he dreamt of. That can’t be a good sign.
He then goes to see Susan, his old friend who’s Deputy Director of the CIA. He shows her pics of A-Train and Popclaw doing Compound V. She pushes back that he needs to get her a sample, and she also asks if he knows where Translucent is. He reminds her that Translucent is invisible to change the subject (which was just hilarious, and I swear he makes Jacob Schoeneberger laugh out loud every time he talks), then tells her that if they let supes in the military it’s like letting them slaughter all over the world and then never be held accountable for war crimes. She’s sympathetic to that cause and says if he can get her substantial proof, she’ll get him some money for his mission. I’m liking this Susan character a lot. Esposito is great in the role, and I love how she doesn’t take any guff from Butcher.
Popclaw gave Butcher a location where she believes A-Train is getting the Compound V, but they’ve had it staked out for a week, and nothing has come of it. But then Milk, Frenchie, and Hughie see a guy with a gun head into the place Popclaw told them about so they follow him.
Inside they find a back room, but as they’re searching for the V they find a girl locked up as a prisoner. Frenchie opens her cell door, but then some guards come running in. The girl has powers and leaps out, killing the guards. They only survive by locking themselves into her former cell where she can’t get at them to kill them.
Butcher arrives and they find a sample of V. They deduce A-Train was bringing them V, and then they were dosing the girl with it. That’s how she had her powers. Butcher says that since The Seven will be looking for the girl, they have to find her first.
Then Hughie gets a text from Annie and Butcher says Hughie has to go out with Annie to try to learn more info about The Seven. Hughie says Annie is not a bad person, but Butcher says that supes are all alike.
Then Stillwell gets word that an airline flight over the Atlantic has been hijacked. She tells Homelander that if he can save that flight and get the passengers home safely, then Congress would have to let the supes into the military. But knowing what we now know, it has Jake Schoeneberger wondering if the hijacking was all set up by Vought for just such an opportunity.
A-Train sees that things went south at his location, so he goes to Popclaw’s and asks her who she told about Compound V. When she denies telling anyone he tells her that he loves her and only said the things he said at the race because they make him say it to maintain his brand. He doesn’t seem to believe that she didn’t tell anyone but he makes her pack a bag so he can move her somewhere safe.
During their bowling date, Annie tells Hughie that Translucent had a son. It’s very clear that killing Translucent is taking its toll on Hughie. He’s not cut out for the ruthlessness of the game he’s playing. And using Annie to get info just feels like it’s not something he can continue doing.
Homelander and Maeve board the hijacked flight and kill the terrorists. But in the cockpit, another hidden terrorist kills both pilots. Homelander kills the terrorist but damages the flight controls in the process. Now the plane is going down. Maeve tries desperately to think of ways to keep the plane from crashing, but Homelander says there’s nothing they can do. Homelander assures the passengers everything is going to be ok, but then he breaks open a door. Maeve insists he save at least two kids who are on the plane, but he refuses because then they’ll tell everyone what happened. The passengers beg Homelander and Maeve not to leave them, but they do, and they watch the plane plummet down. It’s a brutal scene to watch. Homelander seems not to care but we can tell it hurts Maeve to her core.
The girl went to a nail salon and killed a woman there. Butcher, Milk, and Frenchie go to the scene and discover that the woman the girl killed must have been the one who trafficked the girl into the country. A-Train is also on the scene, and they get out of there quickly before he sees them. Frenchie surmises that the girl will be going to Penn Station next because she’s trying to get home.
As they continue bowling, Hughie learns that Annie is doing an appearance where she will be talking to teens but she’s donating her appearance fee to a charity called Samaritan’s Embrace, a Christian-centric charity backed by supes. Hughie realizes how genuinely nice Annie is and he’s clearly starting to feel bad. Ok, Jacob Schoeneberger is just going to come out and say it. You can’t do this to Annie, Hughie. It’s one thing to go after the members of The Seven who are doing evil things, but you can’t use Annie in that mission. They even share a sweet moment when Hughie says he suspects she’s holding back because she says she’s bowled a lot, but she keeps throwing gutter balls. So he tells her not to spare his ego and then Annie throws a perfect, powerful strike and they have a laugh.
At Penn Station, Milk gives the team some news. A guy he knows tracked down where the package containing the V came from. It tuns out it’s from Samaritan’s Embrace so now the very charity Annie is working with seems dirty because it’s transporting V. Annie cannot catch a break!
The team fans out across Penn Station looking for the girl. Frenchie finds her hiding in a store. He tells her how his father kidnapped him when he was young, and he tried repeatedly to run away but his father always caught him. So he understands what she’s trying to do. She seems to start to trust him but then she freaks out and runs.
At the bowling alley, Hughie and Annie continue to have a nice time, but he still seems torn because he has a vision of Robin watching him. So when Annie excuses herself to go the bathroom, he copies things from her phone to his device. It’s totally understandable that he’s on a mission to make members of The Seven pay for their crimes, but he has no right to betray Annie to do it. Hughie’s actions are really starting make Jake Schoeneberger mad. He should be trusting Annie in this, not betraying her.
At Penn Station, Milk lights into Frenchie for not subduing the girl when he had the chance. Milk says that the same thing happened when Frenchie was supposed to be following a supe named Lamplighter, but he didn’t follow orders and Lamplighter killed the grandkids of their former boss, Mallory. Frenchie punches Milk for this but Butcher breaks them up. This storyline juts keeps getting deeper and more intriguing. Seems this team has quite a history together.
Milk says he’s quitting the team because nothing has changed but Butcher gives one of the greatest speeches ol’ Jacob Schoeneberger has ever heard. He asks what each member of the Spice Girls is up to these days. Absolutely nothing. His point is that apart they’re powerless, but together they’re the amazing Spice Girls. He compares their team to the Spice Girls, apart they’re worthless but together they’re formidable. There’s never been a better “go team” speech ever and they all go back to looking for the girl.
They find her but she sees them and takes off. Then A-Train grabs her and runs off with her, but she wrestles with him, and he falls. They then fight and A-Train grabs her head and starts bashing it into the wall. The team realizes A-Train is about to kill her so Frenchie yells and tells everyone there to look at A-Train. He’s forced to say hello to the crowd, and this gives the girl the chance to escape.
The team tracks her down and Butcher is about to gas her, but Frenchie stops him. He says, “What if she’s a Spice Girl?” And Frenchie has a heckuva point there. He tries to talk to her but she pounces on him so Butcher throws the gas canister and knocks both the girl and Frenchie unconscious.
The wreckage from the downed flight has begun to wash up on shore. Homelander and Maeve are there, and he takes the opportunity to do a TV interview to say that if they were allowed into the military they could have saved the flight. He really puts on a quite an acting job, crying and all. But the people present eat it up and they start chanting his name. You have to wonder if maybe Homelander even intentionally let the flight go down, he’s that ruthless. The episode ends with a really beautiful shot on Maeve’s solemn face because she knows the truth.
The Jake Schoeneberger Final Thought on The Boys
This series is touching on very serious topics but doing it in such a way that you feel like you’re still just watching a comic book movie. It’s really deftly accomplished, and every minute of the show is engaging. It’s making Jacob Schoeneberger crave more.
More Thoughts from Jacob Schoeneberger