The latest episode of The Boys keeps me hooked with a low key episode filled with fantastic story payoffs that will have me theorizing for next week’s finale! The Boys S3E7, “Here Comes A Candle To Light You To Bed” switches gears completely from last week’s over the top “Herogasm” episode. Episode 7 is a slightly more subdued, but is every bit as entertaining and perhaps even more interesting than the more bombastic episodes.
A Dynamic Duo
Sarah Boyd returns as director after directing “The Bloody Doors Off,” the sixth episode of the second season. Boyd is an extremely experienced TV director with turns directing episodes of numerous television shows like Law & Order, Lost In Space, Agents Of Shield, Fear The Walking Dead, and many more. Her lengthy experience with moderate action and humorous series was a great asset to this more toned down episode of The Boys.
Paul Grellong is the writer for this episode and he also has a ton of experience writing for television. His credits include Scorpion, Revolution, Terra Nova, and Law & Order SVU. Revolution and Terra Nova are two very underrated television series that ended too soon.
Showrunner Erik Kripke smartly chose a fantastic writer -director combo to helm this episode. Their experience with toned down shows perfectly matches what was necessary for this more pensive episode with revelations and reveals. The switch also prevents us from becoming desensitized to the over the top moments the show is known for and the last episode was filled to the brim with nudity, violence and offensive content.
Take for example a scene where we find out A-Train is actually alive and has received a heart transplant from Blue Hawk, the racist man he murdered. Ashley Barrett (Colby Minifie) explains a doctored version of events while A-Train (Jessie T. Usher) sits stupefied by the situation he finds himself in. Jesse and Colby’s performances really feel reigned in by the director, and Jesse’s subdued expressions convey so much without feeling soap opera-y.
A Starr Is Born
Antony Starr continues to amaze with an absolutely stellar performance as the villainous hero Homelander. In one of my favorite scenes this episode, Homelander appears at a rally for a presidential candidate and does a spot on job recreating an unhinged, Trump-style rant about Starlight. Every episode he fully embodies the character and his continuous descent into madness. I don’t feel like I’m watching an actor, I feel like he actually is Homelander. There’s been a chorus of reviewers saying that Starr deserves an Emmy for this portrayal, such as this article on Forbes.
Backstory Galore
Soldier Boy, Hughie, and Butcher hunt a former teammate of Soldier Boy named Mindstorm, during a confrontation with him Butcher is sent into a coma like state where he relives his worst memories. During this coma-like state we learn more about Butcher’s terrible youth with an abusive father and about the death of his younger brother. Most of the season has been spent alienating us from Karl Urban’s Butcher, but this episode brings back a lot of compassion for the character as we see what made him the jaded, violent man he is.
The episode ends with Soldier Boy talking to Homelander on the phone and we get the startling revelation that Homelander is actually Soldier Boy’s son. Going into the final episode of the season, this leaves so much uncertain and so much to ponder. Will Soldier Boy betray Hughie and Butcher? Will Homelander embrace the father he always wished he had?
Being Animated
The mysterious Black Noir (Nathan Mitchell) became a character I have newfound empathy for after we learn a lot about his past with Soldier Boy. Black Noir gets some really interesting Who Framed Roger Rabbit style scenes where the live action Black Noir interacts with animated characters that tell us his story while comforting him. Soldier Boy is terribly cruel and abusive to everyone around him, beating and belittling Black Noir. It was a very creative and unique way to explore the back story of a character that doesn’t speak.
This sympathetic take on Black Noir is incredibly ironic given that Black Noir is monstrous in the comics and is a clone of Homelander responsible for most of the terrible things Homelander is blamed for. Just to give an example of how awful Black Noir is in the comics, he ATE children. I could go into dozens of examples, but that one pretty much says it all.
The Boys S3E7 impresses
The Boys continues to knock it out of the park with fantastic episode after fantastic episode, it is rare that I have nothing to complain about with a show or movie, but I struggle to find issues with this series. It’s constantly making me laugh, intrigued, and shocked. This is the perfect television show for this superhero saturated era and sets a standard in satirizing comics and the real world, that few shows will be able to live up to.
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