The Boys Season 4 Episode 6 Recap (Spoilers)
Read our full spoilers recap for The Boys Season 4 Episode 6, "Dirty Business"
The Boys Season 4 is coming down the back half, and yet it feels like there's still a lot of story to tell, and a major thematic point to reach. Episode 6 put Butcher (Karl Urban) at the forefront, as the show delved deep into some truly "Dirty Business".
The Boys Season 4 Episode 6 Recap (SPOILERS)
Karl Urban as Butcher and Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Joe in "The Boys"
- Prime Video)Doctoring A Virus – Vice President-elect Victoria Neuman's (Claudia Doumit) scientist husband (baby daddy?) Dr. Sameer Shah (Omid Abtahi) wakes up in a safe house where he's being held by Butcher (Karl Urban) and his CIA buddy, Joe (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). Butcher coerces Sameer into making more of the supe-killing virus developed at Godolkin University (in the Gen V spinoff), showing off the rotting head of one of the super-lambs Neuman had Sameer enhancing with Compound V, to test the virus's ability to neutralize it. Sameer is still upset that Butcher amputated one of his legs, and chained him up; Joe tows the hardline that the scientist can either cooperate or get obliterated. The tough talk turns sour when Butcher has a coughing fit; he gives Sameer a week to develop a new virus, one strong enough to even take down Homelander. Butcher departs, warning Joe not to let Sameer fall asleep again. Joe looks eager to carry out the instruction.
Ashes to Manhattan, Dust to Dust – Hughie (Jack Quaid) and his mother Daphne (Rosemarie DeWitt) are leading their version of a funeral procession with The Boys team, by taking the ashes of Hughie's dad Hugh (Simon Pegg) to be distributed at various stops along the NYC tour of locations used in the 2002 J. Lo rom-com film, Maid in Manhattan. The two talk about what the future looks like for them, with Daphne promising she can be in the city at a moment's notice at any time, while Hughie swears he's doing fine and wants her to return to her life; they both joke about how they hate Maid in Manhattan. Daphne looks over the faces of The Boys team members, puzzled; she lands on Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) and asks what's up with her. Hughie tactlessly spills all the tea about how Frenchie (Tomer Capone) just turned himself in for a countless murder committed at the behest of a Russian mob boss, and how Kimiko is upset he didn't ask for her blessing first. Daphne is bewildered, asking, emphatically, WTF Hughie's friends are. The conversation gets tabled when a political agitator starts accosting Starlight (Erin Moriarty) about her abortion. Hughie gets angry and aggressive but Annie talks him down, with Daphne calling the protestor a POS. The tour guide urges that such moments aren't part of the tour, and urges the group to continue.
No Peace for Violent Minds – Kimiko goes to see Frenchie in jail but gets upset when a group that came in after her, gets called in for visitation. Kimiko storms the front desk pointing out the unfairness of getting skipped over; after giving her info to the clerk, she finds out that Frenchie is actively refusing any visitation. Over on Vought's news network, the new member of The Seven (and media darling) Firecracker (Valorie Curry) announces that she's taking over the news desk from Cameron Coleman (Matthew Edison), without spilling the tea that Homelander (Antony Starr) had The Seven and some Gen V allies beat Coleman to death as a first salvo in their war to conquer and control humanity. Firecracker's first segment about "Jewish space lasers" proves she will go the fake news sensationalism route. Meanwhile, Mother's Milk (Laz Alonso) is trying to mediate in The Boys HQ – only to get interrupted by a phone call from A-Train (Jessie T. Usher). A-Train is freaking out after Sister Sage (Susan Heyward) leaned on him with her suspicions that A-Train stole the footage that proved Starlight's followers didn't kill some Homelander extremist. He confesses the Cameron Coleman murder and claims he ran all the way to Canada to hide out and avoid being killed. M.M. Finishes the call and brings the issue to the rest of the team; together they discern that Sister Sage and Homelander are amassing an army of Supes. A-Train clocked Sage plotting with Tek Knight during the V52 Expo, and that is a seam they can creep through. M.M. introduces a plan to infiltrate a high society party Tek Knight is throwing that night, and they can get to their foes. Annie kicks herself but suggests that they need Butcher on this, but M.M. claims he's totally MIA. Annie asks Hughie if he should be in the field so soon after the trauma of losing his father, but Hugh claims he's managing it fine. Annie doesn't believe him but moves on.
The Webweaver – Hughie wants to know how The Boys sneak into an alt-right party, and M.M. has a suggestion: Web-Weaver. M.M. meets the degenerate Webweaver with a fresh dose of drugs – but refuses to apply the suppository himself – until he realizes it's necessary. M.M. gets the drugs into the butt, but has to see Webweaver's web hole in the process, and catches a wet-web in the face after a fart. Web-Weaver passes out again happily, while Hughie helps M.M. collect the gross Spider-Man knockoff for the mission.
[The Boys Title Logo Appears Over Webweaver's Butt]
Ain't No Party Like A Homelander Party – Homelander walks into a party at Tek Knight's old-money mansion with Ryan (Cameron Crovetti) at his side. Tek Knight (Derek Wilson) raises a toast to Homelander, calling him "The Big Man" and the crowd of business, government, and financial power-players all join in. Homelander waves off the adulation, claiming "We're all patriots here," and works the crowd, introducing Ryan, as some members of The Seven file in behind him. The Speaker of the House talks Ryan up, telling him he can't wait for his era of leading The Seven, and that he has big boots to fill following his father. Tek Knight approaches Homelander pitching a Batman/Superman team-up of the "two top heroes" but Homelander knocks that down, putting Tek Knight in his place as a "pathetic" hero with low-level powers of observation. Ashley (Colby Minifie) walks in dressed to kill, and Sister Sage (Susan Heyward) approaches her, asking why she hasn't gotten the memo that "idiot kids" are no longer welcome at the "adults table." Ashley smiles and says her invite came from her old friend Tek Knight and bypasses Sage entirely. Knight, Firecracker and A-Train talk, with Knight clarifying for Firecracker that his mansion comes from old money – slave-catcher old money, which makes A-Train eye-roll. Knight keeps going, saying how he's the modern-day version of the family business, catching criminals and locking them up only for them to get away, so he can lock them up all over again. He looks A-Train up and down saying how the speedster would've given his family a merry chase – but that they still would've caught him, in the end. A-Train eats his hours d'oeuvre and smiles, saying "Guess we'll never know."
Tek Knight and "Webweaver" in The Boys S4E6
- Prime Video)Smelly Spider-Man – Hughie steps out to reveal himself in Webweaver's costume, which makes all of The Boy's squad laugh. The team prepares to send Hughie undercover into Tek Knight's party, with M.M. reminding Hughie that Tek has super-senses – a caveat that makes Annie freak out a little. M.M. warns Hughie to disguise his voice, and Hughie assures Annie that he's ready. Annie goes to kiss him but Web Weaver's costume is indeed too "ripe." Hughie arrives at the mansion party in disguise and is welcomed with champagne. Hughie freaks a little when he spots Homelander and The Seven at the party, but M.M. begs him to just plant the surveillance bugs and get out. Hughie literally bumps into Victoria Neuman and is very flustered trying to talk to her; luckily, Neuman is more concerned with his smell than his voice and mannerisms and quickly moves on. Tek Knight approaches and thanks Webweaver for coming, and for considering some kind of offer to be a sidekick. Hughie changes the subject, acting like he's impressed with the mansion, and gets Tek Knight to take him on a tour.
New World Order Alert – Neuman huddles up with Sage and Homelander, with Sage making a vulgar comment about Neuman looking like she got sodomized with a hammer. Neuman responds that she doesn't want to be at a "CPAC nightmare" with a bunch of conservatives that hate her. Homelander puts Neuman in the loop about a secret cabal meeting after the party, where Homelander will unveil his plot to use the 25th Amendment to make Neuman a supe president – a radical escalation of the timeline Neuman isn't ready for. Homelander asks cooly if she wants to be "El Jefe" or not, and Neuman falls in line; Sage points out that in this room Neuman is "the virgin at prom" and instructs her to "go get finger-popped," by working the crowd of donors and powerful figures. Homelander pulls Neuman aside and asks if she knows about Stand Edgar getting out of prison, and feels her out on her involvement. Neuman plays it off, saying she's surprised Stan didn't escape sooner, and jabs Homelander by assuring him not to be afraid of Stan. They stare at each other smiling, in complete distrust.
Tek Tour – Hughie is led up a flight of stairs by Tek Knight, admiring artwork along the way. Tek takes him to a fancy library and invites him for a true treat: a tour of the Tek Cave. A bookshelf moves to reveal an elevator (just like the Tek Knight movies) and Hughie and Tek head down, as The Boys squad listens in concern – especially when Hughie's comms are blocked by the elevator. Tek leads Hughie into the Tek Cave, which turns out to be a torture/sex room covered in tile. The man who greeted Hughie at the door is revealed as Tek's butler Elijah (Tyrone Beskin) – the Alfred to his Batman – who is hosing down the floor in preparation. Tek gets angry at Elijah for missing a dirty spot in one cage; someone Tek identifies as his last sidekick is trapped in a red bodysuit, gagged and chained to the wall. Tek uses his super sight to observe "Webweaver's" rapid heartbeat, asking if he's agitated. Hughie plays it off, and Tek says he knows that his dungeon is "vanilla" for Webweaver's tastes, but that tonight they will push things to match his standards. Tek approaches seductively, while the former sidekick tries to protest.
The Leftovers - The Deep (Chace Crawford) enters The Seven's council room and finds the actor playing Black Noir II (Nathan Mitchell) unmasked and chugging a bottle of booze. Deep is scared they'll get in trouble, but Noir doesn't care, pointing out they've been left behind as the rest of the team goes to the party. Deep maintains that he's an important part of the team who does important stuff – but won't confirm what that is. Black Noir II angrily explains that he has no motivation for the character since all he found in Black Noir I's home was a collection of Buster Beaver drawings. Noir II reveals his going to Branson, Missouri where he booked a Cirque Du Soleil-style show based on the music of the Bee Gees, where they will let him use his actual superpower of flight. Deep is upset that Noir II didn't come to him, as he was friends with Noir I. He tells Noir II the story of how Noir I wiped out an entire Indonesian village once, and how "horny" Noir I got from killing. Deep shares that even though people laugh at him, when he beats them to death nobody laughs anymore – i.e., "violence is power." Noir II takes that info in, thoughtfully.
Mission Concerns – Annie is freaking out that they lost contact with Hughie, with M.M. trying to calm her. M.M. warns her against going in and blowing Hughie's cover; Annie points out that Homelander and The Seven are on site – the game has changed. Kimiko is down to back her up, and M.M. agrees, but only if they use the proper weaponry. Meanwhile, Butcher is throwing up in a sink at his safe house. Becca (Shantel VanSanten) appears to him, asking how Butcher was able to sever a man's leg so easily. Butcher states it's the only way forward to getting a Homelander – but Becca asks if he's still on the real mission (saving Ryan) or just out for vengeance. Butcher confesses that he's coming apart because he can't save the world and make her proud; Becca counters that even if his mission succeeds, killing Homelander will most likely inspire Ryan to become his successor. Back at Knight Mansion, Kimiko scales a wall to a high window that's been left open, dropping her gun on the way. She lets The Boys squad in a side door. Neuman is listening to the Speaker of the House mansplain his anti-abortion stance, while imaging using her powers to plow up her own head. She finds a waiter and orders a rapid-fire succession of tequila shots, before coming to Sage's side, feeling like her bid for government power is pointless. Sage tells a story about how her grandmother had leukemia and none of the white doctors made an effort since she was an ex-Black Panther. Using her intelligence powers Sage found a cure and presented it to the doctors – who laughed her off, while her grandma died in pain. She reveals that she could fix the entire world, but it is indeed pointless because humans are savages that would inevitably ruin it all over again. She confides in Neuman that she feels a kinship with her because they're both little girls who understand advancement through duplicity, shaking with one hand, and cutting throats with the other. Sage asks directly if Neuman is in on the alliance, and Neuman seems to agree to it. Firecracker doesn't like all the 'fancy food' at the party and thinks Homelander, Sage, and Neudman will agree. She ends up embarrassing herself and Sage bids her to go to the kitchen and find "Sunny D and Everclear." Firecracker walks off humiliated. Homelander wonders aloud where Tek Knight has gotten to.
Colby Minifie as Ashley in "The Boys" S4E6
- Prime Video)Give Them Cake – In the kitchen we see Elijah's hands lift a cake and then cut to him setting that cake down inside the Tek Cave. Tek tells "Webweaver" that the cake is his fetish favorite: triple-chocolate, to create the right texture on buttcheeks. Hughie gets increasingly concerned when Tek straps himself into a choke chain and hangs freely, bidding him to start. Hughie drops his pants and sits on the cake, squirming for Tek's sick pleasure; when Tek orders him to fart, Hughie struggles but gets the job done. Tek releases himself as Ashley enters, angry that they've started early, and goes to get changed. Tek gives Hughie a piece of sandpaper for what comes next and orders him to clean himself up.
No Choices – Joe walks in on Butcher sitting on the floor defeated, joking about pleasuring himself and getting serious about how hard it is breaking Sameer. Butcher says Sameer has no choice but to eventually break; Joe sits with Butcher and starts in about how no one has a choice. About how the hardest part of doing his last tour of military service was coming home and trying to do normal family-man stuff. The memory of all the torture he and Butcher did in the war haunted him in normal life. Then one night, over boneless buffalo wings, he realized he was a man who enjoyed hurting others. He asks Butcher who he really is. Back in Tek's dungeon, Ashley is tickling a bound-up Hughie's feet with a feather, before going full dominatrix, promising to sit on his face and pee (after eating asparagus), and other such painful perversions – ranging to cannibalism. Hughie begs her to stop, but Tek reminds Ashley that it's not the safe word, so she keeps going. The tickling continues as Hughie tries to call out the rendezvous word for rescue – not realizing the team can't hear him. Firecracker is composing herself in a bathroom and comes out to find Starlight creeping around. Annie still can't manifest her powers, and Firecracker threatens to call Homelander – or just beat Annie down herself. Annie gives a heartfelt apology to Firecracker – before shoving a needle in her neck and knocking her out. Ashley tickles Webweaver until she climaxes, making out passionately with Tek Knight, who is also very aroused. Ashley takes a break to recharge her fluids, wiping some of her orgasm on the face of Webweaver's mask. Left alone with Tek, Hughie feigns enjoyment, asking if he got the sidekick gig. Tek inquires what Webweaver's safe word is, noticing how nervous Hughie is getting. When Hughie can't guess the safe word, Tek unmasks him, recognizing Hughie. Hughie begs that Tek was his favorite hero as a kid as Tek gets out a tray of knives – but Tek is a sociopath, saying every one of his victims says the same. Hughie screams.
To the Rescue – M.M. and Kimiko retrace their way through Tek's mansion, based on Hughie's descriptions over comms. They get to the library and find Sage, who M.M. holds at gunpoint while Kimiko searches for the switch that opens the secret elevator. Sage gets in M.M.'s head, revealing she's been watching his family, and his daughter Janine's recent troubles with violence at school, Sage blames Janine's behavior on M.M. and tries to run, but M.M. drops her with a gunshot to the head, as Kimiko gets the elevator open. Killing Sage makes M.M. have a panic attack and drop to the floor unconscious, leaving Kimiko scrambling for help, even as Sage's brain starts to heal. Kimiko signals A-Train, who comes up to find M.M. laid out (but Sage is gone). Kimiko argues with A-Train using library books as her words, convincing A-Train to get M.M. to a hospital with his super-speed. Annie runs in, confused as all hell; Kimiko gets her on the elevator and they get down to the Tek Cave just before Tek is about to start cutting into Hughie. Kimiko drop-kicks Tek Knight into the wall, knocking him out. A-Train gets M.M. to a hospital, only to be spotted and admired by some little kids outside. A-Train smiles before he runs off.
Party's Over – Homelander walks in to find Sage nursing her head, wondering where The Seven are. Sage quickly outs herself as a dummy, and Homelander sees the bullet hole in her head. He orders her to get a grip, freaking out internally for a second before he decides he's going to go solo. Homelander starts a speech to the crowd, introducing his plan to use the 25th Amendment to get President-elect Robert Singer out of office the moment he gets in. A wealthy elite woman wants to cut through the propaganda about wokeness and such and have Homelander lay out an actual plan to deal with the Justice Department; the oil tycoons want guarantees on their fortunes; the financial guys start going off about market collapse, and the Speaker wants to know how the populace will be kept in line. Homelander throws to Sage, who is shoving cupcakes in her face – so Neuman steps up, and claims the mantle of leadership, saying that America is no true democracy because the citizens are stupid, by the wealthy elite and corporations hold it together. The billionaires go for it, and Neuman secures her power. Homelander is losing it, having squandered his power play. In the Tek Cave, Tek wakes to find Annie and Kimiko ready to torture him; he threatens Homelander's retaliation, but Kimiko and Annie start stabbing him – which only makes Tek Knight horny. Hughie backs them off, wondering how they torture a masochist; Knight's former sidekick finally breaks free and runs to a nearby computer, showing The Boys that it holds all Tek Knight's bank accounts, accessed by a retinal scan. They force Tek's eyes open and get to the money, sending donations to all liberal and charitable causes. The threat of a massive donation to Black Lives Matter breaks Knight, forcing him to confess that Homelander and Sage are going to use his prisons as internment camps when they take over. Kimiko donates the money to BLM, and Elijah suddenly appears and strangles Tek Knight to death, confessing how hard it was to serve him for years, and offering to make it look like Tek had a self-pleasure romp gone bad, so The Boys can escape. The Boys thank Elijah and the sidekick and depart on the elevator.
Homelander (Antony Starr) gets a milky surprise in "The Boys" S4E6
- Prime Video)Post-Party Depression – M.M. wakes in the hospital thinking he had a heart attack, but the doctor confirms it was a panic attack and orders him to stop whatever lifestyle he's living. Kimiko once again tries to visit Frenchie in prison, telling the skeptical guard that she has nowhere else to go. Firecracker approaches Homelander and tells him that Starlight was at the party and that Tek Knight is dead. Firecracker uses it as an opportunity to throw Sage under the bus, pointing out she must've found the wrong leak in Cameron Coleman. However, Homelander turns on Firecracker for letting Starlight escape, accusing her of being the leak. Firecracker reminds him that he made her famous, and powerful and that she worships him as her savior. Homelander insists he doesn't want her sexually when Firecracker starts to unzip her shirt, but Firecracker says she's proving loyalty and squirts breast milk onto Homelander's face. Homelander is shocked, then aroused, asking how it's possible, and Firecracker reveals she took hormone drugs to make it happen. Homelander is grateful for the gift, and Firecracker takes him onto her lap and breastfeeds him. Hughie and Annie replay Neuman's speech about taking over a stupid America, and Annie wonders if she even knows about the plan for internment camps. Hughie finally breaks, emotionally, over what Ashley did to him in the dungeon and the real trauma of his dad dying. Annie consoles him.
To Genocide or Not Genocide... - Butcher and Joe roll in the materials that Sameer needs to make the virus. Sameer reveals that his holding out isn't loyalty to Neuman: his lab discovered that the only virus strong enough to kill Homelander would be an unstable strain that would become a mass pandemic killing anyone with Compound V in their system. He says that Butcher getting the virus is the proverbial "In the wrong hands," every scientist worries about at night. Becca appears and tries to talk Butcher out of genocide, but Joe is pressing Butcher to forge the silver bullet and commit to his original goal: killing every supe. When Joe starts yelling directly at Becca, it stops the show for Butcher, who realizes he's having a Fight Club Tyler Durden moment, and Joe is another figment of his imagination. "Joe" confesses that in reality, he was a colleague that Butcher left behind on a mission gone bad, who is now dead, and Butcher is using him as an avatar for his darkest qualities. Butcher replays all the scenes with Joe over the season, realizing he was alone. Joe says the tumor has screwed up Butcher's brain, and he was the persona that killed Ezekiel when "Butcher" blacked out. Joe drives the point home that his enthusiasm for wiping out the supes is actually Butcher's own bloodlust for it, and proclaims that "daddy's home," as Butcher's worst impulses are apparently now in control. Butcher is left sitting stunned, and afraid.
[End Credits]
