‘The Boys’ Recap: ‘Dirty Business’

7/5/2024

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Jack Quaid as Hugh ‘Hughie’ Campbell Jr./Webweaver 2.0 in Episode 406 of ‘The Boys’ – ‘Dirty Business’. (Photo Courtesy of Prime Video.)

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 406 of ‘The Boys’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.

When it comes to the hit Prime Video series, The Boys, there is one particular episode or moment every single season… that simply drops our jaws and takes our breath away. And what’s wild, is that sometimes… the show manages to top that particular moment or episode. Take last season for instance. For we all thought that Termite climbing inside a dude’s junk before blowing him up, was that epic moment. But then, ‘Herogasm’ came along and outright topped that and well… season four is following a similar edict. After all, we thought that watching a Supe take himself to a self-service, tossed salad bar, several times over was the ‘wow’ moment of the season. That is… until this week’s episode came along.

For ‘Dirty Business’ was that jaw dropping episode we’ve been waiting for, one that truly pushed the envelope like never before with this show, which is saying something. But that’s no hyperbole, and it accomplished such feats through two key plotlines. One of which, involved the Boys and their desire to uncover exactly what the hell Homelander was up to. Because A-Train was nervous, and rightfully so and that meant in order to learn exactly what Homelander and his little cadre of super villains had in mind, the team had to head to Tek Knight’s epic party at his epic mansion and have someone go undercover in order to plant listening devices.

Which meant it fell to Hughie to suit up as the ever gross, Webweaver, to infiltrate the party. Because for some reason, Tek Knight had to have him there. So, Hughie got into Webweaver’s equally as gross suit and made his way into the mansion to plant the gear quickly, so he could simply get in and get out. But alas, Tek Knight intercepted him and took him down to his special lair and that led… to some surprises. Such as a botched rescue mission to get Hughie out of there, one that saw Sister Sage take a bullet to the brain and saw Mother’s Milk have a panic attack. Which in turn brought A-Train into the fold to actually play hero for a moment by getting MM to the hospital. Not to mention, Starlight and Firecracker shared a unique moment for certain, and of course… the Boys were successful in getting dirt on Victoria’s and Homelander’s plans to take over the world.

Karl Urban and Jeffrey Dean Morgan as William ‘Billy’ Butcher and Joe Kessler in Episode 406 of ‘The Boys’ – ‘Dirty Business’. (Photo Courtesy of Prime Video.)

But what happened in Tek Knight’s lair… well that brought about the jaw-dropping stuff in question. Because Hughie came to learn that his favorite hero growing up, was into some really freaky stuff from a sexual standpoint. The kind that was beyond cringeworthy and unsettling to a person’s core. In fact, it is safe to say that going forward, sales of German chocolate cake are going to plummet for a hot minute over flavor fears, and yacht rock and soft rock from the 70s and 80s may bring about flashbacks of safe words, talk of pounding new holes in the human body and the sound of the most unexpected ‘sliming’ in the history of television. All because this was THAT episode plain and simple, and the only wonder to be found here, is that the team got answers when they rescued Hughie and that Tek Knight was finally put out to pasture.

Which made for a stunning sequence for certain, one that was backed up by the other shocker in this episode. Because Butcher was obviously absent from the sexual festivities at the party, mainly because he and Joe were having moral battles over the creation of the Supe virus. Mainly because it was revealed that its birth would bring about the end of all Supes. For it would have to be virulent and contagious enough to spread to all of them if they wanted to bring down Homelander and well, the finer points of that debate let us know that Joe was also a hallucination in Butcher’s mind. Brought forth from the tumor raging through Butcher’s skull and that gave the man great pause. Because it meant he was mentally falling apart and if the Joe in his mind gained control, so many would perish.

That was… quite the twist to inject, one that informed us that Butcher’s mind is falling apart and that brought home… season four’s wildest story to date. One that even included a dream come true for Homelander since Firecracker revealed she went the extra mile to help him enjoy breast milk from the tap, and well… this episode deserves a round of applause. Because it seemed as though ‘Herogasm’ was the apex of crazy moments in this show, but this one let us know the show can go harder and now that this madness is out of the way, we can turn our attention to the final two stories of season four. Which will undoubtedly focus on Butcher’s moral dilemma and a fight to save the world from super-powered dictators. Until next time.

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