‘The Boys’ Recap: ‘Life Among the Septics’

6/16/2024

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Jack Quaid and Erin Moriarty as Hughie and Annie January/Starlight in in Episode 402 of ‘The Boys’ – ‘Life Among the Septics’. (Photo Courtesy of Prime Video.)

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 402 of ‘The Boys’. To revisit the Season Four Premiere, click here.

It is definitely safe to say that creative individuals that inject social commentary and observation into their story, do so in unique and inventive ways. For instance, Rod Serling used outlandish scenarios in The Twilight Zone to get his point about humanity across to the audience. Whereas George A. Romero was big on using his iconic monsters to express his observations about our world. And of course, Jordan Peele blends both elements together to bring about some poignant commentary. Yet, while so many are eager to disguise what they have to say beneath a juicy plot or end of the world scenarios, some creatives out there… have no qualms with simply saying what needs to be said in the most direct manner possible. Such as Eric Kripke.

For season four of The Boys on Prime Video is not hiding behind allegory or example, it is simply ripping off the band aid and outright looking into how we’ve reached the current divide in America and how it persists and of course… why it exists. Which is giving rise to some powerful stories that are both entertaining and sobering for certain. Since this is also a unique and refreshing, and bold approach to commentary for certain and well… this direct approach is top of mind today because it was put on full display in the next episode of the show. But before we dive into how exactly ‘Life Among the Septics’ pulled this off, we would be remiss to not point out that this story also found time to give us more of what we love… which is character development and growth.

Because there are some good people in this story, who deserve a little peace in their lives and several of them chased it. Frenchie and Kimiko for instance, confronted bits and pieces of their past all in the hopes of making peace with it so they could move forward at last. Only to remind us that such acts are never easy and take hard, hard work. But they tried their best and that’s always a good start and this was also a story that saw Hughie and Annie find agency and a surprise. Since Hughie’s mother returned to handle his dad’s care and that gave him a chance to confront her about her actions and stand up to her at last, and he did, and it was amazing. Plus, Annie finally embraced the beacon of light she truly is, and she managed to even free those accused in her group with an assist from A-Train. Which was the surprise, and one cannot help but wonder what will come of his moment of kindness and regret.

Cameron Crovetti and Antony Starr as Ryan and Homelander in Episode 402 of ‘The Boys’ – ‘Life Among the Septics’. (Photo Courtesy of Jan Thijs/Prime Video.)

But while it was indeed great to see this depth and see these heroes grow, there is still a growing threat in this story, the rise of Trumpism… er… Homlanderism. Because that nonsense was growing still in this tale, and this is where the direct commentary came into play. Courtesy of two key storylines. The first of which pondered upon how we got here and how this persists to a certain degree and well, indoctrination comes into play. Via parents that push an agenda on a child or an impressionable mind, and they listen because its parents talking, and we are supposed to trust them. But this truly puts a seed in their mind and puts them down an ugly path and that was showcased via Homelander’s desire to make his son, Homeboy, the next generation of hero. Which involved staging a heist, and bloodshed and lies. All in the hopes of molding his son into him and this was hard to watch, but it hammered home the point that it starts at home and the second storyline, spoke to how parents bring it home.

Because while that was going on, The Boys made their way to TruthCon. To see what Sister Sage was up to there and why she was so interested in a Supe named Firecracker and well, while there… it became clear that the constant messaging being spewed out by sycophants and the real fake news, Fox, helps to create this cycle of stupidity and fear. Since we saw and heard a lot of the crap that the MAGA movement eats up with impunity. But in between those moments and the wildest, tossed salad bar, pinkeye inducing moment, we’ve ever seen… the reality of how we got here was put on display. In that, so many of these individuals bought into the American Dream and got nothing out of its lies, that they felt lost and left behind, especially with other segments of America moving forward without them and this… and Cheeto von Tweeto have given them purpose and the belief their sordid and sorrowful American Dream can be revived and preserved.

Which is both pitiful and frustrating to think upon. Since it speaks to victim mentality in a nation that has proven that if an ideal isn’t working, we can toss it aside and reinvent it or move in a manner that is productive. But alas, marginalization and the right idiotic voices help people forget that, bringing us to where we are now and that made… for one brilliant episode. One that truly spoke to so much in a very direct and haunting manner and rightfully so. Because we are at a crisis point with the Homelanders of the world and being subtle at this point gets us nowhere. If anything, it will make things worse and this story deserves a round of applause for helping us to understand what brought us to this point and the importance of fighting back on the nonsense so that it doesn’t become the norm and it will be interesting to see what other powerful commentary awaits us, as season four of this brilliant show soars along. Until next time.

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