Diksha Sundriyal
In Episode 2 of ‘The Boys‘ Season 3, Stan Edgar tells Starlight that having a superpower is not real power. In its third episode, we see the practical side of this statement. The power balance has always been very delicate in the show, with politics being more present than the use of actual superpowers. The turmoil within the Seven becomes even more chaotic with the events that transpire in this episode. By the end of it, we are left wondering how much worse things are going to get. Here we try to figure out what it all means for our favorite characters.
The Boys Season 3 “Barbary Coast” Recap
It looked like Vought would have to go into full crisis mode after Homelander’s speech in the last episode. However, a pleasant turn of events leads to a spike in his popularity. It turns out that people love him for being himself. This feeds Homelander’s confidence and ego, and he realizes that he can now reclaim his authority. He finds ways to toruture both Starlight and The Deep and doesn’t miss any opportunity to show them that he is more powerful than them.
Hughie and MM rejoin the team, and together, the Boys pay a visit to Mallory. Butcher confronts her about Nicaragua, and she admits that Gunpowder’s accusations are true. Back in ’84, she was on a CIA mission to Nicaragua. Payback was sent to assist her in fighting the enemy, i.e., the Russians. However, the Supes turned out to be a bunch of untrained idiots, which led to the death of Soldier Boy, whose body was carried away by the Russians.
Butcher struggles with the effects of V-24, trying to keep his temporary powers in control. Ryan notices that he is sick, but instead of coming clean about his situation, Butcher pushes him away. This upsets Ryan, and he tells Butcher that he hates him. Meantime, Frenchie reconnects with Cherie, who’s in trouble. She offers him to flee the country with her, but he refuses. On his way back, he is confronted by Cherie’s employers and gets some facetime with Nina.
The Boys Season 3 Episode 3 Ending
The third season started with Homelander in a very vulnerable position. He was losing his fans, as well as, his status in The Seven. It looked like he would slowly be stripped off of his powers, perhaps making way for some other villain. But with the third episode, ‘The Boys’ establishes his dominance once again. It shows us exactly why Homelander is the ultimate villain.
With his ratings off the charts, he knows that Stan Edgar will have no problem with him doing things his own way now. This means that Starlight no longer has the authority that she thought she could enjoy while being co-captain. He doesn’t want to leave any doubts about it in her mind, so he finds ways to completely undermine her authority. Firstly, he brings back The Deep in The Seven. He knows exactly how much Starlight is repulsed by him, and this automatically gives him an upper hand. With the constant reminder of assault in front of her eyes, he attacks her emotional and mental state.
To worsen things, he adds another twist to the narrative. He declares that he and Starlight are in love. This is clearly to better his image, as Ashley had informed him earlier that his and Starlight’s pairing got a rating that hadn’t been achieved before. On top of that, being with Starlight is also sure to do wonders for him, separating him from Stormfront and the Nazis. Because Starlight can do nothing about this situation, this is just another way for him to demean her.
Annie wanted out the moment she realized that Homelander was getting worse by the second. However, Hughie told her to stick it out, which wasn’t very encouraging for her. This put a dent in her confidence. But she is nothing, if not a fighter. At the beginning of the episode, we see her smiling in front of everyone, even when she is in immense pain. She resorts to the same trick to keep herself afloat. Though, things are certainly going to get much darker for her. The only reprieve, perhaps, is that Supersonic is a part of The Seven now, and she will have someone to turn to. She will not be alone in the Vought tower. His support will do her morale some good, but it also spells a love triangle, which means Hughie might need to pay more attention to his love life.
The good news for Hughie is that Butcher has come up with a plan that might hasten the process of finding the weapon. Mallory told them that the last someone saw of Soldier Boy was the Russians who attacked and (allegedly) killed him. She also tells them that she doesn’t have any leads beyond that. Fortunately, Frenchie’s meeting with Cherie leads to him reconnecting with his previous criminal brethren, who, as it turns out, are Russians. While Frenchie sees this as trouble, Butcher sees an opportunity to find out more about what exactly happened to Soldier Boy.
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