Homelander (Antony Starr) fired Sage, A-Train (Jessie T. Usher) left The Seven and The Deep (Chace Crawford) went too far. As always with “The Boys,” there’s so much to get into and it’s no different with Episode 7 “The Insider.”
This episode had it all, from a coded holiday jingle telling children to report their anti-Homelander family members, to Sage (Susan Heyward) two-timing with Black Noir (Nathan Mitchell), and The Deep going too far by murdering his love Ambrosius (Tilda Swinton). Before we discuss the top shocking moments, let’s break down some other noteworthy events that went down.
Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) pulled some strings to get Frenchie (Tomer Capone) out of prison, though his bestie Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) isn’t feeling him after he blocked all of her attempts to visit him. And speaking of Butcher, he’s back as the leader of The Boys, but he’s hallucinations haven’t gone away. And as of late, he’s only been chatting with Joe Kessler (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), as his late wife Rebecca “Becca” Butcher didn’t appear in the episode as one of his hallucinations at all.
In other important developments, Ryan stood up against the encrypted messaging Vought is spewing through its “Mr. Rogers”-style V Kids children’s Christmas special “The Avenue V.” Ryan’s rightful father, Butcher, just so happened to see his impromtu speech, which brought a smile to his face and hope in his heart.
“Your family isn’t your enemy. Your family’s all you got. I’ve been thinking about my mom a lot lately. She died, but she loved Christmas, and smores with Reese’s, and terms of endearment,” Ryan said live on air before stopping himself from revealing the details of something.
“And she loved her husband Billy. But she wouldn’t love this. She wouldn’t want me doing it. My mom always told me to tell the truth, which is why … I’m sorry,” Ryan concluded right before running off.
Lastly, Victoria Neuman’s (Claudia Doumit) boo Sameer Shah (Omid Abtahi) took off running after he stabbed Kimiko in the leg with a fresh batch of the supe-killing virus that he mixed up while Butcher held him hostage. Luckily, Frenchie was able to save Kimiko by cutting her leg off before the virus completely invaded her body. This surely won’t sit very well with Victoria, once she finds out Butcher chopped her man’s leg off and forced him to make a virus that could kill her. Oh, and did we mention Ryan stood up against the encrypted messaging Vought is spewing through its “Mr. Rogers”-style V Kids children’s Christmas special “The Avenue V.”
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Check out all the shocking moments from Episode 7:
1. A-Train leaves The Seven
While it was only a matter of time before Homelander and co. found out A-Train had been been helping The Boys behind Vought’s back, most fans are probably happy to see A-Train finally stepping up for what he truly believes in and what’s right.
In Episode 7, Homelander and Firecracker learn VNN news anchor Cameron Coleman (Matthew Edison) — whom they killed in Episode 6 — wasn’t the leak. Still looking for clues, their attention pivoted to Webweaver, who mendaciously told Firecracker he was mole just so he could be tortured Homelander for his own kinks. His masochistic behavior got him literally torn a part by Homelander, but before he died he shared that he’s not the rat.
Webweaver’s reveal left A-Train’s role in the matter still uncovered, at least until it was busted by an unexpected visit from The Seven’s The Deep (Chace Crawford) and Black Noir (Nathan Mitchell) at The Boys’ headquarters. Initially, Annie/Starlight and Butcher faced the two supes alone, but A-Train came in for the save, revealing his partnership with Homelander’s enemies. The Deep and Black Noir went home beaten and defeated.
Just as A-Train takes in his newfound passion to do what’s right, fans see the supe become a better person who only wants to do good for others. He even convinced Mother’s Milk (Laz Alonso), who planned to leave for Belize with his family for the sake of his and their wellbeing, to stay and finish the fight against Vought. He reminded Mother’s Milk that the world still needs heroes.
“When I carried your ass to the ER, there was a kid there. His eyes were like, ‘Holy s–t. Looking at me like I was a hero,” A-Train said to Mother’s Milk, mentioning the impact Mother’s Milk’s has made on him. “There were no screaming fans, no cameras, nobody even knew, except for this one kid. That felt better than anything that I’d ever done at Vought. Because for once, I didn’t hate myself — that’s on you.”
The only person outside of The Boys that knew about A-Train’s involvement is Vought CEO Ashley Barrett, whom he ultimately shared his departure plans with.
“This is our chance. This is our chance. Florence, anywhere, but let’s go,” A-Train said to a stunned Ashley Barrett. Sadly, Ashley decided to stay at the company, but she thoughtfully reminded A-Train to remove the embedded tracking device in his body so no one can find him.
'The Boys' to End With Season 5
2. Kimiko reveals the real reason she doesn’t speak
Fans have long believed Kimiko’s decision to stop talking was a traumatic response to the Shining Light Liberation Army murdering and forcing her to join its ranks, and that sign language was her way of communicating with her younger brother Kenji. Nope, that was all a story she made up. After Frenchie was finally about to nab some alone time with Kimiko and share his reasons for avoiding her prison visits, the supe revealed the true events that led to her vow of silence. During her time in Shining Light, elder members taught new soldiers how to move like a “ghost.” In order to train them to fight free of noise, soldiers were forced to participate in training activities that involved them knife fighting quietly. The first person to cry out loses, even if it means death.
“I murdered her without making a sound. Then when I was allowed to speak again … I couldn’t,” Kimiko signed, explaining that she can relate to the self-disgust Frenchie feels over his past as an assassin. “I look in the mirror and hate what I see, so I understand more than you know.”
3. The Deep murders his aquatic love Ambrosius
Can you believe it?! We’re just as shaken as you are! The Deep has always been bad, but this time it’s giving Heisenberg. And speaking of breaking, not only did The Deep break up with Ambrosius, he actually broke her unkempt tank and suffocated her to death. His dastardly deed happened after his octopus love called him out for having an affair with Sage, whom she knows only thinks of The Deep as a bumbling idiot with gills.
“I know about Sage,” Ambrosius says to The Deep. “I’ve known for a while, my suckers can smell her …. I love you so much. Your gentle heart, your fearless writing. Can you honestly say she feels the same?”
After begging The Deep to fight for their relationship and The Deep saying he enjoys being with Sage as a fellow human being, Ambrosius stated Sage doesn’t respect him is merely using him for her own pleasure.
The truth was too heavy for The Deep to handle so he took his anger out on Ambrosius and destroyed her tank. Instead of saving her, he waited outside his closet and listened to her gasp for her last breaths.
“I love you,” Ambrosius said faintly before she died.
The gag is that Ambrosius wasn’t lying. Sage has been sleeping with both The Deep and Black Noir. The only difference between the two supes as sexual partners is Sage doesn’t self-lobotomize when she’s intimate with Black Noir.
4. Homelander fires Sage
Sick and tired of Sage failing to find the leak, and then revealing that she knew A-Train was the leak all along, Homelander decided to give her the boot. While Sage explained that she let A-Train misinform The Boys in order to work out her larger plan to take them down, Homelander maintained his decision.
“Okay, get the f—k out of here. You’re done. Go back to your little litter box in Detroit and die alone,” Homelander says to Sage.
“Fine, surround yourself with people like her. And you can systematically eliminate anyone who gets in your way, but there’s one person you will never, ever defeat. Good luck without me,” Sage said before walking out of Vought. She left behind a notebook that featured an cartoon drawing of former The Seven member Maeve.
5. Annie/Starlight is trapped somewhere after The Shape Shifter took her identity
“The Boys” has been hitting viewers with some good plot twists and nail-biting cliffhangers this season, and one of the shocking happened at the end of Episode 7. Earlier in the episode, Annie/Starlight and Hughie broke into an apartment where they found documents that detailed Homelander and co.’s Jan. 6 plot to crash President-elect Robert Singer’s rally in Washington, D.C. They also found what they thought was a hostage, but she turned out to be a supe with flickering eyes called The Shape Shifter who has the ability to change her identity into anyone she touches. After evading The Boys’ capture, viewers don’t see her for some time. But, then again, would you even know if you’re actually seeing her?
That brings us to the turn of events that took place at the end of the episode. During Annie/Starlight and Hughie’s alone time at home, Hughie admits to visiting Vicky in hopes of convincing her not to follow through with her and Homelander’s Jan. 6 plans. Moving past Hughie’s revelation, Annie slips into her old Starlight/The Seven suit and seduces him into a night of passion. But in the early hours of the night, Annie woke up and took the Jan. 6 plans from couple’s safe. As she turned away, her eyes glimmered, showing The Shape Shifter was disguised as Annie. The real Annie is somewhere chained up in a filthy room. When she finally came to, she remembered that Shape Shifter changed her identity into a Starlight fan and abducted her after following her to the bathroom.
“The Boys” Season 4 finale streams Thursday, July 18, on Prime Video.
