‘The Boys’ Season 4 Episode 3 Recap & Review: Firecracker Reveals the Truth

Warning: Spoilers ahead for The Boys Season 4, Episode 3 “We’ll Keep the Red Flag Flying Here.”

The final part in the three-episode premiere of The Boys Season 4 features some of the best acting in the series to date. All three installments from the initial drop are now streaming on Prime Video, and now the wait is on as the series shifts to a weekly release for the final five episodes.

Homelander’s (Antony Starr) power snowballs as The Seven adds two new members, and The Boys are in shambles. Like both previous entries, Episode 3 is loaded with important exposition — make sure you didn’t miss anything with our recap of The Boys Season 4, Episode 3 “We’ll Keep the Red Flag Flying Here.”

Homelander Introduces the New Seven in ‘The Boys’ Season 4, Episode 3

The episode opens with a choir singing on stage while Homelander looks on as Starlight (Erin Moriarty) protestors chant. He speaks to the crowd and calls Starlighters out as the biggest threat in American history. He then brings out The Seven on stage, headlined by new members Sister Sage (Susan Heyward) and Firecracker (Valorie Curry). Homelander also says he might be keeping the last spot warm for his son Ryan (Cameron Crovetti).

Butcher (Karl Urban) talks to Joe Kessler (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and they have a plan to capture Ryan and get him to Grace Mallory (Laila Robbins). Butcher says he won’t train Ryan to kill Homelander and he just wants to get him to safety. Back at Vought Tower, Firecracker spouts nonsense to reporters while Homelander questions Sister Sage about bringing her onto the team, but she tells him it’s the best way to fight Starlight.

A lawyer tells Hughie (Jack Quaid) he won’t be able to challenge his mother (Rosemarie DeWitt) for power of attorney and his best course of action is just to work things out with his mom. A Firecracker fan then walks into the Starlight house and pulls out a gun claiming to be there to rescue kidnapped kids, but Frenchie (Tomer Capone) disarms him. Frenchie and Colin (Elliot Knight) then talk in the bathroom before kissing each other.

Kimiki and Frenchie Take Down a Shining Light Ring in “We’ll Keep the Red Flag Flying Here”

The Boys Season 4, Episode 3 rolls on when Singer (Jim Beaver) claims they need to take Supes out of the military and turn them back into entertainers and Victoria (Claudia Doumit) annoyingly agrees. Back at HQ, Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) convinces Frenchie to help her fight a Shining Light cell. MM (Laz Alonso) tells Hughie and Annie that he wants to flip A-Train (Jessie T. Usher), but they don’t approve. We then move back to Vought Tower, where Ryan plays a mock Mortal Kombat Seven game and matches online with Butcher.

Butcher asks for a few minutes of his time and says he wants to meet and talk to him. Firecracker tells Homelander that she’ll do anything for him and Black Noir (Nathan Mitchell) asks Ashley (Colby Minifie) for some direction. Homelander then dismisses Ashley, telling her Sage will take over as CEO. At The Seven meeting, Homelander and Sage demote The Deep (Chace Crawford) from Crime Analytics.

Deep goes back to his room and talks to Ambrosius (Tilda Swinton) who says they should go on vacation, but he responds that they can’t. In her office, Ashley vents to Cameron Coleman (Matthew Edison) before taking over as his dom. Meanwhile, Butcher bakes cookies with sedatives in them and Ryan comes to visit. Ryan doesn’t want the cookies so they play foosball while MM meets A-Train at the track and tries to convince him to help.

Butcher Spends Quality Time With Ryan in ‘The Boys’ Season 4, Episode 3

Kimiko and Frenchie break into a Shining Light ring, but Frenchie can’t help because he’s high. He has a flashback to killing Colin’s family and other hallucinations. Kimiko bumps into one of her old friends/captives at the ring and lets her get away after killing everyone else. Meanwhile, Butcher and Ryan play foosball, and he tells him about his brother Lenny. Ryan explains the situation with Koy to Butcher, who tells Ryan that Homelander is a bad man with no business looking after a kid.

Butcher wants to make things right with Ryan because he’s all he has left of Becca (Shantel VanSanten), so he throws the cookies away, and they play another game. Back at the tower, Sage and Homelander interrogate a Vought employee with a connection to Starlight. They promise her safety if she gives them the info they want but Homelander kills her as soon as she confesses. Annie visits Firecracker at the tower to ask why she hates her so much.

Firecracker holds a grudge because Annie wronged her when they were on the pageant circuit together as kids. Annie told people Firecracker slept with the judges when she was 13, and she called her a fat slut. We then pan to Hughie and MM watching Vought On Ice, and Hughie wants to leave, but MM reminds him that he’s his CO — he does what he says, when he says it. Hughie goes to plant a bug for Homelander’s meeting with Victoria, but it starts early so he’s trapped in the vent.

MM and Hughie Find Themselves in Hot Water During Vought On Ice

The Boys Season 4, Episode 3 continues when Homelander and Sister Sage want Victoria to come out as a Supe when she’s President, but she pushes back. Hughie drips sweat through the vent and Homelander catches his scent and starts lasering the ceiling to try to kill him. MM then blinds Homelander with stadium lights and his laser accidentally kills a Vought On Ice performer. A-Train saves Hughie from Homelander but doesn’t offer an explanation and runs off.

Back at HQ, Frenchie, Kimiko, and Starlight talk about their past. Kimiko wants to help Frenchie, but he tells her they can’t solve each other’s problems. Hughie goes back to the hospital and asks his mom why she left them, and she tells him she was depressed and tried to kill herself so she left, and she once again apologizes. Meanwhile, Kessler tells Butcher they either have to figure out how to train Ryan, or kill him.

At Vought Tower, Sister Sage and The Deep share a Bloomin’ Onion and make out. Ryan tells Homelander he flew to Coney Island but Homelander can tell he’s lying so he snaps and Ryan runs off to his room. Homelander then talks to several alternate versions of himself in a shattered mirror, and the reflections tell him he needs to go home back where it all started, and the episode fades to black.

Homelander Is Losing His Mind by the End of ‘The Boys’ Premiere

The Boys closes out its three-episode Season 4 premiere in style, finishing with a strong installment that teases excitement coming next week. Three episodes is the perfect number to get moving out of the gate, but now the series aims to deliver its content at a slower pace. While The Boys Season 4 is far from the best in the series, it’s still high-quality, lovable television.

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