The Boys Season 2 recap: Episode 6, ‘The Bloody Doors Off'

In The Boys Season 2, Episode 6, Homelander and Stormfront launch a partnership made in hell. Also, Frenchie’s past is explored.

The Boys Season 2, Episode 6 is surprisingly Frenchie-centric, as we learn more about Frenchie (Tomer Capon) than ever before, including that he’s a huge Golden Girls fan. We’re also reminded of his unique skills, as Starlight (Erin Moriarty) has him remove some kind of implanted device from her shoulder, which was a gift (so to speak) from Vought International. It makes sense, too, as The Seven seem increasingly aware that she’s been coordinating with The Boys, and The Seven are certainly capable of violence.

In fact, we see Stormfront (Aya Cash) and Homelander (Antony Starr) have sex as he brutally crushes the skull of a robber (Luis Fernandes) rather than call the police. In stark contrast to that mood, there’s a moment where Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) hugs Starlight. Still, The Boys also have Billy Butcher (Karl Urban). In addition to his very name sounding brutal, he had previously shot Starlight due to his prejudice against supes. However, he now asks her to assist them on a new mission.

The Boys Season 2, Episode 6 recap: More blackmail leverage scenes?

The Boys Season 2, Episode 6 recap: Sage Grove

There’s some lingering tension between Billy and Starlight, evidenced strongly by his pointing a gun at her from a distance. In the first season, we learned that Billy Butcher was quite prejudiced against superpowered people, to the point where he’s almost another series villain (at times). However, Starlight calls him out on it in this episode, right to his face, calling him a bigot and a bully, then comparing him to Homelander. Of course, things are no less dramatic for the rest of The Boys inside Sage Grove, who have broken into the security room by using Frenchie as a fake patient.

To increase the danger, they also see Stormfront, which means they must be extra-cautious. The Boys learn that Sage Grove is being used to experiment on older patients who received injections of Compound V to create superpowers. Interestingly, Lamplighter (Shawn Ashmore) works there, but it’s not the good, upstanding kind of work one might expect from a superhero. Instead, we see him set fire to a suicidal patient named Tim (Will Carr)! Frenchie confronts Lamplighter rather recklessly, threatening the whole operation (and various lives), especially if Stormfront should intervene.

The Boys Season 2, Episode 6 recap: Panic at the sanitarium

In the ensuing chaos, Lamplighter accidentally frees an inmate named Cindy (Ess Hödlmoser) while fighting Frenchie. Unfortunately, Cindy has the power to crush people with her mind, which she seems to use quite readily, freeing additional test subjects in the process. One specimen (Nick Alachiotis) tackles Lamplighter and threatens to vomit acid on him (his gross yet awesome superpower).

However, Kimiko stomps him up good, and he ends up vomiting on himself, resulting in his death. Upon escaping, another patient (Yona Epstein-Roth) throws The Boys’ van onto its side through an electromagnetic pulse.

Billy shoots the person who rolled the van, but Hughie was injured when it crashed. This sets Billy and Starlight on a quest to save Hughie’s life, while the others are left inside the facility. Frenchie is still upset at Lamplighter, but cooler heads must prevail as they formulate an impromptu escape plan. In a flashback sequence, we see that Lamplighter used to spy for The Boys, similar to Starlight’s current role (though she does so more willingly).

The Boys Season 2, Episode 6 recap: Saving Hughie and meeting “Love Sausage”

Pressed for time, Billy and starlight try to commandeer a vehicle. Starlight ends up critiquing Billy for using a gun to steal the vehicle from a random motorist named Dennis (Jason Gray-Stanford). She ends up knocking Dennis out with her superpowers, then channeling the car’s electricity to cauterize Hughie’s wound. Obviously, she knows how to make do with what she has!

Speaking of quick thinking, back at Sage Grove, Frenchie decides to use drugs to make a knockout bomb to help escape Sage Grove. During a fleeting moment, Lamplighter assures Frenchie that he didn’t know he killed anyone. In flashback sequences, we see lamplighter resented being blackmailed into spying for The Boys, so he sought revenge by taking out their leader, Grace Mallory (Laila Robins), but accidentally killing her family members. Lamplighter insists he didn’t know they died, while Frenchie confesses he wasn’t there to save them because he was rushing his friend, Jay (Michael Ayres), to the hospital for a drug overdose.

The Boys Season 2, Episode 6 recap: Vought’s super creation addiction

Lamplighter also says that, in his own time of disgrace, he’s being used by Vought to “clean up” failed experiments with new supe creations. We get to meet more of these interesting characters, such as “Love Sausage” (Andrew Jackson), whose power is his male appendage — which he actually uses to strangle “Mother’s Milk” (Laz Alonso), or “MM.” Meanwhile, Stormfront zaps Cindy, assuming she’s dead (though we later see her out hitchhiking). By the time Stormfront meets Lamplighter, The Boys are safely hidden from her sight. Later on, Frenchie actually talks Grace Mallory out of shooting Lamplighter.

In the next scene, Starlight and Billy bond a bit over the now successfully hospitalized Hughie (though, admittedly, one wonders how he wasn’t apprehended for his refugee status). The episode then returns to Elena (Nicola Correia-Damude), who receives the scandalous plane crash footage, and Queen Maeve says she’ll use it for blackmailing Homelander.

The Boys Season 2, Episode 6 recap: Dysfunctional relationships abound

The burgeoning relationship between Homelander and Stormfront deserves a special focus here. Homelander bought flowers for her, indicating his romantic interest. However, when she fails to meet him on time in his little movie star trailer, he childishly burns it down (claiming it was an electrical fire, of course). However, she seems afraid of him, all but completely knowing he burned it himself.

In a big moment, Stormfront reveals she was actually born in 1919, even showing him a photo of her elderly daughter. She explains that she fell in love with Frederick Vought — creator of Compound V, founder of Vought International, and outright Nazi scientist. She also elaborates on her racist utopian vision, which will be upheld with an army of “supermen millions strong,” and asks Homelander to be the man who will lead them. He seemingly accepts and kisses her.

Obviously, this explains much of her murderous, racist behavior and her special disdain for A-Train. Speaking of A-Train, he’s also being convinced (by The Deep) to join the Church of the Collective. The Deep is still in his strange, arranged marriage to Cassandra (Katy Breier). The Church’s leader, Alastair Adana (Goran Višnjić), offers some platitudes about their organization. However, the most interesting moment here is when The Deep confesses that he wanted to drown A-Train.

Obviously, these dysfunctional characters will be disliked by those calling The Boys too negative. At the same time, the series’ defenders can point to the often brutish nature of reality. What’s in the history books and news headlines, and how much of them are shaped especially by a dark superhero-themed show on a streaming network? It’s safe to say, this series did not create this mixed bag of a world but portrays flawed characters whose faults are exaggerated when given an extra, superpowered boost.

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The Boys Season 2 recap: Episode 6, ‘The Bloody Doors Off’

By Wade Wainio | Nov 5, 2020