The Boys season 4 episode 5 recap and review: “Beware the Jabberwock, My Son”

We’re officially halfway through The Boys season 4! It’s been a righteous season so far, but we are still missing a few ingredients from making this a full-on Fudgie the Whale extravaganza. Luckily, the fifth episode of the season, “Beware the Jabberwork, My Son” delivered on a whole new level. 

The fourth episode pulled the curtain back on a few of the insecurities of Homelander, A-Train, Hughie, and Annie, and the fifth episode spun this story in the direction I think we all saw things heading out of Gen V season 1. 

The episode is split into three important storylines: Homelander and Vought, Hughie’s dad, and Butcher and the Boys’ hunt for the Supe-killing virus. 

Homelander reveals his plan to save America

The episode begins at Vought’s festival, V52, an event hosted by the Deep and Cameron Coleman. While Homelander is physically in attendance, he’s having flashbacks to his youth and childhood spent being tortured in a lab. 

After playing a trailer for Firecracker’s new movie, they play a tribute to Ezekiel after was killed by Butcher in the fight in Firecracker’s trailer. 

Meanwhile, Sage is looking for the leak inside Vought and the Seven. She questions A-Train, but he doesn’t bite. It seems like she knows what he’s up to. 

At the Vought Tower, Ryan tells Homelander that he doesn’t want to be in a new superhero TV show about him. Homelander opens up to Ryan about his past, and he apologizes for the way he was treating him and manipulating him. But, he’s not going to do that anymore. He specifically tells Ryan they are free and “emancipated from slavery.” 

Ryan tells Homelander that he really wants to help people. He doesn’t want to do fake saves. Ryan makes Adam, the director, apologize to his assistant for being creepy backstage, but Homelander makes Ryan ask Adam to make the apology from his knees. Homelander asks Ryan to teach Adam a lesson. Ryan, then, makes the assistant slaps Adam over and over as Ryan and Homelander watch with creepy smiles. 

Homelander reveals to the whole Vought crew that their new mission is to save the world. They’ll be asked to do things “for the greater good.” Sam and Cate from Godolkin ask what they need. Homelander reveals the source of the leak was Cameron Coleman, the news guy. Ashley and A-Train collaborated to pin the leak on him. Homelander asks the other Supes to show him their wrath, which basically means that they beat Cameron to death. 

Hugh has a bad reaction to Compound V

At the hospital, Hughie learns that his dad is basically fine after the Compound V. It’s as if nothing happened. His mom reveals that she was the one who administered the Compound V. We all know it’s not going to be cool for much longer, but that doesn’t matter now. 

Hughie’s family is coming together for the first time. They’re chitty-chatting at the hospital about the future, travel plans, and life. His mom offers her engagement ring for Hughie to give to Annie. Initially, Hughie doesn’t want it, but he accepts it. Then, his mother apologizes for walking out on them. Hughie’s dad says sorry for keeping her away for so long when she was reaching out. His mom leaves for the bathroom, and they continue the conversation. 

Minutes later, his dad asks where his mom has gone, which is the first sign so far that something is actually wrong with Hughie’s old man since waking up from the Compound V. 

Later, Hugh is missing. When Hughie and his mom find him, Hugh is holding the heart of a nurse! He doesn’t recognize Hughie at all, and now, Hugh can run through walls and people! He kills a person in a hospital bed, and it’s full-on madness at the hospital! Somehow, Hugh’s mental state reverts back to himself when Hughie was 11. He recognizes Hughie’s mom, and he claims that she ruined Hughie’s life. He rips the heart out of a police officer before Hughie and Daphne try to run away! 

Eventually, he catches up to them. He’s going to kill Daphne for leaving them, but Hughie steps in the way. Hughie tells Hugh that he is his hero, and Hugh believes him. He realizes that it’s actually Hughie, but he doesn’t know why he’s covered in blood. He keeps losing his memory and can’t control his powers. 

Unable to help him further, Hughie and Daphne say goodbye to Hugh, which is what they should have done before injecting with Compound V in the first place. 

Butcher leads the Boys on a mission to find Godolkin’s virus

Kessler tries to get Butcher to abandon the Boys and go after Homelander, but Butcher continues to turn him down. 

At the Boys HQ, Frenchie is still using drugs, constantly, but he’s lying to everyone about what happened with him and Colin. After deflecting the questions about how he killed Ezekiel, Butcher announces that there’s virus that kills Supes. He wants to find the virus, but he knows from his time at Godolkin that Victoria Neuman has it. They need to find a way to steal it from her, and that’s the plan. 

Butcher and MM pay a visit to Stan Edgar, played by Giancarlo Esposito, in prison. They have a paper with his release signed and sealed, but they need him to help them find the virus. Butcher offers him custody of Zoey, his granddaughter, whom he didn’t know he had, in exchange for finding the virus and helping them use it to take out Neuman. 

Stan accepts the offer and takes them to Neuman’s old stomping grounds at Stan’s house. There’s blood everywhere on the walls, so something is wrong. Butcher and the gang stumble upon a lab in the basement. There are all kinds of rodents, including some rabbits, who are getting Compound V, Temp V, and likely other drugs. Butcher takes one of the rabbits out of the cage and lets it free, which makes Kimiko very happy. In the fridge, Frenchie finds the virus holders but no virus. Then, their noses start bleeding! Victoria Neuman arrives and questions them about what they’re doing. 

Stan explains to Victoria that they’re at a stalemate because they will reveal Neuman’s secret about being a Supe. She wants to know what they did with Samir, but he’s not there. Stan proposes that they all work together to find Sameer. 

Working together, Victoria and Stan lead the team around the property trying to find Sameer or any clue about what’s going on. In the chicken coop, they find V’d up chickens who are killing people, including Sameer’s lab assistant. After fighting them off, Neuman revealed she had a deal with Butcher to give her all the dirt the Boys had on her in exchange for Ryan. Obviously, Butcher didn’t go through with it, but the team still doesn’t trust him. 

While they continue the search, Victoria starts talking some s to Annie, and Annie just punches her in the face. It seems like Annie is unraveling quickly. 

Butcher finds the rabbit he released from the lab on the ground in the woods. Tentacles shoot out of the rabbit's stomach! We can’t tell what happened, but that’s not good at all. Is that what’s happening to Butcher? 

Later, Frenchie and Annie discuss Frenchie’s past. They’re interrupted by a V’d up bull, but it’s clear the real threat is the V’d up flying sheep with razor-sharp teeth! A dozen or so sheeps fly around them, but they take cover in the barn, where they find Sameer. He explains what happened. 

There’s only one last dose of the virus left according to Sameer. The Compound V leaked into the groundwater, which exposed the livestock, after a V’d up hamster ruined the lab. 

After a massive argument in the barn, MM takes charge. He calls out Annie, Butcher, and Victoria for their behavior. He talks some sense into them and convinces them to work together. They inject the virus dose into the dead man and throw him out to the V’d up sheep, which works. After the sheep break into the barn, they feel the effects of the virus and drop dead out of the sky. 

In the chaos, Sameer is killed by the V’d up sheep, but they never find his body aside from a missing leg. Because they couldn’t recover the virus, Butcher and MM send Stan back to prison. Then, they all go their separate ways, or so it seems. 

As they are driving away, Victoria blows up the head of the driver of Stan’s car, freeing Stan. He’s back in the game! 

Later, Frenchie goes to the police station and turns himself in for “murders.” 

At the end of the episode, Butcher brings Kessler to the place where he’s actually been hiding Sameer, who is very much alive and legless. In the chaos at the farm, Butcher chopped off Sameer’s leg to make it seem like Sameer was dead. He, then, holds him hostage until Kessler arrives. There, he reveals to Sameer that his “soccer days are over” and that he’s going to be making more of the Supe-killing virus.