3x03 Barbary Coast

[7.3/10] I like the fact that we get Mallory’s origin story, so to speak, and with it, the early chapters of both Stan Edgar and Black Noir. Making it so that Mallory was basically running part of the Iran-Contra affair, only to have her spot literally and figuratively blown up by Payback explains her distaste for Supes and preexisting willingness to color outside the lines in a satisfying fashion. The action sequences we get are solid, and it’s nice to see that the heroes were as much childish pricks in the 1980s as they are today.

That said, it still feels like this whole thing is tacked on and retconned backstory that doesn’t fit neatly with what the audience already knows. The show at least addresses the fact that Mallory never told this to Butcher or MM despite the fact that it’s pertinent information for both of them. But it does seem odd that she never mentioned anything about it until now, and that we’ve never heard the name Soldier Boy until season 3, when suddenly, it turns out he’s a big deal and has been a big deal for a long time.

I am also just dog tired of love triangles. There’s an interesting kernel to the Hughie/Annie/Supersonic romantic entanglement, at least. Hughie is putting the mission over Starlight, asking her to stay in harm’s way to keep Homelander occupied while The Boys hunt down the superweapon. Supersonic, on the other hand, refuses to extricate himself from harm’s way, so that he can look after Annie in a difficult situation. The contrast there isn’t lost on me, even if it feels a little too soapy and convenient for my tastes, and I just get really tired of third wheel romantic drama.

But as with Soldier Boy, it also requires Supersonic to be a significant part of Starlight’s life despite the fact that he’s never been mentioned or even alluded to until now. The nice thing about the first two seasons of The Boys is that, for the most part, it felt like we were gradually shown parts of the world we hadn't seen before, which just made the universe of the show seem larger and more connected. Now, it seems like the series is trying to jam new stuff into what we already know, which makes the developments, both narratively and emotionally, feel somewhat unearned.

I’m also pretty mild on Frenchie’s story. Here, at least, we already know that he and his old flame were involved in some rough stuff. But him getting cornered by Russian gangsters and then forcibly interrogated by his former drug-running boss who is also his former dominatrix comes off as a cheesy, broad sidequest that only serves as a convenient way for The Boys to have an in with the Ruskies once they find out Soldier Boy was kidnapped by them.

Butcher is the most compelling part of the episode, though. Him struggling physically with the aftereffects of the temporary Compound V treatment leads to a compelling physical performance that sees him at less than his best. He continues to be adorable with Ryan, particularly in Ryan’s concern about Butcher being sick and them both reminiscing about Becca’s saltine cracker treatment.

Unfortunately, that just makes it extra devastating when he unleashes a horrifying sentence on the poor kid, telling him he’ll never see Butcher again and that Butcher doesn’t want to even look at him after he killed Becca. It’s a ghastly thing to say to a child, and whatever sympathies you might have for Butcher in finding out that Mallory kept something important from him that could have saved lies, the fact that he takes it out on poor Ryan is abominable.

You feel extra for Ryan here. His conversation with Kimiko is outstanding, as the two have a lot in common and can commiserate in a way few can. The two of them talking about how they hate their powers and fear hurting people is full of pathos, and it leads nicely to Ryan having to control himself when Butcher says something hurtful.

Hughie’s also gone off the deep end. Butcher was once told that Hughie is his “canary.” The fact that, after everything, Hughie thinks now they have to fight dirty, that he’s tired of losing, that he wants to do things Butcher’s way, is an indictment on how far Hughie, and the rest of these knuckleheads have fallen.

That just leaves Homelander, who is as terrifying as ever once he finds out that his unvarnished megalomania is something the public (or at least some of it) rewards rather than recoils from. The Supe comparing himself to MLK, threatening to destroy the world if Starlight releases the flight video, and otherwise imposing his will, puts him in a frightening new phase. The way he throws his weight around: forcing Ashley to tell him good news while he’s in the nude, making The Deep eat a living sea creature, and claiming Starlight as his “love” are all chilling signs that he doesn’t have the slightest restraints on him anymore, something that’s been teased but never fully triggered, and yet seems closer and closer to fruition.

We get a little snippet of A-Train, finding out that he wants to drape himself in “the cause” of the black community, but refuses to actually stick his neck out or take a stand on anything meaningful. I appreciate his family calling him on his B.S., and exposing the way this is a mercenary move on his part.

We also get to see Annie’s struggle in all of this. The juxtaposition between her having to mask her pain and smile for the good of the show as part of a creepy child beauty pageant in the past, and having to do the same for the show as part of being in The Seven now is not subtle, but it’s still effective to show what she’s been going through since she was a child, and how despite trying to take ownership of her own life and seize the agency that’s rightfully hers, she keeps getting crammed into this same rough situation. The fact that it’s Hughie who’s stepped in for her mom makes it extra sad, and the threat of a superpowered psychopath forcing it and him on her makes it that much worse.

Overall, some interesting ideas and good acting in this one, but after a strong start, the plot choices here seem more and more shaky to me.