The Boys Review: We Gotta Go Now (Season 2 Episode 5)
The Boys keeps on keeping on with The Boys Season 2 Episode 5, “We Gotta Go Now.”
While The Boys at its worst is still better than some other shows of the genre at their best, “We Gotta Go Now” is an episode where not much changes and characters mostly wave each other’s secrets in each other’s faces.
The Boys does characters well, and even if the episode stalls overall in movement, it doesn’t leave the audience bored, creating the perfect filler episode. That’s not to say it’s all filler. Billy, Starlight, and Stormfront all put forward their cards, leaving many of The Boys factions aware of each other.
When will they move? When will they strike? With only three episodes left in the season, there are still many elements waiting to come together, and “We Gotta Go Now” edges The Boys ever so slightly closer to the inevitable metaphorical (and perhaps physical) explosion.
Did anybody else wonder if Homelander actually burned down that crowd while watching those moments?
That’s the thrilling part about Homelander — he is a boy in a Supe body. He’s incredibly manipulative, but permeable himself. He has the ability to make dreams of horror a reality. Homelander’s duality and unpredictability make The Boys an “edge of your seat” drama.
Burning down a crowd of people is exactly the type of twist The Boys could pull off, but thankfully they haven’t. Yet.
Homelander truly devolves further, and season two could very well culminate with his ultimate rock bottom, as all of The Seven are poised to turn against him.
Maeve’s sexuality has been outed. A-Train is ousted from The Seven. The Deep wants back in The Seven. Starlight is already anti-Vought. And Stormfront is orchestrating this entire thing, possibly with ties to The Church of the Collective.
Stormfront’s longevity gives her the upper hand, something Homelander plays right into, culminating into this grotesque Supe-sex sequence I really could have done without seeing.
But at the same time, would this really be The Boys without a kinky sex scene to seal the deal?
Stormfront also dips her toes into Starlight’s life, making conversation and trying to manipulate Starlight’s relationship with her mother, which is understandably stressed after Starlight leaked the information about Compound-V.
Starlight and Stormfront end up playing their hands, leaving them at a draw (which really is Starlight covering for snooping). They tell each other that they know their secrets, but Homelander interrupts the stressed conversation.
Actually, much of the “We Gotta Go Now” takes place on the set of a blockbuster-Supe-team-up movie, leaving the episode ripe with subtle entertainment industry humor.
A-Train is the over-involved actor rewriting his script. But really, he’s trying to keep his place in The Seven to no avail. This season of The Boys continues to give almost every character other than Homelander an obvious reason to go against him.
It may not be blatantly obvious to him now, but Homelander already isn’t far from committing acts of mass murder. And while at moments A-Train’s desperation almost feels pathetic, The Deep’s storyline makes A-Train look profound and strong.
The Deep mostly exists this season to introduce and integrate The Church into the main arc of The Boys, merely existing as a puppet. But that’s what The Deep always has been. After all, Vought needs people they can control, perhaps their biggest mistake with Homelander.
Once again, Maeve’s plot stands out as one of the strongest as the reality of her situation sticks the landing. The Boys‘ best humor comes from truth.
The way the press stereotypes and molds Maeve and Elena for their own needs isn’t uncommon from the way corporations and big studios sometimes treat LGBT individuals or their community in general.
Homelander wants to torture Maeve, and he successfully does so, but just as all of his attempts to control The Seven, he’s only turned one more person against him.
Frenchie and Kimiko also make a brief appearance on the episode, with Frenchie attempting to stop Kimiko from attacking Stormfront, and he’s successful. This repetitive circle the two embark on is likely to continue until the height of the season.
Kimiko’s pain and headspace are hard to follow, as her communication with the audience is severely hindered. These unique aspects could be interesting, but only if more time and thought are dedicated to her story right now. But for now, hopefully these two have something more substantial to do soon.
Finally, Billy goes on a journey on “We Gotta Go Now.” He continues to reel from his loss of Becca again, hiding out at his Aunt’s (who happens to have a bunker for her drug activities).
Before, Billy found a purpose — to avenge his dead wife. Then it’s to find Becca. Finding her and losing her perhaps is a loss much heavier, as there’s really nothing he can do. Butcher has lost his purpose.
And with the appearance of Black Noir, he’s ready to give his life away in the aftermath of this loss.
The Boys are really a found-family united by a common purpose, and it’s that family that bring Billy back. That and the knowledge of Homelander’s son.
The Boys are back and on track. And with everyone’s eyes trained on Homelander, somebody is about to fall.
What did you think of this episode of The Boys? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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The Boys airs Fridays on Amazon Prime Video.
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Amanda Reimer
In addition to working as a freelance writer, Amanda also works with animals and stage manages various live performances. She has an invested interest in the perspective and experience of fandoms as well as anything in the science-fiction genre. She also loves spoiling her cats, Drummer and Kiki.