Movies News Talk
Hold onto your hats; a bone-chilling scene in The Boys season 4, episode 7 has dropped a major bombshell: Ryan is on a fast track to become Homelander's doppelganger. Ryan's troubling behavior that mirrors Homelander's own dark inclinations suggests hints of this all around the season. But this especially scene closes the deal.
Recall the startling sequence in The Boys season 3 whereby Homelander, in a flash of wrath, launches a biting tirade on his superiority over everyone else? Against any attempts to make him answerable, he says he is the strongest, smartest, and best. Ryan offers us a terrifying parallel in episode 7 of season 4.
Ryan has to sing a corny song for a Vought Kids Christmas Special. He first objects, but he snaps while live on television. Like Homelander, he boldly speaks out and disregards Vought executives, exposing a dark truth about his evolving viewpoint. At last breaking free from the script, he says he misses his mother. This is quite evident of his increasing homogeneity with Homelander.
Ever the optimist, Billy Butcher had harboured hope that Ryan would reject Homelander's impact. Butcher celebrated after witnessing Ryan rebel against Vought on live television, thinking it signalled Ryan's release. Still, there are too obvious similarities between Ryan's Christmas Special rant and Homelander's birthday address to overlook.
Ryan is beginning to view himself as superhuman since he thinks he can control events to suit him. Embracing a "better than everyone else," he is increasingly resembling Homelander. Butcher is trying to face the dark truth here.
Butcher's faith in Ryan has been the one thing keeping him from adopting Kessler's extreme ideas. But should Ryan keep down this road, Butcher may have to renounce his conviction in atonement and veers dangerously toward his own dark side.
For Butcher, the stakes have never been higher. Before it's too late, he must act fast to pull Ryan from Homelander's grasp. But time is running out since Ryan resembles Homelander 2.0 more and more. Amazon Prime Video will show The Boys season 4's next episode on July 18.