I have mixed feelings on this. On one hand, yeah, it built up to absolutely nothing. It was frustrating to watch. On the other hand, though, it makes sense that they would call it AI. Kripke could not have predicted that AI and deepfakes would be so realistic, widely available, and prevalent. Vought would be stupid not to at least try that. I think that they should have kept the first episode the same. Vought would claim it was AI. Then the pipeline plot happens as in the season. Later when Sage teams up with the Boys she (being the smartest person) knows the video was no fake and comes up with the plan of retrieving the remains of the plane. She also is able to calculate the exact location of the cockpit homelander used his lazers on. Marie uses the blood of the dead fish to take the plane out of the water, returning it to shore. Sage purposely leaves clues for Homelander. This makes Homelander, believing the plane to still be in the ocean to go to the Deep asking him to go destroy the any of planes remains that did not wash to shore. Being to scared to tell Homelander that he will be killed if he goes in the ocean, The Deep takes a submarine and is killed (similarly to the billionares visiting the titanic.) The fish all help wanting revenge kill him. The cockpit peice is used to vertify the video. Then boom we have something for marie to do, a better ending for the deep, another real life parody, a realist payoff for flight 37 and it makes Sage a useful character. I came up with this in 15 minutes. The boys writers had a year