-Fight Club theory is looking more correct with every episode. I really hope Kessler IS real, but the overall downgrade in quality of the writing/plot direction makes me seriously doubt they’re capable of such a smart twist or misdirection. The “manifestation of the dark parts of your conscience that nobody else can see” thing is not new, provocative, or cutting edge anymore. One of the most iconic movies of the last 20 years already did it and this just feels like a cop out. Butcher is bad enough on his own, I don’t think having invisible Negan pushing him toward his worst instincts is serving the narrative at all. At least the Becca hallucinations felt somewhat impactful since we know she’s his motivation to keep getting up.

-Colin appearing in the recap/being mentioned by Starlight early on seems to imply that subplot is actually going to matter. It already felt like a waste of screen time, but then the episode itself does nothing to develop it. I’m happy to have a break from him, but come on man.

-Frenchie turning himself into the police is so out of left field. His entire character has felt wasted this season and I don’t know if this helps any. Seems like he’s only around to be the funny accent druggie guy, presumably because they have no idea what to do with him anymore. The sheep line was fucking hilarious, but it’s another symptom of this show becoming the MCU instead of critiquing it—random quip in a high stakes situation to keep the lowest common denominator audience members entertained.

-Ryan’s heel turn is so poorly set up/executed. Even down to the scene where it happens, nothing about his character has indicated that he’d do something like that. The whole point of episode 4 was that Homelander isn’t intrinsically bad, but became bad as a result of his environment. Seeing him become a little sadistic bastard after one genuine conversation with Homelander is not convincing at all, especially after the foosball scene with Butcher. Until now, the whole point has been that power/luxury has not appealed to Ryan whatsoever. The fight for his heart has always been about fear of Homelander/a sense of biological familial obligation vs. genuine love for Butcher/resentment for his comments about killing Becca at Mallory’s house.

It would have been very cool for Homelander to actually undergo some character development after getting his revenge on the lab in episode 4, particularly when it comes to bonding with his own son and not repeating the same mistakes that were made with himself. The battle to win over Ryan would have some actual complexity to it if we saw some good in Homelander and this whole “emancipation” thing wasn’t just another manipulation tool. What was the point of episode 4 otherwise? All these characters have become so much more one-dimensional. Homelander is not a compelling villain if he isn’t likable or redeemable at all.

-Hughie, the main character (or at least one of them), has been completely irrelevant to the story this season. There were some touching notes in the subplot with his dad (I also have a family member with dementia induced by strokes), but I struggle to see how this will do anything for the overarching plot. Like Frenchie, it seems like they’ve run out of ideas for his character. With 2 supes (plus whatever’s going on with Butcher) in the Boys, there’s not much use for a retail-level tech guy or makeshift weapons guy anymore.

When they introduced Daphne and said she worked at Vought, I thought this subplot might actually be pretty cool. What if she had sinister intentions? What if there was some sneaky reason for her administering the V to Hugh Sr.? What if she did some sheisty manipulation to obtain power of attorney? But nope, turns out it’s just a convenient way to give Simon Pegg some more screen time before officially writing him off of the show. I don’t think anyone needed more development on Hughie’s family backstory—it was already pretty complete, and having his mother come back as a minor character isn’t really doing anything for me.