In the past, Billy and his wife Becca make love. Afterward, Becca tries to convince Billy to come with her to a band's reunion concert.
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Now, Billy wakes up, looks around his empty bedroom, and gets up. He goes to the shower, and afterward makes himself a Hot Pocket for breakfast. Billy watches a woman on surveillance footage, freezes the image, and studies it.
Susan arrives at her CIA office and finds Billy waiting in her office. She calls security and he hangs up the phone, then says that he can keep the Supes out of the military. Billy explains that he has evidence that the Supes are using a drug, Compound V, and figures that if word gets out then no one will want roid monsters in the army. He admits that he doesn't have a sample yet, and Susan asks if he knows about Translucent's invisibility. Billy claims that he doesn't, and points out that if Homelander becomes a member of the military then no one could stop him and he could commit any war crime he wanted. Susan tells him that if he gets her hard prove then maybe she'll cover his operating costs, but if he screws her over then she'll mess him up.
Once Billy leaves, he calls Charlotte and asks what their deal was. She tells him that A-Train gets the V from near a noddle shop and tells Billy the address, and is then forced to hang up and take a call from A-Train.
Milk is in a van with Frenchie and Hughie, talking to his wife. He assures her that he's got a big payday coming, and once he hangs up he dares Frenchie to say something. Frenchie teases him about marriage stifling male urges, and Milk talks about going home to sleep by the same woman. His teammate points out that he's lying to Monica about where he is.
A Filipino man from the noddle shop walks down the street and Frenchie spots him. The three men follow and watch him go into the basement of a shop. Frenchie picks the lock on the door and they go down after the man, guns drawn. They find their target and two other men eating, and the trio sneak around them and find a storage room. Frenchie finds the Woman in a cell, staring blankly at a TV. Milk says that it's a raid, not a rescue, but Frenchie wants to free the Woman and opens the cell door.
The three Filipino men run in, shooting their guns, and the Woman leaps out of her cell and kills two of them with her bare hands. The third one sees her do it and shoots herself. The men get out, slamming the door behind them and trapping the Woman inside. She stares at them for a minute and then runs off.
The Deep meets with a therapist, Dr. Damien Hodgman, and talks about how he tried to talk to the other Seven members a year ago about the Japanese slaughtering dolphins. That night A-Train stuck a blow-up dolphin in his bed with lipstick on its blowhole. The Deep complains that he's the diversity hire for the Seven and is a joke. Hodgman assures him that he's saved the lives of people, and the Deep--Kevin--figures that he needs to self-actualize. Hodgman asks what he wants to set his mind to do.
Frenchie checks the Woman's cell, while Billy arrives and asks Hughie if he's all right. As Frenchie finds a ticket, Milk locates a package containing a syringe filled with V. They figure that the Filipinos were dousing the woman with it, and wonder if it's A-Train's personal project or something tied in with Vought. Milk goes to track the package, and Frenchie says that he had a feeling about her. Billy says that they have to find her before Vought or the Seven. Hughie gets a text and quickly hides his phone, but Billy notices. He goes over and demands to see the phone, and discovers that Annie sent Hughie a text. Hughie says that they were supposed to go on a date but insists that the word "date" was never mentioned. Billy tells her to go out with her and hot mic her phone so they can listen in. Hughie insists that Annie isn't a bad person, but Billy tells him that she's a Supe like the others.
At the Tower, Madelyn meets with Evan and Seth to discuss Translucent's death. Seth suggests that they play up Translucent's death as a hero, but she says that they shouldn't mention that their unkillable heroes can be killed. Evan says that they say he's on a classified mission against MS-13, and Madelyn agrees. She gets a call, meets with Homelander and Maeve, and tells them that a plane was hijacked over international waters seven minutes ago. She figures the two heroes can get their quicker than the Air Force. If Homelander brings the passengers back alive then no one in Congress will vote against their bill. She says that it's more important than anything.
Cherie gives Frenchie halothane to knock out the Female. As he goes, Cherie says that she misses him, grabs his crotch, and makes him promise to visit her.
The police EMTs remove the dead Filipinos, and A-Train arrives and stays out of sight. He curses in frustration and runs off.
Madelyn is in her office, on the phone with her contact in the Air Force, when the Deep arrives and asks to talk to her. He tells her that he found an important mission: shine a light on the abuse of dolphins at Oceanland. Madelyn reminds him that Oceanland is the centerpiece of their fall campaign, and the Deep wants to do something with more substance. She tells him to play to his strengths and ushers him out.
A-Train goes to Charlotte's apartment and asks who she told about V. He says that she's the only one who knew other than him where he was taking it. Charlotte insists that she didn't tell anyone, but A-Train doesn't believe her. She says that she heard him at the race denying that he had a girlfriend, and A-Train insists that they make him say things like that because it's his brand. A-Train reminds her of when she relapsed and says that he always has her back, and asks who she told. Charlotte insists that she didn't tell anyone, and A-Train tells her that he needs her to move somewhere safe before Homelander finds out. She says that she loves him and the hug.
The Female goes to a salon and enters the backroom where the mamasan matron is counting money. She stares at the Woman in shock, and the Woman kills her.
Hughie and Annie go to a bowling alley, and they talk about their first kisses. She admits that she had a Jesus-centric childhood, and Hughie jumps when he hears balls crashing, reminded of when he blew Translucent up. He rolls and scores a gutter ball, and asks Annie what Translucent is like. He claims that Translucent was his favorite as a child, and Annie talks about how Translucent spends most of his free time with his son.
On the hijacked plane, the three terrorists threaten the passengers. Maeve opens the outside hatch, sucking one of the hijackers out, then comes in and breaks another one's neck. Homelander kills the third one and closes the hatch, and tells everyone that they're all safe. The passengers applaud him, and Homelander tells them that it was all them and then has everyone applaud Maeve.
Maeve checks the cockpit and finds a fourth hijacker holding a gun on the captain. He shoots the captain before Homelander can kill him, and the Supe hits the control panel with his heat vision. Neither he nor Maeve can fly the plane and it wouldn't matter if they did since the panel is destroyed. Maeve wonders what they should do, and Homelander goes back into the cabin and tells everyone that the situation is under control. He privately tells Maeve that there's no way he can save the plane or the passengers. Homelander says that they're done there and insists to the passengers that he's not leaving them. The plane starts to go down, and Homelander says that he's going to save everyone. He yells at Maeve to come with him as she stares at the passengers who are going to die, and then knocks open the rear hatch.
Maeve takes a girl and her mother with her, and the other passengers call for the Supes to save them. Homelander tells Maeve that they can't take anyone with them because they'll say that the Supes left the rest of the passengers to die. He angrily orders the other passengers to stay back, and Maeve tells the girl that she's sorry and then leaves her to escape with Homelander. They watch as the plane goes down.
Billy, Frenchie, and Milk arrive at the salon posing as homicide detectives and talk to the employees. The unis on the scene figure that it's a gang hit, and Billy discovers that A-Train is there. Milk quickly walks away, and Frenchie discovers that fingernail polish bottle he found in the Woman's cell came from the salon. Outside, Milk tells Billy that A-Train saw him a week ago, and Billy assures Milk that A-Train didn't see him in the salon. His teammate has identified the dead mamasan as Roberta Cho, who smuggled immigrants into the country from the Pacific. Billy figures that A-Train will find the Woman before they do, but Frenchie says she's heading to Penn Station based on the ticket he found in her cell. He realizes that the Woman is working her way backward trying to get home.
Annie sees one of Ezekiel's ads for his upcoming revival show, promoting Homelander and Starlight's appearance. She tells Hughie that she's just doing a panel for teens and donating her appearance fees to the Covenant House. Annie asks if he's okay, saying that he seems a little different. Hughie insists that he's fine, but then tells Annie that he's a little suspicious of her lousy bowling skills. He suggests that she's holding back to avoid showing him up on their first date, and tells her to show him what she's really got. Annie smiles and rolls a strike.
Billy, Milk, and Frenchie arrive at Penn Station and Milk's contact calls to tell him the package came from Samaritan's Embrace, Ezekiel's Supe charity. They split up to search the station for the Woman and then gas her with the halothane. Frenchie spots a TV in a s tec shop playing a Japanese musical show like the Woman was watching in her cell, and texts Billy that the Woman is there.
Frenchie finds the Woman hiding beneath a table, sets down the canister of halothane, and assures her that he's not there to hurt her. He tells her that when he was a boy, his father took him away from his mother and Frenchie tried to go back to her but his father often found out. Frenchie says that he knows what it's like to want to go home, and figures that she's scared rather than bad. He offers his hand and asks her to let him help her. The channel changes on the TV and the Woman runs off. Frenchie loses her in the crowd. Billy and Milk arrive and Frenchie says that it didn't seem right to gas her.
After bowling, Annie tells Hughie about how she beat up her high school date's enemy, and the boy never saw her again. That's when Annie learned to never show her strengths to a boy she likes. She asks if it bothers Hughie that she can whip his ass in everything, and Hughie assures her that he thinks the real her is awesome. Hughie imagines seeing Robin there, staring at him, and the hallucination disappears after a moment. Annie has gone to the restroom, and Hughie hot mics her phone.
The Boys search the station for the Woman, and Milk complains that Frenchie went off plan. He asks what happened the night Mallory had him tail Lamplighter, and Frenchie went off-plan. Lamplighter ended up torching Mallory's grandchildren. When Milk tells Frenchie that he cost lives, Frenchie hits him. Billy breaks up their fight and Milk tells him that he's done. He says that they're all going to end up like Mallory because Frenchie is still going off-plan. Billy says that they're shit by themselves and they need each other. He says that nothing will change the past and says that they find the Woman, knock her out, and get away. Milk and Frenchie start searching.
The Deep escapes in a van with a dolphin in the back, heading for the Atlantic. The dolphin "talks" about how it likes him, and the Deep insists that it's not the appropriate time. Police cars cut the van off, and when the Deep breaks the dolphin goes through the windshield and hits the pavement ahead where a semi runs it over.
The Woman heads for a train, and the Boys spots her. She leaps onto the tracks and runs the other way, and A-Train superspeeds up. grabs her, and continues down the tracks. She punches him, breaking his grip, and when he recovers he knocks her through a wall and then slams her head repeatedly into another wall at superspeed.
The Boys arrive and see her. Frenchie wants to stop A-Train, but Billy tells him that there's nothing he can do. Undeterred, Frenchie calls everyone over to see A-Train. A-Train drops the Woman to greet his fans, and Billy quickly gets Frenchie away. The Woman runs off, while A-Train takes selfies.
The Boys go after the Woman and finally corner her. Billy prepares to gas her, but Frenchie asks for the chance to talk to her. He goes over and asks to help her go home. The Woman tackles him, and Billy throws the halothane canisters. The gas knocks out Frenchie and the Woman.
The next morning, the plane's wreckage washes up on the beach. Police boats check the water for survivors, and Homelander and Maeve watch. Maeve sees the girl's doll wash up. A reporter does a newscast on the crash, and Homelander says that the passengers didn't have to die. When the reporter focuses on him, Homelander says that they arrived three minutes after the plane went down and they were late because they're not in the chain of command. If NORAD had called them then they could have saved the passengers. Madelyn watches on TV as Homelander says that if the government lets Supes into the military then something similar will never happen again. Maeve silently supports him, and Homelander tells the viewers to talk to their congressmen. The spectators applaud and Homelander says that the world hears them. The crowd chant Homelander's name, and Maeve watches as her fellow Supe leaves.
Written by Gadfly on Aug 10, 2019