What happened in The Boys season 4 episode 5? Full recap

This season has had mixed reviews - but things are starting to get very real as the Gen V crossovers begin.

At Vought, A-Train is hiding a secret and Homelander (Antony Starr) attempts to spend quality time with his son Ryan, who's becoming more and more like him by the minute - a chilling thought!

Elsewhere, Hughie (Jack Quaid) and his dad Hugh (Simon Pegg) go through a traumatic ordeal before saying a painful goodbye. Oh, and that virus we saw in Gen V? That's about to be key.

More like this

Here's everything that went down in The Boys season 4 episode 5.

Mother's Milk (Laz Alonso) is having trouble with his daughter, who hit a boy at school after he claimed Homelander is a hero - and his wife is understandably not happy about the example he's setting.

Elsewhere, Joe Kessler (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) tries to encourage Butcher (Karl Urban) to ditch the rest of The Boys, reasoning that this time is his last chance to take Homelander down before he dies. After all, season 3 saw Butcher dealing with an inoperable brain tumour, but, after taking Temp V, there's something rather inexplicable going on with his health.

Starlight (Erin Moriarty) starts to question Frenchie (Tomer Capone) about Colin (Elliot Knight), who she says has ghosted her. Unbeknownst to her, Colin found out that Frenchie was the one who killed his family - so it's safe to say the pair aren't exactly on speaking terms.

As Butcher arrives, he tells the gang about the virus from Godolkin University that kills supes (as seen in Gen V). He knows Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit) has her hands on it and suggests stealing it from her, with MM backing him up.

Butcher says he needs a presidential pardon, and it soon becomes clear that's for Stan Edgar (Giancarlo Esposito), the former CEO of Vought who's currently in prison after Vought turned its back on him, in return for his help overthrowing Neuman.

While he almost refuses, Butcher drops the bombshell that Neuman injected Zoe (her daughter and Edgar's adoptive granddaughter) with Compound V, riling him up. Butcher adds custody of Zoe to the deal and Edgar agrees and walks out a free man. Edgar has a very awkward reunion with Starlight and orders The Boys to head west.

Tomer Capone (Frenchie) in The Boys season 4. Amazon Studios

Edgar takes The Boys to a house, where he claims Victoria would keep something secret. They enter to find a terrifying laboratory, with smashed Compound V on the ground and animals that have been tested on. Edgar claims he's as surprised as the rest of them. All of their noses start bleeding, and Victoria arrives - and they all reluctantly agree to a brief truce.

Victoria claims she's been protecting Zoe as she clashes with Edgar. She claims he was ashamed of her powers and says she won't put Zoe through the same thing. MM asks what happens when their truce with Neuman ends, and Butcher says he'll inject her with a dose of the virus - easy enough!

But first, they have to deal with some suped-up animals. The group enter a chicken pen to find a man dead with a hole in his chest. Before they can wonder what's happened, one of Neuman's colleagues dies horrifically as a chicken bursts through his body - clearly after being injected with Compound V.

Annie/Starlight attempts to use her powers but is clearly struggling - something Neuman notices.

Neuman reveals that she and Butcher made a deal - that he would sell out The Boys if she gave him Ryan, but he points out that he didn't go through with it. Truly heroic, Butcher.

Erin Moriarty as Starlight in The Boys. Jan Thijs/Prime Video

Neuman confronts Starlight about her lack of powers and accuses her of being out of control. Losing her temper once again, Starlight punches Neuman - immediately proving her right.

Butcher finds a rabbit close to death in the woods and sees a creature burst out of its chest - and we have to wonder if that's what's about to happen to him considering what we've seen of his declining health. He's clearly wondering the same thing.

Frenchie is having a crisis about all the terrible things he's done, as he confesses to Starlight. He admits he's scared that Kimiko will hate him - or that she won't. But there's no time to worry about that now as the gang encounter, as MM puts it, "a V-ed up bull". Fabulous. The bull is torn apart by V-ed up sheep who fly into the air, and The Boys quickly make a run for it.

By entering your details, you are agreeing to our terms and conditions and privacy policy. You can unsubscribe at any time.

They find Sameer Shah, Zoe's father, who admits that he tested V on a hamster before it leaked into the ground water, infecting the other animals. He reveals that the virus is gone except for one dose.

MM suggests using it to kill the animals, but Butcher says it's too valuable. MM shows the gang that he has hives (he claims from stress, but is something sinister going on there?) and gives Starlight and Butcher a talking to after they clash. MM wins the fight and injects the dead man with the virus in order to kill the animals.

The Boys make a run from it away from the V-ed up animals, who finally start to die around them. Sameer has disappeared and Edgar is arrested once again as he didn't take them to the virus - so no deal. Neuman kills the driver taking her father back to prison and rescues him.

Frenchie arrives at the police station, handing himself in for his crimes.

As we return to Butcher's point of view, we discover that Sumeer isn't dead - Butcher has him hostage and he's ready to put him to work to produce more of the virus.

We catch up with Homelander at the V52 Expo, where the powers that be from Vought announce "phases seven to 19 of the VCU" (which is definitely clearly not based on any major franchises). As he prepares to step on stage, Homelander is having gruesome and bloody flashbacks.

Meanwhile, Firecracker, the so-called 'Lord's Soldier', is on TV throwing accusations at Starlight after she beat her to a pulp on live TV. She also blames her for Ezekiel's death.

It becomes clear that Sister Sage (Susan Heyward) is determined to find the Vought leak, which we know is A-Train (Jessie T Usher). She starts getting suspicious.

Antony Starr (Homelander), Cameron Crovetti (Ryan) in The Boys season 4. Prime Video

Vought are introducing ridiculous films and jaw-droppingly racist 'diversity initiatives', while Ryan's debut is being planned. But he's not so keen. Homelander says he doesn't have to do any films or TV he doesn't want to, and he tells him he's been manipulated his whole life. He says that he doesn't want to do the same thing to Ryan anymore.

Firecracker (Valorie Curry) confronts Sister Sage about setting her up to get beat up by Starlight, with Sister Sage arguing it's worked in her favour. She also warns Sister Sage not to underestimate her and threatens her.

A-Train admits to Ashley (Colby Minifie) that he is the leak. He threatens Ashley and tells her she needs to get Sister Sage's eyes off him.

Homelander asks Ryan what he wants to do, and he says he wants to help people. When he finds out that Vought employee Adam (PJ Byrne) is making his PA Bonnie feel uncomfortable, Ryan orders him to get on his knees and apologise to her.

Homelander says he needs to be taught a lesson and tells Bonnie to slap him repeatedly. Homelander and Ryan share a chilling smile as they watch it happen. Like father, like son!

Homelander confronts the Seven and says that the world needs saving, and that they're going to have to do some violent things to save it. He says that, instead of being celebrities, they'll need to be "wrathful gods", which sort of makes you wonder what his aim has been before now.

Homelander brings in Cameron Coleman (Matthew Edison), accusing him of being the leak, with A-Train visibly surprised. Soon enough, we see Ashley, who Cameron dumped earlier in the episode, looking on, as it becomes clear that she's held up her deal with A-Train and is getting her revenge. The supes brutally beat Cameron up as Homelander smiles at Sister Sage.

Hughie's dad Hugh (Simon Pegg) can't remember having a stroke after being infused with Compound V. Hughie's left shocked as he didn't end up giving his dad the V - but his mum Daphne (Rosemarie DeWitt) admits it was her. She says Hugh is doing just fine, a comment that is about to age very, very badly.

For a while, Hugh is thriving after being injected with V. Hughie's mother gives him her engagement ring for when he proposes to Annie/Starlight. Hughie confronts his dad about giving his mother power of attorney over him. However, soon it's clear that his dad is suffering from memory loss.

Jack Quaid (Hughie Campbell), Laz Alonso (Mother's Milk) in The Boys season 4. Prime Video

Hughie's dad disappears and Hughie finds him facing the wall in another hospital room. He's standing over a dead nurse with a hole in his back. As he turns round, we see he's holding a bloody heart. When Hughie touches his dad, he flinches and it's clear he doesn't recognise his son.

Another nurse arrives and screams when she sees the scene in front of her. Panicked, Hughie's dad runs through a wall and straight into another patient. Stopping in his tracks, he manages to rip a hole in the patient, killing him in a bloody mess.

Hughie and Daphne find his dad bloodied, confused and terrified. His memory appears to have regressed as he talks about his 11-year-old son Hughie. He becomes distraught and enraged when he sees Daphne, as he remembers her leaving when Hughie was young. Killing a security guard, he sets his sights on Daphne.

Hughie finally gets his dad to recognise him and not kill his mother (a big win), but he's in pieces not knowing what's happening to him. Hughie says he knows what to do.

Hughie and Daphne emotionally say their goodbyes to Hugh, as Hughie injects him in order to kill him. In a final moment, Hugh slips away and Hughie breaks down in his mother's arms.

The Boys season 4 will continue on Prime Video on Thursday 4th July. The Boys seasons 1-3 are available to watch now – try Amazon Prime Video for free for 30 days. Plus, read our guides to the best Amazon Prime series and the best movies on Amazon Prime.

Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.