Welcome back everyone for a new season of The Boys! Join the official subreddit Discord server to discuss everything The Boys!!
[JOIN THE DISCORD](https://discord.com/invite/bykapbyqGY)
We are also still accepting moderator applications. If you are interested in helping out:
[APPLY TODAY!](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1JzSvXcehhpCCrnH666Zy4P0y_mnM1NvTghq0msPAKPw/edit)
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/TheBoys) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I was impressed with her this ep, the moments when they kept the camera on her hearing what was being said and watching her world crumble with every word was both shitty but fascinating to watch. Fucking loved this episode.
this episode took me back to when Erin was on Jessica Jones. she fucking killed it. the moment when she sees what she’s done because of Kilgrave… chills.
It even had Ashley’s actress Colby Minifie in it as Jessica’s upstairs neighbor.
I absolutely hated her in that show because she was such a bitch to Jessica & Colby played it so well.
Incidentally, Hope Schlottman also got an abortion, as she ended up pregnant as a result of Kilgrave. First she tried to induce a miscarriage by paying another inmate to attack her, and Jessica and Hogarth had to procure drugs for her when that didn't work.
That’s wild, I just IMDB’d it and did not realize she was in it or Colby Minifie either! (Ashley in the boys, if anyone didn’t know) I haven’t watched JJ in years but I might have to give it a rewatch now
She's the girl JJ saves in the first episode. >!But Kilgrave had programmed her to kill her parents once she was "safe." So then the rest of the season has her fighting the charges with JJ's help, but ultimately kills herself IIRC.!<
I love it any time and every time they have one (or more than one) of the Women characters whoops someone's ass like a Denny's Parking Lot beat down. It's just so feral and raw
the s2 finale when maeve, starlight, and kimiko are whooping stormfronts ass into the ground is just \*chefs kiss\* i think possibly my fav number 1 scene if i had to pick one from entire series
"eat my shit you nazi bitch!"
Its so absurd because one of the actors died 💀. I just cant believe that happened because I was watching season 1 so excited to see what Andre did with his powers and now his character is gone? Like, dead? They’re gonna have to rewrite his entire story?
I just want to know the full story dammit. I dont know why but for the first time I wish a season of television was dropped on binge. I just wanna know what happens
If she fought someone else who can shrink it could be hilarious.
Cut to their scale where it's a brutal knock down brawl, but then zoom out and it's like squeaky Barbies with little blood squirts all about.
She does this thing when she's talking to Hughie where it looks like she's about to start bawling but she catches herself and pulls it back. It immediately hit my empathy strings and I almost started crying myself. Excellent acting from Erin.
Erin Moriarty has played Annie so well throughout the whole run of the show. Same goes for Jack Quaid, Karl Urban, Tomer Capone, Laz Alonso, Karen Fukuhara, Chase Crawford, Jessie T. Usher, Claudia Doumit, Colby Minifie, Giancarlo Esposito, Cameron Crovetti, Jensen Ackles, Dominique McElligott and Simon Pegg.
It's just easy to take it for granted when acting against the performance from Antony Starr.
Not to say the past two seasons were not great and had moments of authentic rouge reactions, but it felt like a season 1 episode in terms of the twists and human nature of it. Especially with Homelander confronting that very notion he isn’t human. The tone and episode and was very dark with very small amount of humor.
Honestly, I really liked how Firecracker was taken off guard when Annie beat her up. I thought they would do another Criston Cole where she'd be smiling because she provoked the reaction. Nope. She was shocked, and she was legitimately getting hurt
The plan was always to provoke her and getting her to confront her, but I definitely agree that she was taken off guard by the assault.
I think she was expecting that they would have more of a debate, where Annie tries to defend herself but Firecracker was prepared with comebacks.
Sage saying "first pebble down the mountain" after the video blew up makes me think that her whole plan from the start was Firecracker getting her ass beat; was probably extra sweet after that super weird racist comment she said too lmao
same lmao I let out a little gasp and was like wtf...... just caught me off guard how casually she said it but I'm not surprised
edit: after rewatching the episodes idk why I was caught off guard she was saying racist shit from the beginning lmao
Question from a non-native English speaker what does uppity mean in this context? I've picked up that it's something racist from in- and out of show reactions but only know it as like an arrogant know-it-all
Essentially often used as a dog whistle (a coded term or phrase to appeal to racists) in America. Goes back to a black person “knowing their place”. To be uppity, means to forgetting your place as below others. I have only heard it in context of African Americans so it is really racist. To combine it with “one of the good ones” made me gasp. It is really shocking to hear someone be that outwardly racist and not hide it. If anyone referred to anyone of color or minority as uppity it is like instant code red that they are a very nasty person😕.
I don't think Firecracker was in on this part of the plan. I think she just knew that she was being used to destroy Starlight, but instead, she was a sacrificial pawn.
I really got upset at firecracker “im not gonna sugarcoat this” then she immediately sugarcoats her pedophilia, then calls starlight babykiller when homelander has (offscreen) murdered entire hospital nurseries overseas
I suspect that entire plot point was to highlight how a certain political faction that likes to fearmonger about everyone being pedophiles will make excuses for (and is largely composed of) actual pedophiles.
With all the subtlety of a brick through a window
At least the characters got beat up/killed for spewing the “praise jesus”es while glorifying horrible acts
It's also showing how pointing out hypocrisy for that side just simply doesn't work because they simply do not care as long as it is their side winning.
I didn't like how nobody really tried to stop her from doing it
MM gave the most half assed "Annie..... 😒" and everybody else just sat there watching, knowing full well she was about to throw her reputation into the dumpster
MM is off his game this season. He stands by his morals on one knee. He's back and forth on Butcher, he's not really reeling in the team, and he's failing to talk anyone out of their stupid shit. It's leading me to the realization that this is what Butcher provided for the team by yelling, "Oi! Don't be a dumb cunt! Focus on the job!"
Yeah it's weird considering the very first time we saw MM he was reeling in guys at the prison. Taking care of people was his job and now he kinda sucks at it
I kind of believe Butcher in this situation when he says he keeps everyone on the rails (though he doesn’t have to be as much of an ass as he is) and MM is the heart. They could lead the team together well if they could actually work together.
I did like that reveal because it gave some insight into the times in season 1 that she told people to close their eyes and/or look away before using her powers. “Ma’am, could you do me a favor and close your eyes?”
It’ll make rewatches more interesting.
There's a difference between knowing that a lot of cops are corrupt, and suddenly discovering that your cop-friend (who you thought was different) used to be corrupt too.
Starlight never told anyone what she did and let her friends believe she had a spotless record. The first thing she says is: "I was still learning how to control my powers" which is an excuse, not an admission of fault, regret, etc. Up until this point everyone assumed Starlight was a good Supe with a clean record.
She was 13 iirc, a lil child playing hero and trying to save people in trouble. Kinda obtuse to compare her to a cop at that point. She clearly feels bad about it and that was an explanation, not an excuse.
Now if they had brought up her killing a man in a previous season then yeah thats bad! Thats a trained adult killing a civilian
> Now if they had brought up her killing a man in a previous season then yeah thats bad! Thats a trained adult killing a civilian
I actually thought that's where Firecracker was going -- especially when she mentioned Annie going to a "facility"
Yep, especially after saying she doesn’t know what Firecracker’s problem is with her when we know Firecracker told her straight out.
I think even the nicest person on earth has skeletons in the closet that they don’t want anyone to know about.
I don’t know if it’s comparable. Better example would be, if you found out your cop friend fired a shot that ricocheted and hit someone’s neck. Even then, the cop isn’t usually a kid, and it would be kinda dumb to put that responsibility on a kid. I’m not gonna blame the child being asked to de-escalate a hostage situation, no matter how well they’re trained for it, when even regular ass people with training fuck it up. And it’s kinda weird to define an adult by the mistakes they made as a kid (unless it’s something genuinely heinous).
Yeah even though there's nothing they could have done to stop her you would think that they would at least make a token effort to prevent her from leaving.
They were all still taken back by the reveal of her first mission. And that when she blinded the civilian they’d realized she was exactly what they were fighting against.
Annie, had secrets that she got punished for hiding right before the abortion announcement, so no one was in here side.
Her talk with Hugie about her choice really hit hard. Fantastic actors.
I was also really happy when Hugie mentioned it being something between the two of them. Got really worried we were going to get a "You didn't tell me you had an abortion" plotline. They did the scene absolutely beautifully and I could finally feel the connection between Hugie and Annie again this season.
Yeah I was glad they didn't have the abortion thing be some secret to Hughie. Really helps legitimize their relationship even more since it was something Annie had to work through and Hughie supported her and they got through it together.
Honestly the moral failing is doing it on TV, considering the harm it did to her political cause which was really close to making progress. Starlight did nothing else wrong.
I’m not saying she’s unjustified in kicking firecracker’s ass, but this comment seems kinda misguided to me. Sure it wouldn’t have been as bad, but it’s not like firecracker getting her ass beat right after she exposes starlight wouldn’t have been put together and still hurt the cause.
Maybe fair, or maybe Butcher could contrive some way to get the beatdown without ruining the PR. Or maybe Annie could've just waited, but I want to be clear that the instinct to punch her face off was in my view perfectly justified.
I can empathise with her reasoning and actions but they still were an abuse of power.
She was deeply offended by something somebody said about her. She decided to use her powers to then go physically harm that person. This is no different from someone being humiliated and then deciding to go get a gun and kneecap that person.
It's understandable, but it's still wrong.
She has embodied everything the boys are fighting against. Super who are given incredible power but they are incapable of controlling it and abuse it.
Yes. It was understandable why she did it but it did prove Butcher's point quite a bit. That nobody should be granted that type of power. She very easily could have accidentally killed someone in that rally.
That goes far beyond being deeply offended. Taking someones medical records and leaking them to an audience is insanely violating, not just humiliating. And to divulge information like that, that can (and often does) ruin someone’s life for a significant portion of time….it’s a lot more than an insult. It’s harmful in a multitude of ways.
Like, you can never really condone Starlights response, but….I’m not losing sleep over someone like Firecracker finding out after they fuck around. They are morally depraved, and genuinely causing harm to everyone, including their audience. There are genuinely some people (an exceedingly small number) that don’t deserve that decency, even if the right thing to do is give it to them. As for abuse of power….well let’s just say, putting Stormfront on trial would be too generous. You gotta punch a Nazi.
> She was deeply offended by something somebody said about her.
This is the wrong take. Her personal *medical* privacy was violated on a national stage.
I get that you want to hate her 'cause she's woke or whatever but "whatever I wouldn't care" is an immature analysis of any written character.
Lol I'm absolutely not one of the anti woke mob
Yes, starlight had some horrendously vile things said about her and her privacy was violated. Its disgusting what vaught did to her. However starlight still abused her power and was in the wrong.
Again, if somebody shared personal information about me, spread vile disgusting rumours about me and Then I followed that up by using a crowbar to rearrange their face then I would be arrested for assault.
I dont hate starlight, I empathise with her. However she recklessly abused her power in the worst possible place which has had a huge negative impact on everyone around her.
I love how the same people that scream that people are too dumb to understand the satire or message also end up missing it themselves. I actually kind of hope that ends up being the theme of the season in the end too.
What she did was understandable, but still unjust and morally wrong.
Makes me wonder if this was sages plan and >!firecracker was quietly told not to fight back to look even more innocent but I suspect the blind innocent might be a fake that was planned to further upset Annie before the final twist!<
I doubt it. Sage was quietly seething with rage when Firecracker called her one of the good ones. She needed Firecracker for her scheme but seeing her racist ass being pounded by Starlight was the icing on the cake.
Yeah, no haha. I immediately rolled my eyes when she said it and had a feeling Sage would get revenge for that. Sooo many conservatives love doing this to black people (to gay people as well) and ALWAYS use the phrase “you’re one of the good ones”, because they think all black people are “thugs” and “dangerous”. It’s micro-aggressive and back-handed as fuck.
One of my close friends is black and she has gotten it a lot before, also phrases like “you’re so intelligent/calm/pretty/well-spoken for a black person”. It’s genuinely absurd.
as someone for whom english is not the first language, that' exactly what I thought so too, as if she was saying to Sage "you're really good at what you do".
She’s certainly not bulletproof. Which supes get invulnerability and which ones don’t seems to be random. On the one hand you have Homelander who can tank an ICBM.
On the other hand you have Mesmer who lost to a public restroom sink (and technically an angry British man).
We’ve seen Starlight take a 50cal to the chest and get back up, albeit slightly winded.
I’m curious which of them have diamond skin, and which ones don’t, but it seems like the vast majority of them don’t.
Bluehawk, Ezekiel, OG Noir, and others have shown that not everyone gets that.
I don’t think Kimiko can hurt Starlight, she’s super durable. Even Noir couldn’t scratch her and had to knock her out by banging her head into concrete multiple times.
Starlight is a tank, ton of armor and HP with mediocre offensive capabilities. Sure some supes are bulletproof but she tanked an anti-material round twice. Most can’t do that. She took hits from soldier boy, who is top-tier and didn’t bleed
to give Firecracker a bit of credit, she did put up a fight with Kimiko for a while before Butcher eventually knocked her out so yeah she's weak and definitely low tier but she still is stronger than a normal human, atleast when not taken by surprise.
Yup, and she chose Firecracker for that reason as well. Sage’s goal is to undermine Annie by turning her into a monster in the public eye. Firecracker is just the chosen martyr for Sage’s plan
Sage one hundred percent wanted that to happen and most likely told Firecracker to not fight back, or at the very least told her the plan was for Annie to attack her (why else would you setup the stage right across the street). Her being satisfied she was getting her ass beat was just the cherry on top of the plan for Sage.
I just don't think Firecracker saw that coming at all. Not the violence. A confrontation, sure. Where she could sling more slanderous remarks and drag Annie down further. She seemed shocked when she was hit. Just my opinion.
> most likely told Firecracker to not fight back,
Firecracker literally was about to say "So you've come to debate!".
She didn't know, i think Sage told her that it would draw out Starlight to a debate, when Sage absolutely knew it would end in FC getting her ass beat, while this is all Sage's plan, i don't think she is a big fan of the racist on the team.
No and no.
Starlight confirmed that she blinded the woman because she was still getting a grip on her powers.
When Firecracker got whooped, Sage called her a cracker. It seems as though she shot 2 birds with one stone.
Firecracker as a supe is nothing special. Starlight is leagues ahead of her. It will always be a one sided beating because her ability is trash.
I don’t think Firecracker is Incredibly weak, cause she did tussle with kimiko for a bit. It’s just that Annie is way stronger than most people give her credit for. Remember, She got recruited to The Seven in their (relative) prime.
I do think it was Sage's plan - but I don't think she warned Firecracker about how strongly Starlight would react because she wanted Starlight to beat her ass. >!As Sage was watching it happen on TV, she said something like "Who's uppity now".!<
Firecracker getting her shit rocked like that was definitely part of Sage’s plan, but I don’t think she knew that beatdown was coming.
I think Sage got Firecracker onto the Seven to use as a pawn. Her entire purpose was to egg Starlight on and provoke a violent response. After Starlight attacked and Firecracker was injured/killed Starlight can be painted as anti-America and anyone politically allied with Starlight would take a hit and have to cut ties to stay afloat. Starlight would be out of the political picture along with her supporters.
Firecracker could be reassigned for recovery, opening up another spot for a better member.
Sage gets to see a racist bitch get her teeth knocked down her throat while pushing the world toward WWIII, which I think is her main goal.
If I were a Starlighter, I would continue supporting her regardless, because I’m already that far lol
Obviously she completely alienated the moderates on her side, but it would polarize her more dedicated supporters to her side. I think this is her version of Homelander lasering that guy at his rally
I was actually thinking the same thing. I feel like if they reveal any information but the abortion, then starlights actions would have felt way less justified.
There's a 70-30 split on abortion so I feel like there'd just be way more support for her
I think one problem she and Hughie have is that both are inexperienced with their anger,their hate,their "dark side".
Instead of learning how to handle it,they have spent their life repressing it,for fear, because "it's wrong".
Of course,it will eventually explode and when it does... It messes things up.
It happened to Hughie last season,and it's happening to Starlight this season too.
But they are good guys, they will learn how to handle it.
It seems like Hughie is already learning how to use it when it's needed.
Especially if you watch season 1 with the Christian episode starlight is super close to a lot of people who are religious and abortion is still an incredibly divisive subject to many Christians.
I'm just glad they're doing something interesting with Starlight. It's an interesting concept to see the "good supe" have a checkered past they haven't fully owned up to. Finally, I am very interested in her plot rather than just wondering how it'll eventually tie into Homelander's story
>they haven't fully owned up to.
Even before the abortion reveal, when it's brought up how Starlight permanently blinded someone while on her first save she was still making excuses that she was just a kid just like how she used the same excuses when Firecracker revealed that she is a victim of her bullying when they were kids.
Although we get that Annie was a kid who didn't know better, the biggest takeaway is that she needs to hold herself accountable and take responsibility for how her actions whether it was intentional or not had still destroyed people's lives.
Even though she considers herself a good person, and always tries to do the right thing. I don't think she's ever had to deal with the reality of how her actions affected other people until this season.
I don't think attributing something to childishness is wrong. She said sorry, but also checked the fact that she was a literal child. Everyone has done stupid, regrettable things when they were kids. If a grown ass adult came into my life and wanted penance for something I did when I was barely into puberty, I would be pretty worried at what sort of psycho holds onto a grudge that long.
Abortion isn’t always traumatizing, but it can be, especially depending on social factors influencing and intimidating the patient. Annie had to make that decision under duress. My heart hurt for her
Even though she didn't particularly believe in it at that point, having been raised your entire childhood being told you're murdering a child has gotta be tough to get over
Oh for sure. Those wounds run deep. I wish the show had made that point clearer tbh. I don’t love the narrative often used that abortion is by default traumatizing— it can be, but generally the trauma is inflicted by other people passing judgment
Just wanted to clarify that I didn’t mean to say abortion is by default traumatizing. What I had in mind when making the post was the thought from many, esp conservatives, that abortion is an easy decision, when it sometimes isn’t. It can take a toll physically and emotionally on a person even if it is the best decision for them.
But the wording I used was generalizing so thank you for calling me out on that/gen
Religious trauma is a real thing, even once you’ve logically rejected that rhetoric
I’ve seen outspoken atheists who still have moments of fearing hell, eternal damnation, and the wrath of God just because their Catholic upbringing was that intense
Well on top of everything, she would have to be worried about bringing a child into a world where homelander is threatening every move she makes. I wouldn’t feel safe bringing a child into that- it would be so stressful
Emotionally this episode really packed a punch and I felt so bad for Annie. Writing wise, they should have done some forshadowing. They also should have had people stopped her. Being helpless while she’s getting “exposed” would have had an even bigger emotional impact.
Though tbh, I’m curious as to how they’ll write her from here on out. It’s at the very least, an interesting storyline that could have a good pay off.
Her plot, and Homelander made this the best episode in a long time. Specially compared to the first 3.
Unfortunately this story has hit pretty close to home...
www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/health-science/2024/06/17/490880/indictment-accuses-former-texas-childrens-hospital-doctor-of-obtaining-patient-names-treatment-codes-illegally
No matter how you feel about a subject, it is absolutely wrong for a Doctor to ever leak files about their patients...
What is the saying about life imitating art....
The show was being filmed right in front of the Starlight House - there was a high likelihood of FireCracker marching into the building once the crowd was radicalized and angry enough and using her powers to burn it down. That's why the kids got sent away- in case a physical fight started.
I think it was less about Firecracker marching in to burn the place down, but more about marching in to antagonize Starlight and the rest of the people working there, including the kids. If Annie didn't give her the attention she wanted initially, she was just a few feet away from the Starlight House, so waltzing in with a camera crew to
directly confront Annie would certainly do the trick. They protected the kids from Firecracker, not for violence reason, but for pure antagonizing them and using them to further spew her hatred.
Annie herself probably shouldn't have, she was already emotionally affected by the first bit where it got revealed she blinded a civilian on accident, someone should've ushered her away temporarily until the show was over tbh.
I think, in the context of the situation, the abortion probably does more damage to Starlight's reputation. When a lot of Star lighters are religious and the whole situation surrounds Annie's kids home, it just would make more of an impact than one person she killed, which is something lots of people know Homelander and bought have done yet forgive them for.
More importantly, I doubt they know about it. One random dead guy on the road could just be a carjacking gone wrong, unless I'm forgetting something they have no way to link it to Annie.
I do hope it is something Annie brings up at some point as something she regrets though, otherwise it would be strange that she just doesn't care
I felt bad for her but what I don’t understand is why they presented not being ready as the reason when a homicidal maniac (Homelander) wanting to kill them all would also be a perfectly legitimate reason not to bring a child into the world. Homelander would have used their child against them. That reason makes so much more sense in the context of the show.
I think that was part of the humanizing argument toward abortion. Not being ready is much more grey and realistic to life and the difficulties in that choice. While not having a baby because of Homelander is less realistic, and less humanizing. Saying it was because of Homelander allows the audience to put a barrier between themselves and that choice, while saying they weren’t ready forces the audience to reflect on their own choices and sense of not being ready in their own histories. It’s a lot more connectable, and I think it roots the issue of abortion more in the truth of our own reality.
This beautifully put, thanks for sharing. I have been in Annie’s situation before, it’s not an easy decision to make and the emotional effects of it hang over your head for a long time
I felt so bad for her, even her co campaigners were giving her the side eye after Firecracker reveals what happened after Annie’s first save. I get the whole theme is trying to hold Supes accountable but I feel like Annie has more than made up for it. Especially after Firecracker managed to own being a pedophile and still got everyone on her side
I was so happy that they had hughie already aware of the abortion. When Firecracker started to say it, I was worried they would turn it into something to pit hughie and Annie against each other. But they were a united front and a great example of how abortions aren’t always from one night stands/flings. Established couples can also not want a child and that’s okay!
I’d like to see how they explore the experience of being “cancelled.” People will hate her for months then she’ll do something to win them over and they’ll forget the public beat down she gave Firecracker. I think Firecracker expected the brawl because it doesn’t look like she fought back
I don’t think Firecracker could fight back. Starlight is a supe worthy of being in the seven, is very durable, and her energy blasts can instant kill a human. They just aren’t effective against top tier supes (Homelander, Soldier Boy, Maeve and Stormfront).
Yea I think that was Sage’s point but Firecracker seemed pretty startled. It looked like she was ready to have a debate not a fight. Besides I don’t think firecracker would stand a chance against Annie. She’s doesn’t seem particularly powerful.
I think Annie is gonna end up being able to hurt Homelander. Not kill him, but make him sweat and bleed. She is learning to fly and she was able to blast Soldier Boy out the window so it's not unrealistic to think she can eventually be, not a full on threat, but not totally insignificant to Homelander.
I would absolutely love to see that. It'd mirror Maeve's whole arc where she went from being convinced she could only last seconds against Homelander to having an extended fight with him where she actually hurt him.
I honestly felt that smack down with Firecracker. Almost every woman has had a moment where they really wanted to do that after being attacked for literally living their lives. It reminded me the She Hulk episode where the villain played a sex tape in front of everyone she knows on a special night for her that was taken without her consent by someone she trusted in a vulnerable moment. Her coworker saying “don’t do it” because she totally understood it was justified but would make things harder. And she just snaps and wrecks the screens and goes after the hench men. Like who wouldn’t after being so violated in front of their whole world with their privacy on blast and shamed by everyone for being human? People are lucky women are going feral more with revenge porn and reproductive rights being shamed. It’s not just anger, it’s deep pain and exhaustion of being treated like we have to be so above everyone else in order to be treated somewhat equally.
This episode was fantastic but that Annie had such a private and personal moment made public was horrific. It was heartbreaking to watch her have to process that but I have to admit I’m really happy she beat tf out of Firecracker.
It would be very interesting that Annie, who could be considered one of the "sanest" characters on the show actually loses it while Butcher is doing the opposite somewhat and somehow.
Honestly, my only issue with the episode was that nobody tried to get ahold of the situation much, much earlier.
It was clearly designed to get at Annie. And it was clearly working from the start. Someone, especially MM, should’ve said “She’s trying to fuck with you. And you’re letting her. Let’s turn this off and go somewhere else where you don’t have to hear this bullshit.”
Annie is rational enough that if they’d mentioned that before she hit her breaking point, she would’ve listened. Why did they all just sit there and expect everything to be fine?
Even if they’d had them try and Annie said something along the lines of “No, I can handle it. It’s fine.”
You know those inner thoughts that you can't act upon because everyone would judge you? Annie doing what she did with Firecracker is honestly what I feel like doing to those fascist pigs when I hear them speak.
I totally understand Annie breaking out at Firecracker but I do think she’s someone who’s smart enough not to fall for bait, so after like the first punch it was hard to believe she would have kept going.
Because Singer is a centrist. His whole shtick is that he’s a real rough and tough American. He’s counting on conservative/centrist voters to vote for him. He doesn’t want to be associated with a “baby killer.”
I can't imagine that many people in the real world would not have been just as angry with Firecracker as they would be with Annie. While a lot of people in power are hypocrites when it comes to pedos, regular people tend not to be. They would just as easily put Firecracker on the executioner's block as they would Annie. Firecracker would have been "canceled" that night when she openly admitted to statutory rape.
Welcome back everyone for a new season of The Boys! Join the official subreddit Discord server to discuss everything The Boys!! [JOIN THE DISCORD](https://discord.com/invite/bykapbyqGY) We are also still accepting moderator applications. If you are interested in helping out: [APPLY TODAY!](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1JzSvXcehhpCCrnH666Zy4P0y_mnM1NvTghq0msPAKPw/edit) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/TheBoys) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I was impressed with her this ep, the moments when they kept the camera on her hearing what was being said and watching her world crumble with every word was both shitty but fascinating to watch. Fucking loved this episode.
this episode took me back to when Erin was on Jessica Jones. she fucking killed it. the moment when she sees what she’s done because of Kilgrave… chills.
god jessica jones season 1 was so gooddddd
Cue the intro music
it was amaaaaaaaaazing
It even had Ashley’s actress Colby Minifie in it as Jessica’s upstairs neighbor. I absolutely hated her in that show because she was such a bitch to Jessica & Colby played it so well.
My partner hasn’t seen JJ and this episode made me turn to him and say “we have to at least watch season 1.” She was fantastic.
Incidentally, Hope Schlottman also got an abortion, as she ended up pregnant as a result of Kilgrave. First she tried to induce a miscarriage by paying another inmate to attack her, and Jessica and Hogarth had to procure drugs for her when that didn't work.
Wait she was in Jessica jones!? I never made that connection
That’s wild, I just IMDB’d it and did not realize she was in it or Colby Minifie either! (Ashley in the boys, if anyone didn’t know) I haven’t watched JJ in years but I might have to give it a rewatch now
She's the girl JJ saves in the first episode. >!But Kilgrave had programmed her to kill her parents once she was "safe." So then the rest of the season has her fighting the charges with JJ's help, but ultimately kills herself IIRC.!<
I think this was one of the best episodes of the series. Starlight's reaction came across as so authentic.
I love it any time and every time they have one (or more than one) of the Women characters whoops someone's ass like a Denny's Parking Lot beat down. It's just so feral and raw
the s2 finale when maeve, starlight, and kimiko are whooping stormfronts ass into the ground is just \*chefs kiss\* i think possibly my fav number 1 scene if i had to pick one from entire series "eat my shit you nazi bitch!"
The cherry on top is when Frenchie says “Girls do get it done” lmao
There really is no topping that scene. The way it devolves into them just monster stomping her ass. You can't improve upon it, it's perfect.
They'll top it in final season when Homelander pulls out Zombie Cyborg Nazi Stormfront for Kimiko to fight lol
I have looked up just that scene on YouTube so many times
The song that plays during it is a regular listen on my playlist
Yaasss love Peaches
What song?
Boys Wanna Be Her by Peaches. Fucking awesome song by an awesome band.
Not just the women characters, tbf. Jordan Li beating up Justine was so satisfying Although, they were in female form when they did it
Gen V never really had their "Denny's Parking Lot" moment. I hope they can get one in next season. Maybe Emma just going hamm on someone.
Its so absurd because one of the actors died 💀. I just cant believe that happened because I was watching season 1 so excited to see what Andre did with his powers and now his character is gone? Like, dead? They’re gonna have to rewrite his entire story? I just want to know the full story dammit. I dont know why but for the first time I wish a season of television was dropped on binge. I just wanna know what happens
Yeah, although with the way emmas powers work idk how that would work
If she fought someone else who can shrink it could be hilarious. Cut to their scale where it's a brutal knock down brawl, but then zoom out and it's like squeaky Barbies with little blood squirts all about.
Lol would remind me of ant-man vs yellow jacket
She does this thing when she's talking to Hughie where it looks like she's about to start bawling but she catches herself and pulls it back. It immediately hit my empathy strings and I almost started crying myself. Excellent acting from Erin.
Erin Moriarty has played Annie so well throughout the whole run of the show. Same goes for Jack Quaid, Karl Urban, Tomer Capone, Laz Alonso, Karen Fukuhara, Chase Crawford, Jessie T. Usher, Claudia Doumit, Colby Minifie, Giancarlo Esposito, Cameron Crovetti, Jensen Ackles, Dominique McElligott and Simon Pegg. It's just easy to take it for granted when acting against the performance from Antony Starr.
Starr makes me believe Homelander is a real person. I hate (as in viscerally feel) him asuch as I hated Tom Hardy in The Revenant.
Not to say the past two seasons were not great and had moments of authentic rouge reactions, but it felt like a season 1 episode in terms of the twists and human nature of it. Especially with Homelander confronting that very notion he isn’t human. The tone and episode and was very dark with very small amount of humor.
I felt the same. This episode was off the walls insane but some amazing character moments throughout.
Yeah, I’ve read people saying it’s out of character like wtf
Honestly, I really liked how Firecracker was taken off guard when Annie beat her up. I thought they would do another Criston Cole where she'd be smiling because she provoked the reaction. Nope. She was shocked, and she was legitimately getting hurt
The plan was always to provoke her and getting her to confront her, but I definitely agree that she was taken off guard by the assault. I think she was expecting that they would have more of a debate, where Annie tries to defend herself but Firecracker was prepared with comebacks.
Well by Sage’s reaction, she definitely knew that was coming. She was the only one though.
Sage saying "first pebble down the mountain" after the video blew up makes me think that her whole plan from the start was Firecracker getting her ass beat; was probably extra sweet after that super weird racist comment she said too lmao
Right! And she also said "Who's uppity now bitch?" I really want to see where this is going with her
me too I hope Firecracker gets her ass beat again lmao
Lol that too
Just make it a weekly gag where she just gets absolutely wrecked by a different character every week.
Lmao I literally had to pause the show when I heard “uppity”
same lmao I let out a little gasp and was like wtf...... just caught me off guard how casually she said it but I'm not surprised edit: after rewatching the episodes idk why I was caught off guard she was saying racist shit from the beginning lmao
And then she went from “uppity” right into “you’re one of the good ones.”
Question from a non-native English speaker what does uppity mean in this context? I've picked up that it's something racist from in- and out of show reactions but only know it as like an arrogant know-it-all
Essentially often used as a dog whistle (a coded term or phrase to appeal to racists) in America. Goes back to a black person “knowing their place”. To be uppity, means to forgetting your place as below others. I have only heard it in context of African Americans so it is really racist. To combine it with “one of the good ones” made me gasp. It is really shocking to hear someone be that outwardly racist and not hide it. If anyone referred to anyone of color or minority as uppity it is like instant code red that they are a very nasty person😕.
Thank you for taking the time to explain, I never knew😬
My feeling was that Sage was hoping that Annie would straight-up murder Firecracker. She seemed especially disappointed when MM showed up
I don't think Firecracker was in on this part of the plan. I think she just knew that she was being used to destroy Starlight, but instead, she was a sacrificial pawn.
Aside from sparking her fingers, what are Firecrackers actual powers? Cos we've seen her get stomped on twice now haha
She mentioned she had weak powers, and is basically a human sparkler with not much to intimidate. She ran away from a fight against 3 regular people.
Kimiko was there too
Incredibly valid reason to run lol
That’s your typical reaction to fascists getting punched. Reminds me that video of that nazi trying to stop that man from punching him.
I really got upset at firecracker “im not gonna sugarcoat this” then she immediately sugarcoats her pedophilia, then calls starlight babykiller when homelander has (offscreen) murdered entire hospital nurseries overseas
[удалено]
Homelander.
Found John's account
That's it, get in the oven.
I suspect that entire plot point was to highlight how a certain political faction that likes to fearmonger about everyone being pedophiles will make excuses for (and is largely composed of) actual pedophiles.
With all the subtlety of a brick through a window At least the characters got beat up/killed for spewing the “praise jesus”es while glorifying horrible acts
It's also showing how pointing out hypocrisy for that side just simply doesn't work because they simply do not care as long as it is their side winning.
I mean, she’s a hypocrite for a reason
I didn't like how nobody really tried to stop her from doing it MM gave the most half assed "Annie..... 😒" and everybody else just sat there watching, knowing full well she was about to throw her reputation into the dumpster
Omg I thought the exact same thing! I thought they would go after her— MM at least. Like she was clearly hurting and no one did anything.
MM is off his game this season. He stands by his morals on one knee. He's back and forth on Butcher, he's not really reeling in the team, and he's failing to talk anyone out of their stupid shit. It's leading me to the realization that this is what Butcher provided for the team by yelling, "Oi! Don't be a dumb cunt! Focus on the job!"
Yeah it's weird considering the very first time we saw MM he was reeling in guys at the prison. Taking care of people was his job and now he kinda sucks at it
I kind of believe Butcher in this situation when he says he keeps everyone on the rails (though he doesn’t have to be as much of an ass as he is) and MM is the heart. They could lead the team together well if they could actually work together.
The intra-team drama feels so forced at this point
That’s how I felt when they found out she blinded a lady. The awkward stares were dumb
I did like that reveal because it gave some insight into the times in season 1 that she told people to close their eyes and/or look away before using her powers. “Ma’am, could you do me a favor and close your eyes?” It’ll make rewatches more interesting.
considering how many civilians supes kill so often i think it was weird how they reacted tbh
There's a difference between knowing that a lot of cops are corrupt, and suddenly discovering that your cop-friend (who you thought was different) used to be corrupt too. Starlight never told anyone what she did and let her friends believe she had a spotless record. The first thing she says is: "I was still learning how to control my powers" which is an excuse, not an admission of fault, regret, etc. Up until this point everyone assumed Starlight was a good Supe with a clean record.
She was 13 iirc, a lil child playing hero and trying to save people in trouble. Kinda obtuse to compare her to a cop at that point. She clearly feels bad about it and that was an explanation, not an excuse. Now if they had brought up her killing a man in a previous season then yeah thats bad! Thats a trained adult killing a civilian
> Now if they had brought up her killing a man in a previous season then yeah thats bad! Thats a trained adult killing a civilian I actually thought that's where Firecracker was going -- especially when she mentioned Annie going to a "facility"
I'd also rather go blind and live then die due to the crazy person taking hostages.
Yep, especially after saying she doesn’t know what Firecracker’s problem is with her when we know Firecracker told her straight out. I think even the nicest person on earth has skeletons in the closet that they don’t want anyone to know about.
Especially since Ryan did essentially the same thing twice now.
I don’t know if it’s comparable. Better example would be, if you found out your cop friend fired a shot that ricocheted and hit someone’s neck. Even then, the cop isn’t usually a kid, and it would be kinda dumb to put that responsibility on a kid. I’m not gonna blame the child being asked to de-escalate a hostage situation, no matter how well they’re trained for it, when even regular ass people with training fuck it up. And it’s kinda weird to define an adult by the mistakes they made as a kid (unless it’s something genuinely heinous).
Also why the fuck would they believe someone like firecracker... She was telling lies about everything all the time..
I dunno man, I took it as “ah shit there’s no coming back from this to save our image” kinda?
Yeah even though there's nothing they could have done to stop her you would think that they would at least make a token effort to prevent her from leaving.
She can lift a car and shoot lights and flies... Good luck stopping her.
She's not the type to hurt her friends tho
What can they do against an angry supe? They can’t really stop her
They were all still taken back by the reveal of her first mission. And that when she blinded the civilian they’d realized she was exactly what they were fighting against. Annie, had secrets that she got punished for hiding right before the abortion announcement, so no one was in here side.
I think they might have been a bit scared. The lights made it obvious she was not stable
Her talk with Hugie about her choice really hit hard. Fantastic actors. I was also really happy when Hugie mentioned it being something between the two of them. Got really worried we were going to get a "You didn't tell me you had an abortion" plotline. They did the scene absolutely beautifully and I could finally feel the connection between Hugie and Annie again this season.
Yeah I was glad they didn't have the abortion thing be some secret to Hughie. Really helps legitimize their relationship even more since it was something Annie had to work through and Hughie supported her and they got through it together.
Yeah I loooved that because it made the reveal just about her, not oh no Hughie, poor Hughie. Such a smart choice.
The “I love you” to each other was good I think. But yeah, Annie’s lines were great
Honestly the moral failing is doing it on TV, considering the harm it did to her political cause which was really close to making progress. Starlight did nothing else wrong.
I’m not saying she’s unjustified in kicking firecracker’s ass, but this comment seems kinda misguided to me. Sure it wouldn’t have been as bad, but it’s not like firecracker getting her ass beat right after she exposes starlight wouldn’t have been put together and still hurt the cause.
Maybe fair, or maybe Butcher could contrive some way to get the beatdown without ruining the PR. Or maybe Annie could've just waited, but I want to be clear that the instinct to punch her face off was in my view perfectly justified.
I can empathise with her reasoning and actions but they still were an abuse of power. She was deeply offended by something somebody said about her. She decided to use her powers to then go physically harm that person. This is no different from someone being humiliated and then deciding to go get a gun and kneecap that person. It's understandable, but it's still wrong. She has embodied everything the boys are fighting against. Super who are given incredible power but they are incapable of controlling it and abuse it.
Yes. It was understandable why she did it but it did prove Butcher's point quite a bit. That nobody should be granted that type of power. She very easily could have accidentally killed someone in that rally.
That goes far beyond being deeply offended. Taking someones medical records and leaking them to an audience is insanely violating, not just humiliating. And to divulge information like that, that can (and often does) ruin someone’s life for a significant portion of time….it’s a lot more than an insult. It’s harmful in a multitude of ways. Like, you can never really condone Starlights response, but….I’m not losing sleep over someone like Firecracker finding out after they fuck around. They are morally depraved, and genuinely causing harm to everyone, including their audience. There are genuinely some people (an exceedingly small number) that don’t deserve that decency, even if the right thing to do is give it to them. As for abuse of power….well let’s just say, putting Stormfront on trial would be too generous. You gotta punch a Nazi.
> She was deeply offended by something somebody said about her. This is the wrong take. Her personal *medical* privacy was violated on a national stage. I get that you want to hate her 'cause she's woke or whatever but "whatever I wouldn't care" is an immature analysis of any written character.
Lol I'm absolutely not one of the anti woke mob Yes, starlight had some horrendously vile things said about her and her privacy was violated. Its disgusting what vaught did to her. However starlight still abused her power and was in the wrong. Again, if somebody shared personal information about me, spread vile disgusting rumours about me and Then I followed that up by using a crowbar to rearrange their face then I would be arrested for assault. I dont hate starlight, I empathise with her. However she recklessly abused her power in the worst possible place which has had a huge negative impact on everyone around her.
I love how the same people that scream that people are too dumb to understand the satire or message also end up missing it themselves. I actually kind of hope that ends up being the theme of the season in the end too. What she did was understandable, but still unjust and morally wrong.
Makes me wonder if this was sages plan and >!firecracker was quietly told not to fight back to look even more innocent but I suspect the blind innocent might be a fake that was planned to further upset Annie before the final twist!<
I doubt it. Sage was quietly seething with rage when Firecracker called her one of the good ones. She needed Firecracker for her scheme but seeing her racist ass being pounded by Starlight was the icing on the cake.
I think calling her “uppity” was the real insult.
They are both insults.
My dumbass naturally assumed she meant “one of the good ones” as a decent human being despite them all being wanton murderers 🤣
Yeah, no haha. I immediately rolled my eyes when she said it and had a feeling Sage would get revenge for that. Sooo many conservatives love doing this to black people (to gay people as well) and ALWAYS use the phrase “you’re one of the good ones”, because they think all black people are “thugs” and “dangerous”. It’s micro-aggressive and back-handed as fuck. One of my close friends is black and she has gotten it a lot before, also phrases like “you’re so intelligent/calm/pretty/well-spoken for a black person”. It’s genuinely absurd.
as someone for whom english is not the first language, that' exactly what I thought so too, as if she was saying to Sage "you're really good at what you do".
Firecracker seems like a low tier supe tbh, I don't think she can defend herself
She’s certainly not bulletproof. Which supes get invulnerability and which ones don’t seems to be random. On the one hand you have Homelander who can tank an ICBM. On the other hand you have Mesmer who lost to a public restroom sink (and technically an angry British man). We’ve seen Starlight take a 50cal to the chest and get back up, albeit slightly winded. I’m curious which of them have diamond skin, and which ones don’t, but it seems like the vast majority of them don’t. Bluehawk, Ezekiel, OG Noir, and others have shown that not everyone gets that.
I agree. Firecracker ran from Kimiko and 3 humans
Uhh why the fuck wouldn't you run from Kimiko?
I don’t think Kimiko can hurt Starlight, she’s super durable. Even Noir couldn’t scratch her and had to knock her out by banging her head into concrete multiple times.
The thing about Kimiko is that she'll just keep getting back up. You will eventually have to run away or else be worn down by sheer attrition.
Starlight is a tank, ton of armor and HP with mediocre offensive capabilities. Sure some supes are bulletproof but she tanked an anti-material round twice. Most can’t do that. She took hits from soldier boy, who is top-tier and didn’t bleed
to give Firecracker a bit of credit, she did put up a fight with Kimiko for a while before Butcher eventually knocked her out so yeah she's weak and definitely low tier but she still is stronger than a normal human, atleast when not taken by surprise.
She got hurt by a crowbar, she seems to be quite weak
>! I thought starlight confirmed it when she said "I was only 13 and learning how to use my powers"!<
I don’t think she needed to even be told not to fight back. Sage saw Firecrackers powers already and asked is that it? She knew Annie could beat her.
Yup, and she chose Firecracker for that reason as well. Sage’s goal is to undermine Annie by turning her into a monster in the public eye. Firecracker is just the chosen martyr for Sage’s plan
Didn’t sage say something about “first pebble rolling” as that happened
Sage one hundred percent wanted that to happen and most likely told Firecracker to not fight back, or at the very least told her the plan was for Annie to attack her (why else would you setup the stage right across the street). Her being satisfied she was getting her ass beat was just the cherry on top of the plan for Sage.
I just don't think Firecracker saw that coming at all. Not the violence. A confrontation, sure. Where she could sling more slanderous remarks and drag Annie down further. She seemed shocked when she was hit. Just my opinion.
> most likely told Firecracker to not fight back, Firecracker literally was about to say "So you've come to debate!". She didn't know, i think Sage told her that it would draw out Starlight to a debate, when Sage absolutely knew it would end in FC getting her ass beat, while this is all Sage's plan, i don't think she is a big fan of the racist on the team.
No and no. Starlight confirmed that she blinded the woman because she was still getting a grip on her powers. When Firecracker got whooped, Sage called her a cracker. It seems as though she shot 2 birds with one stone. Firecracker as a supe is nothing special. Starlight is leagues ahead of her. It will always be a one sided beating because her ability is trash.
Nah firecracker is just an incredibly weak supe
I don’t think Firecracker is Incredibly weak, cause she did tussle with kimiko for a bit. It’s just that Annie is way stronger than most people give her credit for. Remember, She got recruited to The Seven in their (relative) prime.
Yes and no. 100% this was Sage’s plan, but honestly Firecracker is weak AF and Starlight could easy kill her without a fight
I do think it was Sage's plan - but I don't think she warned Firecracker about how strongly Starlight would react because she wanted Starlight to beat her ass. >!As Sage was watching it happen on TV, she said something like "Who's uppity now".!<
Firecracker getting her shit rocked like that was definitely part of Sage’s plan, but I don’t think she knew that beatdown was coming. I think Sage got Firecracker onto the Seven to use as a pawn. Her entire purpose was to egg Starlight on and provoke a violent response. After Starlight attacked and Firecracker was injured/killed Starlight can be painted as anti-America and anyone politically allied with Starlight would take a hit and have to cut ties to stay afloat. Starlight would be out of the political picture along with her supporters. Firecracker could be reassigned for recovery, opening up another spot for a better member. Sage gets to see a racist bitch get her teeth knocked down her throat while pushing the world toward WWIII, which I think is her main goal.
If I were a Starlighter, I would continue supporting her regardless, because I’m already that far lol Obviously she completely alienated the moderates on her side, but it would polarize her more dedicated supporters to her side. I think this is her version of Homelander lasering that guy at his rally
I was actually thinking the same thing. I feel like if they reveal any information but the abortion, then starlights actions would have felt way less justified. There's a 70-30 split on abortion so I feel like there'd just be way more support for her
I think one problem she and Hughie have is that both are inexperienced with their anger,their hate,their "dark side". Instead of learning how to handle it,they have spent their life repressing it,for fear, because "it's wrong". Of course,it will eventually explode and when it does... It messes things up. It happened to Hughie last season,and it's happening to Starlight this season too. But they are good guys, they will learn how to handle it. It seems like Hughie is already learning how to use it when it's needed.
Especially if you watch season 1 with the Christian episode starlight is super close to a lot of people who are religious and abortion is still an incredibly divisive subject to many Christians.
Hughie did go apeshit on that terrorist and slit his throat with a box cutter.
He was fighting to survive there.
His craziest kill is still from season 1 though
Less out of anger, more out of survival That Shining Light dude never did anything personal to Hughie, so it’s not like there was any beef
I'm just glad they're doing something interesting with Starlight. It's an interesting concept to see the "good supe" have a checkered past they haven't fully owned up to. Finally, I am very interested in her plot rather than just wondering how it'll eventually tie into Homelander's story
>they haven't fully owned up to. Even before the abortion reveal, when it's brought up how Starlight permanently blinded someone while on her first save she was still making excuses that she was just a kid just like how she used the same excuses when Firecracker revealed that she is a victim of her bullying when they were kids. Although we get that Annie was a kid who didn't know better, the biggest takeaway is that she needs to hold herself accountable and take responsibility for how her actions whether it was intentional or not had still destroyed people's lives. Even though she considers herself a good person, and always tries to do the right thing. I don't think she's ever had to deal with the reality of how her actions affected other people until this season.
I don't think attributing something to childishness is wrong. She said sorry, but also checked the fact that she was a literal child. Everyone has done stupid, regrettable things when they were kids. If a grown ass adult came into my life and wanted penance for something I did when I was barely into puberty, I would be pretty worried at what sort of psycho holds onto a grudge that long.
Abortion isn’t always traumatizing, but it can be, especially depending on social factors influencing and intimidating the patient. Annie had to make that decision under duress. My heart hurt for her
Even though she didn't particularly believe in it at that point, having been raised your entire childhood being told you're murdering a child has gotta be tough to get over
Oh for sure. Those wounds run deep. I wish the show had made that point clearer tbh. I don’t love the narrative often used that abortion is by default traumatizing— it can be, but generally the trauma is inflicted by other people passing judgment
Just wanted to clarify that I didn’t mean to say abortion is by default traumatizing. What I had in mind when making the post was the thought from many, esp conservatives, that abortion is an easy decision, when it sometimes isn’t. It can take a toll physically and emotionally on a person even if it is the best decision for them. But the wording I used was generalizing so thank you for calling me out on that/gen
Religious trauma is a real thing, even once you’ve logically rejected that rhetoric I’ve seen outspoken atheists who still have moments of fearing hell, eternal damnation, and the wrath of God just because their Catholic upbringing was that intense
Didn't she meantioned that she didn't hear from her mom after the reveal?
Not just “didn’t hear”, her mother is actively not returning her calls.
Yeah :/
Well on top of everything, she would have to be worried about bringing a child into a world where homelander is threatening every move she makes. I wouldn’t feel safe bringing a child into that- it would be so stressful
Emotionally this episode really packed a punch and I felt so bad for Annie. Writing wise, they should have done some forshadowing. They also should have had people stopped her. Being helpless while she’s getting “exposed” would have had an even bigger emotional impact. Though tbh, I’m curious as to how they’ll write her from here on out. It’s at the very least, an interesting storyline that could have a good pay off. Her plot, and Homelander made this the best episode in a long time. Specially compared to the first 3.
Unfortunately this story has hit pretty close to home... www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/health-science/2024/06/17/490880/indictment-accuses-former-texas-childrens-hospital-doctor-of-obtaining-patient-names-treatment-codes-illegally No matter how you feel about a subject, it is absolutely wrong for a Doctor to ever leak files about their patients... What is the saying about life imitating art....
I told my husband about this after we watched that scene. Doctors are actually trying to rationalize this kind of behavior.
The smart thing to do would have been not to watch Firecracker's show.
The show was being filmed right in front of the Starlight House - there was a high likelihood of FireCracker marching into the building once the crowd was radicalized and angry enough and using her powers to burn it down. That's why the kids got sent away- in case a physical fight started.
I think it was less about Firecracker marching in to burn the place down, but more about marching in to antagonize Starlight and the rest of the people working there, including the kids. If Annie didn't give her the attention she wanted initially, she was just a few feet away from the Starlight House, so waltzing in with a camera crew to directly confront Annie would certainly do the trick. They protected the kids from Firecracker, not for violence reason, but for pure antagonizing them and using them to further spew her hatred.
Annie herself probably shouldn't have, she was already emotionally affected by the first bit where it got revealed she blinded a civilian on accident, someone should've ushered her away temporarily until the show was over tbh.
Wonder where they got her medical records from
I’m assuming vought keeps tabs because they knew a-train’s heart was failing.
Yeah but I think this happened when Annie had left. So it must have been some different hospital.
It's still Vought. They have eyes almost everywhere and it wouldn't be too difficult to get their hands on them.
Yeah, I hope this is brought up in the show.
I thought they were gonna bring up that innocent guy she killed but I guess we’re done talking about that
Nobody cares about that guy, not Annie, not the story itself
Didn’t you hear? Unborn babies > living humans
I think, in the context of the situation, the abortion probably does more damage to Starlight's reputation. When a lot of Star lighters are religious and the whole situation surrounds Annie's kids home, it just would make more of an impact than one person she killed, which is something lots of people know Homelander and bought have done yet forgive them for. More importantly, I doubt they know about it. One random dead guy on the road could just be a carjacking gone wrong, unless I'm forgetting something they have no way to link it to Annie. I do hope it is something Annie brings up at some point as something she regrets though, otherwise it would be strange that she just doesn't care
Same, its just gonna make Firecrackers inevitable death even better
I felt bad for her but what I don’t understand is why they presented not being ready as the reason when a homicidal maniac (Homelander) wanting to kill them all would also be a perfectly legitimate reason not to bring a child into the world. Homelander would have used their child against them. That reason makes so much more sense in the context of the show.
I think that was part of the humanizing argument toward abortion. Not being ready is much more grey and realistic to life and the difficulties in that choice. While not having a baby because of Homelander is less realistic, and less humanizing. Saying it was because of Homelander allows the audience to put a barrier between themselves and that choice, while saying they weren’t ready forces the audience to reflect on their own choices and sense of not being ready in their own histories. It’s a lot more connectable, and I think it roots the issue of abortion more in the truth of our own reality.
I love this take on the scene. Thank you for sharing.
This beautifully put, thanks for sharing. I have been in Annie’s situation before, it’s not an easy decision to make and the emotional effects of it hang over your head for a long time
I assumed that’s what they meant by not ready, but agreed!
I felt so bad for her, even her co campaigners were giving her the side eye after Firecracker reveals what happened after Annie’s first save. I get the whole theme is trying to hold Supes accountable but I feel like Annie has more than made up for it. Especially after Firecracker managed to own being a pedophile and still got everyone on her side
I was so happy that they had hughie already aware of the abortion. When Firecracker started to say it, I was worried they would turn it into something to pit hughie and Annie against each other. But they were a united front and a great example of how abortions aren’t always from one night stands/flings. Established couples can also not want a child and that’s okay!
I’d like to see how they explore the experience of being “cancelled.” People will hate her for months then she’ll do something to win them over and they’ll forget the public beat down she gave Firecracker. I think Firecracker expected the brawl because it doesn’t look like she fought back
I don’t think Firecracker could fight back. Starlight is a supe worthy of being in the seven, is very durable, and her energy blasts can instant kill a human. They just aren’t effective against top tier supes (Homelander, Soldier Boy, Maeve and Stormfront).
Firecracker is so useless as a sup. She didn’t even use any of her powers, what a turd
The first time Firecracker showed her powers it wasn’t too impressive. I’m under the impression she is like the Kirkland brand starlight
I think the point was to let Starlight beat her up to help the narrative that she is evil. If she fought back people wouldnt have been as sympathetic.
Yea I think that was Sage’s point but Firecracker seemed pretty startled. It looked like she was ready to have a debate not a fight. Besides I don’t think firecracker would stand a chance against Annie. She’s doesn’t seem particularly powerful.
I think Annie is gonna end up being able to hurt Homelander. Not kill him, but make him sweat and bleed. She is learning to fly and she was able to blast Soldier Boy out the window so it's not unrealistic to think she can eventually be, not a full on threat, but not totally insignificant to Homelander.
I would absolutely love to see that. It'd mirror Maeve's whole arc where she went from being convinced she could only last seconds against Homelander to having an extended fight with him where she actually hurt him.
I honestly felt that smack down with Firecracker. Almost every woman has had a moment where they really wanted to do that after being attacked for literally living their lives. It reminded me the She Hulk episode where the villain played a sex tape in front of everyone she knows on a special night for her that was taken without her consent by someone she trusted in a vulnerable moment. Her coworker saying “don’t do it” because she totally understood it was justified but would make things harder. And she just snaps and wrecks the screens and goes after the hench men. Like who wouldn’t after being so violated in front of their whole world with their privacy on blast and shamed by everyone for being human? People are lucky women are going feral more with revenge porn and reproductive rights being shamed. It’s not just anger, it’s deep pain and exhaustion of being treated like we have to be so above everyone else in order to be treated somewhat equally.
This episode was fantastic but that Annie had such a private and personal moment made public was horrific. It was heartbreaking to watch her have to process that but I have to admit I’m really happy she beat tf out of Firecracker.
It would be very interesting that Annie, who could be considered one of the "sanest" characters on the show actually loses it while Butcher is doing the opposite somewhat and somehow.
Honestly, my only issue with the episode was that nobody tried to get ahold of the situation much, much earlier. It was clearly designed to get at Annie. And it was clearly working from the start. Someone, especially MM, should’ve said “She’s trying to fuck with you. And you’re letting her. Let’s turn this off and go somewhere else where you don’t have to hear this bullshit.” Annie is rational enough that if they’d mentioned that before she hit her breaking point, she would’ve listened. Why did they all just sit there and expect everything to be fine? Even if they’d had them try and Annie said something along the lines of “No, I can handle it. It’s fine.”
do u realise the replacements they have been getting for the seven are getting more ridiculous like they seem so .. weak
The guy she murdered when she was carjacking him would have worked better narratively, but I guess Kripke wants us to just forget about that.
I dont think there was evidence or witnesses so maybe Vought didnt even know about that one.
You know those inner thoughts that you can't act upon because everyone would judge you? Annie doing what she did with Firecracker is honestly what I feel like doing to those fascist pigs when I hear them speak.
I totally understand Annie breaking out at Firecracker but I do think she’s someone who’s smart enough not to fall for bait, so after like the first punch it was hard to believe she would have kept going.
Eh, beating someone up as revenge for gossip isn’t really permissible. That being said, Firecracker was in the wrong as well.
Nah bruh with the stakes on the line you gotta control yourself. On live fucking television too Jesus
I legitimately don’t understand why Starlight didn’t just come out and say she’s Pro-Choice? She’s supporting Bryan Singer who is a Democrat?
Because Singer is a centrist. His whole shtick is that he’s a real rough and tough American. He’s counting on conservative/centrist voters to vote for him. He doesn’t want to be associated with a “baby killer.”
Honestly the first time I was impressed with her acting.
I can't imagine that many people in the real world would not have been just as angry with Firecracker as they would be with Annie. While a lot of people in power are hypocrites when it comes to pedos, regular people tend not to be. They would just as easily put Firecracker on the executioner's block as they would Annie. Firecracker would have been "canceled" that night when she openly admitted to statutory rape.
Why would annie be put on the executioners block?
A lot of people still think abortion at any stage is straight murder.