Life Among the Septics

The episode opens with Notorious B.I.G.'s "Hypnotize" playing as a car pulls into a low-income housing project, revealing Will Ferrell as "Coach Brink." He tries to persuade A-Train to leave the neighborhood and join him. Filmmaker Adam Bourke calls for a cut and praises Will Ferrell, but A-Train is unhappy with the script, feeling it doesn’t accurately depict his background. Black Noir is also on set, surprisingly speaking to A-Train. It is revealed that Ashley hired him as a replacement for the real Black Noir, who was killed last season.

Annie visits a hospital and watches Vought News wrongly blame two Black men for the deaths of Homelander's supporters. Hughie, at his father's bedside, confronts his mother about her involvement with Vought and storms out after learning she has power of attorney. Kimiko, attending speech therapy, leaves abruptly when questioned about her parents. At the Boys' office, Butcher reveals he's dying and having hallucinations, leading Mother's Milk to fire him for being a burden.

At Vought Tower, Ryan is introduced to his superhero identity, "Homeboy." Sage argues Ryan should stand alone as the first naturally-born Supe, but Ashley is unhappy about that, feeling jealous that Homelander respects Sage’s opinion. In the elevator, Ashley tries to confront Sage when The Deep shows up and asks to be present at Ryan's first “save” moment. Ashley dismisses him, and Sage tells The Deep he shouldn’t let Ashley talk to him like that.

MM informs the Boys that he has located Sister Sage at a Vought-owned hotel. Butcher and Frenchie go to the location while Hughie and Annie stay behind, with Annie suspecting A-Train was the one who killed the three Hometeamers to frame the Starlighters. Meanwhile, Ryan is practicing his first "save" with stunt actors. The Deep is also there and, during a break, confronts Ashley about her disrespectful behavior toward him.

The Boys attend a conspiracy theorist convention called TruthCon. Kimiko sees a poster about human trafficking and starts to have flashbacks of her childhood. She goes to buy a beer from a vending machine. Butcher, MM, and Frenchie attend a panel titled "Starlight and the Hollywood Pedophile Cabal," hosted by the alt-right Supe Firecracker. MM tells Frenchie to follow Firecracker's associate, Splinter. On his way, Frenchie sees Kimiko, who is drunk after drinking a lot of beer. She tries to persuade him to have a relationship with Colin, worrying that she is the reason he can’t be comfortable dating Colin. Frenchie says it’s not about her and is more complicated than that. They then sneak into a sauna and find Splinter and his duplicates engaged in explicit activities with a photo of Firecracker.

Meanwhile, Hughie and Annie spy on A-Train from their car. Annie tells him about her discomfort with her followers using her Vought-owned superhero name, Starlight. Hughie encourages her to embrace the name as a symbol for her followers. They observe A-Train speaking with his nephews, only to be interrupted by his brother Nathan, who reprimands A-Train for lying about being a hero and never actually saving anyone, only performing stunt shows. After his brother and nephews leave, A-Train runs away.

Butcher and MM eavesdrop as Sister Sage meets Firecracker. Sage questions Firecracker's motives for spreading misinformation. Butcher wants to intervene, but MM pulls him aside, criticizing his reckless behavior. Kimiko confronts a conspiracy theorist at the convention, condemning him for spreading falsehoods about child trafficking.

Hughie and Annie return to their office to find A-Train waiting with a flash drive containing security footage to free the accused Starlighters. A-Train explains his change of heart and thanks Annie for not confronting and embarrassing him in front of his family, even though she had the chance. Annie tells him he should thank Hughie. Meanwhile, Homelander interrupts Ryan's first save, wanting to be in the spotlight. He then tells Ryan to throw the actor, but Ryan overdoes it and kills the actor. Ryan is horrified, but Homelander praises him as if nothing happened.

Back at the theorist convention, Sage tells Firecracker that the Boys are CIA agents and they need to kill them to gain Homelander's approval. The Boys are chased into a Bat Mitzvah with a Marvelous Mrs. Maisel theme. Splinter duplicates himself while Firecracker livestreams, claiming she is being attacked by Zionists. Butcher makes his way into the room and kills Splinter, causing Firecracker to flee.

Later, Homelander tries to comfort Ryan, thinking he is upset because Homelander stole his spotlight at the first save, but becomes furious when he realizes Ryan is sad because he killed an innocent person. Encouraged by Hughie, Annie reclaims her Starlight identity, delighting her followers. Frenchie reconnects with an old friend, revealing his guilt over Colin's family's death. Hughie confronts his mother, Daphne, in his father's hospital suite, accusing her of abandonment and threatening legal action for power of attorney. Kimiko discovers a base of the Shining Light terrorist group in New York City and embarks on a solo mission. Butcher arrives, and MM thanks him for saving them from Firecracker and Splinter. Butcher expresses his regret over past mistakes and pleads to rejoin The Boys, but MM refuses.