Director: Liz Friedlander
Writers: Rebecca Sonnenshine, Garth Ennis (based on the comic books by), Darick Robertson (based on the comic books by)
Cast: Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Antony Starr, Erin Moriarty, Dominique McElligott, Jessie T. Usher, Laz Alonso, Chance Crawford, Tomer Capon, Karen Fukuhara, Nathan Mitchell, Colby Minifie, Aya Cash, Giancarlo Esposito, Shantel VanSanten, Langston Kerman, Jessica Hecht, David Thompson, Abraham Lim

‘Proper Preparation and Planning’ Air Date: 04/09/2020
The Boys Season Two is currently available to stream via Amazon Prime with new episodes releasing every Friday.

This is a FULL SPOILER review of the second episode of The Boys: Season Two, “Proper Preparation and Planning.” Check back for more coverage of The Boys S2 each week as new episodes release. 

I cannot believe this show cast Patton Oswalt as the inner-fish voice of The Deep. A decision I can only take as being made by someone who has watched both seasons of the short-lived Happy! Maybe I’m still at odds with any redemption arc for The Deep, but I have to admit seeing him go through a deep (pun intended) search within himself was something special. And slightly funny, thanks to Oswalt. 

The majority of “Proper Preparation and Planning” focuses on the escaped ‘superhero terrorist’ we saw toss a boat in the air in the season premiere. Butcher gets word from Grace Mallory (Laila Robins) that capturing the terrorist will help him clear The Boys records and get him one step closer to finding his way back to Becca. Finding being the keyword. 

In a flashback, it’s revealed that following the short moments of seeing Becca alive-and-well he has knocked out again before waking up in an unknown state. Butcher quickly jotted down what details he could remember of Becca’s location including the North-West blowing wind, the colour of rooftops and more. It’s implied that Homelander let Butcher live in exchange for Becca cooperating and letting him be the father to his child. 

My favourite scene this episode goes to Antony Starr and the attempts to play a father figure as Homelander. It’s something special. He wants his kid to be another Superhero. I’m not sure what his plan is if the kid shows signs of superpowers, but it’s probably not good. 

The Boys set out to hunt the escaped super-terrorist. But what no one had clicked onto, even Frenchie, was that the man would be Kimikos’ brother, Kenji Miyashiro. The boy/girl translation Kimiko was attempting to make was lost in translation too everyone.

Butcher proves himself heartless with an attempt to take Kenji out only for him to wind up in the back of their van none-the-less as he fights with his own sibling. 

Kenji has been weaponised by the Shining Light Liberation Army (SLLA). The same terrorist organization that had killed Kimiko’s parents and kidnapped her. The atrocities that the U.S supes caused in Japan and the words of the SLLA have set a revenge mission in order for him against the U.S. What Kenji doesn’t realise, of course, is that he’s really just another pawn in this story.

We get a proper introduction to the latest member of The Seven this episode. Aya Cash’s Stormfront is quite an odd addition to the team. Especially since we know she was picked by Stan up on the top floor. Not only does she back-talk several interview questions, but she also seems to question the girls’ role in the hierarchy within The Seven. All this time, Aya Cash is proving to be a loveable character and maybe a new friend for Starlight within The Seven.

I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself, especially since there’s one more episode of the premiere lot to watch yet, but — knowing what I know from the comics, I’m not falling for this likable attitude of Stormfront. I’ll be interested to see if the same key trait of that character carries over from the comics or not. 

Seeing Queen Maeve struggle to explain to her ex-girlfriend, Elena, the reason she has kept her at a distance was sad. Her story about a celebrity getting ripped in two, our of, presumably, jealousy from Homelander sets in motion the idea that Maeve maybe isn’t as complacent in everything going on within The Seven. She’s obviously been pushed into a tough corner over the year. It was a small scene with Elena, but one that helped build a softer spot for Maeve.

A-Train makes a miraculous recovery only for Starlight to learn her remembers what happened that night. Fortunately, she’s not dumb enough to be blackmailed by him and manages to get him off her trail and sneak out some ‘Compound V.’ I do wonder what they’ll do with A-Train this season though, especially with more characters being added, it’ll start to get crowded very quickly. 

I’m hoping the next episode can move The Boys out of the comic book shop basement and potentially get a bit more of a fire burning under Hughie’s ass. Karl Urban is ridiculously scene-chewy in this episode, which is fine, I just want to see Hughie start biting back.

Side note: Frenchy wears an All Elite Wrestling shirt in this episode. How cool! If you’re reading this the day I post it, check out our AEW: All Out 2020 predictions.