The Boys season 4 episode 7 recap and review - "The Insider"

It is Thursday, which means The Boys are back with season 4, episode 7, titled "The Insider."

Following the... fun and exciting topics touched on episode 6, "Dirty Business", this newest episode delivers high stakes, major reveals, and the kind of chaos only our favorite misfit heroes and villainous Supes can deliver.

Before we dive into this episode, here's a little SPOILER WARNING. Please continue to read at your own risk.

We start off with Ryan staring in the "Avenue V Christmas Special" on the Vought Kids Channel. During the live show, he goes off-script, urging kids to value their families over propaganda. This is a big win for Butcher, who fears Ryan might follow in Homelander’s footsteps.

Homelander, frustrated with Sister Sage's lack of progress in finding the leak, teams up with Firecracker. They end up wrongly accusing and brutally killing Webweaver before realizing A-Train is the real mole. Sage admits she knew and was feeding misinformation to The Boys. Homelander, in his usual over-the-top fashion, kicks her out of The Seven. Bye-bye, brains - hello, brawn.

Mother's Milk is feeling the pressure in this episode. After a bad panic attack in the previous episode, he's seriously contemplating shifting gears in order to focus on his family, but just as he's about to make this life-changing decision, A-Train shows up. Our speedster, now on a redemption arc, tries to convince M.M. to stay in the fight. M.M. is torn - on one hand, he wants to protect his loved ones, but on the other, he knows the battle against the Supes is far from over. I have to say, A-Train has not been one of my favorites for the last 3 seasons, but he's continuing to grow on me in this one.

Meanwhile, Butcher, Hughie, and Annie (aka Starlight) are hot on the trail of a sinister plot involving a planned attack on a rally by Bob Singer. They discover these plans while dealing with a hallucinating Butcher, who admits to having Samir in their custody. Frenchie and Kimiko, who are having a bit of a rough patch, are tasked with babysitting him as they deal with some serious past trauma - Frenchie’s feeling extra guilty about his criminal history, and Kimiko is still haunted by her violent past. Their conversation takes a turn for the dramatic when Samir, who's the scientist cooking up a nasty virus intended to take down Homelander, reveals he has his own agenda. He stabs Kimiko in the leg with a needle containing the virus in an attempt to flee. Frenchie, always quick on his feet, has to amputate Kimiko's leg to stop the spread. Thank goodness for healing powers. Frenchie and Kimiko manage to get the virus back to The Boys, but the big question is: will it be enough to bring down the invincible Homelander? The Boys uncover the planned attack plot just in time, but not without a showdown with a Supe shapeshifter who slips through their fingers.

In a surprising twist, The Deep organizes an attack on The Boys, revealing his allegiance to Homelander. He shows up with a fake Black Noir, but the real kicker is A-Train stepping in to help The Boys, exposing himself as the mole. He then tries to persuade Ashley to ditch Vought, but she’s too scared to leave. Instead, she advises him to cut out his tracking chip. I honestly don't understand how Ashley has made it this far in the series, and though she's a horrible person, I still feel bad for her just based on the sheer horror she expects to happen to her if she were to actually leave.

The episode wraps up with poor Hughie getting tricked by a shapeshifter posing as Starlight and spending days on days with her thinking she's the real Annie. After a very not-Annie and this was so obviously not her, man moment, the shapeshifter messes with crucial information on Hughie's laptop, throwing a wrench on The Boys' plan. We find out that the real Annie is kidnapped and held in an unknown location and see Butcher passing out at a bar, which is never a good sign but hey, we're used to that by now.

"The Insider" delivers a hefty dose of drama, action, and emotional moments. With only one episode left this season, the stage is set for an explosive finale. Will The Boys manage to take down Homelander? Can they rescue Annie in time?

Don't forget to tune in to Prime Video next Thursday for what is promising to be an explosive finale for this fourth season of The Boys.