The Boys season 4 episode 6 – which is suitably titled 'Dirty Business' – has the challenging task of following on from the pretty wild events of the last installment. As you may recall, last week's episode was total farm-ageddon as the team battled a group of seriously V-d-up animals, Hughie lost his dad and Vought news anchor Cameron Coleman was beaten to death by The Seven.
This week, the titular team infiltrate an alt-right cocktail party, which quickly takes a pretty nasty turn – strap in folks, this is easily the most NSFW episode of the entire fourth season. Elsewhere, Butcher is having his own issues trying to create more doses of the anti-Supe Virus, with a shocking twist that sets up future episodes.
With that, there's plenty to unpack, so join us as we dive right into The Boys season 4 episode 6. Warning! The following features plenty of spoilers for The Boys season 4 episode 6, so make sure you have watched the latest episode before reading on!
Say your prayers, Hughie
We pick up with Butcher, Joe Kessler, and their hostage Sameer, as the former two put pressure on the latter to make more doses of the anti-Supe Virus. The duo give him a week to "make something strong enough to top Homelander".
Elsewhere, Hughie, alongside his mom and the rest of The Boys, scatter his late father's ashes on the Maid in Manhattan tour – it's what he would have wanted. Kimiko then goes to visit Frenchie in jail but she is told he refused her visitation, while MM receives a call from a panicking A-Train who informs him about Coleman's death and demands a meeting.
The Boys come up with a plan to infiltrate an alt-right party at Tek Knight's estate which is the main setting of the episode, where Hughie poses as drug-addicted Supe Webweaver. That's a pretty dangerous move given that The Seven are also at the gathering... And like with any party, there's plenty of awkward conversation as Tek brags to the working class Firecracker about being rich and discusses his family's slave-owning past with A-Train.
Hughie manages to successfully get into the manor where he plants several bugs, before Tek invites him to his 'Tek Cave' to audition to be his side-kick. In truth, the cave is a grim sex dungeon and Hughie is in trouble, as Tek and Vought's Ashley subject him to their increasingly toe-curling kinks. Before long, Tek senses something's off and unmasks Hughie, then threatens to make holes in his body to well, penetrate them.
Concerned about the radio silence from Hughie, Annie, Kimiko, and MM head into the party themselves. There, Annie encounters Firecracker who is upset over Sage and Homelander ignoring her all night. Annie apologizes for her past actions before drugging Firecracker to remove her from the scene.
Kimiko and MM then come across Sage, who begins to make digs at his family. Things escalate to the point of MM shooting the Supe in the head, but has a panic attack following her comments and passes out. Seeking help, Kimiko brings A-Train into the room, encouraging him to get MM to safety. He drops MM off at a local hospital, where he encounters a young boy excited to see the hero, giving A-Train a sense of fulfilment.
Annie and Kimiko finally reach the dungeon where they save a traumatized Hughie and torture Tek by donating all his money to charities he hates, such as Black Lives Matter. Eventually Tek breaks, revealing to The Boys that Homelander wants to turn his private prisons into internment camps, which causes his long-serving butler to murder him.
"I've cleaned cum out of more holes than you can believe, but internment camps?!" he says, having throttled his former boss and revealing that the safe word was "Zendaya". Good to know the guy has some sort of conscious...
Voices inside my head, echoes of things that you said
Also at the party, Homelander's plan to convince a bunch of rich assholes to support The Seven's power-hungry schemes is thrown off course thanks to Sage's brain damage following the shooting. He takes things into his own hands giving a lecture on how useless politician Robert Singer is, and asking those in the room to invoke the 25th amendment which will give Homelander significant power. After facing some backlash Neuman steps in, winning them over with a strong speech.
Meanwhile at Vought Tower, the actor portraying Black Noir expresses to The Deep his frustrations about being part of The Seven, emphasizing that he wants to quit. However, The Deep convinces him to stay by opening up about how killing turned the previous Black Noir on, saying "violence is power".
Following the party, Homelander asks Firecracker where she was that night – she tells him that Annie was there and Tek is dead, revealing that Coleman isn't the leak after all. Wanting to demonstrate her love to Homelander, she invites him to breastfeed from her which, well, certainly wins him over. If there's one thing Homelander likes, it's breast milk.
During the episode, Butcher is also having his own struggles, talking to an imaginary Becca and his friend Joe about what to do with Ryan. In the final scenes, we once again see Billy and Joe put Samir under pressure to create another dose of the virus. He reveals that a drug strong enough to kill Homelander would evolve into something unstable, airborne, highly contagious, and lethal to every Supe on Earth - including Ryan.
Joe is delighted by the news telling Butcher this is how they wipe them all out, but the imaginary Becca tells him not to go along with this. Then it happens - as Becca and Joe starting arguing with each other, Butcher realizes that the latter only exists in his head too. Imaginary Kessler confirms this, saying that Butcher left the real Joe to die and that he killed Ezekiel (who mysteriously died earlier on in the season). The final shot of Butcher's face says it all - this can't be good at all.
The Boys season 4 episode 6 Easter eggs
Webweaver: This Supe makes his debut in the episode, as The Boys steal his superhero outfit so Hughie can wear it as a disguise at the party. In the comics Webweaver is a Spider-Man parody, able to create his own organic web. Not much else is known about the Supe there given his reserved personality but we do know that his death ultimately led to the creation of The Boys team.
Tek Knight: Following his appearance in episode 5, this Supe certainly has his impact on this installment as we enter his Tek Cave a.k.a. his horrific sex dungeon. For more on the Iron Man inspired Supe, check out our who is Tek Knight guide.
Laddio: When Hughie enters the Tek Cave, he spots another person gagged and tied up in the corner of the room. We can safely assume this is Laddio, who is Tek Knight's side-kick in the comics and a parody of Batman's Robin. Here whilst Tek calls him a "side-kick" he is a sex slave who eventually breaks free from his chains to help The Boys torture the Supe.
The anti-Supe Virus: This has been mentioned a few times this season but here we learn that it could potentially cause a pandemic that might kill off every Supe on the planet. It first introduced in spin-off show Gen V and you can learn more about it with our Supe Virus guide.
120 Days of Sodom: When Kimiko is searching for how to open the door to Tek Knight's dungeon, she comes across this book by writer Marquis de Sade. The unfinished novel is often cited as being one of the most obscene stories ever, following four men as they seek the ultimate sexual gratification. It's placement here then ties in well with what goes on in the Tek Cave.
The Boys Season 4 episodes 1 - 6 are available to stream on Amazon Prime Video right now with new episodes dropping every Thursday. For more on The Boys, check out the rest of our coverage:
- The Boys season 4 release schedule
- Homelander's dark past, explained
- The Boys season 4 takes full advantage of Prime Video’s most overlooked feature, and the result is hilarious
- Do I need to watch Gen V before The Boys season 4?
- Who voices Ambrosius in The Boys season 4? The surprise big-name cameo, explained
- Who is the new Black Noir in The Boys season 4? His return from the dead explained
- Who is Jeffrey Dean Morgan playing in The Boys season 4?
- Our writer’s opinion piece - The Boys season 4 plays heavy on cameos, and I'm worried it's becoming what it set out to mock
- Is this surprise A-list appearance in The Boys season 4 the show's best cameo yet?
