{"id":636924,"date":"2026-04-29T19:11:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T19:11:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/636924\/"},"modified":"2026-04-29T19:11:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T19:11:08","slug":"season-5-episode-5-one-shots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/636924\/","title":{"rendered":"season 5, episode 5, “One-Shots”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Everyone\u2019s big gripe about The Boys is that it\u2019s a relentlessly bleak watch because it hits too close to home and offers no new perspectives anymore. This show used to know how to squeeze genuine laughs and gasps out of its ridiculous and risqu\u00e9 storylines. Now it beckons groans and eye-rolls. Thankfully, the Judaline Neira-penned \u201cOne-Shots\u201d ups the game, at least structurally. The whole \u201con a very special episode of\u201d approach gives the show a much-needed dose of energy, with a long overdue focus on a couple of one-note Supes, along with the anticipated reunion<\/a> between Supernatural<\/a>\u2018s leading trio: Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki, and Misha Collins.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Eric Kripke, who created both dramas, gives the stars of his former CW series some memorable scenes together. Does it lean way more toward shock value than narrative? Absolutely. However, when paired with the celebrity-packed poker game that ends in a bloody fight, and the surprisingly emotional arcs for Firecracker (Valorie Curry) and Black Noir (Nathan Mitchell), \u201cOne-Shots\u201d ends up as season five\u2019s weirdest, most entertaining hour. A part of me wishes The Boys had dug into the lives of those two members of The Seven sooner to make this more impactful. But at least Curry has a chance to shine before Homelander guts her character.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOne-Shots\u201d doesn\u2019t feel like a typical outing for The Boys. It takes place over one day, but depicts the POVs of various folks: Firecracker, Black Noir, Soldier Boy, Sister Sage (Susan Heyward), and even Butcher\u2019s English bulldog, Terror. Through the canine\u2019s eyes, we see that Kimiko and Frenchie still don\u2019t know how to communicate effectively, MM is okay with the fact that he\u2019s likely going to die, and Butcher agrees to save Annie and Kimiko from the V1 virus. Meanwhile, Sage reveals her endgame to Ashley: An all-out war between humans and superheroes is inevitable. She wants to survive by hiding out in a bunker in Colorado Springs. (Seriously, what\u2019s with that state and fortified underground shelters?<\/a>). Sage doesn\u2019t want her peace to be disturbed by Homelander\u2019s demands. It\u2019s why she hopes that Soldier Boy will prevent his son from becoming immune and immortal. As helpful as it is to know Sage\u2019s plans, since her superpower is intelligence and all, this feels too rudimentary for her. Is that really the best she can come up with?\u00a0<\/p>\n

The crucial aspects come via the remaining three perspectives. Let\u2019s start with Black Noir, who is understandably fed up with The Deep (Chace Crawford). Instead of being controlled by the literal octopus lover, he\u2019d rather pursue his true passion of acting. He even finds a cool new gig in a stage play directed by Adam Bourke (P.J. Byrne), the same guy who made Training A-Train and other movies for Vought Studios before being unceremoniously fired. Adam becomes a mentor to him, but their close bond sadly doesn\u2019t last long. The Deep follows him to the theater and overhears the two men bitching about him, so, in truly disgusting fashion, he gets an eel to kill Adam. All that Black Noir can do after watching his friend die is accept he\u2019s stuck in that suit with vile people. It harkens back to what A-Train experienced before his redemption began, which could mean Black Noir is about to turn on The Seven. Interestingly, The Boys gives its two Black male superheroes a similar path of realizing that they can do and deserve better. I hope Black Noir meets a better outcome than his fallen pal.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

As for Firecracker, she suffers an internal crisis in \u201cOne-Shots.\u201d A loud proponent of \u201cHomelander is God now,\u201d she is still trying to market him as the new Jesus Christ. It means she has to forsake the actual Jesus Christ, which is difficult considering she grew up in the Baptist Church. Her old reverend, who helped raise her, visits from Daytona and asks for her help. Vought\u2019s lackeys have been desecrating his church because they haven\u2019t yet aligned with Homelander\u2019s Democratic Church Of America. It gives Firecracker, whose real name is Misty Gray, emotional heft that she hasn\u2019t received since she joined The Seven. She briefly considers asking Homelander to pardon her old church. But when live on air during her conservative talk show, she gives in. With gritted teeth and a tear in her eye, she denounces her old church and accuses the reverend of potential sexual abuse. Unfortunately for her, her sacrifices are in vain.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There was no other way Firecracker\u2019s story was going to end, though, right? She was sleeping with Soldier Boy and made the horrible mistake of confiding in him about her dilemma. This pillow talk came back to bite her in the end because Homie couldn\u2019t take it that his apparently strongest believer didn\u2019t consider him the true savior. So he fires her from The Seven. She begs him to keep her on, claiming that she loves him for who he is, unlike other devotees who only fear him. But giving up her soul and morals was for naught. In one swift move, Homelander smashes her skull against a statue. The Boys would\u2019ve benefitted from digging into Firecracker\u2019s backstory earlier and giving her death some weight. As much as I enjoyed learning about her upbringing and seeing Firecracker in a different light (she meets with the reverend sans makeup and the bright red wig), it comes across as The Boys tying up loose ends over developing her into a multi-dimensional figure.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

We also see things from Soldier Boy\u2019s POV in a sequence that makes way for that Supernatural reunion. First, he gets Stan Edgar to reveal that a different Supe might know where V1 is. So Soldier Boy and Homelander fly off to L.A., where Mr. Marathon (Padalecki) lives and works as an actor in bad superhero flicks produced by Sony Pictures. He wasn\u2019t always doing this professionally. Mr. Marathon used to be a part of The Seven, but Homelander kicked him out to make room for A-Train several years ago\u2014and we all know how badly that ended up. Now, Soldier Boy and Homelander arrive at an inconvenient time: Mr. Marathon is hosting a poker game in his mansion. His guests include another Supe, Malchemical (Collins), as well as Kumail Nanjiani, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Will Forte, Seth Rogen (an executive producer of The Boys), and Craig Robinson, who play themselves. Through their chitchat, the celebs discuss the state of the industry under Homelander\u2019s tyrannical political and religious rule. In short, it\u2019s bad out there.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While busy trying to figure out what to post on their social-media accounts in protest, they all still try to cozy up to Homelander and Soldier Boy. Better to be safe than sorry, huh? Mr. Marathon says that Bombsight is indeed alive and likely has V1. He asks both of them to hang around for a little longer so that he can give Bombsight a call and ask him to meet them. The sight of Homelander sitting alone in a corner on the couch like he\u2019s a student being punished, as the celebs play poker in the background and Soldier Boy gets high with Mr. Marathon, is more fun than anything the show has done in a while. Homelander doesn\u2019t crack a smile or try to have a bit of fun.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOne-Shots\u201d only gets darker as it nears the end. Mr. Marathon admits to his hidden agenda of taking out Homelander, who is temporarily out of commission after Malchemical uses his powers on him. Together, Mr. Marathon and Malchemical attempt to convince Soldier Boy to help them kill his son. You can tell the three Supernatural actors are having fun playing opposite each other again. But to my surprise, Soldier Boy decides he now wants Homelander to live. I don\u2019t buy this switch-up at all. Just last week, he locked Homelander in a poisonous room in Fort Harmony, leaving him to die an agonizingly slow death. What changed? The Boys doesn\u2019t bother to tell us, but who believes it\u2019s because Soldier Boy suddenly realized he loves his freak of a son? Not me.\u00a0<\/p>\n

So Soldier Boy goes on a rampage inside Mr. Marathon\u2019s Hollywood home. When he\u2019s being chased at super fast speed, Soldier Boy throws all the actors in front of Mr. Marathon one by one. Robinson, Forte, Nanjiani, and Mintz-Plasse get blown into bits, with their organs and blood covering Mr. Marathon. Rogen gets split in half, with Mr. Marathon mercifully snapping his neck so that he dies quickly. And then, Ackles and Padalecki, who played tight-knit demon hunter brothers in Supernatural, go at it. They bash each other up, but Soldier Boy obviously gets the upper hand; and eventually, Homelander steps on Mr. Marathon and crushes his face completely. Again, none of this progresses the plot because we already knew that Bombsight has the V1. But damn if The Boys didn\u2019t have fun stretching all this out, which is a refreshing enough change of pace for me.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Stray observations<\/p>\n

\u2022 If you make a drinking game out of how many times the word America is uttered in this episode, you\u2019ll be plastered based on the opening couple of minutes.\u00a0
\n\u2022 As part of their marketing strategy, Vought is about to introduce a Homelander Bible on Easter. Soldier Boy said it best when he muttered \u201cwhat the fuck?\u201d when Firecracker handed Homelander the new holy book.\u00a0
\n\u2022 Here are the celebrities who have been arrested in The Boys\u2018 world because they\u2019re likely Starlight supporters: Aziz Ansari, Macaulay Culkin, Kiefer Sutherland, Meryl Streep, Joaquin Phoenix, Benedict Wong, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Channing Tatum. Also, Will Forte says he\u2019s glad Bill Hader was executed because now he\u2019s the one getting \u201coffer-only\u201d projects.
\n\u2022 Kumail Nanjiani: \u201cWe\u2019re storytellers. Our superpower is that we inspire hearts and minds. Look at the characters we create: Luke Skywalker, Katniss, Gandhi.\u201d He also goes on to defend Mark Hamill, Jennifer Lawrence, and Sir Ben Kingsley.
\n\u2022 Seth Rogen says he\u2019ll ask his friend, Lena Dunham, to pen an editorial for The Atlantic, with the rest of the actors praising her writing, which is wild timing with the release of her memoir.
\n\u2022 How many times will this show remind us that they\u2019ve got a prequel coming out soon? Soldier Boy is briefly lost in thought while holding a framed photo of Stormfront at Mr. Marathon\u2019s house.\u00a0
\n\u2022 Soldier Boy: \u201cIf there is a God, sure as hell didn\u2019t come out of my balls.\u201d\u00a0
\n\u2022 Grossest scene award: Tempted as I am to give this to Terror\u2019s horny dream about Homelander, this has to go to poor Adam\u2019s death. When he\u2019s taking a dump, The Deep sends an eel to go up the toilet and directly into his ass, causing him to bleed out. By the time Black Noir pulls the eel out, it\u2019s too late.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Saloni Gajjar is The A.V. Club\u2018s TV critic.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Everyone\u2019s big gripe about The Boys is that it\u2019s a relentlessly bleak watch because it hits too close…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":636925,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[49,48,75],"class_list":["post-636924","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/636924","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=636924"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/636924\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/636925"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=636924"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=636924"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=636924"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}