Why Homelander Visited The Lab: The Boys Episode 4

The Boys Season 4 is finally here, and most people absolutely love it so far! We have been waiting for a long time to see how the producers will develop the Season 3 finale of the American satirical superhero TV show, and it's safe to say that a very big portion of the viewers love every decision until this point. Season 4 is considered one of the most intense ones, and we're definitely excited to see how the story will end this time.

Many fans described Season 4 Episode 4 as extremely brutal and gore, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it was in a bad way. The main part of Episode 4 was more than shocking, with Homelander showing a level of aggression that we have never seen before in The Boys. But why did he visit the lab, and why is it so important to the storyline? Let's take a look at all the details surrounding Season 4 Episode 4!

Note: Spoiler warning!

The Boys Season 4 Episode 4

Homelander entered the office, and bringing that cake was definitely the last nice thing he did there. All the people who helped Vought raise him suffer terrible deaths, and Homelander seems more than happy to be the cause of that. Frank (Mark Cowling) and Marty (Murray Furrow) are killed brutally, and Barbara (Nancy Lenehen) is the only one allowed to walk out alive. However, her punishment is to live with the image of blood and violence for the rest of her life. Ouch.

Fans are now flooding the Internet with comments about Homelander's terrifying actions, and everyone is wondering if Season 4 Episode 5 of The Boys will take the same direction as this one. We already had some valuable insights about the character's childhood and the way his trauma influenced his decisions as an adult. In order to fully understand Homelander's intentions, it's necessary to look at all the important details surrounding his past.

The Boys Childhood Lab Episode 4 Explained

Although the fact that Homelander gives into his sadistic side in Episode 4 might seem unprovoked at first, there is definitely a good explanation for why he decided to kill all these people. In an interview, showrunner Eric Kripke explained that Homelander's return to the lab was an attempt to kill the part of him that's human. And in a way, this makes perfect sense for the character, especially considering everything he's been through.

His goal was to finally confront his feelings of vulnerability and humanity and his need for approval and love. So he wanted to confront it and kill it. And was he successful? I think he thinks he was successful.

TV Insider, Eric Kripke

Kripke continued by stating that no matter how hard Homelander tries to become invincible and act like a god, it will never work because he is simply human and nobody could ever change that about him. The aim of the background story was never to provoke sympathy for the character but to help the audience understand him a little bit better.

Why Homelander Visited The Lab The Boys Episode 4

Although Homelander's return to the lab was never aimed at awakening sympathy, it most certainly did for a lot of people. Yes, many characters in The Boys have had a terrible childhood, but most people agree that Homelander might have had the worst. Instead of being raised by parents, he was simply an experiment in a lab. He might have received some warmth from Dr. Jonah Vogelbaum, but this doesn't come even close to what a child could get from a real mother or father.

Even though nobody could fully erase their human side, Episode 4 of The Boys shows how childhood trauma can influence future behavior in a terrible way. Of course, past events are only part of the reason for his brutality, and they are most definitely not an excuse, but they're a solid explanation of why he turned out to be the way he is. In any case, the scenes added a good touch to the character and gave him a lot more depth. For more information about The Boys, you can check out this article.