‘The Boys’ Has Already Done This Hughie Storyline (2024)

Editor's Note: The following contains spoiler's for 'The Boys' Episode 5.

Past all of its pulse-pounding fights and terrifying gore, The Boys is about people's love for one another. This may sound amusingly wrong to many, as the series from Eric Kripke on Amazon Prime Video has spent most of its four seasons focused more on people fighting against rather than working past their issues. However, its emotional center still shows through with elements like the series' major villain still craving love or its main anti-hero having a shocking soft side, with the latest storyline of the protagonist Hughie (Jack Quaid) emphasizing how it's people who matter most instead of all the chaotic combat.

His experience facing his dad's looming passing and struggling to find any way to stop it is heart-wrenching, with the program presenting a story that still features super-powered aspects but is focused on the connection between these loved ones — and it's a storyline that the franchise has done before. Because in The Boys Presents: Diabolical, the main show's animated spin-off, there is an episode that similarly focuses on a man willing to give up everything for the one he loves, his journey not only speaking to the heart of all human interactions but also important parts of the series that often get lost in live-action. Audiences got to see the devastating, beautiful end that Hugh's story came to, and if they're looking for even more, all they have to do is watch "John and Sun-Hee."

The Boys Presents: Diabolical

TV-MA

Animation

Action

Superhero

A collection of animated short stories that takes place inside The Boys universe.

Release Date

March 4, 2022

Cast

Grey Griffin , Chris Diamantopoulos , Ben Schwartz , Antony Starr

Seasons

1

Hughie Has Gone On a Wild Ride Throughout 'The Boys'

All of The Boys' main cast have undergone tremendous character journeys, but few have experienced as much across these four seasons as Hughie. An initially demure, anxious young man, the murder of his girlfriend by a superhero led him to join the titular "The Boys," a group of anti-heroes who go after Supes who have escaped justice for their heinous crimes. While still retaining some of his initial innocence, Hughie has become almost unrecognizable compared to who he was in the pilot; he now understands how irrevocably flawed the world is and the often-terrible things that must be done to try and make it right, leaving behind parts of his life that he doesn't deem important in the groups' fight against evil.

This is what makes it so heartbreaking when, after ignoring him in favor of focusing on their current mission, Hughie discovers that his father, Hugh (Simon Pegg), has had a stroke and is being declared brain-dead. Desperate to save his father, Hughie decides to do the only thing he can think of: inject the comatose man with Compound V, the chemical that grants people superpowers and could potentially heal whatever internal injuries are costing him his life.

This is a deeply resonant plotline, and whether intentional or not, so much of it calls back to Diabolical's "John and Sun-Hee." The animated short has a slightly different premise: John (Randall Duk Kim) is an elderly man who works as a low-ranking janitor at Vought, the company that creates Compound V and basically owns all superheroes within The Boys' universe. He is wracked with grief because his beloved wife, Sun-Hee (Youn Yuh-jung), is close to death in a hospital, cancer robbing the man of the person he loves the most.

Desperate, he steals a vial of Compound V, injecting her with it just as a whole squad of company goons comes to kill both him and his wife for the theft. It's a huge shock to everyone involved when they discover that not only has the concoction saved Sun-Hee's life, but it also turned her mass of cancer cells into a living, ultra-powerful mass that isn't willing to let its host die. This episode features many scenes of the thrilling action most fans are used to, but that is more of a side element in this story. Its entire plot, and especially the tearjerking ending, focuses on one of this franchise's main themes: what does it truly mean to play God?

'The Boys Presents: Diabolical's "John and Sun-Hee" Shows the People Within the Powers

There are many discussions about what it means to be God in The Boys, though less in the "religious" sense and more in the "people wanting to amass so much power that they'll be treated as a deity by those they see as lesser" sense. As Sun-Hee and Jon escape, the newly healed woman lovingly chastises her husband, happy to see him but calling out that not only was he going against the natural order by not letting her die, he didn't even ask her if she wanted to be injected! So much of this franchise deals with autonomy; from many characters throughout the series being forced to do terrible things to all superheroes being unwillingly dosed with Compound V as babies, it's easy to forget how much of the show's entire plot comes from people having their free will ripped away from them.

This may be considered as typical in a show filled with so many horrors, but Sun-Hee reminds everyone watching that just because something happens a lot doesn't mean it's okay. This is shown perfectly in the most recent episode of The Boys, as Hughie and his mother find that despite Compound V being used all the time, their misguided attempt with Hugh turned him into a murderous monster he would never have wanted to be. Both stories spotlight the tragedy at the show's center, reminding audiences how so many of the people they rally for (or against) are survivors of choices they never agreed to — by people who felt controlling the course of life mattered more than ever caring to ask.

Even beyond the discussion of consent, the episode stresses that beyond all the superhuman abilities and wealthy intrigue, it's the people who drive The Boys. This is often shown through the terrifying Homelander's (Antony Starr) twisted need for love, but whether it be in this animated couple or Hughie and his dad, the program shows that its entire premise is driven by the deep affection its characters have for one another, the feelings that push them to do everything.

Of course, this doesn't detract at all from the jaw-dropping violence on display, as Hugh becomes a monster who can walk through walls (and people), and even "John and Sun-Hee" ends with the now super-powerful woman fighting against her bloodthirsty, conscious cancer cells. But even that is motivated by her not wanting it to hurt others. Just like how Hughie mercifully kills his father in the end with words of how much he loves him, she leaves her husband with heartfelt reminders to take care of himself, calling back to the deep emotions that drive all of The Boys' characters — ones they often hide behind their badass brutality.

“John and Sun-hee” and Hughie’s ‘Boys’ Season 4 Storyline Emphasize the Importance of Love

As funny as longtime fans may think, "John and Sun-Hee" and Hughie's storyline point to how love is one of the strongest forces in The Boys. Of course, that may immediately strike many as cliché, since so much of the media is filled with plots that center around the deeply flawed concept that "Love Conquers All." But that's what makes this segment's couple and Hughie's experience with his dad so amazing, because it understands that it won't. These are some of the series' most passionate examples of love, yet even they reveal that the depth of your feelings doesn't excuse heinous actions or trying to meddle with a natural world that humans were never meant to.

There are some things we are just not meant to overcome; these episodes not only stress that supporting someone's free will is the ultimate form of affection, but also draw attention to how none of the live-action series would even be possible without the emotions pushing its people to fight. Both these stories show that the best option for those you love is often to let them go — no matter how painful that may be. And with their similar storylines and heartbreaking ends, both point out how essential love is to The Boys as a whole.

The Boys Presents: Diabolical is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video in the U.S.

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