Jared Padalecki, who Eric Kripke cast as Sam in Supernatural, has finally said yes to potentially joining The Boys in Season 5, which is wonderful news for the show. Before we get into the fourth episode of Season 4 of The Boys, which is perhaps one of the best episodes of the series, there is more good news.

If Jensen Ackles’ Soldier Boy makes a return in Season 5, as we suspect, the entire Supernatural fandom will be impatiently waiting (not that many of us aren’t already, enjoying SPN alumni Rob Benedict (RIP Splinter) and Jeffrey Dean Morgan along with the entire stellar cast of The Boys).

(With that book Jensen’s holding, Supes Ain’t Always Heroes, you can catch up on everything “The Boys,” including in-depth analyses of the characters and everything that makes the program unique – with exclusive interviews with Jensen Ackles on Soldier Boy and other cast members. Note: Links are at the conclusion of the article.

For a long time, I’ve been hoping Jared would join The Boys when his schedule allowed, so I’m excited to hear that could happen shortly!

So, where are we now in Season 4?  The Boys’ fourth episode of Season 4 takes a very dark turn, with several people experiencing severe misfortune.

It’s been more than a week, so I’m assuming you’ve caught up with all the insanity of the first three episodes (Spoilers for those episodes ahead). To recap:

Homelander and company have a plan for taking out poor Robert Singer and putting in fellow supe Victoria Neuman. On a personal note, Homelander is so obsessed with aging that he’s collecting gray hairs in a jar – gray hairs from anywhere he finds ‘em. He’s also sick of being surrounded by sycophants and imbeciles, proving it by demanding that The Deep give A Train a blow job and having them stand up and start getting to it (much to Ashley’s obvious excitement which was a touch I loved!).

That was an oddly appropriate response to the scene in Season 1 where The Deep has Starlight give him a blow job, and he actually follows through on it. I adore that the show acknowledges its own past.

Butcher’s having a crisis of conscience as he weighs how much he’s ready to do to Ryan to “get him on our side”, represented in visions of Becca. In addition to being portrayed by Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Butcher’s new friend Joe Kessler has also caused anguish to the Supernatural fans by channeling John Winchester, the character he played on that show, and declaring to Butcher that yes, he would raise his son to be a Supernatural. John Winchester treated both of his sons in this exact manner.

So far, Butcher is listening to Becca, agreeing to drug Ryan and hold him until he switches sides but then changing his mind at the last minute and apologizing for the hurtful things he said instead. Just when you think Butcher has gone so dark side that he’ll never come back, he plays foosball with Ryan and says he wants to make things right with the one part of Becca that’s still alive.

Homelander is also trying to win Ryan over, bringing him milkshakes and awkwardly comforting him when he’s upset but also pushing him to turn himself into the PR version of a supe complete with filming a scripted and staged “rescue”. Actual brilliant stunt coordinator John Koyama plays the Vought stunt man acting it out with Ryan, who gets so distracted by his dad’s interference that he forgets his own strength and poor stunt man actor goes splat. Well done, real life John Koyama!

One of the most chilling moments of this season so far was Homelander ordering Ryan through gritted teeth to “smile, right now” after that incident when Ryan is understandably distraught. Shades of Annie’s overbearing stage mother – and a real life parallel that rings true far too often.

Hughie’s story arc in this season is the most emotionally powerful so far – after ignoring calls from his dad and generally dismissing him as loving but not serious, Hughie finds out his dad had a stroke. Equally shocking, his long lost mom is back – and the one taking care of his dad. We find out a little more of that tragic backstory of how she promised Hughie she’d buy them Billy Joel tickets, dropped him off at school and never came back. Needless to say, their relationship is going to be rocky. And we really know why Hughie loves Billy Joel songs so much.

A Train’s arc gets even more interesting this season. The not-so-subtle racism that pervades Vought and the Seven is also taking a toll on A Train, the way a lifetime of microaggressions do in real life too. He’s “starring” in a movie but hates the way it portrays his imagined life in a drug infested and depraved urban neighborhood.  He’s “saved” from this life by his (white) coach, played to perfection by Will Ferrell of all people, who gets all the praise while A Train gets very little from director Bourke.

A Train: So the coach saves me from the ghetto? My brother wasn’t a fucking crack dealer!

Bourke: All the sensitivity readers agreed! And the script says “what I want don’t matter, not what I want doesn’t matter.”

We saw some of A Train’s longing to reconnect with his culture and family last season, with tragic results, but he still longs for it. He tries to play the hero for his young nephews, but his brother disputes it, saying it’s all staged. Hughie and Annie overhear but don’t call him out on it, and he actually expresses gratitude – and guilt. Which should be interesting…