The Boys' Most Gruesome Death We All Decided to Ignore For Some Reason
This scene from season one works so well on so many levels.
The Boys has had its fair share of shocking and disturbing moments throughout its three-season run.
The acclaimed superhero TV series from Eric Kripke is not afraid to kill off its characters in unexpected and brutal ways, from suddenly exploding heads to ripping out their guts.
But one such death, which occurred in the first season, is often overlooked by fans, even though it is so great on so many levels.
Beware of possible spoilers for the show.
In the season finale, Billy Butcher (Karl Urban ) takes Madelyn Stillwell (Elisabeth Shue), one of Vought International's top executives, hostage and rigs her with explosives to serve as bait for Homelander (Antony Starr ).
However, the plan quickly goes sideways when Homelander, angered by Madelyn's constant lying to him, suddenly kills her with his heat vision.
This single scene is much more important than it seems at first.
Aside from the brilliant acting of both actors, when you can literally feel Homelander realizing how badly he's been deceived and Madelyn's voice breaking in fear of him, it was also completely shocking.
Those fans who were familiar with the original comics expected Stillwell to be a long-term player for future seasons, but as the plot unfolded, they became less and less certain.
Unlike Black Noir's death in Season 3, which came out of nowhere, this one felt almost foreshadowed, rather than the writers subverting expectations for the sake of it.
Throughout the season, fans have seen Homelander grow increasingly jealous of Madelyn spending time with her baby, learned that he hates being lied to, and wondered if someone else's love would be enough to keep him in check.
All this left fans biting their nails in constant fear for Madelyn's fate.
It also sets up Homelander's aggressive attitude towards Maeve (who is in love with Elena instead of him) and his relationship with Stormfront, who, unlike Stillwell, is honest with him and praises him as a superior being.
Fans are hoping that the fourth season of the series will not disappoint and will bring more important storylines to further develop the characters.
A release date for the season has not yet been announced.