Here’s every Easter egg, comics reference, and hidden hint you might not catch in “Nothing Like It in the World.”
The Boys Season 2 is now well underway, and with the release of Episode 4, “Nothing Like It in the World,” we’re confident that Season 2 is at least as good as Season 1, if not better–at least so far.
As Stormfront tightens her grip around public opinion and continues to manipulate Homelander, The Boys make some shocking discoveries about her. And Butcher reunites with Becca–much earlier in the season than we thought he would, although granted, it doesn’t exactly go as planned.
Those are the broad brush strokes, but The Boys is also one of the most detailed productions on TV, and rewards multiple viewings from eagle-eyed fans. Luckily, that describes us pretty well, and we’re using our knowledge of the comics and more to spot everything you might miss in each episode. Below, check out every Easter egg, comics reference, and hint of things to come that you might have missed your first time through The Boys Season 2, Episode 4.
1. Frenchie’s drug use
You shouldn’t be surprised by Frenchie’s drug use if you watched Season 1, Episode 2, where Frenchie offered Hughie a combination of MDMA and LSD to calm him down while they figured out what to do with Translucent.
2. Taxi Driver
Homelander and Doppelganger-as-Stillwell are watching Martin Scorsese’s 1976 classic Taxi Driver. Homelander is identifying with Travis Bickle, who goes on a rampage after becoming disillusioned with society and being rejected by a woman. We’re seeing Homelander’s slide toward outright villainy (as opposed to just, you know, secretive villainy) in real time.
3. Doppelganger
Don’t feel bad if you forgot about this character–Stillwell used him to blackmail a senator back in Season 1, Episode 2.
4. Shockwave
In Vought Tower, A-Train glimpses his rival Shockwave getting into an elevator. Shockwave appeared in Season 1 when he and A-Train raced. In Season 2, Episode 1, you might have glimpsed a tabloid back cover claiming Shockwave was in talks to join The Seven. Guess they were right.
5. Starlight’s song
When Starlight turns on the radio the first song that comes on is the one she sang at Translucent’s funeral in the Season 2 premiere, “You’ll Never Truly Vanish.”
6. American Idol
Hughie praises Annie’s “that wavering thing they do on American Idol.” As Mother’s Milk points out, he’s talking about vibrato, a well-known but difficult singing technique. As for American Idol, the reality singing competition show premiered in 2002 and, besides a brief hiatus, continues to this day.
7. We Didn’t Start the Fire
Yep, that’s right–more Billy Joel. The song “We Didn’t Start the Fire” was released in 1989 on the album–wait for it–Storm Front. In the song, Joel uses rapid-fire verses to list historically significant events that occurred between 1949 (the year he was born) and 1989. This sing-a-long is probably the moment Hughie decided he and Starlight are soulmates.
8. The Lovers of Valdaro
The Lovers of Valdaro referenced during one of The Deep’s cult speed-dating scenes are a real thing. They were discovered in a tomb in San Giorgio near Mantua, Italy, in 2007.
9. More Scientology connections
So far in Season 2, the Church of the Collective has been painted as a broad parody of Scientology. The Deep’s wife auditions, then, may have been inspired by Scientology’s alleged wife-auditing process for Tom Cruise, as described in Vanity Fair.
10. Cherie
Cherie, played by Jordana Lajoie, has been around in a bunch of scenes since Season 1 but has never been featured this prominently.
11. Dunkin’
Starlight tells MM that her dad used to take her to Dunkin’ Donuts secretively to get treats that were forbidden in her house. If you’re from the western United States you’re probably less familiar with Dunkin’, which only recently expanded successfully in places like Los Angeles. But in much of the country–including Iowa, where Starlight’s from–Dunkin’ is a staple.
12. Baskin-Robbins
For his part, MM mentions Baskin-Robbins, an ice cream joint founded in 1948 that’s known for its 31-flavor menu. Interestingly, Baskin-Robbins is owned by Dunkin’ Brands Group, Inc., which, predictably, also owns Dunkin’ Donuts.
13. Jeffrey Dahmer
Hughie tells Starlight that the only other person who likes Almond Joy besides her is Jeffrey Dahmer, an infamous serial killer active between 1978 and 1991. He is generally not someone you want to be compared to, even over something as trivial as taste in candy bars. However, there doesn’t seem to be any actual connection between Dahmer and Almond Joy–it’s just a joke on Hughie’s part. Later, he makes a similar joke, but this time involving John Wayne Gacy, another serial killer.
14. The worst candy bars in the history of candy
The other candy bars that Annie mentions are Charleston Chew (chocolate-covered nougat, first sold in 1925) and Bit-O-Honey (honey-flavored taffy with almond pieces, invented in 1924).
15. Ed Sheeran
Another woman pitching herself as The Deep’s cult wife reveals her tattoo of Ed Sheeran. Sheeran is an English musician and actor born in 1991.
16. In Depth
“In Depth with Maria Menounos” is not a real show, although Menounos is a real reporter, actress, and more, who’s hosted Extra and E! News, plus served as a correspondent for Today and Access Hollywood.
17. I want my Compound V
There’s a throughline in this episode that will likely come up again later: Now that the public knows about Compound V, everyone wants it for themselves. A protestor can be seen during Stormfront’s scenes in the park holding a sign that reads “I want my Compound V,” while a news ticker noted that protestors want Compound V turned over to the International Health Organization. After all, in addition to granting superpowers, Compound V might have all sorts of applications for curing disease and prolonging life in general.
18. People’s Free Food Program
MM’s t-shirt was inspired by this 1972 photograph by Steven Shames, which depicts two women with bags featuring the same logo. Between 1969 and the early ’70s, the Black Panthers civil rights group provided free breakfast for tens of thousands of schoolchildren, according to this History.com article.
Meanwhile, the backstory that MM describes is taken largely from the comics.
19. The Raleigh Tribune
The Raleigh Tribune is not a real paper, although there was a Raleigh Daily Tribune in the 1800s. Most of the headlines are typical real-world news about things like a convenience store robbery and the opioid pandemic, although there’s one about Kimiko’s brother Kenji out of focus in the upper left corner.
As far as Stormfront, so far her backstory is sounding like it’s going to be similar to the comics version’s, although in the present day story she’s very different.
20. The memes
The Homelander/Stormfront memes are a treat–someone who works on this show probably had a really fun time making these. They follow several popular image macro meme formats recognizable to anyone who spends time browsing Reddit.
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