The best moments from The Boys season 2

01 of 31

The Boys are back ...

The Boys season 2 — Jasper Savage/Amazon Studios

... and they've upped their game in season 2. From exploding heads to an ancient Nazi supervillain to an atrocity against a whale you'll never be able to unsee, Amazon Prime Video's subversive superhero drama The Boys was full of crazy, shocking, and — of course — bloody drama for its sophomore season. Click through to see all of the best and most jaw-dropping moments from season 2 (and beware of the spoilers ahead!).

02 of 31

#ReleasetheVoughtcut

The Boys goes more meta than ever this season with the Batman v Superman spoof Dawn of the Seven featuring all the Seven supes. Because of course Vought would make the Seven film a huge Hollywood blockbuster movie. Any time we get to see a scene being filmed is a true highlight of the season, especially since all the supes would clearly rather be anywhere other than this huge production.

03 of 31

The newest addition

It can't be the Seven without seven members. After Translucent's (Alex Hassell) murder, Vought chooses Stormfront (Aya Cash) to fill the void, much to Homelander's (Antony Starr) chagrin. But there is nothing he could do to stop her debut after she ambushes him on the set of Dawn of the Seven, livestreaming the announcement of her new role on her social media while all he can do is just painfully grin and accept it.

04 of 31

A grand entrance

After Homelander blamed Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) for Madelyn Stillwell's (Elisabeth Shue) death, he went totally underground to the point where his Boys allies had no idea where he was. That makes his season 2 premiere entrance into their secret hideout all the more shocking and epic. "Daddy's home," indeed.

05 of 31

Starlight takes control

As the only moral member of the Seven, watching Starlight (Erin Moriarty) drift towards the dark side in season 2 is unsettling but necessary as she takes control of her fate and pushes forward in the mission to taking down Vought by exposing the Compound V scandal. And she does that by blackmailing her old religion camp friend into stealing some for her right from the belly of the beast.

06 of 31

That mind-blowing twist ...

So many exploding heads, so little time! The Boys season 2 introduces a mystery in the premiere when CIA Deputy Director Susan Rayner (Jennifer Esposito) meets in secret with Mother's Milk (Laz Alonso), only to have her head explode out of nowhere just when she was about to reveal some damning intel about Vought. Did the evil corporation plant an explosive chip in her head? Or is there a supe running around that can spontaneously combust people's noggins? Either way, the stakes have never been higher for the Boys.

07 of 31

Family reunion

The revelation that the new supe terrorist running around New York City is none other than Kimiko's (Karen Fukuhara) long-lost brother is simultaneously amazing and heartbreaking as the two siblings tearfully reunite ... while also viciously fighting.

08 of 31

Bad trip

Even with all the crazy things we've seen The Deep (Chace Crawford) do (and go through), watching him hallucinate his gills to learn about body positivity is still a wild ride. Bet he's regretting joining the cultish Church of the Collective now after they literally drugged him to force the confrontation.

09 of 31

She's getting good at this

Starlight's descent continues with even more blackmail as she tries to keep A-Train (Jessie T. Usher) from blowing her cover after he wakes up from his coma. It's starting to get worrisome how good she's getting at blackmail. Thankfully, she still seems bothered by it herself.

10 of 31

That's karma

Watching Hughie (Jack Quaid) finally get a little payback on Billy is so satisfying, even though it's just in the form of a punch to the face. Billy had just punched Hughie too, so it was more than deserved. Finally Hughie is starting to stand up to Billy's abuse!

11 of 31

Like father, like son

So yeah, Homelander being right about his son Ryan (Cameron Crovetti) having powers can't mean anything good. Becca's look of horror when Ryan's eyes start glowing red shows how much she's knows that to be true. But the fact that his powers only come out when he's trying to defend his mom against Homelander is a good sign; he may have his father's powers, but he certainly doesn't share the same cruelty.

12 of 31

Mission accomplished

Against all odds, Starlight manages to leak the information about Compound V to the press, and Vought is finally exposed for creating supes. It's the first real success the Boys (and their allies) have had, and while the celebrations don't last long (Vought immediately sends the Seven after the Boys), it feels amazing to watch them all believe they've won for just a few moments.

13 of 31

A whale-y bad time

The Deep really thought that using a whale as a physical barrier would make Billy and the Boys stop their boat. But Billy just went full steam ahead and drove right on through that poor whale while on the hunt for Kimiko's brother, a.k.a. the only thing standing in the way of his reunion with his long-lost wife, Becca (Shantal VanSanten). The Deep really needs to stop trying to help his aquatic friends. And Hughie really needs some therapy after getting covered in the blood and organs during the crash.

14 of 31

Oh, so she's racist

Turns out Stormfront might be the worst supe of them all. Episode 3 ends on the shocking moment when the Seven's newest addition disobeys Homelander's orders and murders Kimiko's brother while saying a racial slur, just moments after causing the deaths of an entire building full of innocent minority civilians. Uhhh yeah, turns out she's really racist.

15 of 31

Seeing double

Homelander really goes off the deep end this season, as evidenced by him forcing a shapeshifting supe, Doppelganger (Dan Darin-Zanco), to take the form of Stillwell so he could be bottle fed. Doppelganger then makes the fatal mistake of taking the form of Homelander for one of the weirdest sex scenes ever made. It ends up costing Doppelganger his life.

16 of 31

That's amore

The on-again, off-again couple is on-again! Kind of. While on the road chasing down information on the mysterious old supe named Liberty, Hughie and Starlight have a romantic reunion in the motel. But Starlight's still upset about Hughie's lies from season 1, and she's still deeply embedded in Vought, so there's no way these crazy kids can make it work. Right? Too bad Hughie doesn't understand that.

17 of 31

Mom and Dad are getting back together

In the same episode, another member of the Boys had himself his own romantic reunion when Billy finally found Becca. But they might want to get their car detailed after their, ahem, reunion. They hastily make plans for Billy to help Becca and Ryan escape. Is Billy going to get his happy ending, against all odds?

18 of 31

His worst act yet

Homelander is pure evil. He's a homicidal sociopath who has murdered hundreds if not thousands of innocent people. But perhaps the worst things he's ever done? Outing Queen Maeve (Dominique McElligott) on a talk show.

19 of 31

Exit stage left

After A-Train's drug problem landed him in a coma and put his powers on the fritz, an unstable Homelander decides to cut A-Train from the Seven. And to really rub salt in the wound, he forces the washed-up supe to film his own goodbye scene in Dawn of the Seven.

20 of 31

Successful negotiation

Billy finally comes through for Hughie by blackmailing the head of Vought into calling off Black Noir's (Nathan Mitchell) attack on them. It works, and just in the nick of time: Black Noir was literally about to murder all of them.

21 of 31

Match made in hell

There is perhaps no worse pairing on Earth than Homelander and Stormfront, because she's the only person who can actually make him even more evil than he already was (yes, turns out that's possible!). But when the racist, Neo-Nazi supe woos the leader of the Seven into a sexual relationship, she sets him on a path of even more destruction. It's ... terrifying.

22 of 31

Enemy of my enemy

All throughout season 1, we've heard the story of the evil former Seven member Lamplighter (Shawn Ashmore). But meeting him in season 2 goes differently than viewers, and the Boys, expect when they find him working at Sage Grove, a psychiatric hospital where Stormfront and Vought have been running Compound V experiments on adults. Lamplighter actually helps the Boys escape Stormfront, which shocked Frenchie (Tomer Capon) most of all.

23 of 31

The truth comes out

Viewers and the Boys finally learn the truth about what actually happened when Lamplighter murdered Grace Mallory's (Laila Robins) grandchildren, and it's even more tragic than we all initially thought. But it also shows that Lamplighter has been tortured by the memories just as much as Frenchie, who was tasked with tailing Lamplighter that night and could have stopped him. And Mallory decides to spare Lamplighter's life, forcing him to live with the guilt rather than take the easy way out by dying.

24 of 31

Not a productive use of his time

In order to make amends and find some path towards redemption, Lamplighter agrees to testify about Vought in court. That means he has to remain safe until the court date, because you know Vought would love to assassinate him before he can reveal any damning information. Hughie is tasked with keeping watch over Lamplighter at the safe house, but that means he's forced to watch graphic Seven porn parodies while Lamplighter passes the time. Hughie is not a fan!

25 of 31

The star witness goes up in flames

Well, it turns out Lamplighter wasn't all that interested in redemption after all. After Vought learns of Starlight's betrayal, they lock her up, and Hughie convinces Lamplighter to act a hero again and help infiltrate the corporation to save her. It seems like the start of a new path for the former Seven member. He helps Hughie get in, but then reveals that his real intention is to die by suicide in front of his old statue. It's a horrific end to an awful life, and Hughie can't do anything to stop it.

26 of 31

That's why you always carry an EpiPen

Who would have thought that the formidable supe assassin Black Noir would be taken down by ... an Almond Joy? Queen Maeve knew all about his severe tree nut allergy, so as he's about to kill an escaping Starlight, Queen Maeve steps in and shoves the candy bar down his throat. Vought's PR campaign was right: Girls really do get it done.

27 of 31

Explosive testimony

The Boys really can't catch a break. Just when former Vought head Jonah Vogelbaum (John Doman) is about to become a whistleblower and testify against the corporation (after Billy blackmails him into it by threatening his family), his head explodes. And it causes a chain reaction of exploding heads in the court room. So much for the Boys' ace in the hole in taking down Vought! It really does seem impossible at this point.

28 of 31

Girls get it done

Who knew Vought's cheesy "feminist empowerment" PR campaign had some truth to it? Kimiko, Starlight, and a surprise arrival from Queen Maeve results in the most satisfying takedown of Stormfront as the three supes brutally and viciously punch and kick the Nazi villain until she's forced to flee. But she doesn't get far…

29 of 31

Doing some damage

After Stormfront escapes, she tries to take her anger out on Billy, Becca, and Ryan. Becca gets in a nice stab to the Nazi's eye, but it's Ryan who puts an end to her terror when he uses his laser vision to amputate all her limbs, leaving her just a head and scorched torso. But he's untrained when it comes to his supe skills, so his laser vision also accidentally kills his mom. A heartbroken Butcher ends up giving Ryan over to the government.

30 of 31

Under her thumb

Queen Maeve really lives up to the idea of a real superhero in the finale, standing up to Homelander and blackmailing him with the recovered cellphone footage showing him forcing her to leave the plummeting plane full of people to die. Homelander is now under Queen Maeve's control, meaning Starlight is safe again and so are the Boys. But an unstable, egomaniacal, homicidal sociopath won't like being controlled for long ...

31 of 31

In the belly of the beast

By the end of the season 2 finale, Hughie decides to leave the Boys to go legit, getting a job working for anti-supe politician Congresswoman Neuman (Claudia Doumit). But in classic Hughie fashion, he doesn't realize he's now working for the Vought supe who's been exploding everyone's heads this season. This guy just can't catch a break, but at least that means even more insanity is coming his (and our!) way in season 3.