01x06 - The Innocents

[bunniefuu]

Obviously, a lot of it's temp.

I love it.

If we're airing on TLC between My 600-lb Life and Little People, Big World. But we're not.

Because we're not cheap reality garbage.

Sorry, Courtenay, I thought...

I was trying to go for something a bit more personable, down-to-earth. Not this down-to-earth.

I need them to look like someone you'd want in the Army.

We here are not f*cking Heidi and Spencer. We are the Seven, James.

And why isn't there anything on Starlight?

She actually hasn't really made herself available to the crew.

Where the hell is she?

Has a heavenly body lost her lustre?

Two weeks after Starlight's shocking appearance at the Believe Expo...

Social media is still buzzing about her controversial speech.

Was it a breakdown or a triumph? Of course, my thoughts are with Starlight, and I support her in every way.

What I want to know, who's that dude that stuck his **** in her face?

She should **** that ****er in the ***hole.

Okay.

Of everything that I said, that's what they focus on.

Hey. Eye of the tiger.

You and me, we have a Panera gift card to win.

No distractions. Come on. Good one here.

Before joining the Seven, which hero led a search-and-rescue team...

Oh, my God. After the 1994 Northridge earthquake?

Isn't it your job to know this kind of stuff?

It's Lamplighter. Thank you.

Yeah, I had all the trading cards. Of course you did.

Hughie?

Hey. Where the hell have you been?

After Gary's store, we all thought that...

Hi. Anthony.

Hughie's best-looking friend since 4th grade.

Hi, I'm Annie. It's nice to meet you.

You look familiar.

Did you go to Kennedy? She's new in town.

Fantastic. So, what are we drinking, New-to-Town Annie?

So, Gretchen Scaramucci...

No, no. She was bigger than all the guys.

Like André the Giant-big. So when Gretchen says she wants to b*at the living f*ck out of this guy for making a cr*ck about her girlfriend...

Oh, you didn't. Hughie gives her this Clint Eastwood stare, like...

And then, bam, runs, like Forrest Gump-runs, five blocks down into a pet store where he hides behind this jumbo bag of Kibbles 'n Bits for four hours.

I'll be right back.

I know it! I know this!

Surprised to run into you here, man. Yeah. Same goes for you.

I've been worried, assh*le.

Ever since Robin, you...

You weren't answering your phone.

Like, for all I knew, you were chugging Drano.

I'm sorry, man. Yeah, you should be.

No, really, I should've called. You think?

I'm okay. Really. I just... needed a fresh start.

Fresh start?

Your fresh start is way out of your league.

You know that, right? I am aware, yes.

Annie's great, man.

Live your life.

That's what Robin would want.

Sync mark.

We're good.

You rolling? And... action.

My grandfather built this place with his bare hands.

He was an amazing man.

Oh, the old piano.

Every night, Mom would sit here and she would play some songs and...

I got to be honest, most of the time, me and my dad would be...

We'd be making model planes.

I can almost smell the... silver paint.

I really wish he'd lived long enough to see me fly with the Blue Angels.

That would have blown his mind.

That's me in the middle.

Love you, Mom, Dad.

Welcome to my bedroom. The Baseball Hall of Fame, you might call it.

Hasn't changed a bit.

Oh, there they are, the Tigers.

It's my little team.

I played shortstop. Of course, I couldn't show everything I had.

But... let's just say we...

We did a lot of winning.

This is just...

Really just... It's so special to come back.

I'm sorry, why is that there? Sorry?

Who put the f*cking blanket on the bed?

Randy Set-Dec, I think. Who's Randy Set-Dec?

He's over there.

Randy, why? You f*cking assh*le.

Amateur f*ck.

What just happened?

Samaritan's Embrace, led by Ezekiel but bankrolled by Vought, has been shipping Compound V to 53 hospitals across the country since 1971 and gift wrapping it...

Gift wrapping it as polio vaccine. Are you telling me God's not reaching up the twats of American girls and blessing babies?

Butcher, can you leave God out of this?

Hold on, hold on. So, no hero was born?

None of them? They're all just kids dosed with the blue sh*t.

I mean, even... Even f*cking Starlight.

Do you think they know... what really happened to them?

What about Homelander?

Homelander's a black hole. Never had any public records and never will.

However, every single other Supe?

Juiced-up lab rats.

My God. I'm trying to give a tremendous f*cking TED Talk here, and this...

Frenchie, can you control her, please? I do not control her.

Do you see what I'm dealing with? Well, spot on, M.M.

We got Vought for child endangerment, drug trafficking, and possibly the largest fraud in American f*cking history.

Raynor's gonna love it.

You better hope she does.

Hi.

Hughie, no!

No, no, no.

Not if you're attached to that hand, no.

It's okay. Yeah.

Well, you know, all of this, it's...

But it's only part of the story, no?

I mean, what about our petite Lazarus here?

She's not an infant.

And she was injected in a basement, not a hospital.

And there is the small matter of that she rose from the dead.

Well, your feral pixie dream girl ain't exactly dictating her f*cking memoirs, is she, Frenchie?

I'm feeling she's trying to communicate.

I mean, she's been doing this for...

Maybe that means something, huh?

Maybe they're chicken scratches. Let's find out.

Nah, you've been b*rned. It's not safe out there for you.

M.M.'s right. You got to f*cking stay put, son.

All right, I'm off. Okay.

I'll just keep on Starlight then, right?

Her phone's been tits-up for a week.

You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?

No.

But I can... I can check.

All right.

You're with me.

He is? I am?

What, to the CIA lady?

No. We're gonna go on a little detour.

You'll love it.

Come on.

No, I have been working with her!

I've been f*cking working with her! I can't believe this.

Who the f*ck are you gonna get to replace me? I'd like to see what bitch that is!

You okay?

You know that pledge you mentor during rush week because she seems sweet and a little naive and she doesn't know she's not supposed to wear UGGs?

And then once she's active, she stabs you in the back, gets you kicked out of the house?

I'm sorry. I don't...

It was my big idea to book you for the Believe Expo.

What could go wrong, I thought.

You were playing to your base.

At least I don't have to kiss your ass anymore.

Come in.

Thank you for coming, Starlight.

You fired Ashley?

It was actually a mutual decision.

She wanted to explore different career paths, and we wished her well.

So, I would like you to take this in the constructive spirit that it is intended.

Okay.

You are a selfish, arrogant child.

Back in Iowa, I bet you watched a lot of Queen Maeve's movies, right?

I did.

She was a rebel.

Didn't take anyone's sh*t, didn't play by the rules.

That's what you wanted to be. That's what American heroes are.

But it's a myth.

I should know, because I wrote it.

The truth is, dozens of people in this company spent hundreds of hours to create the thing that is you.

I never asked for that.

Then why don't you burn the sparkly outfit and become a cop?

You want to be a superhero.

You want to be famous.

But nobody's famous alone.

So, why don't you cut the petulant diva sh*t, show a little f*cking gratitude, and let us do our job?

No.

I'm sorry.

I mean, I don't mean to be ungrateful.

But... no red carpets, no reality TV, and no Noxzema commercials.

And I want my old uniform back.

I'm gonna save people.

Then I think we may need to reconsider your position in the Seven.

And I think that f*ring an employee after she reported sexual as*ault on live TV might t*nk your stock price.

Well, I hope we can count on your discretion.

I'm sorry, I don't do discretion anymore.

If anyone asks me who did it, I'm gonna answer honestly.

Well, I think it's great that you want to tell the truth.

I just don't know to whom you're referring.

Oh, I think you know.

I think you've known for a long time.

Thank you so much for coming, Starlight.

I have a lot to think about.

Okay.

I mean, you take Tek Knight's Knightracer?

Had a carbon footprint the size of a 727.

The thing literally sh*t fire.

Thanks to me, now he drives a hybrid.

That's what the Green Crusader initiative is all about.

To respect what's beautiful in the world.

What's up? Hi.

So... everything.

So beautiful.

Good. Let's reset. Trash back on the beach, please.

Background, put the trash back on the beach.

All right.

Well, we lost my dad at a young age, and my mom, she worked two jobs, so, it was my older brother, Nathan, who pretty much raised me up.

And when I was 3, these guys started sh**ting in front of my building and I outran the damn b*llet.

That's kind of how I figured out...

Can I stop you right there for a second?

What if we ixnay the g*n v*olence?

Maybe make it a click more upbeat?

Yeah, yeah.

All right, little bro, I know you're the fastest man in the world and all that, but your work ain't done.

Set. Go.

Nope. You're off, bro.

Go again.

Go.

Nope. Go.

No.

No?

What is going on with you, man?

Here comes the A-Train!

Hey, you knew Popclaw, right?

What? I don't...

You guys were in Teenage Kix together?

You heard she passed away, yeah?

Yeah, they're saying it was a stroke, but between you and me, I think it was probably a drug overdose.

You want to maybe say a little something in her honour?

I haven't seen her in years, so, you know...

Boy, you're really milking this thing for all it's worth.

Excuse me? This empowerment act.

I mean, every time I'm on a red carpet now, they're asking me how I'm supporting Starlight.

But, hey, as long as you're trending, right?

I know that you might not get this, but it's not an act.

I'm just trying to be honest.

Okay. Yeah.

When I was younger, I read your autobiography so many times that I wore it out.

I had to buy a second one.

I wanted to live my life exactly like yours.

Because you didn't just break all the bones in your right arm stopping that school bus from falling off of a bridge, but you also went to every kid's physical therapy afterwards.

Just to show the world that they were heroes, too.

You really stood for something.

But now...

I'm pretty sure that was just written by the marketing guys.

...hunting for his own food.

When fully mature, this immense predator of the sea can reach sizes of up to 25 feet in length and over 4,000 pounds.

They can reach speeds of up to 35 miles per hour...

Mon coeur... would you like me to change it?

You talked to me.

She talked to me. That's talking?

Well, she communicated anyway.

She likes Shark Week, huh? I'll call BuzzFeed.

I wonder if she lived by the water.

You know, you can't fool me.

Who is she? What does she want? Why is she here?

She could be the key to it all.

That's what you think, huh? No, that's not what I think.

Yes, you do. It torments you. It's okay.

Listen, I got one word for you.

It's a sure-fire way to solve this puzzle.

Once and for all.

Tell me.

Mesmer.

Mesmer?

You want help from a Supe?

He despise Vought, hates them, hates the other Supes.

And the enemy of your enemy...

Frenchie, what part of "you're b*rned" do you not understand?

Oh, come on. It's a quick trip.

She and I will hide in the van.

Let's go. In, out, boom, bing.

Boom, bing? Look, I'll tell you what I can do.

I can... possibly... tattoo "f*ck no" on your ass.

Come on.

Best I can do.

You know...

I've seen you eat ice cream.

Oh, my God. Chunky Monkey, I believe.

Where is this going? Well, you know, you take a spoonful, a chunk of fudge.

But then I see you with the surface is uneven.

So what do you do? You take another scoop, you try to even it out, which, tragically, creates a corresponding divot.

Ultimately, there is only but one choice for you, no?

To consume the entire pint.

No, you don't want to, you don't want to.

But you must.

And I tell you why, my friend, because you cannot bear things out of order.

And she...

She's out of order.

All right. You want to tell me where we're going?

You don't do it anymore.

What? You know that feeling you get when you tip your chair back too far, and you catch yourself just before you fall?

Yeah?

You used to look like that all day long.

But now look at you, neck-deep in sh*t, cool as a cucumber.

You ain't half the twat I thought you were, Hughie.

You know, you're always calling people "c**ts" or "twats."

But I never really got how that's an insult.

They're flexible, take a pounding, and they're the reason behind, like, 98 percent of my life decisions.

You're doing good, Hughie.

And you're a good c**t.

Well, here we are.

Church?

Seek and ye shall find, my son.

Come on.

Some days are harder than others, obviously.

You know, the other day, I wanted to talk to my friend about all this, but I couldn't.

That's why this group is so great.

It's so important.

I know it's wrong to feel angry.

After all, Tek Knight saved me.

I just wish he'd been a little more gentle with my spine.

It's about acceptance, isn't it?

Letting go. Moving on.

Seth, you're up.

Hey. Hey, everybody. Hey, Seth.

So I'm kind of a writer.

I work in marketing.

There's this one hero, who shall remain nameless, but has ice powers.

Ice Princess.

I'm not allowed to say.

Anyway, she took a liking to me.

It was heady, man.

Intoxicating.

No one wants to f*ck the writer.

Needless to say, I fell for her, bigtime.

What kind of nobber falls for a Supe?

Anyway, we were, you know, being intimate, when she climaxed and accidentally turned into ice.

Just for a second, but I was... still in there, at negative 346 degrees.

Same temperature as liquid nitrogen.

As you can imagine...

it snapped off.

The crazy thing is, I still miss her.

It's like, that's the cost of a mortal like me for being with a god like her.

If a Supe done that when she was happy, imagine what one would do if she found out you'd been lying to her from the get-go?

Excuse me.

You have something you'd like to share? No, no. Apologies.

Please do continue the Ice Capades.

We don't make jokes or judgements here.

Why don't you take the talking stick and tell us your story?

Nah, I'm good.

You know, I've seen guys like you before.

Oh, I seriously doubt that.

The smirk, the jokes, it's all a defence mechanism.

But you don't have to do that here. This is a safe space.

I said I'm good. Time to move on.

Go ahead, Seth. Give him the stick.

You, back off, or I'll shove this stick where your d*ck used to be.

You're a bunch of pathetic Supe-worshipping c**ts.

I bet you'd thank a Supe if they shat on your mom's best china.

Did it ever occur to you that they split your spine or broke your d*ck just for a laugh?

Where's your f*cking rage?

Your self-respect?

Sitting here in your little share circle.

Having a little whinge and a moan.

f*ck "letting go."

You should be out there with a f*cking chain saw, going after them!

Just a bunch of scared f*cking rabbits.

Supes are all the same.

Every f*cking one of them.

He's...

Sorry.

Oh, Ms Stillwell, hey, you wanted to see me, right?

Yeah, I'm running late. Can you walk with me? Yeah, sure.

Hey, look, I brought a little present for your little guy.

Never too young to start saving the world, right?

I'm gonna need you to make a public apology.

And you're going to be taking a sabbatical from the Seven.

What? We are going to be stationing you in Sandusky, Ohio for a while.

Okay, okay, look, I know my brain wasn't in the right place, but my heart was.

And it's just that damn Oceanland.

They wouldn't... This is not about the dolphin.

This is about Starlight.

Starlight? What are you...? What about Starlight?

Everybody seems to want to know who she was referencing in that speech, and it is not going away.

It's only a matter of time before she, or, let's be honest, some of the other women, speak up.

So we need to get ahead of it. Okay.

There may have been a misunderstanding, I know that, but can't you just... you know, handle it? Like you do?

This is the way we are handling things now.

I'm in full support of women and their ongoing bravery in speaking out.

I'm sorry. Let me start that over.

I'm in full support of women and their ongoing bravery...

f*ck, I'm sorry. Yeah, let's just cut. I'm sorry.

Scene take two. Alpha mark.

Starlight, I hope you can forgive me.

Harder to sell. To sell it. Yeah.

A little harder. Perfect.

Speaking out. We can all become stronger... by listening. Okay.

I realise that my behaviour has caused Starlight a great deal of pain, and I sincerely apologise for this.

Though at the time I believed that our encounter was consensual, I now realise that I misread the moment...

Our new movie, Insurrection, it's really exciting.

It's my first movie with the... in the Vought Cinematic Universe, the VCU.

New York. The hearts of 7 million men and women b*at inside this city.

But there's only one person who can see inside their hearts and read their minds.

This man is the r*pist.

There are no secrets from me.

Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you.

Okay. "There are no secrets from me."

There are no secrets from me. There are no secrets from me.

Hey.

What number am I thinking of?

Eight sixty-seven?

f*cking amazing.

This guy's f*cking amazing.

So, what am I thinking of?

I'm thinking the same thing.

Cool.

Now, why don't I put this down? Okay.

Yeah. Okay. Cool.

Thank you. Yeah.

Mr Mesmer. Just Mesmer.

No "mister" necessary.

You know, I'm a big fan, man. Thanks.

Weren't you in Teenage Kix with A-Train? Yep.

Yeah. Yo, A-Train's really blown up, hasn't he?

He's doing his thing. Yeah, I'm really happy for him.

Yeah. Yeah.

You a fan of the show?

Oh, nah, man. I've never seen it.

Okay. You know what I'm a fan of?

Your insider trading.

The way you brushed your hand up against that Wall Street guy?

Brother, that sh*t right there, now, that was ruthless.

Vought dropped you like a hot potato afterwards, which I think is some bullshit, but with the SEC coming...

Who the f*ck are you?

Why don't you take a peep and see?

How do you know about Cleo?

There are no secrets from me.

Well, I work for Child Services.

My colleague Tina, she owes me a favour.

See, she, just like I, believe in second chances.

Cut the sh*t.

I lost custody three years ago.

Nobody believes in second chances for f*ck-ups like me.

She's waiting on you.

Tina. Hey.

Hi. It's good to see you.

Good to see you, too.

Five minutes. Next time you owe me.

I do.

Hey, Cleo.

You remember your old man?

Hi, Charles.

I'm sorry that...

I'm gonna try and be in your life a little bit more.

Would that be okay?

I guess.

Okay, Cleo.

We got to get back.

Bye. Hey...

I just...

I just want to know you don't hate me.

I don't really know you.

Hey, wait...

So you can know me a little better.

I don't have a DVD player.

Bye.

Thanks again. I'll call you next week.

Okay. You all right?

I can see her every month?

One hour, supervised. You clean?

I can be. Good.

Who do you want me to read?

What are we doing here?

My wife, Becca, used to hum the Spice Girls.

Drove me round the f*cking bend, you know.

All day long, walking around the house, humming.

She was happy.

Now, f*ck know why she was happy with me... but she was happy.

Homelander r*ped her.

Jesus.

I'm sorry.

Not long after that, she came and sat right here.

I know this because she got tagged in that security camera right there.

She sat here for three hours.

Didn't move a muscle.

Then she just got up and walked away.

That was eight years ago.

And nobody's seen her since.

Either Homelander k*lled her or she k*lled herself. Same difference.

You see, I know what it's like to lose someone.

You and me, we're in this together.

For Robin... and Becca.

That is why you can't allow yourself to be distracted by another bird.

Especially not a Supe.

Just remember...

who your friends and who your enemies are.

That is gonna k*ll somebody when it lands in Boston.

Look, I heard what happened.

I am so, so sorry.

What kind of place did you grow up in?

Well, I moved around a lot, so, it was a bunch of condos.

So, what if I took you to a house you'd never seen before, full of photos of parents you never met, toys you never played with, Hardy Boy books that you never read?

And then I asked you how much all that fake f*cking bullshit meant to you?

How would that make you feel?

I wouldn't like that.

I'm really sorry about the blanket.

It never should have been there, and Randy Set-Dec has already been terminated.

But right now... we need to finish that tour and to show how down-to-earth and ready to serve you are.

And I need you to tell the mother story.

Please.

Please do it for me.

It was actually my mom who dragged me along to my first Little League practise, and pretty soon after that, I just loved the game more than anything else in the world.

So every year she would bake me a birthday cake in the shape of a baseball diamond.

And... I got to tell you, it was perfect.

Perfect.

Everything, down to the last minute details.

Just like her.

Cut. Perfect. So great.

So we're done? Yes.

Great.

So... she can't talk or won't talk? That's what you're gonna tell us.

Anything in particular you want to know?

Everything there is to know. Well, that narrows it down.

Mon coeur... will you come?

Have a seat.

It's okay. Have a seat.

Gentle.

Yeah.

Jesus f*cking... g*dd*mn it.

Relax! No.

Everyone relax!

Just go walk it off. Walk it off?

She broke my f*cking wrist!

She didn't intend any harm.

Could have fooled me.

Get out! I'm going to the hospital. Not till we get what we came for.

f*ck you! The session's over! Sit down!

Okay, listen.

I was a field medic.

Don't look at her. Look at me.

I can patch you up better than any of those oxy junkies in the ER, or I can break your other wrist. You decide.

Good. Now, do you have any bandages or a splint?

No, I don't have a g*dd*mn splint!

It's Butcher. Be quiet.

Butcher. Where are you?

Shake Shack.

Really?

f*cking magic, that place.

What'd you get? ShackBurger, cheese fries, cookie dough concrete. Sounds good.

Does it taste like lies?

I got your phone linked to my Find-Your-Shithead-Friends app.

Now, where the f*ck are you?

Yes, this... This is a superhero.

This is good. Okay.

We just keep...? Yeah, yeah.

Well, people are always asking me, you know, what it's like to live with my co-workers, and the truth is, we're all great friends, you know, behind the scenes just as much as we are to the...

Oh, hey, Elena.

Hey. This is my friend.

I left a pile of messages for...

Yeah, that's what we are. We're friends.

Can you ask them to turn that off, please? I'm gonna need five minutes, okay?

Yeah, we're doing a reality show.

That's invasive. What are you even doing here?

I would never turn up to your work.

I was worried about you. I had a bad night.

This Teflon sh*t, it might work for everybody else, but not with me. Will you keep your voice down?

Just tell me what's going on.

Did you ever think that...

maybe I was just looking for a hookup?

I know you think you know me...

I used to. Yeah, used to. I've changed.

Yeah.

I still know you.

Oh, come on. Afraid to be seen with me.

Afraid to ask for help.

Just... afraid.

Are you filming, Courtenay?

I told you to turn the f*cking cameras off!

We cut. We cut a while ago. We're setting up a sh*t for later.

f*cking bitch. B-roll on the building.

All right, you can cut it, guys.

It's okay.

Everything is okay.

Gentlemen.

Wow, Mesmer.

Hello.

Big fan.

Be with you in a minute.

Well, now we got to k*ll him.

No, we don't have to k*ll him.

Look, we made a deal with the guy.

If he keeps his trap shut, he gets to see his kid.

He's just a dad with his kid.

He's a f*cking Supe with a kid.

What the f*ck were you thinking coming here?

You know better than that. Sometimes you get further with people by treating them like people.

Nice decor.

'80s serial k*ller. Love it.

All right, then, let's get cracking.

There's a camp in a jungle.

She's a soldier.

There's a flag with a two-headed snake on it.

Two-headed snake?

Like...?

Yeah.

With red rays behind it? What does that mean?

It's the flag of the Shining Light Liberation Army. Frenchie... you're dating a t*rror1st.

Is this true?

There must be more to all of this.

She can't be a t*rror1st.

Yeah, well, you just f*cking keep her under control.

Okay, so they smuggle in a top-shelf extremist recruit and pump her up with Compound V.

When she's ready, they cut her loose to wreak havoc.

She wouldn't. Wait.

Why would Vought give Compound V to t*rrorists?

Because the only thing more dangerous than a t*rror1st is a Supe t*rror1st, and the only way to fight it...

Is with Sergeant f*cking Homelander.

Got to let the c**ts in the Army now.

Those f*ckers are creating super villains.

And maybe there's more of them, God knows how many.

Holy sh*t.

Okay, this is a clusterfuck, even for us.

No, listen to me, okay? Maybe that's what they want her to be.

But that's not who she is.

That's not what she wants. And you know this because she bends your ear off?

She saved my life! She's not bad.

She just want to go home.

She's a f*cking Supe, just like the rest.

How many times do I have to f*cking say it, eh?

Mon coeur, I know you understand me.

Please. Please.

Tell them who you are.

Tell them what I see.

No.

The drawings are palm trees in front of the moon. It's where she grew up.

They k*lled her parents.

They kidnapped her and her brother.

Forced them to be soldiers.

No, Kimiko...

You eat it.

She just wants to go back and get her brother out of there.

Her name's Kimiko.

Kimiko.

Bonjour, Kimiko.

All right, take her back to the safe house.

Where you headed?

I'm gonna go see Raynor.

We've got more than enough to get the feds onboard now.

You tell anyone what you saw or heard here today, and I'll cut your hands off and shove them so far up your ass, your fingers will give us a little wave out your throat, yeah?

f*ck off, w*nk*r.

Some controversial news today as the Deep went public with his apology.

I realise that my behaviour caused Starlight a great deal of pain...

...and I sincerely apologise.

f*ck you, fish d*ck!

Keep speaking your truth!

I'm in full support of women and their ongoing bravery...

Never got the point of these.

To me, they always looked like Granddad's bollocks flopping in the wind.

Do you have the Compound V or not?

I've got the Compound V... proof that Vought's injected babies right across the country, and something even more f*cking diabolical.

Worse than dosing babies?

Let's just say, with these c**ts, there ain't no rock bottom.

Let's get it to the lab...

Not so fast.

First things first, eh?

A list of your demands.

How in character.

Exorbitant salary. Same for your team. Office space, in the Flatiron Building, no less.

Security clearance. Indemnity clause.

Legal protection.

A formal guarantee that Homelander will be prosecuted under the full extent of the law.

Any of that a problem?

No, gonna pass it up the chain.

And while they hash it out, you and I go forward on good faith.

I'm fresh out of good faith.

Now, you and I both know that you can rubber-stamp all of that.

So what's it gonna be... deputy director?

I can give you... everything you want on this list...

Except?

Except Homelander.

You know what he's done.

I sympathise.

I really do.

But it's su1c1de. Yeah, well, that's a small f*cking price to pay, isn't it? Not for you.

For thousands of people if you push him too hard.

You're f*cking scared.

I'm f*cking terrified.

And you should be, too.

Butcher!

Butcher!

This small-town girl next door wanted to change the world.

Since when did hopeful and naive become the same thing?

But the world had other plans.

Starlight, I hope you can forgive me.

Battered and beaten, a phoenix rose from the ashes with a message so loud, so raw, it couldn't come forth as anything less than a roar.

Witness her power.

Hear her truth.

And I'm done taking any more sh*t.

Watch her stand up and fight back for all of us.

Citizen Starlight, coming this fall from Vought.

The house always wins.

I'm sorry.

I know you want to go back to your brother.

But the people who did this to you...

You know, they might be doing it to others.

We can use your help stopping them.

It's your choice.

You give me a nod, and we go to the airport right now.

No. Baby, why you want to do me like that?

Because if you watch that episode of Downton Abbey, then I'm gonna be one behind and we're not gonna be able to binge watch together.

Just hold off until I get home.

There's a fight in the yard, baby. I got to go. All right.

How'd it go with Raynor?

No dice.

What?

Said she got cold feet.

Well, why? Did you tell her everything?

Yeah, I laid it all out, even the sample of V.

Said she couldn't f*cking authorise that kind of action against Vought.

Too much of a risk.

Did she?

f*cking spineless c**t.

So we are royally f*cked.

No, we ain't.

f*ck them. We don't need them.

We got everyone and everything we need right here in this room.

We'll take down Vought ourselves. Yeah?

Where's Hughie?

This is Tina Mitchell, Department of Child Protection and Permanency.

Leave a message.

Tina, it's Mesmer.

You met me earlier.

Cleo didn't really want to see me today.

She was just being polite.

I'm pretty good at reading stuff like that, so...

You don't have to call me, or any of that anymore.

Just, it's okay.

Just... Just... please... look after her.

Thank you.

I'm sorry. The elevator was out.

You probably don't remember, but we've met before.

I would never try and read you. Let's be clear.

I don't know you, and I don't want to.

A-Train said that you have some information.

Yeah, we... We go back to the Teenage Kix days.

We still keep in touch. Oh, golly gee shucks.

What makes you think I would give two fucks about that?

Now, do you have something for me or not?

Yeah.

He said you were looking for a French guy... and a black guy... a skinny white guy, British guy.

Where are these from?

Shitty little $85 camera I put in my doorbell casing.

I know there's no reward, but I was hoping you could put in a word for me at Vought.

I'll take any posting.

Low five-figures would be fine.

I just want to be one of the good guys again.

Oh, that's my phone.

I mean, I don't remember, but my mom said that when I was born, I almost blinded the doctor.

So, I had powers from the start. Why?

No, no, I'm just curious.

Do you mind if we just... not talk about hero stuff tonight?

Yeah, yeah. Bad day at work?

Yeah. It's an understatement.

You know, there's this beach in the Bahamas where the sand is pink, like, cotton-candy pink.

What's it called?

Pink Sands.

It's not the most creative name, but... let's just go.

Yeah. No, I can learn how to play the steel drum.

You can get cornrows.

How about tonight?

Book that ticket.

Are we talking about this?

I don't know. I...

I just know that... for me, New York has been such an endless sh*t show.

Except for you.

Somehow, in the middle of it all...

you found me.

Hughie.

I thought that was you.

Oh, I apologise.

I didn't mean to interrupt.

No.

Hi, I'm Annie.

Billy. Old mate of Hughie's.

Oh, boy, you really have a lot of friends showing up here.

Yeah. Seems like it.

You're that new girl in the Seven, ain't you?

Guilty. Wow, it is a pleasure to meet you.

And I must say how marvellous it is that so many more women are in positions of power.

You know what I mean?

You know, if I'm perfectly honest, Translucent's always been my favourite.

What's he up to?

I think he's on a mission.

Yeah, I think I read that, actually.

He's been gone a long time, though, hasn't he?

I do hope he's all right.

You know what? I'm gonna go get us a pitcher.

Billy, you like...

Let me guess. Guinness?

I like what you like.

All right. Be right back.

Well, well, well. Butcher...

She's quite tasty up close and personal.

I get what you see in her. That wasn't what...

I thought we had an understanding.

We do. We do.

It... It's not what... Not what it looks like?

Because from where I'm sitting, it looks like you've got your tongue halfway down the opposition's throat.

She is not the opposition.

She's a good person, okay?

I mean, she could help us.

Help us? Yeah.

And what do you think she's gonna do when she finds out you m*rder*d Translucent?

When she finds out?

Give her my best.

Where'd your friend go?