Hughie barely uses his newfound powers in The Boys season 3 episode 5, but there is a good reason for this seemingly strange oversight. One of the biggest promises of The Boys season 3 (apart from the new Captain America-parodying villain Soldier Boy) was the titular vigilante group gaining superpowers of their own. While the Boys spent the first two seasons of the satirical series stopping supes from abusing their powers (or at least trying to limit the damage they did), The Boys season 3 saw Butcher and Hughie gain powers of their own by abusing a new, temporary strain of Compound V.
However, these superpowers were surprisingly short-lived for one central team member. Even though Hughie debuted his powers in The Boys season 3, episode 4, he barely used these powers in the next episode. There is a reason for this creative decision, as seemingly frustrating as it might be.
In The Boys season 3, episode 4, Hughie used his powers to save Mother’s Milk from certain death. In episode 5, he took Compound V as a preemptive measure but, outside of talking to his love interest Starlight, Hughie ended up not needing to utilize his powers when Butcher immediately struck up a deal with Soldier Boy. As pointless as this might have seemed, it was an effective way of showing that Hughie has been seduced by the strength of superpowers and was not using them as little as possible solely to ensure his safety. The episode implied this earlier when Mother’s Milk warned Hughie he was making a morally reprehensible choice, and Hughie didn’t even pause to consider the comment, instead immediately pocketing the drug for later use.
Similarly, the ending of the episode proved that Hughie and Butcher didn’t need to take Compound V for their interaction with Soldier Boy. Meanwhile, Kimiko losing her powers to Soldier Boy’s energy blast an episode earlier proved that this preemptive measure wouldn’t even have helped defend the duo against him in the first place. Instead, both characters took Compound V to feel stronger, to level the playing field, and for their enjoyment, rather than only indulging their powers when necessary for a mission.
This acted as evidence that Mother’s Milk was right to question their use of Compound V, as did Butcher’s choice to knock out his longtime partner. Even though Mother’s Milk is one of the titular team’s most pivotal players, Butcher didn’t want his history with Soldier Boy compromising Butcher’s plan to work with the villain. Thus, Hughie’s unnecessary use of Compound V mirrors Butcher’s choice to team up with The Boys season 3's deadly MCU parody Soldier Boy. Both already morally dubious antiheroes, The Boys stars Butcher and Hughie have now slid into more villainous roles than ever before in their pursuit of juice and vengeance, bending the rules that they hold supes to and betraying their friends and loved ones for the sake of finally securing a win against Homelander, A-Train, and company at any cost.
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