Some The Boys fans have a big problem with Hughie’s storyline

What did you miss?

The Boys revels in shock value, depicting violence and sexually explicit content to both surprise and disgust viewers, but it seems some fans are unhappy by the way the show approaches Hughie (Jack Quaid) in this context.

A lot happens in the penultimate episode of the Prime Video series, but one part that has felt in bad taste for viewers is Hughie being sexual assaulted for a second week in a row. Last week's episode saw the character be tied up and assaulted while undercover, and Episode 7 put a twist on things that fans were not expecting.

As a result many viewers have called out the writers for the storyline, but before we explore exactly what happened be warned that there are spoilers for the episode in this article.

What, how and why?

Episode 7 sees Annie January, aka Starlight (Erin Moriarty), be kidnapped by a shape shifter, who assumes her appearance. The shape shifter then propositions Hughie, who has no idea that his girlfriend has gone missing and has been replaced by a doppelganger, and takes her up on it.

Viewers remarked that the scenes are effectively depicting sexual assault because Hughie is having sex with someone who isn't Annie, even if he doesn't know it the point still stood for fans especially after he was assaulted by Tek Knight and Ashley in Episode 6.

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Fans shared their disdain on X and criticising writers for their approach to the matter, and one viewer wrote: "hughie got sexually assaulted again??? what is going on with this show".

Another person remarked: "Not them having Hughie Campbell getting [sexually assaulted] not once but twice in back to back episodes this season my man does NOT deserve any of that".

One viewer wrote: "hughie getting sexually assaulted twice damn near back to back… this is strange". Similarly another fan said: "Hughie has been getting assaulted and touched on in back to back episodes right after the passing of his father bro holy s**t please give this man a break."

Another person said: "rape via deception is still rape and i’m so tired of #TheBoys using it as a plot device. has hughie not already been through enough? y’all really had to assault him TWO episodes in a row?!?!"

The Boys showrunner Eric Kripke addressed the decision behind Hughie's assault in Episode 6, saying that the scenes were written for comedy's sake.

When asked about the scene depicting the assault, he told Variety: "Well, that’s a dark way to look at it! We view it as hilarious.

"Obviously, Tek Knight is our version of Batman, and we wanted to really play around with that trope: Batman’s fascist underpinnings as a really wealthy dude who hunts poor people, and then profits of the incarceration. So that was one. Tek Knight was already set up to be a freak, so we were kind of already halfway there."

He went on: "And in the comics, there’s a great storyline where Hughie goes undercover disguised as a superhero. That was a story that Jack had always asked us to do. So part of it is, always be careful what you ask the writers for."

What else happened on The Boys?

Elsewhere in the episode, viewers were given a shock when Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) almost died as a result of being stabbed with the virus that kills Supes. Luckily Frenchie (Tomer Capone) was able to stop this from happening by amputating her leg, but there was a moment where viewers thought that was it for the fan favourite.

Sharing a video of a man crying, one viewer wrote: "me when i thought they was finna get kimiko.. i literally had a heart attack do not ever play with me like that again".

Another wrote: "I nearly thought it was the end for Kimiko".

The Boys airs Thursdays on Prime Video.