As with the other episodes featuring Homelander, the art style here is straight Westernised-anime, and decently done.
It's a straight up backstory episode covering (The) Homelander's reveal, his first mission and his relationship with Madelyn Stillwell and Black Noir.
Nothing complicated or unexpected, just solid reinforcement of the characters and setting. This is where I have to ding it slightly because it doesn't go beyond what we already knew or suspected. It's exactly on point, but I'd hoped for a little more nuance or twist.
Still, it doesn't put a foot wrong, and the voice performances are notably great, with Antony Starr doing a credible younger-version voice. Elisabeth Shue absolutely knocks her performance out of the park - it's hard to believe you're listening to a woman nearing 60 years old. They get solid support from the rest of the cast, who all know what they're doing.
Even the closing score is cleverly done with disjoints in the harmonies reflecting Homelander's increasing instability. That's a literally sound way to wrap up the season.
