Can we have an actual conversation about Firecracker?

Season 4 Episode 6 “Dirty Business” was a bit of a miss for me. We saw a fair bit of plot development, namely Butcher, New Noir, A-Train, and HL (at the expense of 40 minutes of SA on Hughie, which I have my own thoughts about). However, I’ve really come to have a conflicted view about Firecracker.

The Boys is very much the quintessential “nobody’s a good guy” show, and it allows for a more thorough and enjoyable examination of the characters, as their degree of depth isn’t hindered by some arbitrary alignment of heroes versus villains. Firecracker stands out to me because she, while admittedly doing some pretty fucked up things (outting Starlight’s abortion, statutory r*pe of a minor, etc), she doesn’t strike me as the overtly evil person some people seem to believe she is.

She has clearly suffered a lot because of her socioeconomic status and when Sage queried her on as to why she was peddling her conspiracies, Firecracker’s answer was, in a sense, empathetic. Her story touches on an addressed but often forgotten group within American conservatism, poor rural communities. In the same sense that her constituents are victims of the propaganda she peddles, she herself is a victim of the greater system that encourages it.

Despite her young relationship with Starlight (and what starlight said to her was ghastly), and Starlight beating the shit out of her on live television (arguable whether or not it was deserved)— when Starlight was apologizing to her, it really seemed like she had the capacity to forgive. Firecracker let her guard down, and Starlight ultimately used theopportunity to stick her with the juice. Firecracker clearly isn’t at heart a hateful person, she wants to belong. Its why Sage’s dismissal of her at the party (telling her to go find some Sunny D and Everclear) hit her so hard. She’s finally fulfilled her dream of joining the Seven, but she’s still seen as the same PWT she was when she was a child. It’s that same longing for approval that encourages her to take whatever drugs she took to develop lactation for HL.

Ultimately, Im optimistic for her character and I wouldn’t be surprised if she actually joined the Boys and Starlight at some point. I apologize for the tome, this was longer than I thought it was going to be, but I’m very curious to hear the community’s nites thoughts!