This week's penultimate season 4 episode of The Boys concluded with another big reveal, although - much like last week's Joe Kessler twist - you might well have figured it out if you'd been paying close attention.
At one point during "The Insider," Butcher, Annie and Hughie encounter a Supe shapeshifter, which, of course, means that one of our heroes is going to be replaced by an evil doppelgänger at some point.
As the gang wind down at a bar after their scrap with The Deep and Black Noir, a "fan" approaches Annie and asks for a selfie. Later, Annie surprised Hughie by instigating sex while wearing her old Starlight costume, and we get confirmation that this is actually the Shifter when she steals the laptop containing all of the dirt on Victoria Neuman on it from Hughie's safe.
The episode ends with the real Annie chained up in an unknown location, setting up what's sure to be an eventful finale.
During an interview with Screen Rant, director Catriona McKenzie revealed some of the ways viewers may have been able to tell Annie and the Shifter apart following the switch.
"Erin's so amazing. We talked about her physicality, we talked about her eyes, and we talked about a stillness because the Shifter doesn't have the same kind of emotional, intuitive, emotional intelligence that Annie does. And we've seen that in the episode; there was just a stillness that she brought to her performance where she's just a bit more robotic.
It was fun working that up with her. And she's a natural. Basically, everything's the opposite of what she's developed, and she just moved away from her instincts. I think, as a director, it's more and more about the subtleties of working with actors and working on characters that I find brings such pleasure. The minutia of performative detail is where I think is the goal is, and I love that moment when she gets out of bed and walks past Huey. She walks over to the safe, and you just know we're in for a ride."
Did you guess that Annie had been replaced? Let us know in the comments section.
"The world is on the brink. Victoria Neuman is closer than ever to the Oval Office and under the muscly thumb of Homelander, who is consolidating his power," reads the official season 4 synopsis. "Butcher, with only months to live, has lost Becca’s son as well as his job as The Boys’ leader. The rest of the team are fed up with his lies. With the stakes higher than ever, they have to find a way to work together and save the world before it’s too late."
Returning cast members include Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Antony Starr, Erin Moriarty, Jessie T. Usher, Laz Alonso, Chace Crawford, Tomer Capone, Karen Fukuhara, Colby Minifie, Claudia Doumit, and Cameron Crovetti, along with new recruits Susan Heyward, Valorie Curry, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan.
The first three episodes of The Boys season 4 will be available to stream from June 13th, with new instalments dropping weekly through to the season finale on July 18.