In episode four of The Boys, Frenchie is tasked with sneaking into Firecracker’s trailer to dig up more dirt on her, and he finds a prescription of pills inside one of her purses. As the camera lingers on this shot, their name comes into focus: metoclopramide.
Fans are already expecting that Firecracker is hiding something, but why would she be taking metoclopramide? What exactly are the pills for?
Why Is Firecracker Taking Metoclopramide in The Boys S4 E4?
As it turns out, metoclopramide is a type of medication used for treating nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite and heartburn in people with gastric reflux or diabetes. It can also be used by people undergoing cancer treatment to mitigate the side-effects of chemo.
Before jumping to the conclusion that Firecracker (whose real name we learn is Misty Tucker Gray) is hiding a cancer diagnosis, we should point out metoclopramide also has one little-known side effect—it increases breast milk production.
Homelander and His Milk Obsession
Ever since the first season of The Boys, Homelander’s psychopathy comes out in very specific ways. Besides his penchant for psychologically tormenting his underlings, he’s also shown to have an obsession with milk.
This was first made clear with his attraction to Vought honcho Madelyn Stillwell who played out dominatrix scenarios with him, in which she pretended to be his mother. After he kills in her the first season for hiding the truth about his son Ryan, Homelander finds a bottle of her breast milk and greedily slurps it up.
While it initially did seem like an unfortunate side effect of his obsession with Stillwell, the third season had Homelander milking a cow with the same kind of perverted euphoria.
Are the Pills Part of Firecracker's Long Game?
So far, Firecracker’s only interaction with Homelander is at Vought Tower in season 4 episode 3, when she suggestively insists he can come to her for "anything." And she does mean anything.
Given that we now know Firecracker is taking metoclopramide, it’s very likely the show will be revisiting this interaction between Firecracker and Homelander; and with the reveal that the pills could help her produce breast milk, fans can surmise what kind of pay-off the show is building up to.
So far, Firecracker has been presented as just another alt-right mascot touting Vought’s agenda—essentially making her the new Stormfront, Homelander's former love interest. Unlike SF though, Firecracker doesn’t seem to be as conniving as the secret Nazi supe.
Since it was Sage who had her hired in the first place, it wouldn’t be surprising to learn that Sage also told Firecracker to take the pills as a way to stay on Homelander's good side.
Then again, Firecracker was already adept at manipulating all kinds of conspiracy theorists before joining The Seven, so it’s possible she could have her very own agenda when it comes to Homelander. Maybe she really just wants to get on his good side, but as anyone who works on The Seven knows, HL can get emotional, unpredictable and dangerous very fast.
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