A Rant: Hughie Campbell is a Terrible Boyfriend

**SPOILERS** if you haven’t seen seasons 1-4 of The Boys, you may want to turn back now and return when you’ve caught up. I’ve done my due diligence, if you continue reading the show will be spoiled and it’s your own fault. Also, this rant is specifically about the Hughie Campbell of the TV show, not the comics.

Hughie Campbell of The Boys is the worst boyfriend. He gaslights, he gate-keeps, and he is resentful when his girlfriend is a girlboss (succeeds, for those of you who are pop culture illiterate). We’ve now spent four seasons watching this man fumble his romantic relationship (and honestly his other relationships as well) and yet he still gets the girl! Honestly, Annie should not have gotten back together with him after the first season and definitely should have dumped him by the end of season four.

You could be thinking “Hmmm, well Hughie is just a scrawny, whimpering coward, does he really deserve to be judged?” You would be correct about the fact that he is a coward. That doesn’t mean that he shouldn’t be dumped. Maybe he’ll pick up enough Ls to realize he can’t lean on being a “nice guy” to keep the girl. He, in fact, would need to stop being a selfish sack of flesh.

Now, if you find yourself defending Hughie, let me outline what he brings to his relationship with Annie:

1. For two-ish seasons he’s still in love with another woman, so it’s not commitment
2. Their relationship is built on him lying to her, so it’s not honesty
3. He’s insecure about the fact that she’s superhuman and he’s not which is why he takes Temp V, so it’s not confidence
4. He recognizes that Annie seems off but doesn’t investigate further because the shapeshifter impersonating her keeps putting out, so its definitely not discernment

These are just a few of his crimes as the worst boyfriend. His behavior probably comes from his insecurity and feelings of helplessness (I assume), but you know what would help him get out of his own way? Therapy.

Yes, it was terrible that A-Train literally ran through Robin while Hughie held her hands. Yes, it was awful that Hughie’s mom left him and his dad and they were somewhat stunted from that. Yes, it was traumatizing that he blew up Translucent and that was the start of his killing. Yes, it was dark when he had to help his father die. Yes, what happened in Tek Knight’s basement was abhorrent. I’m not discounting the bad things that have happened to Hughie. They just add to the case that he should go to therapy, and really, everyone on The Boys deeply needs therapy. If Homelander hadn’t been raised in a science lab and could talk to a mental health therapist, he probably wouldn’t be the fascist idiot everyone fears. But those theories can be saved for another rant…this rant is specifically about Hughie’s lack of interpersonal skills.

Annie’s hands aren’t clean by any stretch, but she does right by Hughie for the most part. She trusted him (which was stupid) and then when he broke her trust, she called him out. Tragically, she still went back to him and he continued the same behaviors of being dishonest and insecure. She continues to trust him (which is also pretty dumb) and although she expresses her displeasure about the shapeshifter situation, she still doesn’t dump him. Her anger is justified both because she was locked up and nobody came to find her, and because she read her partner’s behavior correctly. Hughie could have done more when he had the slightest inkling that the woman in his home wasn’t Annie, but he probably knew he could get away with not investigating further. People push to see where the line is with other people to see what they can get away with, and Hughie continues to push Annie because there have been no consequences for him.

Perhaps in season five, we’ll see consequences or maybe his plot armor will finally be stripped away. Unfortunately, we have two years to ponder this.