This Is The Worst Thing Billy Butcher Has Done On The Boys

At his core, Billy Butcher is a manipulator. Yes, it can be argued that he's only doing what's necessary — but his sly streak damages everyone around him. Just look at how much his actions fractured the team when they were on the run. For the viewer, their lives are exciting to watch — but the way Billy yanked Hugh Campbell (Jack Quaid) into his whirlpool of violence back in the very first episode of the series was devious.

Butcher essentially used Hughie's grief after Robin's (Jess Salgueiro) death for his own ends, piggybacking off of his hate for A-Train (Jesse T. Usher) to get a bug in Vought Tower. And while it was a little cathartic for Hughie, the way Billy instantly dropped him after the job was done was just careless and cold.

Of course, Billy eventually took Hugh under his wing, but the manipulation didn't stop — if anything, it actually escalated. The team's leader continued to use Robin's death as a way of getting Hughie to do whatever he wanted, even calling him an "insult to Robin's memory" at one point. Ouch. Just look at what happened when the team discovered Campbell's relationship with Starlight (Erin Moriarty): It ended with Billy shooting her in the chest with high-caliber rounds... It's a good thing she's bulletproof. 

If the series continues adapting the comics, Billy and Hughie's conflict is only going to end in a violent crescendo. But who knows, showrunner Eric Kripke seems to be adding his own spin on the source material, so we might not see a fateful battle on the roof of the Empire State Building.