Of all the big mysteries in the Season 4 finale of The Boys, “Season Four Finale” (previously titled “Assassination Run”), the biggest one is: what does Hughie mean when he tells Annie she is “90% pashmina?”
Okay, fine, probably not the biggest mystery. But if you’re not familiar with certain goat-based wools, and given the relatively confusing nature of how Hughie (Jack Quaid) drops the reference to pashmina to Annie (Erin Moriarty), it might need some explanation. Based on certain search trends, it definitely needs explanation, by the way.
So let’s get into it… What does pashmina mean in this context on The Boys?
Why Did Hughie Say Annie Is “90% Pashmina?”
A little bit of a recap in case you haven’t been watching the series. A Supe Shapeshifter took the form of Annie in order to assassinate President-elect Bobby Singer (Jim Beaver). She wasn’t successful, but in the process she not only had sex with Hughie a bunch but also proposed marriage to him — and he proposed to her right back.
Once the gang is all back at the abandoned Vought factory they’re working out of, Annie digs into Hughie for cheating on her, and not knowing it was her the whole time. Except, as he explains, he did.
“You want to know how I knew it wasn’t you?” Hughie says. “In the apartment, she wore some designer dress, and you always ditch your bra for sweats as soon as you get home. She, she found your car keys on the first try, and you have never, ever found your car keys in under 15 minutes. But the final clue: in the bunker, she was sweating, and you have always been and always be 90% pashmina. I love that about you.”
They eventually do reconcile, but we don’t care about their relationship… We care about pashmina! Simply put, according to Merriam-Webster a pashmina is, “a fine wool similar to cashmere made from the undercoat of domestic Himalayan goats.” It also can be a shawl made from this type of wool.
It’s a big ol’ piece of wool you can wrap around yourself if you get cold — but it, itself, is a pretty cooling piece of fabric. You can wear it to keep warm, but it won’t overheat you like a big sheep’s wool sweater.
Yeah, But What Did Hughie Mean? Does The Pashmina Reference Make Sense?
So what does it mean in this context? In essence, Hughie is suggesting that Annie is A) always cold, and B) probably always snuggly, or needing to be snuggled. Once he saw the shapeshifter sweating, he knew it couldn’t be Annie. She’s as cool as a cucumber.
Mind you, the reference doesn’t exactly work because the idea here would be that she keeps other people warm — not vice versa. If she’s 90% pashmina, that means she’s always wrapping around Hughie to keep him warm. The other 10% of her is… Something else, I guess. But whatever, it’s a romantic speech delivered by Jack Quaid, so he sells it. I guess I probably would have said “90% cool as a cucumber,” but also, that’s why I’m not allowed to write for The Boys.
Where To Watch The Boys:
Listen to Let’s Hear It For The Boys:
Discover more from Comic Book Club
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
professionell yapper
“Professionell[sic] yapper”?
The blog poster? That’s what blogs are, although they’re rarely a profession. There’s no qualifications and no one’s getting paid.
I think you’re wrong. The context is her not sweating, and Pashmina is a great metaphor for that. Pashmina, being wool, can absorb a significant amount of weight in water (several times it’s own weight) without looking or even feeling wet to the touch. It keeps dry in almost all conditions. The choice of Pashmina instead of plain wool is the romantic part, though. It implies she’s rare, high quality and valuable.
I like that interpretation! Thanks for reading.
It was certainly a nonsense line, like the writer had just found out what pashmina even was, and had to show the world how clever and cultured they are. 90% is the amount of people who hadn’t even heard of it, so it’s stupid to put it in a script. I doubt 10% can even guess what it has to do with sweating – it’s certainly not going to prevent a sweaty forehead – I can’t see why Annie would have understood his gibberish either. Only the writer knows what they were thinking.
However, the writing for Annie just before was even worse – blaming him for getting raped by a perfect impersonation of her! WTF?!