'The Boys' Season 4 Finale Sets Up An Incredible End To The Series Which The Creator Says Will Be "The Show's Version Of The Apocalypse"
On Thursday 'The Boys' season 4 finale hit our eyeballs. I wanted to give everyone a few days to watch before going what happened, but now it's time. Now before we dive in, I think we're all adults and can admit this wasn't the best season. There are about 3-4 very good episodes with the rest being completely forgettable. That's okay though because this was always going to be a set-up for the series finale where every second should be box-office. The creator of the show Eric Kripke alluded to that here. We're going to use this tweet as a break to give you an opportunity to click out of the blog if you don't want to be spoiled. Stop reading now, what are you even doing here?
SPOILERS BLOW
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Alright, so that was a great season finale. Like I said earlier, not the strongest season altogether, but man does that last episode deliver and set the tone for what's to come in season 5.
Homelander, who thinks he's failed, finds out through Sage that her plan worked perfectly in some backwards way. You want to talk about one of the most powerful people in the show? It's Sage. She orchestrated all of this and kind of set it up that it couldn't fail either way it went. Neuman is dead and President Singer gets framed for it, opening the door for Homelander to take over the White House and assume all control of the country. Instead of an America where humans are in control of the supes it's the reverse.
-I think most people saw Neuman's death coming, but probably not being torn in half by Butcher's Venom alter ego.
The show loves to deliver shocking moments, but this one felt a little weak in terms of the writing. Neuman proved to be pretty invincible throughout the show and was always a step ahead of everyone else. The fact that she didn't feel threatened by Butcher the moment he walked in is kinda crazy. Definitely had time to pop his head the moment he pushed Hughie out of the way. Literally all that mattered to her was getting her and her daughter out of there safely and she let her guard down for crazed Butcher? Just felt like there was a more creative way for her to go out. I did like her trying to pop Homelander's head while on live TV only to find out in realtime that she couldn't touch him.
-Hughie really got put through the ringer during this season huh? How's watching your dad be on death's doorstep only to have him spring back to life. Then he becomes a V zombie with superhero powers he can't control. Your only option then becomes to kill your dad. Then your girlfriend Starlight gets kidnapped and cloned. Without realizing this, you get engaged to the clone and have endless sex for a week only to find out it wasn't your actual girlfriend. Was a real shame that the shape shifter liked to wear very minimal clothes. A real shame. Once actual Starlight comes back you get in a massive fight over the whole ordeal. Then you see a friend you grew close with over the years in Neuman get her body torn in half as her blood squirts all over you. Oh and at the end you get taken in by the villain supes while Starlight flies away. Tough little stretch there for Hughie.
-Grace really went out of character with Ryan and Butcher in the bunker there. Essentially killed herself in the process by overloading all that information to Ryan about how bad Homelander is. Maybe don't dump all of that on him while he's playing a nice game of Connect 4? I guess the walls were closing in on her and desperation took over, but that just wasn't the way to get through to Ryan. It felt like the moment Ryan killed her and escaped the facility that the last little bit of human in Billy Butcher withered away. The tumor in his body cosplaying as Venom took full control right then and there.
-Speaking of Butcher, we're finally getting the return of Scorched Earth Billy in season 5. Over the last few seasons he's wrestled with savior Billy and being the bad guy. He wanted to be there for Ryan and steer him in the right direction, but now it's all about killing Homelander and anyone who stands in his way as the cancer controls the show. Diabolical. Hopefully it all ends with a battle at the White House as depicted in the comics.
-So with most of The Boys captured or on the run, who is left to fight? Hughie, MM, and Kimiko will have to be broken out. Frenchie got put under that mind control spell by Cate so he's cooked. Starlight finally got back her powers and then some, allowing her to fly away at the end.
She'll definitely have some big moments in Season 5 that will allow to not be so irrelevant. My guess is she's going right to Maeve's to bring her back into the fight. A-Train will probably end up linking up with them too. There's also Marie and Emma from Gen V. Ryan is a wildcard, but I'm guessing he fully turns on Homelander after digesting all of that info Grace fed him. Butcher is fully on his own headed to the White House with one goal in sight. And then of course, the final scene of Season 4…there's Soldier Boy.
-Not sure what Homelander thinks Solider Boy is going to say if he gets woken up by him, but it ain't going to be hugs all around. Also don't think Soldier Boy is going to be buddy-buddy with The Boys either after being frozen again. Like Butcher, he's on his own and probably just kills a bunch of people on both sides. Can't wait. Jensen Ackles does such a great job with the character.
-I'm curious what Ashley mutates into. Maybe something where her hair is her superpower? Possibly some Professor X knockoff? She's a fun side character who I'm happy they didn't kill off in that massacre of Vought employee deaths at the end.
-Anytime the show deviates to show the Kimiko-Frenchie on and off relationship I lose interest. Didn't need any of that in Season 4 and it contributed to the episodes dragging for sure.
-One thing I like about the show, among many things, is that they don't go bar for bar with the comics. A lot of people didn't like how they ended that so the creator Kripke is putting his own spin on it. For example, in the comics a major twist is that Noir ends up being a Homelander clone underneath his suit. We know already that's not happening and they're going a different direction.
It's very, very hard to nail a series finale, but I'm very hopeful with how things are setup that The Boys is going to nail it. People may get turned off by the show's political undertones, but as a guy who doesn't care about politics at all I just appreciate the entertainment value it brings. Sure Homelander is obviously portraying Trump and there are clear American issues as storylines, but that doesn't bother me one way or the other. It's funny, loaded with violence, gore, action, and fantastic acting. Can't wait for the final season, but unfortunately it's not going to be ready until 2026. Goddammit. At least there will be a new Gen V season in the meantime. The first group of episodes for that definitely surprised me in a good way.
P.S. Incredible moment from Homelander in the last episode. The best.
P.P.S. I get changing the season finale's title from "Assassination Run" to "Season Four Finale" because Trump nearly got assassinated last weekend, but at the same time they probably could have left it. Just insane timing.