Summary
In the run-up to its finale,The Boysseason 4 made it very clear that President-Elect Robert Singer’s inauguration would be taking place on January 6. For anyone with a pulse, that date evokes the horrific 2020 insurrection led by supporters of Donald Trump. Subtle satire has never been a strong suit ofThe Boys —it tends to have a heavy-handed approach, one that has increasingly worked against it in recent years.
Cast
For the most part, though, the finale forThe Boysseason 4 avoids direct comparisons to the event. When you expect it to zig, it zags. Just when you think things are going to work out, another problem arises. This ending doesn’t avoid all the trappings of the show’s lazier impulses, but it’s still a thrilling hour of television, and it sets up what is sure to be a brutal final season.
The Boys Season 4’s January 6 Is Much Smaller In Scale
The impact of this day will change the world, though
Homelander and Sister Sage’s ultimate planis to kill Robert Singer using a shape-shifting Supe posing as Starlight. This will ensure he can install Victoria Neuman as president and enact a pro-Supe agenda. Erin Moriarity does some of her best work in the season 4 finale, playing a sinisterly sweet copy of herself that takes advantage of Hughie’s oblivious nature. Not since Nina Dobrev’s work inThe Vampire Diariesas Katherine and Elena has a dopplegänger situation been so thrilling.
This culminates in a fight to the death, one of the best action scenes of the season. There are real emotional stakes in Annie’s fight with her clone, something that has been sorely lacking in recent episodes. She’s not only fighting to save Singer — she’s fighting for her powers, Hughie, and for a cause she truly believes in. The show may have trouble deciding whether it wants Annie to be a tool criticizing shallow neoliberalism or an actual force for good, but at that moment, it’s a clear-cut battle of good versus evil.
The Boys Season 4 Soundtrack Guide: Every Song And When They Play
Apart from walking through supe satire, action, and drama, Amazon’s The Boys season 4 also features some memorable songs in some of its best scenes.
Less clear-cut is the relationship betweenRyan and Butcher. After a season of back-and-forth between the two, they get to reunite in earnest while Butcher is being treated at a government facility. As tensions escalate, Butcher and Grace Mallory’s true intentions are revealed: They want Ryan to kill Homelander as he’s the only one powerful enough to stop his father.
Ryan balks at the suggestion and is only further disturbed when Mallory reveals the origins of his parentage. Though Mallory has largely been absent in season 4, her death at the hands of Ryan is one that will have a lasting impact on both Butcher and the young boy. Though he doesn’t fully reject Butcher’s plan to kill Homelander, Ryan leaves Butcher to process everything he has just learned.
Whereas Homelander is white-knuckling for control over his worst impulses, Ryan is all instinct, raw and untrained.
Cameron Crovetti has really grown into his role as Ryan and the choice between his birth father and true good is one that could destroy him. Whereas Homelander is white-knuckling for control over his worst impulses, Ryan is all instinct, raw and untrained. He’ll surely come to regret the death of Mallory, but it remains to be seen how he’ll react to Homelander’s takeover at the end of the season. It’s one of the most interesting dynamics of the series and this could pay dividends in season 5.
The Boys Season 4 Sets Up Season 5 Perfectly
There’s an air of familiarity to the twists and turns, though
This interaction with Ryan finally pushes Butcher over the edge, and he gives in to the murderous side of himself thatJeffrey Dean Morgan’s Joe Kesslerhas embodied all season. Butcher’s vicious slaying of Victoria Neuman in front of her daughter is a sobering indication that he is committed to his plan, regardless of who it hurts in the process.
Butcher’s turn into a full-tilt villain makes the devilish glint in Karl Urban’s eyes even more frightening. It seems that Urban has been waiting for this moment and so have we. The dynamics among these characters have to shift in order for the series to stay fresh and while season 4 tiptoed around Butcher’s turn, it’s exciting to see a full commitment to his true nature.
What has been The Boys season 4’s most shocking death?
By now, one of The Boys' biggest selling points is the gruesome deaths to come from the ensuing adventures of the titular vigilante group, be it by their hands or from The Seven. Occasionally, though, some of these deaths break from the show’s comedic tone to be genuinely heartbreaking, and arguably the most shocking so far has been that of Simon Pegg’s Hugh Sr. His sudden stroke was quite a shock already, but watching him unravel upon getting his Compound V powers and forgetting who his son was is sure to hit very close to home for some.
As for Butcher’s arch-nemesis, it probably won’t surprise anyone that Homelander ends up on top again, except maybe Homelander himself. Sister Sage, who makes a brief appearance towards the end of the episode, reveals that everything that unfolded in the finale was essentially part of her plan all along. Despite a few hiccups, Homelander was always going to end up in control of the US government.
It’s an easy explanation, but there’s really no other place to leave Homelander than in total control. Mentally, though, the psycho-Supe is anything but controlled. All season, his burgeoning midlife crisis has seen him crumble under pressure, so that’s sure to impact his role as shadow President of the United States.
The Boysseason 4 finale delivers on all the promises that were set up at the beginning of the season. It’s just a shame that the show took such a roundabout way to get there. So much of season 4 feels inconsequential to the events of the finale — the fact that Hughie Sr.’s tragic death is a footnote to the season is a prime example of this.
Despite the hiccups, though,The Boysdelivers a rousing finale with a game-changing cliffhanger. Hughie, Frenchie, Kimiko, and MM are all captured by Homelander’s forces, with Butcher and Annie being the only ones to escape. Perhaps they’ll end up in thesame place asGen V’s Marie. With only one more season to go, it seems thatThe Boysjust may be able to get back on track and deliver a satisfying finale with some real intention behind it.
The Boysseason 4 episode 8 is now streaming on Prime Video.
The Boys
The Boys is a gritty and subversive take on the superhero genre, focusing on a group of vigilantes who confront powerful superheroes abusing their abilities, exploring themes of corruption and moral ambiguity in a world where heroes are not always what they seem.
