“The Boys” are back for round four, but you might not want to pump your fist yet. The fourth season of this gratuitously mature superhero satire doesn’t capture the magic of previous seasons due to some writing and pacing issues. Regardless, like a superhero in its universe, just because it’s not the strongest doesn’t mean it’s not powerful—it’s still an entertaining watch.
Season four begins at an almost glacial pace during its first three episodes, even with its perfect setup, and only continues to feel more like the consequences of season three. Six months after season three, the presidential election is happening, The Seven are down by three members, and The Boys’s C.I.A. outfit continues to search for a method to kill Homelander and possibly superpowered Congresswoman Victoria Neuman. Meanwhile, arrogant patriots backing Homelander clash with liberals siding with Starlight.
Everyone on the humans’ side is deconstructed from their previously powerful selves. Butcher’s recklessness leads to Mother’s Milk taking over as leader, feeling almost like a trade: Mother’s Milk learns how stressful it is to lead, and Butcher feels what it’s like to be ignored and trampled. Starlight, Frenchie, and Kimiko simply feel weaker overall compared to how powerful they all appeared last season. As for Hughie, the trouble he gets wound up in accelerates in difficulty, from family drama, to manipulation, and especially the questionable number of times he gets sexually assaulted.
For The Seven, Homelander’s God complex inflates until he declares it’s time to start showing his wrath. The Deep and A-Train are both jokes to him, becoming pawns after last season’s misdeeds, and Black Noir returns with a superpowered stand-in since Homelander secretly killed the real one last season. Meanwhile, entering The Seven are know-it-all Sister Sage and obnoxious conservative influencer Firecracker.
Karl Urban’s Billy Butcher and Antony Starr’s Homelander are still awesome despite feeling slightly suppressed from their full potential.
Butcher’s health is deteriorating but he’s more handicapped by regret of his past actions. Seeing him morally conflicted is a fresh take on the aggressive former S.A.S. soldier. Throughout the season, he’s also shrouded in mystery about what his past abuse of Temp-V really did to him.
Homelander is still terrifying and brutal when displaying his villainy. This terrible superhuman has done awful acts like rigging a riot, turning fans into martyrs, and forcing a past figure to embarrass himself in front of his colleagues or risk being disfigured via heat-vision.
Everyone is performed with the same great charisma as always, but some arcs are lower in quality and even go nowhere, with Frenchie’s unfortunately being the worst. He feels guilt after killing his lover’s family; he confesses, they break up, and he turns himself in to the police. That’s about it. While realistic, it’s straightforward with no substance and no pay-off.
Going further, season four reminds you about what you’re in for. Expect the gross-out gore, sexual deviance, and drama “The Boys” is known for. All these combined, though, throws the question of whether the series has become predictably unpredictable.
Suffering the most from this is episode six, which centers around chaos in a BDSM dungeon, but it almost gets uncomfortable. Sure, this is what “The Boys” is all about but juxtaposed to last season’s memorable episode “Herogasm” based around a supe-bacchanal, this episode echoes shock value only to really promote disgust.
Fortunately, the season excels at randomness everywhere else.
The fifth episode exemplifies the series’ shenanigans when The Boys enter a farmstead to steal an anti-supe virus, only to find it overrun by rabid, superpowered animals. Additionally, Hughie’s side of the story makes the episode surprisingly emotional with a tear-jerking performance from Simon Pegg as his dad, Hugh Sr.
A prominent, overarching thread is the connection between Mother’s Milk and A-Train. Mother’s Milk saw glimpses of goodness in A-Train; he knew that his heart was in the right place despite his questionable actions. Therefore, he offers him an opportunity to truly be heroic by rebelling against The Seven.
A-Train’s redemption is satisfying. He’s gone from a heartless junkie to a human acknowledging blood on his hands after being forced to commit inhumane crimes and seeing loved ones hurt. It almost makes you forget the story began from his carelessness.
Other moments of mayhem take center stage as well, and it’s hard to pick which ones are funnily worse than the others. Honorable mentions include a girl’s bat mitzvah party getting interrupted by The Boys fighting a supe and his naked clones, and Starlight finally battling The Deep, creating as much excitement as Homelander and Butcher’s brawl from last season.
The season ends with cliffhangers that solidify the fifth season of “The Boys” as its last. Contrary to previous seasons where the good guys are victorious, this one brilliantly ends on a bad note to the tune of “Heart-Shaped Box” by Nirvana. While it’s not action-packed like the season three finale, as a reminder, this is a satirical drama and less of a conventional superhero series. Let’s just hope that showrunner Eric Kripke and company haven’t dug the series a hole too deep to climb out of.
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