Season 4 - 8 episodes (2024)
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Created by: Eric Kripke
Starring: Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Antony Starr, Erin Moriarty, Jessie T. Usher, Laz Alonso, Chace Crawford, Tomer Capone, Karen Fukuhara, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Claudia Doumit, Valorie Curry
Rated: TV-MA
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Plot
In a world where super heroes are commonplace, they are syndicated,
monetized, and marketed by a company called Vought International.
Privilege and power have corrupted the super heroes who abuse their
powers. A clandestine group of normal human vigilantes arise to counter
them.
In season four Victoria Neuman is closer to the Oval Office and under the control of Homelander. With months to live, Billy Butcher must find a way to work with The Boys to save the world.
Verdict
This season is more of the same. It's just as dark and depraved, and while big plots are in play with Homelander seeking wider control, this season doesn't feel like it moves forward. The Boys are still chasing Homelander, making little progress. Their position doesn't change from season three. We get plenty of fun, gross, shocking, and strange moments that have become synonymous with the show, but overall this season doesn't progress. This season does remove any remaining subtlety about Homelander and his political leanings while the show satirizes the far right.
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Review
Creator Kripke has stated since the beginning he intended for the show to last five seasons, and that's been confirmed. This seasons feels like it as this season serves as a prologue, waiting for the final blow.
Catching up to season four, Starlight (Erin Moriarty) quit Vought and sided with The Boys while also losing her powers, Butcher (Karl Urban) is dying due to taking Temp V, and Homelander (Antony Starr) is completely unhinged now. Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit) is the Vice Presidential nominee and closer to whatever she and Homelander are planning.
The Boys is always crude, wild, violent, and gory. It's over the top and ridiculous and that continues early in the first episode with Homelander at the urinal. This show has always leaned political with Homelander, but this season is wild. It groups far right wing conservatives and their typical talking points with Homelander and his agenda. If you're going to call any show political, this is it. In earlier seasons this was a response to the preponderance of super hero movies and that fairy tale. This imagined a darker world, and now it focuses on the political divide through Homelander and Starlight. Their differences are clearly Republican and Democrat based.
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| Antony Starr plays Homelander |
Homelander recruits Sage, the world's smartest person, to strategize his plan. Everyone keeps stating she's the smartest woman and she continues to correct them with the smartest person. Homelander knows her intelligence and still doubts her. He's infatuated with his own ego, and his ego is a catalyst this season as he deals with getting older. His son Ryan seems to be part of that as Homelander wants to build a legacy with his son. Ryan isn't a sociopath, and he's Butcher's hope that he can either save Ryan or Ryan will help them take down Homelander. While Ryan realizes Homelander is creating a cult, he also feels powerless to stop it.
Episode four delves into Homelander's past. He's getting revenge for past wrongs, and everyone capitulates because they're terrified of him. His quest for more power ties into his need for approval. This season Homelander is a stand-in for the far right. In the real world many would say the far right are flying by the seat of their pants but Homelander has the smartest person in the world planning his ascension. All of the disinformation and attacks are a means to an end. What will come of that? Firecracker (Valorie Curry) is a new super hero and basically a talk show host pushing Homelander's agenda, on board for the fame and benefit. This season presents politics, or at least half of it, as a ploy for power and control.
This season does have fun. There's a fake movie with A-Train (Jessie T. Usher) and Will Ferrell. We also see super chickens. Episode five is a showcase for how this season can be so much fun. Episode six proves how depraved and gross the series can be. No matter how famous the super hero, they all have issues. Firecracker finds a way to prove her loyalty to Homelander. The wild thing is that it's not even the most depraved thing in the episode.
The final episode should be the big showdown, but it really a big to be continued. While we get plenty of surprises, we don't get any resolution. This season has it's moments, but overall it's delaying the inevitable. With season five confirmed as the final episode, it's clear this season is all set up with no payoff. The parts are greater than the whole. The plot ends in the same spot as it was when season three ended.
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