Television The Boys: Season 4 (Amazon Prime) - update (06/11): series to conclude with Season 5

[Greatoneshere]

Another very fun and funny episode of the boys - homicidal powered up animals was a great choice. The fact they've neutered Neuman's character to tolerate the Boys crew in the same way Homelander does is straining credulity to the breaking point - the show either has to have a proper face-off with consequences or kill Neuman and/or Homelander off because her not using her powers against them or the animals (except one to save Stan) isn't believable in the least.

 

I like all the corporate diversity marketing satire, showing the MCU/DCU movie planning timeline all with terrible titles, etc. Ryan is clearly being raised to go down a dark path he's getting more and more comfortable with so long as it's couched in doing the right thing. And Butcher has gone even further off of the deep end, I think it's clear Jeffrey Dean Morgan's character is yet another figment of Butcher's slowly dying brain with the weird virus worm. And never forget to make sure to check out Black At It, Vought's diversity movie. Also great to see two of the Gen V cast show up, proving that Sam and Cate have really doubled down on their allegiance to Vought from the end of Gen V season 1 (or they seemingly have anyway). Three episodes to go.

[GeneticBlueprint]

The V'd up animals was starting to jump the shark too much for me. If it's just contained to this episode I'm fine but if it starts being a thing showing up now and again it'll get pretty old pretty fast.

 

The best part of this episode is the cuts to the Vought convention. I love all the digs at the Superhero movie machine/MCU. "Phases 17 and 18 of the [VCU] are coming and we're going to go through the exhausting details" or whatever that suit said  It's not even parody it's just straight skewering. "It's been a year since a Tek Knight movie... so we thought we were overdue for a reboot!" A-Train's presentation about his origin movie. Homelander using his intimidation for good and then of course taking it too far.

 

The stuff between Hughie and his dad was also great and touching. Of course interspersed with all of the violence it was a bit jarring. As it's supposed to be.

 

Also, classic Butcher cutting Samir's leg off for the fake out.

[Kal-El814]

Other than the Hughie bits I dunno about this episode.

 

Can MM make up his mind about Butcher? Please? Neuman can’t head pop some sheep? Kimiko is just gonna run from them? The whole farm bit really makes me feel like they’re running on fumes. And Ryan’s an episode removed from feeling horrible about killing someone and minutes removed from wanting to help people because it’s what his mom would have wanted to happily watching a man get pummeled? 

 

Somewhat ironic that they’re dunking on the MCU on an episode and season getting more tied into Gen V. My Prime Video app also recommended products to me as soon as the episode ended based on my having watched it, so… art imitating life imitating art  

[Greatoneshere]

2 minutes ago, Kal-El814 said:

Other than the Hughie bits I dunno about this episode.

 

Can MM make up his mind about Butcher? Please? Neuman can’t head pop some sheep? Kimiko is just gonna run from them? The who farm bit really makes me feel like they’re running on fumes. And Ryan’s an episode removed from feeling horrible about killing someone and minutes removed from wanting to help people because it’s what his mom would have wanted to happily watching a man get pummeled? 

 

I agree with a lot of this - the show seems to be moving a bit too fast and too loose that the farm stuff was harder than usual to take seriously for The Boys because it's not like Herogasm where weird shit is supposed to be happening and with all the wild cards in the group at the farm people should be far more combative and careful around each other than they are. In an episode where Stan comes back and Simon Pegg dies (all the Hughie stuff was good) the episode should have felt more overwhelming and tension filled than goofy. 

[Brick]

1 hour ago, Greatoneshere said:

think it's clear Jeffrey Dean Morgan's character is yet another figment of Butcher's slowly dying brain with the weird virus worm.

 

Oh shit I didn't think about that, but now that I do you're probably right. We haven't seen him around anyone else. 

[Kal-El814]

1 hour ago, Greatoneshere said:

I agree with a lot of this - the show seems to be moving a bit too fast and too loose that the farm stuff was harder than usual to take seriously for The Boys because it's not like Herogasm where weird shit is supposed to be happening and with all the wild cards in the group at the farm people should be far more combative and careful around each other than they are. In an episode where Stan comes back and Simon Pegg dies (all the Hughie stuff was good) the episode should have felt more overwhelming and tension filled than goofy. 

 

Yeah. Far be it from me to want The Boys to really "make sense" but how the fuck did Butcher find time to perform a relatively silent, secluded, non fatal amputation and then plant the evidence? 

[Greatoneshere]

9 minutes ago, Kal-El814 said:

Yeah. Far be it from me to want The Boys to really "make sense" but how the fuck did Butcher find time to perform a relatively silent, secluded, non fatal amputation and then plant the evidence? 

 

Yeah I mean The Boys is a crazy show but when it betrays its own tone by leaning into too much serious drama or overt comedy (suped up animals) becomes a problem. It can be hard since the show's tone compared to others show is on such a tightrope but yeah this episode just logistically didn't always make sense. I also wondered how Butcher made Sameer disappear so fast at the end there. 

 

Then I remember this is by the guy who did the first five seasons of Supernatural which were great! But also sometimes he did cut corners to get characters to places he wanted to get them in that show too. 

[Firewithin]

Lmao this marvel panel parody 

[Moa]

I'm not going to stop watching, but my god what a boring episode. The animals were funny one time, but they pulled the exact same thing three times. There's no tension or stakes, everything is just one step forward, one step back.

[Spork3245]

I really don’t see a reason why the animals were even a threat with the head-popper there.

The bigger thing from the episode is whatever that thing was inside the v’d-up bunny that Butcher stomped. Obviously it’s the same “thing” what we’ve been seeing moving around in Butcher’s veins.

[Derek]

At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if the series ends with Butcher saying 'Cunts, we've got one more shot at Homelander and I know exactly how to do it.'

 

And then V worms just explode out of his head and he dies.

[Spork3245]

38 minutes ago, Derek said:

And then V worms just explode out of his head and he dies.

*and the v-worms go on to kill Homelander by going up his butt and killing him from the inside 

[Jason]

1 hour ago, Spork3245 said:

*and the v-worms go on to kill Homelander by going up his butt and killing him from the inside 

 

*and the v-worms pop a titty for Homelander to suck on before going up his butt and killing him from the inside

[Greatoneshere]

This was one of the most NSFW episodes of the show, and I was laughing/grossed out a lot of the time. I do still feel the show is spinning its wheels and spending too much time on shock factor as opposed to moving the plot forward (has anything actually happened since Starlight beat down Firecracker on stage?) and the show continues to strain credulity that our CIA off-the-books "crack" team would be able to break into an exclusive behind closed doors CPAC meeting under Homelander's nose is just getting stupid. That being said, I was thoroughly entertained, and there was some good stuff in here, like Annie's apology to Firecracker, A-Train feeling like an honest to goodness hero, and putting Jack Quaid through the BDSM ringer. And making fun of Batman with Tek-Knight will never get old. But using up too much of your time thinking you're being clever that Jeffrey Dean Morgan is, in fact, a hallucination is a waste of time when most people guessed it weeks ago. 

 

Still, to hurt a white conservative masochistic idiot like Tek-Knight by sending all his Bruce Wayne money to foundations he hates like Black Lives Matter and the Innocence Project is worth it.

[Spork3245]

“Now fart”

[Jason]

How did she know the titty milk was his thing??? 

[Spork3245]

[SoberChef]

Starr's reaction in that scene ... 

 

[ort]

I'm a few episodes behind but so far this season seems to be spinning its wheels and seems like it's taken a step backwards quality wise. I hate Trump and the MAGA movement a whole heck of a lot... but I find all of the mockery of that movement to be a little too on-the-nose. It's just too obvious and isn't being handled that well.

 

Sister Sage is gonna turn out to be a good guy, isn't she? 

[Spork3245]

4 minutes ago, ort said:

It's just too obvious and isn't being handled that well.

 

I think that's the point. Too many idiots thought Homelander was the good guy and Kripke wanted to make it clear "no, I'm making fun of modern day GOP politicians, you morons" 

 

 

On 6/21/2024 at 5:21 PM, Spork3245 said:

 

[GeneticBlueprint]

6 minutes ago, Spork3245 said:

 

I think that's the point. Too many idiots thought Homelander was the good guy and Kripke wanted to make it clear "no, I'm making fun of modern day GOP politicians, you morons" 

 

Yeah. 'On the nose' is the only thing that gets through to the chuds.

[Spork3245]

6 minutes ago, GeneticBlueprint said:

 

Yeah. 'On the nose' is the only thing that gets through to the chuds.

 

Spoiler

I almost fell off my couch when Firecracker mentioned Jewish Space Lasers. 

 

[GeneticBlueprint]

9 minutes ago, Spork3245 said:

 

  Hide contents

I almost fell off my couch when Firecracker mentioned Jewish Space Lasers. 

 

 

For me it was the 

 

Spoiler

"clean the Santorum off of the" whatever 

 

[69los]

1 hour ago, GeneticBlueprint said:

 

For me it was the 

 

  Hide contents

"clean the Santorum off of the" whatever 

 

 

I forgot about him up until her mention.

[ort]

How could anyone not think Homelander was the bad guy?

 

I think what they didn't see was the obvious subtext of his badness being used as an allegory for modern right wing politics.

[Spork3245]

11 minutes ago, ort said:

How could anyone not think Homelander was the bad guy?

 

They vote for Trump.

[Greatoneshere]

59 minutes ago, ort said:

How could anyone not think Homelander was the bad guy?

 

Many right wing fans of The Boys didn't understand that Homelander was the bad guy until late into season 3. That's when the backlash began and now season 4 is being review bombed. As Spork said, Eric Kripke made it clear this season because he was surprised people weren't getting it before. So yes, he has to make the satire this on the nose for them to "get" it. The first artcle is from 2022, for instance.

 

‘The Show Is a Lot of Things, But Subtle Is Not One of Them’

WWW.VULTURE.COM

---

Showrunner Eric Kripke is clear about whose side The Boys is on.

 

The right-wing backlash against The Boys, explained - Vox

WWW.VOX.COM

---

Why fans keep missing the point of The Boys.

 

[Moa]

The show has gotten dumb independent of its political messaging. There's no tension, stakes, or character development anymore.

[Kal-El814]

1 hour ago, Moa said:

The show has gotten dumb independent of its political messaging. There's no tension, stakes, or character development anymore.

 

Yeah this is a fun season but it is pretty goofy. It's more fun than the last season or two was so I can't complain too much since that carries a lot of water for superhero stuff for me.

 

Homelander can smell a drop of sweat near him and know that's it's Hughie but he doesn't notice a fucking hole in Sage's head until she starts going off about Taco Bell? If we didn't get backstory about Firecracker and establish that she has beef with Sage, I'd say that her knowing about Homelander's milk fetish would have been something Sage tipped her to... I guess we'll see? There had better be a good reason why Homelander doesn't just throw The Boys into deep space or something at this point... how long can they keep fucking with him, have him KNOW that they're doing that, and they just coast? Butcher's ostensible moral quandary is fundamentally less interesting when he's got borderline literal angels and demons hovering over his shoulder talking to him.

 

The stuff with A Train is good though, I lament what I'm sure will be his inevitable and awful death.

 

And while I appreciate this a show that plays fast and loose with horrible morality, incredible violence, death, and black comedy... it kind of lands with a thud when they play the threat of Hughie being sexually assaulted for laughs, then his actual sexual assault is treated the same way up until the point they need him to have a serious moment with Starlight. Not that the show has any obligation to handle these topics seriously but it's just kind of a whiplash vibe.

[DarkStar189]

I lost it after Neuman got up and gave the speech at the party, everyone cheers, she turns back and nods to Sage, and Sage keeps nodding back all goofy  I love how weird she gets with brain damage.

[Kal-El814]

2 minutes ago, DarkStar189 said:

I lost it after Neuman got up and gave the speech at the party, everyone cheers, she turns back and nods to Sage, and Sage keeps nodding back all goofy  I love how weird she gets with brain damage.

How smart can the smartest person alive be if she lets Deep give her a lobotomy, come on now

[Moa]

32 minutes ago, Kal-El814 said:

And while I appreciate this a show that plays fast and loose with horrible morality, incredible violence, death, and black comedy... it kind of lands with a thud when they play the threat of Hughie being sexually assaulted for laughs, then his actual sexual assault is treated the same way up until the point they need him to have a serious moment with Starlight. Not that the show has any obligation to handle these topics seriously but it's just kind of a whiplash vibe.

 

Yeah, this was among the many things this episode that felt off. When you're doing this kind of turbo-satire there's always going to be moments of dissonance, but recently it feels like they flip a coin on whether they're going to treat something messed up that happens seriously. The show is still fun and outrageous, even if I think there are more misses on those scenes than previously, but it's getting harder to remember when it was actually unsettling.

 

The show also has a very weird thing going on with sex and romance. All the bad guys are sexual deviants (in a bad way), every romantic relationship is poisoned, sex and Taco Bell are only for idiots (I'm offended.)

[Jason]

I'll be interested to see if season 5 brings it home with a strong finish or it's just gonna be more pointless wheel-spinning again for most of it. It sort of feels like they have a basic idea of where they want the show to end and have just been stretching things out so they can get to that endpoint without having to change it too much. But also haven't known how long they needed to stretch it out because they weren't sure how many more seasons they'd get. Like what happened with Battlestar Galactica toward the end when it got all herky-jerky with stalling for time and then having to rush through things because Ron Moore was getting jerked around by Syfy about whether the show would be done after four or five seasons.

[Brick]

So I'm going to guess the shape shifter is going to pose as Annie, or possibly even Hughie, and frame them as the shooter. 

[Greatoneshere]

5 hours ago, Brick said:

So I'm going to guess the shape shifter is going to pose as Annie, or possibly even Hughie, and frame them as the shooter. 

 

Definitely seems to be the case. That shapeshifting effect was really gross and well done, I'm always surprised that the Boys always finds ways to top itself, now with this episode we have a crazy way of shapeshifting and gross ass Web Weaver shit. This was a good episode of The Boys since it finally pushed all of the characters to choose sides as we ramp up to the season finale with a January 6 insurrection plan by Homelander and Neuman's crew against Democratic presidential candidate Bobby Singer. And seeing a legitimately fun superhero fight scene was nice as it'd been awhile and we finally got to see the new supe'd up Black Noir in action. Also, The Deep's breakup and murder of his sentient octopus girlfriend was both hilarious, sad and very fucked up. Chace Crawford does a great job straddling a lot of different tones at once yet when you see him wrestling with killing Ambrosius but chooses to go through with it that he's making a permanent choice to finally fully embrace his villainy. This season has had some really good stuff (Homelander "going back home" episode, the stuff with Ryan and Hughie with his family) but it's also meandered a lot with sex dungeons and flying animals and cameos (Gustavo Fring). But this was a strong episode and I think we'll get a great finale, especially since the showrunners know there's only one more season to go so they have an endgame.