Helmed by Eric Kripke, The Boys Season 4 continues the diabolical story of the supe-killing team some time after the events of Season 3 and Gen V Season 1. The world is on the brink. Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit) is closer than ever to the Oval Office and under the muscly thumb of Homelander, who is consolidating his power. Butcher (Karl Urban), with only months to live, has lost Becca’s son as well as his job as The Boys’ leader. The rest of the team are fed up with his lies. With the stakes higher than ever, they have to find a way to work together and save the world before it’s too late.
This series, along with its recent companion piece Gen V, has proven itself to be one of the boldest comic book adaptations ever made, with its crazy yet incredibly crafted story that always manages to push the bar further every time. I will admit season 3 wasn’t completely perfect for me as I didn’t agree with all the narrative decisions made in that season, so I hoped that season 4 could greatly improve from its predecessor. And holy shit did it improve beyond what I could have ever imagined.
The Boys season 4 is masterfully crafted, outrageously entertaining, immensely relevant, and truly diabolical in so many ways. This season not only has a fantastic story and amazing set of arcs for its respective characters but it boldly goes to many insane places, as well as sets the stage for the fifth and final season that is guaranteed to end the series on a shocking note. Eric Kripke and his amazing cast and crew truly went the distance with this season, from a narrative standpoint as well as a highly relevant thematic standpoint.
There’s a lot of ground to cover in this season but I won’t be covering any spoilers whatsoever.
Much like in previous seasons, each character is given their own arc that explores and develops them further, setting them upon their path towards the end of their journeys, whether it ends with them getting their own happy ending or their deaths. Both new and returning cast members of the season deliver phenomenal performances across the board and are each given extremely solid arcs with no one being a weak link this time, apart from one supporting character.
The ultimate star of the series once again for the fourth season straight is Antony Starr as Homelander. Our love-to-hate villain is back again and this time he is not held back by anything as he pretty much gets away with anything he wants in this season. He’s fully committed to his goal of having superheroes control America and eventually the world. Starr truly knows how to keep making us despise and feel absolutely terrified by this character. With such a phenomenal performance in every scene he is in he truly deserves all the awards. His actions this season are by far the most shocking and heinous so far, and I am truly left wondering how anyone can possibly stop him now that he seems to be completely untouchable in many ways.
His son Ryan, played by Cameron Crovetti, is struggling to come to terms with being part of the Vought system; he is torn between his love for Butcher and the approval of his father as he is slowly being manipulated by him over the course of the season. His journey is a heartbreaking one to watch as he is forced into doing things and saying things that could mold him into becoming a monster like his father and risk the creation of another Homelander.
Karl Urban is once again fantastic as Billy Butcher, who is suffering the consequences of his choices in season 3 and is left having a constant fight for survival both physically and mentally. With him essentially dying as a cause of his overdose of Temp V he faces an internal struggle with the time he has left on whether he should be the human with a heart that can be reasoned with or abandon his humanity completely and let out the violent monster that has been within him all along. It’s fascinating and engaging to watch him go back and forth between these two sides, as well as seeing what choices he makes this season that either benefit or hinder his team in various ways. This man is on a path of immense self-destruction and is taking many along for the ride as he is beginning to lose his physical and mental strength, which is wonderfully performed by Karl Urban.
One of the most fascinating additions the season brings to Butcher’s arc is the inclusion of the character Joe Kessler, a former comrade from Butcher’s past, played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan. Jeffrey Dean Morgan delightfully plays the devil on Butcher’s shoulder who is consistently trying to push him on the path of vengeance against Homelander and all superheroes that he despises with a vengeance no matter the cost, and I think it’s a great physical way to show Butcher’s morals being tested as the clock ticks.
Jack Quaid as Hughie Campbell probably endures the greatest hardships and emotional moments of all characters this season as he is faced with a number of events that challenge him in many ways. He may not have the skills or powers like his fellow team members but his ability to keep up the fight against Homelander and Vought despite all that happens to him is his greatest superpower and makes him truly one of the biggest characters you constantly root for. He truly had some major emotional moments this season, especially with all the scenes involving his father, reprised by Simon Pegg, and his mother, played by Rosemarie DeWitt, who makes her official debut in the series. These scenes were the most human parts of the season and there was one particular scene that happened that I won’t lie emotionally destroyed me in a major way due to its personal connection to me. Never in all of my years of watching so many shows has a series scene ever cut so deeply and impacted me so much as this one did. It is a beautifully written and acted scene but extremely heartbreaking to the point that I needed to step away for a while, it was that impactful.
Another character who had an emotional arc this season was Annie, played amazingly again by Erin Moriarty, who endures her personal conflicts as she comes to terms with who she wants to be after having abandoned the Seven and her identity as Starlight. She faces a constant uphill battle with herself and Vought as she desperately tries to save the world from the impending doom that Homelander will bring if he succeeds in his goals. You can’t help but feel immense sympathy for the many burdens she carries and truly hope that she and Hughie can have their happy ending in this series, even when things look bleak.
Laz Alonso continues to be the heart and spirit of the team as M.M. in his new role as leader of the Boys, though he gets put to the test physically and mentally throughout the season as things increasingly become more dangerous in their mission. He’s the one who truly holds everything together as he has been for every season, and yet despite all the odds he truly comes through when the team needs it most.
Frenchie and Kimiko have two separate but connected arcs where they are facing their own pasts drenched in blood and are seeking ways to move forward in a dark but powerful journey for both of them, showing how much they have evolved since the start of the series. Tomer Capone and Karen Fukuhara continue to play these characters amazingly well and truly share the best chemistry.
When it comes to return members of the Seven like A-Train and the Deep both are given damn good arcs. A-Train fully commits to redeeming himself this season by trying to be an actual hero rather than being the villain that Homelander and Vought want him to become, and all of it is done incredibly well thanks largely to Jessie T. Usher’s performance. Meanwhile Deep finally gets something to do this season as he actually becomes a legitimate threat after several seasons of being a constant punching bag of a character. Chace Crawford gets the chance to showcase himself being an actual villain for once as he is done with being treated like a joke by the people he hates, and dedicates himself to Homelander’s cause.
As for new members of the Seven, we get two very interesting additions in the form of Susan Heyward and Valorie Curry as the new members Sage and Firecracker respectively. Heyward gives us a brilliant performance as a cold and calculated villain who has the ability of superpowered intelligence that is used in such a terrifying manner that set the course for most of the shocking events that occur in this season. This makes her surprisingly one of the best villains this season next to Homelander, based solely on the actions she commits and how she is able to easily manipulate other characters and events to achieve the goals of Homelander and Vought, as well as satisfy her own ego.
Valorie Curry as Firecracker is a whole different villain altogether who can be best described as a satirical version of American far-right radio show host and prominent conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. She is easily the most hateful villain of the season who uses media and disinformation against the nation, creating multiple obstacles for our heroes and manipulating people in support of Homelander’s cause. She is an absolute love-to-hate character who I think was performed brilliantly by Valorie Curry.
We also do get some great supporting performances from Claudia Doumit as Victoria Neuman, Colby Minifie as Ashley Barrett, Matthew Edison as Cameron Coleman, and others that truly add a lot to this season.
But there was one supporting character in the season who I felt was a true waste of space and that is Black Noir II played by Nathan Mitchell. One of the most controversial choices last season was the death of the original Black Noir that was promised to have an incredible arc only for it to be taken from him when Homelander killed him. I stated in my review for last season that it was one of the worst mistakes the series has made in its whole run so far and my stance on that remains unchanged after we get a pretty poor replacement for him that adds little to nothing in the series, aside from a few jokes and taking part in one cool action sequence. There was no real reason for Black Noir II to be in this series and it only further proves that killing the real Black Noir was still a mistake. This was the one and only issue I had with the season that thankfully doesn’t drag everything down.
We do get a variety of fun cameos and guest stars this season which include two Gen V characters whose appearance in the season is brief but sets the stage for events in their second season to unfold that will likely be impacted as a result of this season’s events.
The story this season plays out incredibly well with all the dark humor, bloody violence, emotional moments, and diabolical insanity one would expect from the series, but this season is definitely a lot more layered and relevant compared to its previous seasons. This series has always had a variety of relevant themes regarding commentary on corporate America as well as the absolute circus that is currently American politics and society shown through the perspectives of our main characters. That continues in this season but it takes even bigger and bolder steps with the themes which scarily mirror that of past and current world events going on right now. While a lot of it is done in outrageous satire it cannot be denied how accurately this series portrays the real-world messes we are facing and the real-world monsters that are causing them.
This season pulls no punches and I love it for that, and much like Eric Kripke himself I could care less about the morons that are suddenly getting offended by this series and calling them out, even though it has been doing that since the very beginning. The clashing of ideologies amongst all the characters also plays a large impact on the narrative, to the point that unexpectedly jaw-dropping choices are made that change the direction of the series forever in a fantastic way.
There are a lot of mad, boundary-pushing moments this season, but by far the most daring of all episodes is the season finale. There were a variety of directions I thought this season would take by its conclusion, whether it be adapted from the source material or created by the diabolical mind of the showmakers, but I truly didn’t expect anything that occurred in this finale, including how far it would go in terms of setting up the final season. It’s clear that all bets are off going forward, and that everything is coming together for a bloody conclusion that could go in anyone’s favor and perhaps doom the world in the process.
Interestingly enough though it has been confirmed that Gen V season 2 will be released before season 5 of the Boys, and given how much Gen V season 1 set up so much for this season it’s highly likely Gen V season 2 will also set the stage for season 5, as well as give us an outsiders perspective on the consequences of the events that occurred this season. Needless to say, I am both excited and scared for whatever may be coming.
The technical elements of this season are once again superb as always regarding action, effects (both practical and CGI), sets, cinematography, editing, sound design, and of course a fantastic soundtrack as well as a fantastic score by composers Christopher Lennertz and Matt Bowen. This series never stops looking visually amazing and outrageous every season so there is not much else to say about it other than it is perfect as it has always been.
Season 4 truly was a major step up from the previous season and once again continues the strong streak of success that I hope to see come to a grand conclusion with the fifth and final season. It is truly a diabolical watch that has to be seen to be believed. I am going to give The Boys Season 4 an A+ = 99.
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