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As the Prime Video hit superhero series The Boys enters its final season, the U.S. is under the crushing fascistic reign of Homelander and the Vaught Corporation. But there certainly is a confrontation about to take place, between Homelander and the Starlighters, the latter group led by Starlight and Butcher.
THE BOYS SEASON 5: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
Opening Shot: After a montage of scenes from the fourth season, we see the audience at Vought Industries’ annual shareholder meeting, stamping their feet in anticipation of Homelander (Antony Starr) taking the stage.
The Gist: As Homelander makes his rousing speech about how he and Vought have made America a safe, God-fearing country, Starlight (Erin Moriarty) has infiltrated the building and with the help of a hacker, tries to upload a video of Homelander’s true nature coming out on Flight 37. As he’s about to eye-blast the entire audience in his rage, the CEO of Vought, Sage (Susan Heyward), stops him.
Sage and the company flood social media and the news media with disinformation, calling the video an AI deepfake. She assures Homelander that the damage Starlight and her followers caused was minimal, but Homelander is not only angry about the fact that she even got in the building, but that he’s become a meme. He wants Sage to leak out the news that in three days, he’ll execute Hugh Campbell (Jack Quaid), Mother’s Milk (Laz Alonso) and Frenchie (Tomer Capone), all of whom are imprisoned at one of his “freedom camps.” The idea is to draw out Starlight and Butcher (Karl Urban) so he can kill them both.
After making a stop to make a final visit to his dying father Sam (John Noble), Butcher goes to the Philippines to recruit Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara), who can now talk. They go to Starlight, hoping to band together in order to spring Hughie, Milk and Frenchy from the freedom camp. Starlight latches onto Butcher’s plan immediately; he wants Frenchie to help him finish developing the virus that will kill anyone with superpowers.
As they try to figure out their plan to infiltrate the camp, Starlight thinks she has the speedy A-Train (Jessie T. Usher) as her secret weapon to help get them out of the camp once they’re inside, but A-Train refuses to help, citing the need to protect his family. But that might change when he discovers that Homelander knows where his family is hiding and sends The Deep (Chace Crawford) after them.
Photo: Jasper Savage/Prime VideoWhat Shows Will It Remind You Of? At this point, The Boys is a franchise, with Gen V, The Boys Presents: Diabolical and Vought Rising as part of its universe.
Our Take: As Eric Kipke and his writers write towards the conclusion of The Boys in its last season, it’s apparent that things in the U.S. are pretty grim. Homelander and Vought are ruling with an iron fist, and The Seven is more of a facist cabal than a group of superheroes. Homelander himself is always led by his particular brand of capriciousness, guided by his sense of anger, revenge and entitlement.
Yes, this sounds familiar, which is why the start of the final season seems even more grim than even Kripke and company likely imagined. They likely have been writing this final season since before the 2024 elections, and like the creators of Daredevil: Born Again, they might not have envisioned quite the degree that their world and real life will start resembling each other. As with Daredevil, the resemblance takes us out of the fantasy world and makes the funny stuff less funny and the bloody stuff seem bloodier.
To be honest, though, there isn’t a whole lot to laugh at in the first episode. The show’s signature humor has pretty much disappeared as the stakes have risen to their highest point yet. In fact, the way the episode ends is one of the series’ darkest moments, but it feels like it’s only the beginning of such moments until Homelander is confronted by Starlight and Butcher once and for all.
The feeling of the show has certainly changed; it’s no longer the fun, chaotic show that it used to be. We’d be more concerned if the show wasn’t ending this season. What we hope, though, is that Kripke and company recapture some of the shaggy and funny tone of the early seasons, even if it’s in a fleeting manner, just to remind fans of why they started watching the show to begin with.
Photo: Jasper Savage/Prime VideoPerformance Worth Watching: As usual, Karl Urban’s Butcher is the center of The Boys, especially now that he has powers.
Sex And Skin: None in the first episode.
Parting Shot: As we said, the end of the first episode is one of the darkest moments in the series, and that’s all we can say.
Sleeper Star: We’re still in the tank for Susan Heyward as Sage, because she seems so fully in control at all times. Daveed Diggs also guests as Oh Father, a preacher-like Supe that’s an acolyte of Homelander.
Most Pilot-y Line: Homelander mentions to Sage that both Peter Thiel and the Obamas seek her out for advice, a scenario that might be the most science fiction-y statement the show has ever made.
Our Call: STREAM IT. While we’re a bit disappointed in the dark turn The Boys has made as it goes into its final season, we’re looking forward to seeing how Eric Kripke and company bring the story to an end.
How To Watch The Boys
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Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.
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