Prime Video’s darling just concluded its penultimate season and boy, oh boy, what a finale it was!
In a saga sprinkled with bondage rooms, killer sheep, and a sauna sequence that we wished we could have unseen, there hasn’t been a shortage of memorable little moments. And just like that, we are here. Eight episodes later. Eight limbs later. That’s right. We’re still thinking of you Ambrosia. RIP you sweet octopus.
Admittedly, the entire season has been a mixed bag for us. What used to be a satire on culture and politics loaded with dark humour has taken a dip in favour of abrupt shock factors. That’s not to say that the original ideas have been abandoned but rather there has been a dip in the writing. This season has been strangely adamant about getting viewers grossed out while taking its time in exploring so many subplots to fill in the runtime.
Nevertheless, Season 4’s finale still left us fairly satisfied due to how it moved the chess pieces around and as of now, we can safely say that we are in the endgame. Eric Kripke, the show’s creator confirmed that Season 5 would be the conclusion of the journey. Since there is a finish line now, they can pull out all the stops based on what has been set up at the end of this season.
The final moments of this season knot up several threads – some old, some fairly recent – that have been ongoing and of course, made several decisions that left our mouths gaping in shock – in a good way this time. So, we’ll be going to dive in as deep as The Deep lets us. Spoilers ahead. So, if you haven’t seen it, turn back, watch it, and tune back in!
WHO AM I?
Half of the episode is spent on Homelander’s plot to assassinate Robert Singer during which the shapeshifter he sent infiltrates The Boys. Poor Hughie. He never knew who was inside.
As we knew from the ending of episode 7, Shifter had taken Annie captive and replaced her. During this time, the shapeshifter taunts Annie and dances a whole moral circus around her as the sullen original reflects on her sins – although we’re not entirely sure why Annie is being picked to do this, she has the least blood on her.
After a series of strange encounters, including one where not-Annie proposes to Hughie in a blue dress, he eventually figures out that his girlfriend has been replaced while in a bunker with Singer. Kimiko, MM and Hughie attempt to subdue the hit girl but she slays the bodyguards one by one to catch up with the presidential candidate.
Eventually, the real Annie, having squeezed through her chains pops up (rather conveniently) in the bunker to aid in the fight against this doppelganger. Annie puts the shapeshifter in a chokehold and knocks her out. It’s a relatively contrived end to this shortlived arc, but yeah, let’s not dwell on it.
OMELANDAH TOOK ME BLOODY SON
Throughout this season, Ryan’s loyalty has been shifting back and forth between Butcher and Homelander, but he’s been settled with the latter – although he fears and defies him, he still likes Vought. Freebies and candy, we guess? Make up your mind, Ryan. We’re just as confused as you.
Regardless, Butcher’s health takes a turn for the worse and he ends up in a hospital bed during which his longtime ally Grace Mallory visits him. Ryan also shows up to visit, but sooner or later, he realises that something is amiss.
Grace spills all of the secrets that had been kept from him. unable to process the dirt on his real father, Ryan decides to leave but Grace and Billy intend for him to stay. It is then that Ryan realises that the facility is not a hospital but a cavern for the CIA.
Despite Grace’s multiple pleas for him to stay, Ryan pushes her aside. It’s a little too hard, evoking the one he did for his stunt as Grace hits the wall face first and snaps her neck.
Billy is horrified and finally realises that he cannot use and save anyone. What Kessler has been telling him was right. Supes are dangerous, including his son. And with that, Kessler takes over Butcher’s mind.
THE GUTS TOUR
On the other side of the coin is Victoria Neuman. As the assassination attempt has failed, Homelander decides to take matters into his own hands and out her as a superpowered individual while live on air. Neuman is devastated, considering that she has calculated her whole life around keeping this a secret so that she can rise the ranks from within.
However, Homelander does not think of it that way. As a matter of fact, he just does not care. He makes it a point that she knows that she will become president, but he will still be in charge. His little puppet at his feet. Worse, he tells her that Zoe will be killed if she doesn’t comply and that he will make her life a nightmare.
Neuman then turns to The Boys she had teamed up with earlier in hopes of protection. She is scared for her life, and rightfully so. As such, Hughie proposes that she help the Boys to take down Vought.
She meets up at their domain with Zoe in hand to put a treaty in motion. However, a wild Butcher shows up to crash the party. And guess what? He’s all V-d up!
Hughie begs Butcher to trust him for once, citing how he’s trusted Butcher before, but the elder has his sights set. In a twist, several Venom-like flesh tendrils are drawn out from his chest. He entraps Neuman in his tentacles, constricting her in the air, before eventually tearing her into two pieces, leaving her guts in a bloody mess on the ground.
It is one of the show’s most tragic moments, considering how Neuman was ready to be redeemed and could have been a really useful ally against Homelander’s force. This death, along with Grace’s hit hard due to their longevity in this series. Having them killed off so suddenly is surely going to have an impact on the rest of the characters.
Nevertheless, Butcher, at this point, has been blinded by rage, and he takes the virus from Frenchie. The Boys can do nothing about it, as they have just witnessed the horror of what he could do. In a way, he had turned into the absolute cold monster that he had sworn to defeat.
THE COUP
Indeed, this is the most important event to happen in this finale. With Victoria Neuman dead, Homelander looks defeated, but hey, look who’s back? Sister Sage comes strutting into his room, claiming that this has been the plan the whole time.
As it turns out, she did factor in all of Homelander’s impulsive decision-making that could lead to a favourable situation for them. As the voiceover on the TV plays, Homelander realises how smart she is. A video of Singer, having admitted to a plot to kill Neuman, while in his bunker is released to the press and he is whisked away, no longer fit to lead the country.
With the gaping hole in the country’s leadership being filled by Steven Calhoun, Homelander finds a puppet who is even more firmly within his grip. With that, Homelander rules America.
It’s the dystopia that everyone has feared. With Homelander having a grip on the government, he barks orders to round up ‘deep-state’ Starlighters which leads to the capture of most of The Boys. Despite their efforts to flee, Hughie, MM, Kimiko, and Frenchie are all taken by various forces, including the Guardians of Godolkin who appeared in Episode 5, Cate and Sam.
Only Annie manages to escape, her powers finally working after glitching the entire season. Butcher too is on his mission, hard-pressed to finish what he started all these years.
FROZEN GOODS
In a credits sequence, Homelander is led into a chamber by President Calhoun. He peers at the sight under him. A familiar emerges into the frame and it’s none other than Jensen Ackle’s Soldier, whose body had been recovered from the climactic fight in Season 3. So, what is Homelander’s play here? Is Soldier Boy coming to his aid?
So, with The Boys split apart, a frenemy being neutralized, and their biggest threat on the perch of power, it will be interesting to see how Season 5 plays out. It’s the grim form giving “Empire Strikes Back” and Infinity War”. Our heroes are at their lowest point, and they would have to eventually find a way to regroup next season.
Little notes:
- Ashley injects herself with V. What sort of creature is she going to turn into?
- Ashley 2 didn’t deserve to be unalived.
- How is Hughie holding up after 20 encounters in 10 days?
- “Training A-Train” is cancelled because it’s better to not release a movie in its entirety and benefit from the tax write-offs. Ah, we see what you did there… But hey, at least the A-Train himself survives, baby.
- Firecracker decided to go heavy on the eyeshadow. Oh no, she’s just sick from her lactation meds… Umm.
- Frenchie and Kimiko are back together? Bro, you gotta chill man. You know, Kimiko should sit on a rock and declare “You couldn’t live with your failure. Where did that bring you? Back to me.”
Season 4 of “The Boys” is currently streaming on Prime Video.
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