The Boys Season 4 Review – Broken Heroes In A Broken World

I really shouldn’t like The Boys, and for very simple reasons. I don’t like swearing. I don’t like gore and excessive violence (unless it’s in the John Wick films). Oh, and I don’t like seeing naked people doing various things that I wish I could scrub from my mind. Yet, I keep coming back to this show because it’s arguably one of the realest looks at our world despite it being about one filled with superheroes. As my The Boys Season 4 Review will show you, this is arguably the most important season of the Amazon Prime series simply because it’s a huge snapshot of our world right now…whether we want to acknowledge it or not.

So, let’s see, where did things leave off last time? Oh yeah, Homelander got his son at his side and arguably has more power than ever before, and then there’s Victoria Neuman, who is now in line to be a superpowered President should something “happen” with her running mate. Meanwhile, “The Boys” got a new member in Starlight, Mother Milk is in charge, and Billy Butcher is dying in a slow and painful fashion. Surely, this is the season where things get “fixed,” and the world becomes a better place, right? No, not even close. After all, that’s not how the world works, now is it?

What I arguably loved about The Boys Season 4 the most is that at a point where everything should be coming together for our true heroes, everything falls apart. Every single member of The Boys, from Butcher to Annie to Kimiko to Hughie to MM and even Frenchie, is dealing with something significant and powerful to their characters. You’d think there wasn’t anything “left to plum” from these characters, and yet, the writers come up with simple and emotional things to twist the knife further.

Butcher is dying, and he fears going out without saving Ryan. Hughie’s dad has a stroke and is on death’s door, which forces his mother to come back into the fold, bringing up all sorts of emotions within him. Annie is struggling with what it means to be herself and Starlight and if she even dares to be the latter after giving up the superhero life. Mother’s Milk is trying to contain The Boys as the new leader and is dealing with the fallout that’s affecting his family. Kimiko is trying to atone for her past, while Frenchie is dealing with his past head-on, causing him to spiral.

On the surface, they all seem like basic stories, but they get woven in a way that’s realistic (for the most part, obviously), and it makes you feel for them, especially when things continue to go wrong despite their best efforts.

Ironically, while The Boys are struggling, “The Seven” are thriving. Homelander’s arc in Season 4 is easily one of the more simplistic, but he gets key moments that highlight his own brilliance. The biggest one is his hiring of Sage, the “Smartest Person in the World,” who comes up with a plan to literally take over the world…and by season’s end…it really does work. The saddest part about her plan is that it works using tactics that aren’t just basic, but they’re happening in our world right now.

For example, she brings on Firecracker not because of her powerset, but because she’s a fake news-spouting fool who has a bone to pick with Starlight, and uses that to bring down the “purest” member of The Boys in arguably the most gut-wrenching way possible…by using the truth in a way that would divide a nation. In this case…Annie got pregnant, and she chose to have an abortion. That was one of several moments where my jaw dropped, as this was/is a real-world issue that can bring out the worst in people, as shown when Annie went from “a true hero” to a woman labeled a “child-killer” because of her choices. She even explains why she did it, and it was completely believable and realistic…not that this world or the world of “The Boys” cares about that, given what’s fed to them at times.

And props once again to Anthony Starr for portraying Homelander in so many different ways and styles. Sometimes it’s the littlest emotions he conveys that hit the hardest. So, whether he’s getting revenge on those who raised him, raging against his son for his “affection” for Billy Butcher, or weeping over the betrayal of a “close friend,” you always know what Homelander is thinking and feeling.

In contrast, with Billy Butcher, he struggles throughout the season with his demons, both literal and metaphorical, and it’s both heartbreaking and hilarious to see what happens when he plays to both sides. Butcher is not a good man, and he knows it, but he does have lines he won’t cross until he has to, which is shown here when he goes out of his way to reveal certain things to The Boys and even ignores his revenge against Homelander to keep Ryan safe. Yet, in the end, it’s not enough, and he gives into the monster within (literally) to strike out at someone important…even though it could’ve changed everything.

The question of “humanity” and what we do with it is brought up many times throughout the season, and not always by the people you’d expect. For example, Victoria Neuman shows her humanity many times over, including explaining why she gave her kid Compound V or why she tries to do the right thing at the 11th hour. Even Stan Edgar gets to highlight the lines he won’t cross to try and get what he wants.

Hughie’s speech in the season finale about trying to do things the “Human way” versus just resulting to murder was powerful. Yet, the other side of the equation was shown just as well. Sage was a surprisingly deep character, and her talk with Neuman about how she could “cure cancer, fix global warming” and more thanks to her genius…but didn’t because of the people she would have to count on to listen to her ideas…was honest. As was Neuman wanting to blow her own head off because of having to hear from a certain idiot white dude who thought he knew more about women than she did. Yeah…that’s not realistic in the slightest…

Getting away from the stories and characters for a bit, the action of The Boys Season 4 is all you want it to be and more. Big, violent, bloody, brutal, hard to watch at times…yet you can’t look away. We even got to see some true Supes fights, which is much rarer for this show than you might think!

Oh, and it’s clear that The Boys staff still have a blast coming up with the most insane things ever for this series. Primal sheep that can fly and rip people to shreds? Check. Having Tilda Swinton voicing an octopus that is “close” to The Deep? Check. Doing an even creepier version of a shapeshifter than they did in season 1 & 2? Check. Making fun of Batman via their guy “Tek Knight” that goes WAY darker than you likely expected? Oh yeah, they did that. This show is so twisted, and yet you honestly want to see just how dark it’ll get.

To that end, I end this positive section with the season finale. It’s one that started out in the typical “good guys get it together to save the day” kind of fashion, only for it to be ripped away from them in so many ways even I’m surprised how far it went. Neuman? Dead. Homelander? Basically President now. The Boys? Captured or on the run. There are a lot of wild cards going into what we know is the final season…and I can’t wait to see how it plays out. And while some will be mad at how bad things get…it’s honestly an important reminder that even when you do things the right way…it doesn’t always turn out the way you want.

Obviously, this The Boys Season 4 Review can’t end without pointing out some flaws. Like in every season of the series…there are some key ones to discuss. For example, one of the big storylines with Hughie was his father’s death…and the murder rampage that he went on before Hughie put his own father down. He killed multiple people and yet there didn’t seem to be any backlash. How did that happen? Plus, that’s not the only “aftermath” that kind of got “brushed off.”

Second, while the Hugh/Annie relationship was great for multiple reasons, I didn’t like how Frenchie and Kimiko’s relationship was throughout much of the season. They’ve been building that relationship up since Season 1, and then, despite everything happening in Season 3, Kimiko literally goes, “I love you, but this isn’t happening.” Really? Then, sure enough, they DO get together, and she makes a big deal out of it. Very confusing.

Finally, and I know I say this every review…but the show can be a LOT to handle. I’m not afraid to say I skipped through certain scenes because of the content and I feel I didn’t miss much as a result. Plus, I know many people weren’t happy about this season because of how “political” it was. Yet, the question really is…are you made because it was political, or are you mad because it was accurate in how people act in the real world…and yet get away with it all?

In the end, The Boys Season 4 once again highlighted how great this series is when it mixes the real and the fantasy in a way that is a true rollercoaster ride. It’s not for everyone, but I would argue that this is the show the world needs right now…because we’re dangerously close to this reality with only some slight swapping of villainous characters.