CINEMA
THE BOYS (2024)
Season Four
Aired On: Prime Video.
Release Date: 06/13/24.
Crime. Drama. SciFi. Thriller.
"A group of vigilantes set out to take down corrupt superheroes who abuse their superpowers."
OUR REVIEW:
Homelander and Co. Land Another Homer
After watching this manic and impressive fourth season of The Boys, I've arrived at an indelicate truth: This show is allergic to sucking.
The antics of Billy Butcher and company as they plot and scheme to take down Homelander, the narcissistic, insecure Superman from Hell, continue to escalate. The stakes have increased exponentially, and every pivot and stride a character makes has immediate and secondary effects. The writing in the season is on another level. The plot is airtight and virtually flawless, but so engrossing and grand that to explain it here would take a compass.
This show is a valid case study of doing more with less. Instead of expensive, boring superhero fights built with ballooned budgets filling half-hearted movies, this season slims down on the action, dialing the tension. Everyone knows Homelander can rip someone apart twenty different ways. That isn't interesting. What is interesting is how the world tiptoes around him. At a contemporary conservative budget of $90 million, this season smartly employs dialogue and tone to craft suspense and care. Exquisite simplicity.
The Boys is so good that it can afford a two-year hiatus between seasons. An elevated level of quality and intelligence is running under the shockingly graphic nature of its surface that gives itself its magnetic vitality. If you're a fan of this show, prepare to eat well these next few weeks.
Aside from the first three episodes premiering simultaneously, the weekly release model gives The Boys an extra, hefty punch. Each episode is jammed end-to-end with incredible moments, big and small. Having these moments, sitting with them, and absorbing them is essential. This show is that good; it demands your undivided attention. And with this new run of episodes lined up, you cannot help but submit.
Fans will quickly realize that the two-year gap between last season and now was not only worth the wait, but necessary. Last season was a gut punch; this season is the uppercut that follows. Speed-running this show like A-Train may be some people's preference, but this fourth season has so much to do and so much to say. It'll be worth letting the episodes slowly digest.
Some television shows may stall in their fourth season, returning to old tricks or tired plots. If you find yourself asking, "Where can they possibly take this show next?" Fear not. The expansion of this world, the expansion of the characters, the many arcs, twists, and turns bust out of the seams. Showrunner Eric Kripke and crew are not spinning wheels here; they're blasting the walls off.
If you haven't watched the adjacent Prime Video series Gen V, don't worry. There is no homework due here to enjoy this season fully. But seriously, watch Gen V as well.
The cast of characters continues to grow, not only in size but in purpose. Homelander (Antony Starr) and Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) continuously steal every scene they occupy as they are now facing their mortality and legacy, vying for the attention and affection of the young Ryan (Cameron Crovetti). If one can believe it, Antony Starr's Homelander turns to an even darker side; he manages a maniacal laugh in a harsh scene midseason that reminded me of Heath Ledger's Joker, a crackle betraying deep wounds. Homelander is fun to hate; indeed, a gift of a character.
The likable Huey (Jack Quaid) contends with his Temp V abuse and his parents, while Starlight (Erin Moriarty) attempts to rebrand as Annie, shedding her Vought International persona by helping people the old-fashioned way - running a youth shelter. Mothers Milk (Laz Alonso) gets a crack at commanding the Boys after the CIA demotes Billy. The past ghosts catch up to Frenchie (Tomer Capone), affecting his consciousness and partnerships. Similarly, the mute and invulnerable Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) tries therapy to manage and heal her residual pain from childhood.
The breakouts of this season are the sharp and sassy Sage (Susan Heyward), the world's smartest person, and Firecracker (Valorie Curry), a vitriolic amalgamation of angry female Fox News anchors. Homelander recruits these new characters, bringing them into the fold to execute a coup d'état threading its way through the heart of the season. These two ladies get a lot of screen time worth every frame.
You may be wondering how Jeffrey Dean Morgan plays into all of this. Without spoiling the experience entirely, his inclusion is crucial to the main plot. After Billy is demoted and eventually banished from his team, Morgan recruits him to ensure Billy keeps "his eye on the ball."
The rest of "The Seven," which only includes The Deep (Chace Crawford), A-Train (Jessie T. Usher), and the humorously recast Black Noir (Nathan Mitchell), also get the opportunity to stretch out a bit here. Just when I thought these characters had become one-trick ponies, I got the rug pulled out from under me.
Now, while the characters experience many radical developments this season, the big metamorphosis is the show itself. The Boys takes a lot of hard jabs and bold strikes this season, most notably at the current alt-right wing climate in this country. Across all eight episodes, the writers ensured they crammed in every hot take, spicy headline, and social media conspiracy theory I've heard in the last five years. The absurdist part of it all? Every part of it fits neatly in the show's context, holding a dirty, cracked mirror up to half the audience. Some of those viewers will take offense. I expect others will get the joke (as steeped in reality as it is) and keep it moving.
The alt-right wing crowd is not the only target in Kripke's sights. Powerhouse media such as Disney and the MCU are aggressively parodied, leading to a classic bout of irony. That irony manifests as we come to understand what this show has become. The Boys started as a satire of the superhero genre. But this series has become the new benchmark through its sophisticated commentary, meticulous storytelling, and absolute boldness to call it as it sees it.
A bright spot in a currently saturated ecosystem of unremarkable products.
The season closes with a mid-credit scene in a final and humorous dig at the genre. The details of this scene I won't reveal here. Suffice it to say there is a fine line in the mid-credit scene business that teeters between underwhelming tripe and over-the-top niche nonsense. The Boys straddle this line confidently, further setting the pace amongst their peer groups from the major movie franchises.
The Boys have set the bar three times now, and that bar just got higher with this fourth season. As a bonus, fans of Kripke's early breakout hit Supernatural will be treated to a lot of fun callbacks (in more ways than one) to that earlier project. The fifth and final season is somewhere in the future. But this season leaves plenty to chew on in the meantime.

OUR VERDICT:
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