"The Boys" in its Conception
The first season of "The Boys" was released in 2019 — right after the movie "Avengers: Endgame," but before the quality of Marvel projects declined. It was the peak of superhero popularity — a moment when the genre needed a new vision.
Then Amazon presented viewers with a brutal project with an adult rating, where people with superpowers were not selfless heroes, but a commodity of Vought International corporation. It built a huge industry around supes who appeared in public, but saved no one and sacrificed nothing.
From popularity and permissiveness, the "superheroes" went crazy. They constantly used drugs, raped, and even killed people, and the corporation solved all problems.
The main characters were ordinary people who suffered from the actions of supes and possessed specific skills. A squad code-named "The Boys," consisting of special service agents, spies, and bandits. They want to stop Vought, expose their evil deeds, and take revenge on the supes.
But the methods of "The Boys" are by no means noble. They also do not shy away from cruelty, because otherwise, they cannot win. All this created a "gray" morality, where both sides had their pros and cons, and the viewer chose who to sympathize with.
The project is based on the comic book of the same name by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson. But unlike the original source, the series goes much further, reflecting and deliberately ridiculing the current political situation in the USA, bringing it to absurdity.
However, with each new season, the quality declined. The staging became worse, and the battle scenes became more budget-friendly. The series gradually drowned in meaningless plotlines, greatly stretching it. And if I watched the first season with delight, by the third I was already bored. I missed the fourth season entirely — I only got to it now, before watching the finale.
Criticism of the Fifth Season
The fifth season received a mixed reception. It was criticized for a lack of dynamics, accused of an overabundance of fillers — empty episodes. In response, showrunner Eric Kripke stated that "he could have increased the number of fights, but decided to focus on the characters."
But the showrunner's words have nothing to do with reality. After all, the final season has neither normal character development nor a clear storyline. Instead, the plot wastes most of the viewer's time.
Since the first season of the spin-off — the series "Gen V" — we were told about a way to put an end to the battle with Homelander. The fifth season of "The Boys" spent most of its episodes betting on it, but forgot about it in the end. They had to resort to a "deus ex machina": in the last episodes, the heroes came up with another way to win, haphazardly and foolishly devaluing everything that came before.
And the new arc with Homelander's "ascension," which was stretched almost throughout the entire season, appeared suddenly and looks forced. It's physically painful to watch them try to make him a saint, imposing a new religion on ordinary people. Aaron — the Padre — who is responsible for what is happening, is especially annoying. However, I think this is what the creators of the show were aiming for.
The start of the new season is too spontaneous. A whole year has passed since the events of the previous one, which changed a lot: some of "The Boys" were caught, and Kimiko suddenly started talking. All this was presented to the viewer "head-on" — as if there should have been a separate episode between the seasons connecting them. There is a feeling of misunderstanding of what is happening.
But what about the characters? The authors tried to close the arcs of some heroes, but it turned out controversial.
The storylines of Butcher, Frenchie, and Hughie in the fifth season raise questions. They actively participate in the events, but are not revealed in any other way. After all, all their arcs ended in the fourth. Although the conclusion of Frenchie's story is relatively well-staged.
With Mother's Milk, everything is sadder. He was revealed back in the third season, along with Soldier Boy's line, whose role in the finale is decorative. The character appears and disappears, and MM simply performs his function.
It's funny to see Kimiko talking. The heroine often swears, genuinely rejoices, and finally verbally expresses emotions and thoughts. Even if the dialogues are poorly written, they sound funny, which suits her: after many years of silence, you are unlikely to become a philologist. However, the character's changes are presented incorrectly. A key moment in the last episodes would have been best for this — then there would have been more drama.
Starlight closed two gestalts, but there was no confrontation with Firecracker, which was hinted at in the previous season. Homelander's fan was removed from the plot too ridiculously.
I couldn't understand Sister Sage's motivation since the fourth season. And when everything became clear, it seemed stupid to me, although the heroine is considered "the smartest person on Earth." Why was a multi-move for two seasons needed, because she got what she wanted in the fourth? It's unclear.
The Deep was made into a complete freak. He was a nobody before, but here he surpassed himself. And after several seasons of inaction, he finally began to develop somewhat towards the end, receiving a logical finale. However, he should have been gotten rid of long ago.
The new Black Noir is not bad: an actor trying to understand the silent image of the former Noir and play it. He even remains silent himself for some time. But this character is not needed by the series, and if he is removed — nothing will change. The showrunner decided not to repeat the original source, but did not come up with an equivalent replacement.
Great hopes were placed on Ryan, and he helps the plot a little at the end. But the character is more of a guest than a main one. Fortunately, he stopped being annoying and behaves adequately.
It's especially disappointing for the characters of "Gen V." Throughout the second season of the spin-off, we were heavily hinted that Marie Moreau would be an important part of "The Boys" finale. But no, she and the others appeared for five minutes in two episodes and disappeared. And considering that the storyline of the first season of "Gen V" was abandoned in the end, and the series was canceled, then what was the point of all this?
Deception in the Finale
The conclusion of the story is a separate conversation. Its problems begin with unmet expectations. The promotional materials for the fifth season promised viewers a large-scale and epic final battle, leading up to it quite well throughout the season, despite all the script's shortcomings.
The authors brought Homelander's obsession with attention and universal love to an absolute, driving him insane. And other characters, casting aside fear, calmly express their attitude to him face to face, humiliating the antagonist again and again. All this creates tension: it seems that he is about to "explode" and decide to destroy everyone.
But this does not happen. There is no large-scale battle, only a chamber skirmish, where the protagonists are helped by the script, which underestimates the villain's abilities and deprives him of logic. And the theme of politics once again hits the viewer, considering where the battle took place.
And here, the mimicry of "The Boys" plot to current trends is evident. The first seasons were released at the height of the popularity of the notorious "wokeness," which was expressed in everything and looked like a parody. So subtle that many viewers did not understand it, perceiving the series as another adherent of modern trends.
But over the past seven years, the world has changed, and in the fifth season, other motives are already evident. The series has transformed from a hyperbolic satire into an author's social statement with a straightforward message, too obvious and therefore vulgar. Because of this, the quality of the project has fallen: the humor has become flat, and the narrative has been noticeably simplified.
The final showdown became the apotheosis of this. Instead of scope, the author preferred a political allusion that does not bring pleasure, but tires. After all, people watch series not to delve into problems, but to distract themselves from them.
Moreover, if we go back to the first season and remember what Butcher and the others were fighting for, the meaning becomes even less. After all, the antagonist was originally Vought International corporation. And it has not gone anywhere and has not changed in any way. What prevents them from creating a new Homelander?
Not All Bad
Nevertheless, there are also positives.
As a story of personal confrontation between Butcher and Homelander, the project works, albeit with a number of caveats. And since the series is a kind of cyberpunk, where instead of technology there are superpowers, the ending, in which Vought remained in power, is logical. A complete happy ending is not provided for in such a genre.
Instead, the heroes were able to somehow achieve their goals and even slightly changed society and the supes, who at the end became a little closer to true superheroes.
There are several moral dilemmas in the season. For example, is it worth sacrificing thousands of supes for billions of ordinary people? The heroes often talk about this and, in extreme cases, prepare for death to save humanity. And although in the last episodes this question also leads to nothing, either globally or personally, the fact that they are ready for it is important.
The question of immortality arises: does a person need eternal life? Or will it become an endless torment? The protagonists give their answer, and it is good, though not original.
I liked how Firecracker faced a choice between loyalty to her idol and to the one who raised her and gave her a path in life. This small line shows that it is always important to correctly assess yourself, your strengths, and the world around you.
Antony Starr perfectly conveyed all the inner insignificance of the main villain — a broken psychopath who is nothing without superpowers. The actor seemed to be born for this role and earned an honorable place in the history of cinema with his masterful work.
Karl Urban, though inferior to Starr in depth of acting, but his Butcher takes with charisma. It's always a pleasure to watch the hero, even if incomprehensible nonsense is happening on screen. His signature smirk is especially pleasing.
I will praise the actor who played The Deep — Chace Crawford. Although this character did not become as meme-worthy as Homelander, the actor's work is still outstanding. It saved the character from oblivion.
The chemistry between the two main couples of the series — Frenchie (Tomer Capon) and Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara), as well as Hughie (Jack Quaid) and Starlight (Erin Moriarty) — is also in place. Their relationship is pleasant to watch, as they are perfectly played and competently written: there are no unnecessary scenes and annoying whining.
Some moments and even entire episodes individually look great. For example, the very first episode of the season, despite the vague start, perfectly closes the A-Train storyline. Or how well the relationship between Soldier Boy and Homelander was shown. Looking at this, it becomes a shame — such potential was missed.
Verdict
The fifth season of "The Boys" is largely boring and forced. For some reason, the authors decided to abandon a storyline that they had been developing for several seasons in two series, replacing it with something sudden and illogical.
The problem is emphasized by the empty arcs of the protagonists, whose peak development was in previous seasons. Many main characters have turned into functions and no longer surprise.
The deceptive promotional campaign for the final season exacerbates the dissatisfaction. It promised us a grand scope of the story, which was not there: the final battle turned out to be simple and stupid. And the unnecessary political subtext only made everything worse.
But despite all the shortcomings, I cannot call "The Boys" a failed project overall. It has an interesting setting, excellent acting, and a number of always relevant moral questions. The stories of many characters are also interesting, even if they are not enough for all five seasons.
It's also pleasing that the authors use an adult rating, but don't overdo it, as was the case in "Gen V": all the brutality is appropriate. It creates the right mood in the scenes and shows that this world is not at all the superheroics we are used to.
The final battle is full of problems with logic and presentation, but its results are exactly what they should be. From the very beginning, it was clear that the finale for Butcher, Homelander, and the others would be more or less as it was shown.
Unlike the failure of the conditional "Game of Thrones," to "save" the series, you don't need to reshoot several seasons. It is enough to cut out unnecessary episodes with all unnecessary storylines. This would give the narrative dynamics and make the project more interesting.
But alas — we have what we have.