Amazon’s superhero satire “The Boys” began its final season with a two-episode premiere full of non-stop action, and fans have finally been able to push the hype train leading up to the long-awaited series finale out of the station.
For those of you who haven’t been keeping up with “The Boys,” the off-beat show roughly adapted from the comic series of the same name, is a mix between the ever-popular riffs on Marvel and DC movies and the “anti-Superman” genre adopted by media like “Invincible” and “Brightburn.” Basically, it’s an imagining of a world where Marvel Studios conjured their characters into reality through super steroids, and all of them turned out evil.
Season 5 opens with the natural culmination of this trope, the most powerful Supe, Homelander, ruling America by proxy under his fascist regime, having instituted concentration camps to house/execute his many political opponents. “The Boys” has always been heavy on political satire, which some critics found to be a little overbearing in the previous season. To me, the premise this season is so far detached from reality that the plotline is closer to traditional action-fantasy than satire. However, there are some funny moments regarding AI misinformation and influencer culture that keep the show in the realm of satire.
Plotwise, we open with many of the titular Boys in Homelander’s “Freedom Camps,” plotting an exit a la “The Great Escape.” More importantly is the shadow of the Supe-killing virus developed by William Butcher looming over both the renegade Supes and Homelander’s cronies. The stakes actually feel high, as opposed to previous seasons where the Boys’ unlikely survival after survival when encountering dangerous Supes got to the point of feeling like a major plot hole. For longtime viewers, you’ll know the show is frequently praised/detracted for its major bloodshed and irreverent comedy, which they deliver plenty of in these initial two episodes. The return of Soldier Boy made many fans happy, including myself, but the usage of Jensen Ackles feels too scant considering how much life he brings to every scene he’s in.
I won’t put any major spoilers in this review, but I am sure that fans of the show have already watched the first episode, where we see the conclusion of a beloved character’s redemption arc (RIP). Other notable happenings within the limited time frame of two episodes were the introduction of the revamped Teenage Kix group of Supes, basically a super-powered content house. This was probably the best piece of satire so far this season, poking fun at the reach of influencers into every facet of our lives with no actual qualifications.
Overall, “The Boys” season 5 premiere opens up a lot of interesting plotlines: will Homelander find V1, the fountain of youth of super drugs? What’s up with Black Noir? Is Butcher still dying? And most importantly, will the show fully deviate from the comics in its final arc, or keep some faithful remnants? Each Wednesday for the next six weeks will slowly give us our answers, and I encourage you to give this final season a watch if you’re at all invested in the show.
