The Boys season four review: Gore, sex, and d**k jokes can’t paper over cracks in the show
The Boys has had essentially the same plot for every season so far.
The titular boys come together, have a falling out, try and kill Homelander, narrowly fail, before just about escaping.
While that may be an oversimplification, the dragging out of the show’s narrative has really hurt what is one of the most inventive shows on television – and season four is no exception.
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Once again, season four opens with The Boys still searching for a way to kill Homelander.
He begins episode one on trial for a murder he commits in broad daylight at the end of season three.
Meanwhile, Victoria Neuman - revealed to be a supe this whole time - is on the brink of winning the election and becoming vice-president, making her just one exploding head away from the White House.
Starting off with the positives - it is undeniable that the side stories in this season (available to watch on Prime Video) are some of the most interesting since the show began.
Almost as if sensing the criticism of the main story being dragged out, characters such as Frenchie, Hughie, Kimiko, and even Homelander are given far more nuance than they had in previous seasons.
The arc between Kimiko and Frenchie, who have one of the oddest relationships in a show full of bizarre ones, is a particular standout, and makes the stakes so much higher as you’re given even more reason to care about the core cast of characters.
The parallels with real-life politics were never subtle in the show, but in this season all subtlety is thrown out the window.
If you can’t figure out what Kripke is trying to say in this season then I’ll be shocked, but this does lead to some undeniably fun moments.
If you want subtlety, The Boys has never been the place to look – and it is completely thrown out the window as the show goes full-hog on the Homelander and Trump parallels.
With regards to the *shocking* scenes that every season of The Boys includes, I can honestly say, I may be alone in this, but they’ve mostly lost their effect on me.
Every season tries to one up the last, but every season viewers are more and more desensitised to it.
Whereas season one was an absolute shock to the senses in a world dominated by superhero media, by now every d**k lasered off, every head blown up can be met with a shrug.
Shocks occur when something you don’t expect happens. If you don’t expect blood, gore, and dick jokes at any given moment in The Boys, we’ve been watching different shows.
The show continues to be undeniably enjoyable, but has unfortunately become what it used to parody.
While Gen V was, shockingly, a really solid fun series, there are core plot points introduced for this season in the spin-off.
It is explained in the show in a way that is understandable for those that missed the spin-off, but the irony of becoming exactly what they mock Marvel and DC for is not lost.
The Boys season four is hard to judge.
There are some of the best, most impactful moments of the show so far, with genuinely emotional heartfelt storylines.
There are also some of the most mind-numbing attempts at political commentary, and the shock value moments have become slightly boring.
Without spoiling anything, the show does end in a place that sets up for a very interesting next season.
That said, it isn’t enough of a payoff to set up the fact that throughout this season I spent the entire time thinking just one thing.
Get to the f**king point.
If you loved the previous seasons of The Boys, this won’t be enough to change your mind, but things really need to pick up to justify next season not being the show’s last.
The first three episodes of The Boys releases on Amazon Prime June 13.
★★★☆☆
Topics: The Boys, Review, Amazon Prime, Politics, Film and TV
Michael Slavin