Is The Boys Season 4 working?

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[@AdamSoucyDrums]

It’s possible that Jack Quaid is busy BTS, but I’m actually really vibing with what they’re doing with Hugie. He’s the only character in the cast that is actively letting go of his past through forgiveness and growth while *everyone else* is getting crushed under the weight of their unresolved traumas

[@maskedman5657]

Yeah If I'm being honest I'm not that interested in Hughies subplot either. Most of the the boys subplots I'm just not that interested in. Not Kimikos, Frenchies,. I'm slightly curious about Butchers

[@Batx0123LOLXD]

Hughies subplot was kinda boring tbh it did not need to be 5 eps long for the tiny amount of impact it had

[@dylanperry3735]

@@maskedman5657Frenchies subplot this season is so dumb to me. He is a grown man much older than the kid he got emotional about, he should’ve never got involved with Collin. Any adult would never entertain a relationship with someone who’s family you murdered. Kimiko is so concerned with him but it was her denying him a valid relationship that pushed him to Collin. She is partially at fault. MMs wife is dumb. Yelling at him because his daughter punched someone was stupid. Yeah MM does punch people to “solve problems” but it’s his job. And a very high paying one at that, it’s not like he’s a drunk out in the streets whoopin ass, bro is literally fighting to save humans from getting turned into cattle. Hughies sub plot is 3 seasons too late, he has only had a subplot when his girlfriend died and that ended when A-train had growth and apologized to his face. A-train, Butcher, and Sister Sage have more compelling plot lines, hell even The Deep is more entertaining than what The Boys have going on in their personal lives.

[@AdamSoucyDrums]

@@Batx0123LOLXDI guess it depends on what you’re looking for. I’m personally way more interested in character writing than plotting, and the emotional impact episode 5 had on Hugie is pretty huge, arguably bigger than his entire arc last season. It also made me cry like a baby!

[@dylanperry3735]

@@AdamSoucyDrumsit was good for the emotional impact I feel it came way too late in the show. Hughie has never really had his own subplot. The one with his dad while good was late and happened too fast. Meanwhile Frenchie is about to be tweaking because he as a grown man sparked up a relationship with the much younger man of the family he murdered. Literally the stupidest subplot in the show. The Deeps Ohio subplot was better

[@rykx0r]

Hughie's plot feels interesting to me because it shows that you can be kind and compassionate and still make tough choices. You don't need to be Butcher.

[@josephhufford4090]

Hughie was at a low point last season but he's bounced back to probably being the healthiest, mentally, of the bunch. Everyone else is breaking down.

[@harshvardhanjha4611]

You have to be butcher in real life, in fiction maybe not.

[@rykx0r]

@@harshvardhanjha4611 Incorrect, bad take.

[@PewPewShootEmUp]

​@@harshvardhanjha4611 it's a balance, you should know when to be butcher.

[@themGAMEman]

​@@harshvardhanjha4611being a psycotic SOB is good? Well thats a take i guess...

[@Man_of_Oil]

Not sure why people don't love Hughie's subplot, using Compound-V to save a dying relative and dealing with the fallout of that feels like a very on-brand and like an obvious concept to explore.

[@michaelsurratt1864]

Probably because it felt so jarring, his mom shows up out of nowhere randomly. All of a sudden she’s got power of attorney instead of her son? I was actually fast forwarding through some of her parts just didn’t care seemed forced.

[@winninginlife]

@@michaelsurratt1864 His mother is strange, she found Compound V Hughies pocket and gave it to his dad. Hughie changed his mind but it was too late her Karen behavior compelled her to butt in where not needed, almost costing her, her life. He needs to send her on her way....she should crawl back under the rock she came from.

[@SIZModig]

I thought for a lo g time that it was all a setup by Vought and that his mom was a fake. They could have made it feel more real I think, because they must know that we're sceptical to anything until proven otherwise.

[@jamiebowler4693]

Honestly as someone who’s parent isn’t in the picture I can really empathise with Hughie and how much seeing that person again hurt him, I liked that his dad explains why he doesn’t have power of attorney (even though it was weird when first mentioned) cause hughie wont let him go and he proved it when he contemplated using the V. His mom throwing the curveball feels appropriate she’s derailed his life twice now. I don’t think we’re supposed to like his mom either I don’t. Hughie having to put his dad down was heartbreaking. I know if I thought I could save a loved one I’d try.

[@FMrewind]

@@michaelsurratt1864so you didn’t watch it…?

[@atomicq3603]

The thing about Sister Sage that I’m curious about is that she must have some sort of contingency for Homelander because there’s no way she doesn’t know how volatile he is. If Homelander kills her and she’s in any way surprised it’ll completely diminish her supposed influence.

[@nickbrowning3270]

shes only as smart as the writers so probably not

[@alexandercharizard3617]

yeah that's a bit strange. When they first meet she says he's welcome to laser her. And that might be a bluff, but it's a bit weird. And then she point out that his ego can't handle her and how petty he is, which is absolutely correct, but also risks making him snap. So she's smart enough to know all this but not smart enough to tell him in a more subtle way? Or she knows precisely how far she can go with him?

[@josephwilliams1251]

@@alexandercharizard3617I dunno if it’s contingency of anything. I think she was deeply depressed, lobotomizing herself for s high and, might just bd in s bad enough mental spot she’s ok with dying.

[@TheKyleMark]

@@josephwilliams1251Depression does have a certain amount of correlation with intelligence. Given her brain can resist extreme damage I’m guessing Prozac doesn’t do shit either.

[@ShowMeDemBoobies]

​who said she does it for a high? Fckn donut

[@GreyKnight7777]

I liked the plotline with Hughie and his dad. I lost my father recently, and I appreciated that they used the setting to act out a fantasy of having a second chance with a lost loved one. And especially in the wake of the pandemic, when so many lost loved ones under circumstances when they could not be present to say goodbye, it is a fantasy I think that many will find relatable.

[@jhenry8079]

I love the fact that they are giving Nathan Mitchell lines this season

[@highdefinition450]

who lol

[@abrahammanilla7948]

@@highdefinition450 black noir

[@Watermelon_Man]

@@highdefinition450 You couldn’t use context clues?

[@hudsonclarkk]

@@Watermelon_Manit's a different actor this season goofball

[@ShadeKill]

@@hudsonclarkk One google search and you'll see it's the same actor

[@kbuuns]

My theory for Kessler is that he died on that mission he talked about with Butcher where their whole squad died and Butcher saved Kessler's life. I'm guessing someone is going to mention that mission and how Butcher was the only survivor, or we'll see a file that shows all the people who were KIA on the mission with him being one of them and we'll get a sort of "shattered mirror" type scene with Butcher.

[@MarianelaAyelenlourdesSajama]

Oh,this theory makes so much sense!

[@gapsule2326]

If they go that direction I think Butcher killed him.

[@zenith9701]

Dude...

[@g00gleisgayerthanaids56]

​@@zenith9701the writing is extremely predictable... this was painfully obvious.

[@Hodapp]

@@zenith9701VaughtHQ already leaked and now the show has showed that this is very much the case and it seemed pretty obviously set up already. He already has one person who’s dead talking to him, why would this random guy come into the show, only talk to Butcher not be in his head.

[@seanmoran7517]

The "new" Black Noir actor is the same actor that's been playing him since season 1. In season 3, the used a different actor for all the unmasked Black Noir scenes.

[@jorgeneedssleep7978]

Maybe its just me but I really loved Hughie’s subplot personally

[@ceccascorp8149]

Agree completely, its heartbreaking and truly an emotional rollercoaster

[@BonJoviBeatlesLedZep]

Same. I really loved it.

[@encyclopediaespx1128]

Hughie subplot and Homelander main-throughline are the most compelling things. I like where Butcher’s going but he really needs more rehab time for what happened last season.

[@UnoDinero95001]

It’s not just you, it’s love it as well.

[@NightmareproductionsOFFICIAL]

It’s good people are just a bit to judgemental

[@enhydralutra]

I like the idea of Neuman. That she has the same goals of killing Homelander and destroy Vought, but that she also has the goal of removing restrictions on supes. She shouldn't have been a villain, but rather just a complicated ally.

[@The_Dinosaur_Heretic]

The death of Hughie Sr needs to be in tandem with A-Train’s redemption. A-Train cannot be fully redeemed until Hughie Jr is ready to move on. Allowing Hughie to be okay with letting go of the past is how he’s able to let go of what A-Train did to Robin, and thus prove to the audience that A-Train is worthy of redemption. That’s just clean, simple writing.

[@AstonishingRed]

I just wonder, what was the point of having MM kick Butcher out of the group, reject him when he wanted to rejoin, only to have him rejoin suddenly off screen? That just felt kind of weird.

[@patrickbret1056]

I feel like that’s happened like 9x

[@lunasperidot8760]

It wasn't offscreen? He told them about the virus and he was the only one who knew where it was besides neuman

[@steggyweggy]

They want Butcher to feel isolated but still need him in the action for the plot to happen so they just have him be whichever is more convenient at the time. If it’s more convenient for Butcher to feel isolated then he will be, and if it’s more convenient for him to be a part of the team then he will be. It’s not a huge problem, but it is kinda lazy/annoying

[@HerMi.T]

​@@steggyweggy but the butcher is joined after he actually helps them. They hate how he acts but they have to take his help when they need it. The reason MM kicked him out was because he was going to die. He let them join when they understand their us no other choice.

[@muddabuwshi6510]

The satire from Firecracker makes me smile big Also A train saying that one of the movies have been reshot many times "it must be good" made me think of Secret Invasion again😭

[@Alkeeros]

Yeah,take most MCU movies or the Flash. It's a brilliant satire of all the big Superhero franchises

[@joshuadelorme-novakowski2114]

I think what they're doing for the main characters is actually quite interesting. All of them have one thematic element running throughout all of their stories, their past actions haunting them today. Butcher is obviously being haunted by his past and reflecting on his entire life, but you also have Kimiko with the girl she forced into the the terrorist cell, and Starlight sabotaging Firecracker when they were kids. Even MM has to deal with his violent past get copied by his daughter. Huey's plotline also has this, though it's more subtle, with it just being not letting his cat get put down when he was a kid, having the side effect of his dad not trusting that he could let go when necessary, though ironically it was his mother, the one his father trusted to let go, was the one to revive him. The big difference, so far, is that Huey's the only one who can grow from his past rather than be stuck to his old ways, learning to let go. I think this is why Frenchie's plot line seemed so repetitive. As you said, it's pretty similar to what's been done before for his character. But to keep thematic consistency with the rest of the cast, they had to give more bad things he's done to overcome it. Hope this makes sense, I thought what I saw as a throughline between all the character's stories were pretty cool.

[@kelthekonqrr]

It was and this is very accurate! I also think that Hughie’s character represents a man who can let go and move forward, Butcher represents a man who has the choice to move forward but could become Evil or Good, Frenchie represents a man who wants to change, but is stuck in a cycle that seems unbreakable like a drug addict, MM represents a man who is forced to being the better man because of his responsibilities, however, that doesn’t mean he’s let go, thus it spills into other areas of his life.

[@andreastory800]

Agree!

[@jamiebowler4693]

Honestly if they did the Colin thing with kimiko instead it would have fitted better, frenchie is getting closer with her and now he’s not sure if he can fully open up to her, they could have mirrored each other in that way and maybe show a toxic side to their relationship. Idk I’m not a writer.

[@romainbel6304]

Definitely agree, we also get that theme with homelander going back to the lab he grew up in

[@patheticmango7631]

I described the farm episode as, it felt like another "way to get homelander" only for the twist to be it doesn't go well like the show has done more than once.

[@dive107]

I'm hoping some of the Sage stuff might have been telegraphed by Hughie being the only person in the show so far to refer to her as the smartest 'person', instead of smartest woman. It's possible it's nothing, but it feels like that might have been a sign of her future.

[@BonJoviBeatlesLedZep]

I think it's just that Hughie is a superhero fanboy and deep down just a genuinely good dude who leaves his biases at the door.

[@thaesimir]

A-Train also referred to her as smartest person when Sage was brought up as a potential new member of the Seven

[@9_1.1]

@@thaesimir i think that was more because she probably annoyed him about it before rather than him being nice

[@vumasster]

we also need to pay attention to her, let's say, "mood swings" based on how she interacts with people

[@talonkeesy]

@@vumasster maybe sister sage will do something dumb during one of her lobotomy session

[@spearofhope2]

"The boys can just never be as interesting as the Supes" - I think that's what my issue with this show comes down to. The idea of regular people who have to team up and come to with crazy strategies to kill corrupt superheroes... That's SUCH a great concept that could be so so fun! And yet this show never wanted to let that be the premise, and it's just a terrible waste. They're more fixated on having fun with these horrible monsters than with the characters who would much more naturally fit the position of protagonists. I feel like a lot of modern streaming prestige tv writers tend to identify more with traumatized people of privilege who are connected to power and less with characters who are underdogs trying to make the world a better place, and it leads to some kind of meandering stories.

[@steggyweggy]

The episode where they kill Translucent is so awesome because of how much creativity and effort goes into just killing a single supe. Now the only way they kill supes is with conveniently boring stuff like Temp V or a disease that kills supes.

[@spearofhope2]

@@steggyweggy for real! That was like the second episode, I felt like I got sold a bill of goods when they stopped doing that stuff! Absolutely in Surf Dracula territory as far as I'm concerned

[@projekttaku1]

@@steggyweggy the first season made the Seven seem so powerful compared to the Boys. It took a whole episode to figure out how to kill their second weakest member, and the Boys' muscle, Kimiko, was absolutely thrashed by A-Train. Now the Boys can take on Firecracker head-on when she has help from another Supe and win pretty casually.

[@steggyweggy]

@@projekttaku1 they can even go head to head with Homelander twice and not suffer a single significant loss or injury

[@jackstutz2860]

I feel like we can't end this season without some major deaths. We got through last season with all the og members of the Boys still alive and wait did any main characters die last season? I know Maeve went off somewhere to live her life quietly, but she's not dead. Oh, well i guess Black Noir died but other than him I can't remember anyone who died. Anyway, I think we need some main character deaths this season. I think Neuman is safe bc her plot must have something to do with either my Jan 6th theory (guys, its pretty obvious what they want to set up there lmao) or just the endgame of the show. I think the Deep is safe unless they pull something out of pocket. I think Sister Sage might die if for no other reason than a lot of the Secondary Antagonists both have S names and then also die or are at least removed from the board. I think new Black Noir is safe bc he's funny. I think Ashley is safe unless A-Train throws her under the bus to save himself (seems unlikely though). I do think A-Train is going to die. I don't really see a way out of his current predicament without some pretty thick plot armor which would undercut the main themes of the show in that nobody should feel safe. Homelander and Butcher are both gonna live. I think Hughie lives. I think Kimiko lives. I think Annie lives. I think it's very possible that Frenchie dies. I think it would be a HUGE twist if MM dies this season too. It could be that with the way MM has been working so hard to keep the team together and functioning, the show is gonna Agent Coulson him and use his death to rally the Boys back to the mission instead of all these side quests they've got going on. I almost forgot about Firecracker...ummm, yeah she probably dies too just cause I don't see a need for an extended use of that character to further the story.

[@nuvjoti]

How about the deep?

[@CoOlKyUbI96]

@@nuvjotiunless Deep ends up doing something, I wouldn’t care if he died. He’s just be relegated to being a joke

[@Problemsolver434]

I feel like Game of Thrones has made too many people expect main characters to die in stories. I think the character have arcs that are planned till the end of the story and they are not gonna die yet

[@nuvjoti]

@@Problemsolver434 funny thing is GOT was famously subverting expectations by killing off main characters, which has made the surprise deaths the expectation! Now I guess they’re subverting expectations by not killing anyone 😂 I guess they just need us to get comfortable so that a death can resonate as much as it should.

[@CrossOutBryce]

I would not be surprised if Frenchie, Deep, Sage, and Firecracker all die

[@abermen]

Story wise, the show is running into issues because at its core, it’s a genre show. There’s only so much character backstory/building you can do. The show works best when the plot is moving forward.

[@mattgilbert7347]

Bingo.

[@CoOlKyUbI96]

I strongly agree

[@kelthekonqrr]

I think they’re doing a really good job with pacing, and building as much as Super Hero movies go

[@saisameer8771]

They are stretching it way too thin honestly. Almost everything from season 2 onwards feels like filler. Season 1 felt fast and tightly paced.

[@aaronfrantz25]

​@@saisameer8771the jokes landed for me best in S1

[@johncliffalvarez6513]

I think Negan and Butcher’s Dead Wife are acting like the angel and the devil on Butcher’s shoulders. Negan in particular, I strongly feel is the manifestation of Butcher’s violent impulses that came out in order to spare Butcher of the burden of doing the tough choices.

[@azzu12]

I think the issue with this season is it’s all feels like filler. It’s obvious they are winding down and just waiting to go HAM for their final season. Aside from Butcher, Ryan and Homelander the rest of the characters arcs just feel very repetitive. I don’t hate it but it’s glaring obvious change in pace from the absolute blast that was season 3

[@gapsule2326]

Filler has to be one of the most abused and misused terms in relation to media.

[@azzu12]

@@gapsule2326 I used it to express how these side arcs this season feel less engaging or not directly impacting the main plot. Filler felt like the best option.

[@Skowl3883]

Season 3, especially Soldier Boy, was fantastic. I think you hit the nail on the head with this being a filler. I'm thinking that by the time the last episode ends with this season though, it's going to leave people foaming at the mouth with how much of a cliffhanger it will have.

[@marlowemichaelson1366]

The pacing. It’s simply too slow. And the last season had an anticlimactic finale that didn’t really do much other than make Vic and Homey more powerful. We don’t need to change the status quo entirely but it feels like too many characters and plot threads lead nowhere meaningful. Shit just be happening lol

[@mrluthfians01]

agree, it's been slowwww

[@fredskull1618]

I like that the show is taking more risks with each season. Any show that does that is still good imo, regardless of any nitpicking I can do with it.

[@paulbarclay4114]

its not taking risks its sacrificing itself to the mob of wokism its made itself irrelevant to most of its audience

[@kennywilkinson913]

That is fan boy talk.

[@fredskull1618]

@@kennywilkinson913 and you’re giving neckbeard talk, Mr. Wilkinson

[@yogandi8922]

@@fredskull1618 lmaoo got his ass

[@kennywilkinson913]

@@yogandi8922 pahahahahahaha, as the show goes woke, as do it fans pahahahahahaha, it seems frenchie isn't the only but hurt flamR around here 👀🤣

[@shilze1]

Feels like this season is mostly about families and parent-child relationships, and that ties back to Hughie's bit really nicely (and it also worked for me) but unfortunately that's not a theme that really fits for Kimiko or Frenchie so they have to feign commitment to their characters in the writing a little just to have something for them to do.

[@Scabloonshki]

I disagree, I think the season is mostly about the past coming back to haunt all the characters in some form. Homelander, Butcher, Starlight, Frenchie, they all seem to have that shared element. Works better for some and worse for others.

[@ThePower1000]

I hope the way Homelander’s story ends is him somehow being depowered and put into prison. Then he’ll have to live the rest of his life as a normal human, while also now The Boys have solved their biggest problem without murder.

[@SaiyanHeretic]

I was also thrown by M.M. at first, not just because the actor shaved. Reportedly, trying to keep up the character's sheer muscle mass was detrimental to his health, so he cut back on that part of his training and he is visibly smaller this season. I think they even wrote it into the show, because at one point, M.M. gets called out for not eating.

[@CaptainArthanos]

Before the video, in my opinion what works: -Homelander in general -Butcher in general -Both of them are elevated by Ryan -The Deep in general. I laugh at almost everything he says. -Sister Sage in concept, tho her dialogue can be really cringey -Giancarlo Esposito and Simon Pegg’s performances. Best parts of the season imo. It is disappointing that it feels like both actors were too expensive for them to actually get back; Queen Maeve and especially Soldier Boy are both also missed imo. What isn’t working for me: -Frenchie and Starlight. It seems like they ran out of things to do for both characters and so had to write in backstory that doesn’t have time to even set in before it’s supposed to matter. Like baking exposition for twists and reveals INTO said twists or reveals. I would much prefer Frenchie and Colin to have no past and be a fresh relationship to watch grow, rather than a past relationship that needs to be exposited. At least show instead of telling us and expecting us to care. -Hughie’s story. I rewatched the first episode and feel that they’ve fumbled the Butcher/Hughie relationship. Bringing in his mother, again seemingly from nowhere and in a fairly corny way, was not my cup of tea. -The comedy is hit or miss. It seems like the writers have a quota for one really gross sex joke and one piece of particularly horrifying graphic violence/gore. Multiplying dude eating his own ass seemed out of place, like an obligation. -The satire is either not nearly as smart as it once was, getting old, or both. Firecracker is lame, a lot of the political themes of especially the first three episodes are really weak and juvenile compared to the first season. Fwiw I lean left but the Trump “allegories” are really cringe and the show operates under the logic that politics are mostly what is actually shown to the public. -Lastly, the tension. In all honesty, Homelander should have won by now. It seems like the show has been treading water with him and Neuman for so long because both of them are unstoppable. Temp V was interesting but the show blew its load too early without being willing to make that a conceit/core concept. I feel silly for writing all this but ig I wanted my opinions as of episode 5 written *somewhere* so

[@shanebattistv2165]

Nailed it. Stan Edgar’s comment to The Boys, “I can’t believe you all survived this long” struck me because yeah, at this point how are we still doing this? I love the concept but how many times can we have a plan to confront Homelander/Neuman over and over? Both of them know who each of The Boys are and have all the resources/motivation to wipe them out in a day but they just.. don’t. This story would have worked better if it was compressed to three or four total seasons to trim the fat.

[@hectorarredondo6929]

Nando Black Noir is being played but the same actor from before. Hs just playing a different character. Except on season 3 when black noir was unmasked it’s the same actor

[@zambeazy]

it’s just kind of insane to me that there’s only 3 episodes left. the one thing that concerns me is this is how i feel a lot of the time around this part in marvel shows. like, “there’s no way they wrap all this up in 3 more episodes.” i feel like, unfortunately, that feeling is often correct for the marvel shows, so i’m really nervous this show might end up feeling the same way

[@trentonmattews123]

The actor for MM also loss a lot of weight in between filming and that’s also a reason he looks totatly diffrent

[@Dunybrook]

Couldn't disagree more. Love all the characters having to face their pasts and I could watch Simon Pegg do anything for hours without complaint and he's totally killed it while killing several people. The show is its own thing but pretty much nobody was safe from being killed in the comics which is part of what makes it so good. No plot armor. Honestlly wouldn't mind if they toned down some of the grossness and know at least one person who stopped watching after the Termite explosion.

[@gapsule2326]

Nah you knew who wasnt going to die until the end.

[@projekttaku1]

There was unbelievable plot armor in the comics. The Boys come out unscathed after killing every Supe, including that time they were about to be killed by all the G-Men teams, only for Vought ex machina to come in and kill them. The Boys only die at the very very end to Butcher, no Supe kills them.

[@JohnnyCenter25]

I think The Boys aspect has the potential to be the most interesting part of the show. I like the idea of non powered humans trying to take down supes by outsmarting them or exploiting their over confidence. Of course they would have to do a lot of imoral stuff to get the upper hand as trying to play fair against supes that could instantly annihilate all of them would probably end in disaster. I feel like Season 1 started out great with this concept of The Boys taking down Translucent. Season 3 did some interesting stuff (and this might sound hypocritical) by giving themselves superpowers to keep up. The reason I'm not against it is because a) it's temporary and b) it kills them with use so it's obviously this tiny little risky edge that they can only pull out when absolute necessary. I also liked Soldier Boy. The idea of manipulating supes to fight each other is something The Boys should explore more often. Not talking about recruiting them like Starlight or Maeve, but taking mad and bad supes and force a fight between them perhaps arranging it in a way that they would have to give the weaker mad bad supe an advantage in the hopes that the resulting fight kills them both. When Season 4 started with The Boys intercepting the event to try and kill Neuman by swapping out her perfume(?) with acid I thought "Hell yeah, we're back". Unfortunately that felt like the only time so far in this season where The Boys did something like that. They're all split apart and it doesn't seem like they have a plan for the future. The Starlight stuff could be interesting if The Boys ever intended to do something with the influence they had. Exposing Firecracker seemed more like a quick retaliation and a way to show "Butcher still got it" rather than a step in overarching scheme. Finally they find out about the virus (over halfway into the season) and in the same episode they discover it they remove the virus. I know it's coming back, but for now it's just Butcher working on replicating it so I'm not counting it as scheme for The Boys. What is the plan for The Boys? What are they doing this season? They have no goal and it's making them seem incompetent as well as making the other supes like Homelander and Neuman less threatening that they just haven't killed them yet. The virus should have been discovered in the first episode, they should have spent time debating whether or not it's right for them to use, they should have had to come up with a plan to get the virus back from Neuman and we the viewers should have been part of that process. Maybe a part of that plan hinged on Starlight and her influence only for it to be ruined by Sage. Would have made it more impacful and established Sage as a bigger threat. I still enjoy a lot of parts of this season, but this is the one aspect I'm very disappointed in so far.

[@tonybeltran4366]

short answer yes, I also don't get people saying it's gotten too political when it's been that way since the fucking beginning ffs, still is my favorite show

[@steggyweggy]

I personally feel like it’s lacked some nuance lately. I don’t mind having politics, but jeez man. Can they not have at least one positive character who is right-leaning? I’m a damn socialist and I feel like they’re doing too much

[@masterzombie161]

I honestly was shocked how wrong people was about season 4. So far I’m loving almost everything in it. The only issue I have is with frenchie at the end of episode 5. I get why he’s doing what he’s doing, but honestly taking down Vought is enough to redeem anything he’s done. Apart from that I still really like this season so far.

[@joaquinwaters1810]

It’s the weakest season so far. But the fact that I’m saying that about a bold, hilarious, devastating, all-around great season of TV is proof of how outrageously good this show is

[@C0micfan]

Splitter is Chuck from Supernatural. Dudes really look different without their beards.

[@Basstyle1]

OMG, I didn’t even know that Chuck. God really fell from grace lmao

[@saberhap2639]

@@Basstyle1 That jewish director. Very insulting what he did.

[@Alkeeros]

​@@saberhap2639 ??? What are you on about? The previous comments were about the guy named Splitter. You're thinking of is apparently named "Adam Bourke" and is a different character

[@saberhap2639]

@@Alkeeros The actor who played splitter, played god in supernatural.

[@Random-th7wm]

The mother's milk actor also lost a good amount of weight along with cutting the beard, really not that absurd for people to recognize that he looks significantly different...

[@marlom7882]

The Boys comics are NOT a product of their time. It’s just bad

[@tarantasaurus4177]

7:15 - Karl Urban has been in Lord of the Rings, Dredd, Thor Ragnarok...I doubt they didn't realize he was busy XD Also, the Hughie's dad stuff totally worked for me - if anything, I was pleasantly surprised they didn't go full on 'super zombie' like Lamplighter in the comics. Simon Pegg turned in an AMAZING performance in Ep. 5

[@paulschneller9766]

The worst the boys season would probably still be one of the best tv show seasons this year anyway.

[@Jacobsherman341]

Second behind invincible

[@pizzadogma]

Please watch more TV

[@jamieminnell7316]

kate not having interesting powers is a hellova take

[@Bfrd25]

Hughie and the rest of the team feel stuck in filler while Homelander and his son have their story focused

[@SIZModig]

I agree with all of this, but you didn't mention how anticlimactic the trials were - they jump cut past whatever is said and Tadaaa, Homelander is innocent. How? Why? No news reporting or talk about it whatsoever. I wish we had an episode where we got to see it play out.

[@tabsterg]

My read on sage is that she's just helping some key characters fastrack into what they've wanted or thought they wanted all this time and fuck them up when it's suddendly at their feet and they realize that's not the fulfilling answer theg were hoping for. She's like on accelerationist mode or something like that.

[@gladteer873]

If sage bliws up, would only her brain regenerates, and there's just a brain left

[@my2randomcents]

It feels a tad meandering tbh But I do think it's feeling that way because when they filmed this they still were set on the"we'll do as many seasons as we can" so they stretched the plots thin. Hopefully S5 being the last is filmed in a tight closed way. Also I have the slightest suspicion that after S5 they are gonna do a Soldier Boy antihero spin off and that's why he's just alive and stored

[@Evoker23-lx8mb]

Weakest season so far but it’s still great to me.

[@johnnycornflakes8143]

For me, it's like Game of Thrones. I just want to see how it ends hopefully with a dead homelander.

[@hermanbertel8517]

I feel like the biggest problem is that there is to many subplots, and since there’s so many, some are obviously not going to hit as much. Basically every character have their own subplots, and it makes the narrative less focused and sharp, especially compared to last season. There so much stuff that happens that just feels like fluff, instead of just focusing on a main storyline, which is way more compelling.

[@shawnhilliard]

I like the theory that JD Morgan is a manifestation in Butcher's head like Becca.

[@PunkassErnie]

Jack Quaids acting has been phenomenal this season.

[@philoxoper]

thanx for making the video so erly

[@featherguardian6023]

I do love Season 4 so Far and I don’t care what anyone says, this and MAWS is much better than the Acolyte.

[@stevencooper564]

MAWS is absolutely phenomenal! I'm in the boat of "never really cared about Superman" but holy hell, that show is so good and has such a strong world-feel.

[@jermyg9180]

I don’t think “_______ is better than Acolyte” is a very controversial statement right now. Not saying it’s great but that show is getting dogpiled like crazy for no reason.

[@fredskull1618]

@@jermyg9180I agree 100%. I’d say The Acolyte has just as much fun stuff as there is boring stuff. It’s no better or worse than Kenobi imo.

[@maskedman5657]

Why would anyone think being better than Acolyte is somehow a Flex? 😂

[@jasonmarbach]

Well, MAWS is better than the acolyte, at least. But MAWS is one of the best shows on all of tv, so that makes sense.

[@TheAndSlem]

Timing might not have been great on Hughie's story, but I dig using V on the facing death challenge and it's a way to use simon peggs amazing talent in a small easy to shoot scene

[@tabsterg]

I think its up to a fairly rough and messy start, but all seasons pick their pace up in the last copule of episodes and I think it's more of a problem with the setups and it'll probably be just as good as the last ones by the last 2 or 3 episodes

[@michaelsoper98]

“Be prepared for this when you shave your beard” lmao the fuck? He lost like 30-60 pounds. But sure it’s the fact he shaved 💀

[@KingSlayer_.]

You make a lot of good points. Im impressed with your channel. Subscribed😎

[@saldicaterino8909]

They made 5 episodes and almost nothing has happened

[@Stevenwinrar]

I think the show has a theme of "the monsters we make" Hughie was good and innocent, until A-train carelessly killed his gf and he decided to become a supe-killer. All supers, including homelander, are products of their environments and wish they had freedom to be their true selves. Butcher decided to turn himself into a monster to take down another monster, both literal and metaphorical. The whole entire plot of homelander's story and ryans fate is this focus. People will say homelander is the biggest monster in The Boys. And they wouldnt be wrong in many ways. but there was a bigger monster, much older and cunning, that was the one who broke and hurt homelander more than any weapon ever could. Humanity. Humanity was, is, and will be.. a bigger monster than homelander. And by that extension, homelander isnt the problem. but a symptom. And unless they break the cycle(ryans big theme) the cycle will repeat. No time in this show, with supe, temp-v, or anything has good outcomes due to the creation of a "monster" Because you cannot destroy the monsters you create, as we often lose control to do so, you can only fix it. or let it destroy you.

[@Skowl3883]

It's a show, bro. Philosophy is in the next room to your right.

[@D1rtyD3bra]

I feel like a lot of but he boys fans go from thinking “wow this commentary is so on the nose” to “Oh wow it.. it really is on the nose.. all the time and they aren’t running away from that fact… you can just do that?”

[@nickname3380]

Great breakdown!

[@bosakj]

I think JDM's character essentially allows for "out loud" exposition about Butcher's thoughts/plans/where his head is at. It does serve as a plot device in that manner, as opposed to all of the conscience struggle being internal.

[@CanalTremocos]

15:58 Golden rule of the audiovisual arts; Never break Silhouette. This is why movie knights always wear armour, no helmet, and movie queens never change to a new dress.

[@Phosfit]

Season 5 of Peaky Blinders was sucky to me cuz the main character got chill and PEACEFUL which is not who he is. I didn’t finish that season. Homelander is experiencing the boredom emotion but he’s still him. It’s evolving.

[@Nas.1of1]

watching after episode 6 and to answer, yes its absolutely working

[@NightmareproductionsOFFICIAL]

I really like Hughie and Frenchie’s stories I don’t see why that’s not working.

[@LightningBlade1406]

You can tell Nando plays with his action figures or at least spends some time putting them in new positions and I love that.

[@gr8wall13]

“Hey Butcher, we gotta do a bad thing.” “Oye, maybe I will” 😆 Loved that little impression.

[@bensneb360]

It’s a bit more dark and sad compared to the others, but I think it’s still good

[@obara7366]

Nathan Mitchell has always been Black Noir, but now he's finally being allowed to speak, haha.

[@enriqueramirez2554]

I think Hughie’s plot line is leading to him becoming more independent? or at the very least more able to deal with stuff on his own. So i’m looking forward to that cuz im tired of him always having to rely on someone else showing up and saving him or just getting lucky. Both Kimiko’s and Frenchie’s plotline feel pretty similar and for frenchie it feels very repetitive. I just hope that we don’t have to deal with the same kind of plot in future seasons. Starlight’s plotline feels incredibly forced. The reveal of her and Hughie getting an abortion didn’t feel impactful. That’s because we never got to see how they came to that decision and the way they felt about it. Not only that but the whole reason behind her beef with firecracker feels out of character. Maybe i got the wrong impression but they made Starlight out to be a goody two shoes ever since she was a kid. So for her to spread a rumor such as the one she spread about Firecracker didn’t feel believable to me.

[@Michael.Miles1]

It's not good..... It's freaking GREAT! The only people complaining are the ones finally realizing after 3+ seasons that the writers have been making them the butt of all the jokes the entire time..... ✌🏾✌🏾

[@saberhap2639]

no, that's a lie. They're making fun of one side more than the other now.

[@Number-id3dd]

@@saberhap2639 It's always been like that

[@9_1.1]

@@saberhap2639 right because the blonde hair blue eyed mega patriot who dated a nazi was definitely targeted at both sides. not to mention the literal tucker carlson character, and vought news being fox news.

[@saberhap2639]

@@Number-id3dd no sir, they'd make fun of the lgbt grifting and diversity hires. Now there's none of that in season 4.

[@bread6235]

this season hasn't been as good as others and so far is easily the weakest season. i've yet to see anyone criticize this season over the politics, ive only seen people like you mentioning it lol. this season has bad pacing, boring subplots, and has felt all over the place up until recently. the first half of the season felt like filler.

[@tatersalad76]

I think Season 4 is just all the characters getting the rest of their i's dotted and their t's crossed before Season 5 comes in and The Boys are gonna have to start fighting Supes left and right and fighting to kill

[@_KRYMZN_]

The idea of superhero Jan 6 is such a good one. Especially if they’re fighting other supes; it’d be like a parody of CA: Civil War but Captain America becomes the president 💀💀

[@Basstyle1]

God, this video is a fucking breath of fresh air. An actual video that not only looks at the bad but also the good as well.

[@wyattcalcote5867]

Hughies plot line works super well- separating Hughie and Butcher is fire!!! Hughie is learning to forgive, and butcher is kind of looking for closure. I think it works fire

[@parthanpaveri9581]

What if they do what happened to speedball that kicked off civil war to firecracker?

[@MWDFrancis]

I think it’s a solid beginning.

[@bobbydigital8056]

I love the show but one gripe I have is that they overuse blackmail as a way of getting out of sticky situations.

[@DatBoiGloomy]

When you think about it, these people care more about their reputation than anything else. Blackmail makes sense for these people but i see what you mean. They do use it alot.

[@CrossOutBryce]

It might just be me, but I will watch Kimiko do literally anything. Her plotline is working for me so far tbh

[@Garret_DMG]

I mean the only benefit to Jdms character is that he test Billy’s morality compass also test the teams trust in him

[@mr.t107]

The only character i really care about is Homelander and butcher tbh. the other story lines aren't really captivating anymore.

[@BestgirlJordanfish]

Honestly yeah, it’s getting pretty peak. Love the way it explores characters and love the direction

[@peteroni9114]

Hughie's subplot really paid off

[@fraserposford144]

Homelander in Episode 4. Oh. My. Word. What a performance from Anthony Starr 👏

[@thunderbear9418]

Cate is a psychic who can hear and manipulate thoughts...how the fuck are her powers not interesting?

[@steggyweggy]

Powers can be interesting without being used in interesting ways

[@thunderbear9418]

@@steggyweggy she shook up the entire plot. She made a woman use a flashlight to penetrate a dude. She made Indira cut her own throat. She trapped the others in a psychic trance that could have killed them. Cate was the MVP of that show. Idk what the fuck you're talking about

[@Keolas_multiverse]

Ive been loving this season so much!

[@mfcchris499]

A main problem ive found is sister sage's character. The smartest character is only as smart as the writer and the writers have already shown theirs in previous seasons with characters and so to make sage look better they either dumb others down or give her the superpower of hindsight. Frenchies story arc is good no matter how much people hate 'le homos' Kimiko however is just getting her story regurgitated and showed no growth, being able to communicate clearly but yet still cant talk is ridiculous. Also firecracker is performed greatly but has the WORST motivation ever.

[@steggyweggy]

I didn’t like Frenchie’s storyline that much because his love interest didn’t feel like an actual character. Just a crazy plot device to get Frenchie to do what he does in episode 5

[@ronthorn3]

Show hasn’t lost any steam, season 4 is a banger.

[@RuggedHectic]

Yes it is working besides frenchie, Annie, and firecracker 😂

[@RuggedHectic]

Also Ryan has always held the show back and Collin is the worst character in the show pointless

[@thereallylargeknome7461]

My theory is they realized that they don’t have anything meaningful for most of the boys to do, but they have a lot of ground to cover before the supes are ready for season 5, so they’re just giving the boys busywork while they do the actual plot for s4, the super insurrection

[@GrizzlyMovieReviews]

I think the new season has been fantastic but the newest episode had some poor pacing and didn’t really hold my attention that well. Sucked to see SP go so soon after really only spending an episode with his character.

[@leeeyles1864]

All the sub plots feel like they shouldn't be there and most people can't put their finger on why. A major reason for the sub plots being terrible is that they almost beat Homelander last season and the ending with Soldier Boy and everyone else was so climatic, only to take it down 3 gears to have characters run around doing nothing.

[@Quanic2000]

Absolutely, and I don't want to hear otherwise 😂

[@MisterS.]

It's alright

[@Knowingspy]

I think it’s really difficult to hinge these character arcs of Kimiko/Frenchie on stuff that is almost entirely done off screen and try to make us feel sympathy. I like both because I’ve known them for four seasons. But you can’t just say, “This person has significance for me, I feel guilt” and try to sell this character moment with a flashback

[@BthIX]

Yes, next question

[@finderrio]

oh my god Roman Roy is telling me about the boys

[@quickfrog57]

I fully expect the Frenchie storyline, and probably the Kimiko storyline, to have some main plot implications by the end of the season, which is why they were included. I'm not sure what those would be, but they feel like the kind of storylines that are sort of unimportant and secondary until they're thrust into the spotlight.

[@maskedman5657]

I still like Season 4 its just alot of the subplots are very boring to me. I dont care about Kimikos backstory, frenchies, or The little fued between starlight and firecracker.