Well, it’s #RIPTheBoys as last week saw the three-episode premiere for The Boys released Thursday on Prime Video. For the most part, they are complete garbage.
If you haven’t seen them yet, I recommend skipping the first two episodes and going straight to the third one. The third episode progresses the story from the first three seasons, while the first two episodes are completely useless.
The show has shifted from being a parody and satire of superheroes to focusing on showrunner Eric Kripke’s politics, allowing him to feel good about himself while taking jabs at and sticking it to the alt-right movement. Filled with poor writing, it feels like Kripke’s “haha! I got you!” moment, prioritizing an agenda over quality storytelling.
Similar to what Russell T Davies did with Doctor Who, Kripke probably got picked on as a kid and now wants to get revenge since he has some power. Just like Davies, he’s become what he hates: a bully.
At the end of Season 3, Homelander kills a guy who threw a bottle at his son, but nothing comes of it. You’d think that after everyone filmed the incident, people would be terrified of Homelander, but they aren’t.
I understand that his supporters might not be afraid, as they cheered after it happened, but what about everyone else? Are you seriously telling me people would still go out in public and demonstrate against Homelander after he zapped a guy’s head off?
What’s really going on is that Kripke used the event to mirror Donald Trump, creating the “alt-right” movement in his show.
The Homelander trial is pointless, and Kripke introduces a TruthCon convention that wastes millions of dollars of the show’s budget just so he can stick it to the fans and pat himself on the back. It’s utterly pointless.
The Boys are also useless. What did they do in the three episodes? A whole bunch of blah, blah, blah, nothing. Why the f’k don’t the Seven simply kill The Boys?
Season 4 also turns Frenchie gay. Where was this for the past three seasons? Dicks are flying everywhere. How come no T&A? Again, just so Kripke can stick it to the fans he despises.
So if you remove all the alt-right BS, there might be one decent episode to come out of all three episodes.
Some things I like include Karen Fukuhara’s Kimiko; the new Black Noir is funny; A-Train’s developing story; I like Claudia Doumit’s Victoria Neuman and where that can be going, and I do like Susan Heyward’s Sister Sage, particularly with what happened when she hooked up with The Deep.
I believe Sage gave herself a lobotomy, so ironically she could feel more human (she has regeneration powers, so I assume her brain grows back).
I’ll also say Laz Alonso looks completely different, and I actually thought they had recast. Sorry, but Mother’s Milk comes off a lot less bad ass and intimidating. Maybe he needs the beard back?
Final thoughts: The Boys Season 4 starts off meaningless, serving as a way for Eric Kripke to validate his existence. The agenda is reflected in the poorly written episodes. It’s a shame because, based on previous episodes and seasons, we know Kripke is talented, but his ego gets in the way and he becomes a complete talentless hack. The three-episode premiere deserves a 3/10 rating.
