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The Boys deconstructed the superhero genre of television when it premiered. And now, four seasons later, it continues to challenge not just the idea of superheroes in the real world, but the ramifications that has on concepts such as democracy, politics, misinformation, and much more; in a way that eerily reflects the very real world parallels of today. Read on for my The Boys season 4 premiere review.
Please note: the following The Boys season 4 premiere review is spoiler-free, however, may feature spoilers for season 3.
How The Boys’ Story Slowly Caught Up To Real-Time
When The Boys initially premiered, it was a complete satire of the current landscape of film and television; overcrowded with superhero films and just a total oversaturation of the genre in mainstream media. So on that theme, a lot of the world of The Boys imitates or are straight-up commentaries on existing superhero concepts. The premiere superhero team of the world of The Boys, The Seven, is a bastardized adult version of the Justice League. Similarly, the characters on the team have similar templates. Homelander is an evil Superman. Queen Maeve is meant to be Wonder Woman. A-Train is The Flash but with a lot more complex backstory. You get the point.
So The Boys’ novelty in its early days is how it parodied these real-world ideas of superhero fatigue and very thoroughly broke down what it would mean if superheroes were real. How would that change our culture, and our world, and more importantly, how a capitalistic society would find a way to profit from them? It was a cynical look at the worst of the worst-case scenario.
But one that created compelling stories, complex characters, and some truly outrageous scenes and plot points. The shock and awe, combined with very fascinating themes and messages made The Boys one of the best TV shows overall, not just in the superhero genre. But with The Boys season 4 premiere, the outrageous parts of the story are beginning to mirror very much real-world incidents from current events.
The Boys Season 4 Premiere Review Is Spoiler-Free
The Boys season 4 premiere episodes pick up after the events of season 3. Butcher (Karl Urban) the former leader of The Boys is benched after his reckless use of temporary V in season 3, with MM (Laz Alonxo) now running the show. Unbeknownst to the team, the use of the drug has damaged Butcher significantly, giving him only a few months to live.
Losing his kind of son, but not really, Ryan to Homelander (Antony Starr) has left Butcher in a state, with seemingly nowhere else to turn. Hughie (Jack Quaid) and Annie (Erin Moriarty) are finally openly together after Annie renounces The Seven in season 3. Frenchie (Tomer Capone) and Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) have accepted their roles within the Boys, but season 4 introduces some new interesting story arcs for them as well.
Season 4 is pretty interesting, because, at least in the season 4 premiere episodes so far, the story seems to be following a more political throughline, but in a very intriguing new way. This makes sense as Victoria Neumann (Claudia Doumit), secretly a Supe masquerading as a liberal and up-and-coming politician, is now the VP candidate. While Homelander is gaining massive popularity from right-wing political fanatics. The Boys have returned to being a fringe group, secretly working with the government against Homelander and the massive conglomerate that backs him, Vought.
Season 4 Brings the Story To The Forefront
One of the cool things about season 4 of The Boys, is that the story is a lot more grander now. It’s about the Presidency, elections, threats to democracy, and the future of the country. It’s yet another digging down to the reality of having superheroes in the real world. How they impact the political movement of a country, influencing its policies and processes either through brute force, in the case of Homelander, or through careful manipulation, like Neumann.
The power of superheroes is an allegory for the power politicians wield in the real world. And at times, seemingly without any consequences. Just like Homelander’s actions from the finale of season 3. So it’s a lot easier for us to invest in this season’s story as it’s not just behind closed doors with the larger world unaware of the terribleness of heroes. But in many ways, the situation is worse.
The secrets are exposed. But the public’s reaction is not what The Boys would have hoped. Instead of condemnation, some are supporting the murderous actions of Homelander and other ‘heroes’ following in his footsteps. How The Boys fight back against misinformation, public opinion, and a powder keg of political complications, is what the larger story of season 4 is seemingly about.
The Smaller Story Behind The Big Stuff
The Boys season 4 is shaping up to be one of the best so far. Each episode of the three premiere episodes of season 4 ends with some jaw-dropping cliffhangers. Some story-wise, some just punctuating an already amazing point. Butcher’s journey is, of course, the most interesting.
With absolutely nothing to lose, will Butcher finally be on the same team as his Boys? Or will he continue down his path of self-destruction and scorched Earth approach? While Hughie is dealing with issues with his own family. Annie’s love-hate relationship with her Starlight alter ego is also a major point of contention; Starlight inspired a movement against the Supes, while Annie is having a difficult time gaining the same traction without the Starlight name.
It’s this unique blending of high-concept superhero shenanigans, shock and awe moments, and deep and meaningful stories of these characters that makes The Boys season 4 one to truly watch out for. I just hope it sticks the landing and the final result of the story doesn’t get too preachy. But given some of the more, gratuitous scenes in the premiere episodes already, I have a feeling that getting too serious is not a problem The Boys will ever have.
Grade: B+
The Boys
A group of vigilantes known informally as “The Boys” set out to take down corrupt superheroes with no more than blue-collar grit and a willingness to fight dirty.
