It’s often expected that the longer a story goes on, the grander it has to get. As characters and narratives pile upon each other, competing for focus, the scale of the plot itself must expand to accommodate. Superhero stories have especially experienced this kind of narrative scale creep as writers are expected to follow up universe-spanning events with something equally exciting and dramatic. While Prime Video’s The Boys, based on the comic series of the same name by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, has obviously broadened its world over previous seasons, Season 4 is an exercise in precision and focus that recenters what the show is really about. This is an impressive feat that’s pulled off even as the series starts to expand into spin-offs like Gen V.
Following on from the explosive climax of The Boys Season 3, this new season sees a world radically changed. With the twisted Homelander (Antony Starr) making his supremacist views public as he tries to raise his son Ryan (Cameron Cravetti), boys’ leader Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) dealing with his fast-accelerating Temp V-related cancer diagnosis, and the rest of the team attempting to fight evil in public and in private as the corrupt Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit) gets closer to the oval office under Homelander’s influence, The Boys Season 4 is balancing a lot of plots. However, all of these narrative threads are cleverly brought together in really compelling ways that make for a season that feels well-balanced and exciting.
The Boys Season 4 especially excels when it veers towards the episodic storytelling that showrunner Eric Kripke (Supernatural) cut his teeth on. These new episodes often have more clearly defined internal goals and unique locations that, while obviously contributing to the broader story in some way, allow the show to experiment in a way that feels productive for its future as well. Even though it’s now confirmed that The Boys Season 5 will be the last for this Prime Video original series, more seasons of Gen V and new spin-offs (like The Boys: Mexico) are currently being teased by Amazon. Taking this all into consideration, The Boys Season 4 offers fans a first glimpse at what this growing universe might look like with its fresh episodic storytelling.
One particular episode in this latest season of The Boys centered largely around Hughie Campbell (Jack Quaid), is a really impressive piece of storytelling for the emotional range it covers. On top of this, it also informs Hughie’s motivations for the rest of the season. Additionally, introductions like the supes Sister Sage (Susan Heyward) and Firecracker (Valorie Curry) as new members of The Seven, returning faces like Cate Dunlap (Maddie Phillips) and Sam Riordan (Asa Germann) from Gen V, as well as the mysterious Agent Kessler (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), all suggest a show that could have years left in the tank (if not for it ending with Season 5, of course).
Similarly, this new season of The Boys takes advantage of its now committed audience by taking its colorful ensemble in unexpected directions. As always, allegiances are shifting and motivations are masked, but some of this season’s most rewarding material comes in the form of a longstanding character stepping back and reflecting on where he belongs in this conflict. It’s the kind of thing that feels like a given in a series that makes it to this length, but after the previous season had concluded in such a big moment that it felt like the show was made to end there, it is really encouraging to see the writers step back into smaller scale character machinations. Moreover, fan-favorite players like Mother’s Milk (Laz Alonso), Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara), and Frenchie (Tomer Capone) really benefit from these priorities.
The Boys has always been topical, yet this season feels the most explicit in how it invokes its political inspirations. Homelander morphs into a direct Donald Trump pastiche. New Vought recruit Firecracker quotes QAnon slogans practically word-for-word. After 8 years of Trump analogs, all of this runs the risk of feeling rote, but the final stretch of the season marries that thematic material with the narrative in a way that makes its intentions much clearer and sets up a future story that cannot just live on quoting the news. The Boys finds a more potent use for its celebrity-focused satire here as well. For example, the public condemnation of Annie January, aka Starlight (Erin Moriarty), seemingly invokes the online abuse faced by Amber Heard following the infamous Johnny Depp trial. Although this subplot isn’t a priority this season, it does complement the general shift in this world toward unashamed evil.
Where the third season felt like it was narrowing the scope of the show towards a specific point, The Boys Season 4 very smartly opens it back up. Characters are given room to breathe and reflect, leading to unexpected conclusions that introduce new wrinkles into the texture of the series. This kind of character work only promises to make things even more shocking and further raise the stakes in the final season to come. The Boys Season 4 is as strong as the show has ever been, but it also reflects a maturation that separates it from the intransient emptiness of much of the streaming landscape. This is a TV show that operates exactly as it should in the medium of television, and it is all the stronger for it.
The Boys Season 4 premieres June 13 on Prime Video!
Premiere Date: June 13, 2024.
Developed by Eric Kripke.
Showrunner: Eric Kripke.
Based on The Boys by Garth Ennis & Darick Robertson.
Executive Producers: Eric Kripke, Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, James Weaver, Neal H. Moritz, Pavun Shetty, Phil Sgriccia, Michaela Starr, Paul Grellong, David Reed, Meredith Glynn, Judalina Neira, Ken F. Levin, & Jason Netter.
Main Cast: Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Antony Starr, Erin Moriarty, Jessie T. Usher, Laz Alonso, Tomer Capone, Chace Crawford, Karen Fukuhara, Nathan Mitchell, Colby Minifie, Claudia Doumit, Cameron Crovetti, Laila Robins, Susan Heyward, Valorie Curry, Simon Pegg, Rosemarie Dewitt, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Elliot Knight, Rob Benedict, Rob Benedict, Reid Miller, Dan Mousseau, Maddie Phillips, Asa Germann.
Composers: Christopher Lennertz & Matt Bowen.
Production Companies: Kripke Enterprises, Point Grey Pictures, Original Film, Kickstart Entertainment, KFL Nightsky Productions, Amazon MGM Studios, & Sony Pictures Television.
Episode Count: 8 (Season 4).
