“The Boys” aptly named season finale, Assassination Run, kicks off (in universe) on January 6 – because of course, it does. Honestly this season is hitting almost TOO close to reality right now, as the real world gets more and more terrifying. And yet I still find it validating to know someone else is seeing the chaos going on and reflecting it back to me.
SPOILER ALERT
So, here’s all the twists and turns and surprises the season ended with – SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THE BOYS SEASON 4 FINALE!
Directed by none other than Eric Kripke himself.
The story lines all converge in the finale, as they should. It’s January 6 and the news about A Train comes out (and the cancellation of that fabulous film Training A Train alas…) Vought puts out a PSA with supes saying they take responsibility… which is exactly what they don’t. Congress counts the electoral votes as Frenchie works with increasing desperation on extracting the virus.
Torn Between Two Identities
The shapeshifter pretending to be Annie surprised Hughie by asking him to marry her, and he surprises her back by running to get his own ring and asking the same, and….yep, back in bed.
Hughie: Wow, that was great… two fingers was a lot…
Next season I hope Hughie gets to really open up about all the assault he’s endured this season.
The show has been able to say some nuanced things about female sexual assault in its four years, and it’s certainly had plenty to say about the trauma every single male and female character have endured, but Hughie’s sexual assault is an opportunity to say/show more about something not often talked about enough.
In between sleeping with Hughie, the shifter goes back to real Annie to recharge, confiding her own rather sad story. Sure, she’s a sociopath, but what did anyone expect? She’s the ultimate example of the identity crisis every single character is having this season, literally not knowing who she is.
Shifter Annie: I barely remember what I look like. One minute I was me and the next I was Miss Jamison, my preschool teacher, and I could see every memory she had. She felt justified in doing all those shitty things…you all do. You all think you’re the hero of your own story.
Another major theme of “The Boys.” Erin Moriarty did an amazing job with this story line – it has be, always, so difficult to play two versions of yourself!
While Shifter Annie is gone, Hughie calls Butcher, who tells him a story about a steakhouse in Nevada where he was gonna go with Lenny. The kind of memory you bring up when you know you’re running out of time.
Butcher: Funny what you think about when your time’s up.
He asks Hughie to go there, and to tell the Boys he’s sorry. Tears in his eyes, he hangs up.
Hughie and not-Annie and MM take Robert Singer to a secret bunker where they hope to be able to defend him and that they hope the shifter won’t get in. Oops, too late…
Singer: If you’d killed Neuman like I’d ordered, we wouldn’t be stuck underground playing pocket pool… ya idjit.
Every “Supernatural” fan everywhere: YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS HE SAID IDJIT!!!
To make it even clearer, he adds: Balls!
Real Annie shows up in time to defeat Shifter Annie and gets to be pretty damn heroic doing it.
Annie: You’re right, I don’t know if I’m a hero, I don’t know who the fuck I am, but I do know I’m the bitch that beat your ass!
She confronts Hughie about sleeping with the shifter too, asking how many times.
Hughie: Had to be less than twenty…
(The important thing here is that it was not in any way Hughie’s fault. He was manipulated and assaulted, and while of course Annie would be upset, it’s never anyone’s fault that they’ve been assaulted.)
Torn Between Two Dads – Still
Ryan is still having his own identity crisis, bounced back and forth between Homelander and Butcher like a child of the world’s most contentious divorce. Homelander is increasingly unable to sustain the ‘good dad’ role, having his own crisis as he keeps yanking out gray hairs (from…uhhh…everywhere…) and storing them in a jar. When he finds the framed photo of Butcher and Becca that Ryan kept, he goes ballistic, tearing the room apart and ordering Ryan to “come here”.
Homelander: Come here. That’s an order.
He throws the photo and it breaks.
Homelander: I’m your father, not him. Always will be. Come. Here. Now.
But Ryan’s scared and runs away.
Ryan answers Butcher’s text and comes to visit him instead, still in a hospital bed. Mallory is there too, and they have a reunion hug while Kessler scowls, reminding Butcher that the kid can’t escape his own blood. They try to talk Ryan into going with her, but he’s not sure he wants to leave Homelander’s, admitting that he kinda likes it there – at least parts of it.
Kessler: See? You gotta stab him with the virus and you gotta do it today.
It’s chilling knowing that’s what part of Butcher is thinking.
Butcher insists he’s just trying to keep Ryan safe like he promised Becca. They play a game of Connect 4, a peaceful interlude before all hell breaks loose.
Running out of time, Mallory decides Ryan needs to know the truth and tells him that the assassination attempt was on his father’s orders. What happened with Flight 37 was too, she tells him, and says that he’s murdered countless more. And that he wasn’t having an affair with Ryan’s mom – he raped her.
That is… a lot. Ryan is, after all, still a kid. Mallory dumped an awful lot on him.
They tell him that he’s the only one who can stop Homelander, that they’ll train him, get him ready.
Ryan: So you can teach me how to kill my dad? Kill him? No, I can’t!
He goes to leave and Mallory says he can’t, it’s a safe house designed to hold “people like you.”
That is really not the right thing to say; it’s exactly what Homelander has been warning Ryan about.
Ryan: You planned this, you brought me here to trap me! Locking me in a cage unless I agree to be your weapon, just like they did to my dad!
Mallory pleads with him, says when she lost her grandkids it left a black hole inside her, but then he came along. Says I love you, kiddo. Please.
Ryan insists he wants to leave, says get out of my way. But Mallory goes to push the red button to lock him down, and Ryan throws her back against the wall – killing her.
Ooof.
He walks out. Butcher goes to Mallory, leaning over her, as Kessler nods at him. You get the feeling Billy Butcher just got a right good shove down that slippery slope, and this is not going to end well.
All Hell Breaks Loose
Wrong show season finale, I know. But it does.
Homelander takes things to the next level, outing Neuman as a supe on live TV against her will.
Now that the cat’s out of the bag and he’s back in control, he orders Ashley to make a list of anyone in the company who has information on him, paranoid person/supe that he is.
Ashley’s Assistant Ashley: That doesn’t sound good, Ashley.
Ashley: No shit, Ashley.
Robert Singer gives a statement about being as shocked as everyone else by the profound betrayal of trust and calls for a “free and fair election”. Protests break out all over as the election is certified despite the revelation. Viewers everywhere cringe at the real-life parallels – at least I did!
Hughie goes to pull up all the dirt they’ve got on Neuman – only to find there’s nothing there. Not the originals, not the backups, it’s all gone thanks to shifter Annie. (Which probably makes poor Hughie feel even more guilty unfortunately).
Homelander gives a pep talk to the supes, saying Robert Singer will be dead (me: nooooooooo, not Jim Beaver!), there will be riots and bloodshed, and then someone will have to sweep in and restore order. Surround the White House, the Capital, the Pentagon…
Does this sound familiar?
The Deep and Black Noir make the rounds removing (permanently) the supes on that list. (The writers get in a jab as one begs for mercy and offers to pay them off, The Deep replying ‘you’re a writer, you don’t get paid shit’).
Ashley overhears that her name is on the list and runs, grabbing a vial of V and a needle. She injects herself, sobbing, then doubling over in agony as her wig falls off. Noir kills the wrong Ashley and has a new reaction.
Noir: Murder boner!
Homelander makes the mistake of threatening Neuman by saying he’ll send her a piece of her daughter every year for the rest of her life, and Neuman calls Hughie and says he was right, asking for his help. Hughie asks the Boys to trust Neuman.
Hughie: Look, we’ve all done bad shit, maybe she’s just trying to do right by her kid. What’s insane is that our solution to everything is murder! I used to freak out when I saw blood, now I barely blink at it…Violence isn’t brave… Forgiving, letting go, fucking mercy, that’s brave. It’s the last thing my dad ever taught me and I think if we’re ever gonna win against monsters we need to start acting human.
That is a Kripke sentiment if I ever heard one. Also, a pointed jab at everything about toxic masculinity.
MM agrees, and so does Annie. Kimiko and Frenchie are on board too, saying it’s easier to forgive Neuman than themselves, but they’ll try a little every day.
There’s a major development with Kimiko and Frenchi (Kimchie?)
Kimiko admits she urged Frenchie to be with Colin because she thought he deserved someone better than her.
Frenchie: Mon Coeur, there is no one better than you.
They kiss, and while I actually wanted them to stay platonic soulmates because I love that whole idea and it doesn’t get seen in media nearly enough, they also really deserved that hard won mutual understanding.
So, the Boys meet with Neuman and Zoe and she promises she’ll help them take down Vought and Homelander. And then Butcher walks in and says no deal. Hughie, always his conscience, pleads with Butcher to trust him, like he used to trust Lenny. Butcher puts a hand on his shoulder so we think maybe he will – and then tosses him out of the way.
Tentacles burst from Butcher’s chest – he’s given in completely to what Compound V has done to him it seems, and to his shadow side aka Kessler. He grabs Neuman, lifting her into the air and then tearing her in two – just like Homelander did to the hapless Web Weaver in the last episode.
Butcher: If I were you lot, I wouldn’t hang about. Oh, btw, you’re fucking welcome.
Neuman was one of my favorite characters, so I wasn’t actually feeling all that grateful, I admit.
Homelander hears the news, sitting in the middle of his destroyed home, tears in his eyes, seemingly the Loser here.
But that would be too easy, wouldn’t it? We have a whole other season of this show, after all.
Sister Sage appears and says they need to celebrate, that this was the plan all along. She recorded Bob Singer saying he’d ordered Neuman killed, so poor Singer’s presidency is very short lived. And who’s next in line? The skeavy Speaker of the House, who’s on the phone wanting to pledge his allegiance to Homelander.
Sister Sage: Hells yeah, Blonde Ambition, buckle up for phase two!
As We Head Toward the Final Season…
President Calhoun declares martial law and deputizes hundreds of superheroes nationwide who will report to Homelander. Neuman is considered martyred by Starlighters. Homelander pulls himself together, announces that a Superarmy is coming for the traitors, and a new age of Superheroes has begun.
Once again, things veer way too close to possible reality.
The Boys disband, picking up passports. Zoe arrives at Red River.
But nothing is that easy.
MM is confronted by Love Sausage in the bathroom and taken away. Hughie and Annie’s car is crashed and Hughie is dragged out of the car and taken away, a frightening familiar face returning.
Kimiko and Frenchie are intercepted by Gen V’s Guardians of Godolkin; Cate whispers to Frenchie and he walks away as they hold Kimiko back.
In anguish, Kimiko finally finds her voice, yelling NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
Butcher drives, listening to the radio, as Firecracker insists they’ll “make American strong again”, the vial of virus with him. He makes eye contact with Kessler in the back seat as they drive down the road, and we all get the feeling that Kessler is the part of Butcher who’s sticking around after all.
Oy.
* * *
And then there’s one more short scene – one that made me stand up and literally squeal – even though I was entirely expecting it.
Homelander walks into a room, approaches a familiar cylindrical tube.
Homelander to the tech ushering him into the room: How long have you known?
He looks down through the glass – at Soldier Boy, unconscious. There are tears in his eyes.
Homelander: You gotta be fucking kidding me. This whole time…
Now THAT is the way to kick off “The Boys” Season 5, let me just say! Antony Starr once again is absolutely masterful in showing us every single conflicting emotion that Homelander has, and making us believe every one.
(He said in a recent interview that he wanted to portray Homelander’s confusion and his conflicting feelings – and that neither he nor us nor Antony himself have any idea where that relationship goes from here. But I can’t wait to find out!)
Having Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles) back is awesome. With probably his long-time “Supernatural” costar and good friend Jared Padalecki on the final season too? Even more awesome. I could not be more excited for the final season – don’t make us wait too long, Kripke!!!!
In the meantime, check out the new book ‘Supes Ain’t Always Heroes: Inside the Complex Characters and Twisted Psychology of The Boys’. There are some deep dives into what makes Soldier Boy tick, including from Jensen Ackles – plus the chapters explore all the other characters too, with insights from the actors and sociologists, psychologists and media experts!