The Boys Season 4: Amazon original
When it comes to pulling no punches with its deliriously depraved satire of American superhero fanaticism and celebrity worship, Amazon’s The Boys has proven to be in a demented class by itself. As the shockingly ultraviolent and darkly comedic series returns for its fourth explosive season, the creatives behind the comic adaptation have thrown down the gauntlet – prepare for the most unrestrained and audacious insanity yet.
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With the world of The Boys teetering perilously close to outright authoritarian rule under the iron grip of the psychopathic, laser-eyed Supe Homelander, the vigilante group The Boys faces its greatest challenge in trying to derail his ascension. Meanwhile, the nefarious corporation Vought continues its campaign of covering up crimes and manufacturing adulation for its twisted stable of superpowered celebrities.
As the societal satire ratchets up brilliantly and profanely, The Boys supplements its broader commentary with deeply personal character drama among its flawed band of anarchic heroes. Let’s delve into what’s been showcased about Season 4 and where the story could go.
Season 3 Rewind
To appreciate the precipice that Season 4 picks up from, we have to look at the explosive events of Season 3’s climax:
- Butcher, Hughie, and their vigilante crew finally won by taking down the seemingly unstoppable 1980s Supe Soldier Boy. However, it came at a considerable cost, as Butcher is now slowly dying after taking a permanent compound of Temp V24 to gain temporary powers.
- Homelander fully embraced his psychopathic menace to the world, issuing a chilling public threat about reigning over all of humanity.
- Homelander’s disciple Victoria Neuman was shockingly revealed as the possessed head-exploder, setting her on a path to potentially become the next Vice President under a Homelander-controlled administration.
- After helping defeat Soldier Boy, Queen Maeve fled the country, fearing retaliation from Homelander.
- Annie January (Starlight) unlocked a major new power-up of her own, gaining the ability to fly and shoot powerful light beams.
- Kimiko was temporarily de-powered from Soldier Boy’s blast but re-took Compound V to regain her abilities.
- Butcher lost custody of his wife’s superpowered son Ryan after the boy rejected his psychopathic biological father, Homelander.
With insidious forces aligning and all-out chaos on the horizon, The Boys of Season 4 have their work cut out as they regroup after their bittersweet Soldier Boy victory.
Season 4 Episode 1: “Department of Dirty Tricks”
The season premiere “Department of Dirty Tricks” picks up in the immediate aftermath of Homelander’s menacing speech, with the unhinged Supe being put on trial amidst threats of violence from his fanatical supporters if he is not fully exonerated.
Given Homelander’s high-profile embrace of his sociopathic persona and the title’s implication of underhanded machinations in the legal proceedings, it seems highly unlikely that any court of law will be able to contain or deter the authoritarian Supe’s agenda.
With Vought’s resources and propaganda engines fully aligned behind Homelander, it’s almost a given that the “dirty tricks” will keep him in the clear, whatever the cost, as he continues consolidating his power.
Season 4 Episode 2: “Life Among the Septics”
While the premiere establishes the escalating Supe war, the second episode, “Life Among the Septics,” will take the series’ metatextual satire to bizarre new heights. The ominous title and description of revealing “what they don’t want you to know” suggest a glimpse into the deranged psyche and alternate reality that fuels Homelander’s authoritarian movement.
Satirizing everything from unhinged basement conspiracy theorists to delusional underpants protests and flagrant disinformation around the truth, this episode could provide some of The Boys’ most irreverent social commentary yet. Peeling back the layers of the Homelander cult, psychology appears to be the driving force.
Season 4 Episode 3: “We’ll Keep the Red Flag Flying Here”
When you think The Boys can’t get any more shockingly unorthodox in its outrageous parodies, the third episode, “We’ll Keep the Red Flag Flying Here,” goes in a completely unforeseen direction – an ostensibly tame Christmas ice show produced by Vought called “Vought on Ice.”
According to the episode description, this live event will retell “the story of Christmas the way it was meant to be told…on ice!” Of course, knowing The Boys’ penchant for subversive humor and willingness to shred all boundaries of good taste, this innocuous premise could be a depraved parody taking aim at the holiday itself.
Is this just a shocking left turn into a raunchy comedy for its own sake? Or might it serve as ingenious commentary on Christmas’s corporate commodification and profit-driven dilution? Or could “Vought on Ice” take things in an even more sinisterly blasphemous direction? Only by watching the full deranged glory of the episode can we know for sure.
The Morally Compromised Vigilantes
While the escalating tensions around Homelander’s ambitions and Vought’s coverups provide the high-stakes driving force, The Boys has always derived just as much dramatic heft from the complicated personal dynamics and flawed moralities of its ragtag vigilante protagonists.
Billy Butcher remains the self-professed leader hellbent on waging an anarchic war against Supes at all costs. However, his increasingly unhinged tactics and blind vengeance have alienated allies, most notably Hughie Campbell. After joining Butcher to avenge his girlfriend’s death, Hughie also descended into a power-hungry dark side when gaining temporary abilities, only being pulled back from the brink by his love for Annie January (Starlight).
Butcher’s reckless decision to take Compound V has put him on a path to death within a year. This raises the question—will the dying antihero’s efforts be constructive in defeating Homelander and Vought, or will his single-minded drive for vengeance only create more catastrophic collateral damage? His strained relationship with Hughie remains a pivotal factor.
Mother’s Milk has been put in tenuous leadership of The Boys after Butcher’s constant lies and deceptions. The former military man remains fueled by hatred of Supes after his family’s traumatic encounter with Soldier Boy decades ago. But MM must wrestle with being a stable parental figure for his daughter while also indulging his brutally violent vigilante obsession.
Meanwhile, the re-powered Kimiko remains bonded with her partner Frenchie in their missions. But Frenchie’s shady past as a mobster assassin could make him a liability as the stakes ratchet higher.
With the threats of totalitarian Supe rule, depraved corporate corruption, and sideline distractions like the unhinged Christmas ice show, The Boys of Season 4 face arguably their greatest challenge. Their tragic origin stories and morally hazed motivations give human grounding to the otherwise outrageous concept.
As vital and brilliantly biting as the show’s broader sociopolitical commentary has been, this group of complicated personalities making indefensible choices and reckoning with their tortured values solidifies The Boys as more than just another subversive shock vehicle; the stakes are outrageously high; the personalities compellingly muddy, and the forewarnings all too relevant for today’s climate.
Get ready to embrace the sordid satire at its most deliriously depraved when The Boys premiers Season 4 on June 13th, exclusively on Amazon Prime Video. If you thought previous seasons pushed the envelope too far, you haven’t seen anything yet.