How much steam does this show have left? Apparently more than I thought.
After last season’s finale, which served as the resolution to its Soldier Boy arc, my interest in this show significantly declined. I still think Season 1 of “The Boys” is one of the best satires of the superhero genre I’ve seen. But then Amazon tried to make “The Boys” a franchise, with some success.
Still Season 3 left some interesting threads for Season 4 to follow up on, prime of which is the fate of Ryan (Cameron Crovetti), Homelander’s (Antony Starr) child who is the product of rape. Billy Butcher (Karl Urban), the former leader of The Boys and the husband of Ryan’s mother, knows that it is imperative to sway Ryan against his father so humanity has some chance.
Meanwhile, Homelander is vying for actual power as Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit), a Supe who can pop peoples’ heads, is about to be sworn in as the vice president to Robert Singer (Jim Beaver). Dissatisfied with the current lineup of The Seven, who don’t challenge his leadership even when he proposes terrible ideas, he recruits the smartest person in the world, Sister Sage (Susan Heyward), who in turn recruits a conspiracy theorist podcaster who has a party trick superpower named Firecracker (Valorie Curry).
Sister Sage is the most interesting new face of Season 4. She’s supposedly the smartest person in the world, but she’s still stunted as a person; she has an encyclopedic knowledge of the world, yet she lacks any real wisdom and is therefore, like Homelander, incapable of being happy.
Homelander’s ultimate goal is to destroy democracy so that he can swoop in and take the reigns of power. Sister Sage is helping him accomplish this goal by directing him to have the two polarized factions of the country — his followers and the more liberal “Starlighters” who follow Starlight (Erin Moriarty) — to tear each other apart.
We don’t know if Sister Sage is actually loyal to Homelander or if she plans to eventually dispose of him and seize power for herself. That’s a big part of what makes her interesting — she’s a wildcard.
Firecracker is much less intriguing. A former beauty pageant peer of Starlight turned far right activist, she seems to exist only so the show can poke fun at Trump supporters and online personalities like Alex Jones.
Butcher faces many conflicts this season, including being cast out of his own team by Mother’s Milk (Laz Alonso), who replaced him as team leader and understandably doesn’t want a loose canon on his team. The thing is, MM also doesn’t know what it takes to lead.
He also has to struggle with his own internal hatred for Supes and the great need to be a positive role model and foil to Homelander for Ryan. Several times, Butcher prevents himself from betraying Ryan and The Boys, showing growth.
Hughie (Jack Quaid), our lead, has the least to do and has seemingly been relegated to a background character. His father is in critical condition in the hospital this season, which led to the sudden reappearance of his mother, who abandoned him when he was young. It’s not a terrible storyline, but it feels like the show doesn’t know what to do with Hughie, as the far more interesting arcs have been given to other characters this season.
“The Boys” is off to another diabolical start. It’s possible that Homelander finally gets his due this season, but it’s also possible that the show delays his comeuppance. If anything, this season further cements that he is irredeemable, caring for no one but himself.
This year, I will again opt to forego weekly written reviews because the show isn’t written to be viewed that way. But I might cover this season from time to time on InReview’s TikTok account.
Until then, my next “Boys” review will come after the season finale.
“The Boys” Season 4: Episodes 1-3 gets a 7/10
InReview: Reviews, Commentary and More 
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