Ronit J

The Boys Season 5 Synopsis:

Billy the Butcher and The Boys try to get their hands on V1, hoping to create a virus that can kill Homelander. Meanwhile, Homelander declares himself as God, looking for the same V1 so he can gain immortality. Will Vought and the evil Supes win, or will The Boys manage to save the world.

The Boys Season 5 Review:

I binged on Seasons 1 & 2 of The Boys when I was going through a difficult time. The show was brilliantly dark and relevant, and it was superbly entertaining. Season 3 was a small step down, but still very fun. Season 4, however, was a drag. I even watched Gen V, which I loved the first season for, but had some issues with Gen V Season 2. With that in mind, I was equally excited and skeptical about this final season. Would the show give us something that is comparable in quality to the first two seasons, or would it be the second-screen friendly drivel we’ve come to accept from streaming platforms?

Season 4 ended with The Boys arrested by Vought. Annie / Starlight (Erin Moriarty) escapes and is a fugitive (as seen in Gen V). Meanwhile, Billy The Butcher (Karl Urban) gets his hands on the Supe virus and forces Dr Sameer Shah (Omid Abtahi) to make more of it. Homelander (Anthony Starr) has consolidated his absolute rule at Vought with the help of Sister Sage (Susan Heyward). Also, they expose Ashley (Colby Minifie) to Compound V, turning her into a Supe.

Season 5 picks up about a year after Season 4, with Hughie (Jack Quaid), Mother’s Milk (Laz Alonso) & Frenchie (Tomer Capone) in a Vought concentration camp. Kimiko (Karen Fukahara) has regained her speech. Homelander, on the other hand, has discovered Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles) and is on his path to seize absolute control over America, and eventually the world.

Brutal & Relevant

One thing that The Boys has consistently managed is present relevant political and cultural phenomena with brutal honesty. Season 5 builds on the fake news train with Firecracker (Valorie Curry), fuelling vitriolic narratives that divide America into Vought supporters (right) and Starlighters (left). However, I will admit that it felt a tad old this time around. Admittedly, it was interesting to see Firecracker’s wavering belief in Homelander. Also, the hyper-Christian Oh Father (Daveed Diggs) who essentially further divides America by basically declaring Homelander as a god, felt somewhat of a nod to the ridiculous AI-generated images that Trump has been sharing.

However, the commentary doesn’t feel as fresh and deep as it felt edgy. Like the concentration camp sequence: it felt more edgy than actual commentary. But there were great moments as well, like Firecracker being forced to condemn her town’s pastor as a Starlighter, or Starlight meeting her biological father. The relevancy of the show remains, but it does feel a tad diminished. Note: I did watch this show in India, and India’s Amazon Prime Video censored things so if I missed out on anything… blame whoever greenlit this idiocy.

Now for the brutality. Gratuitous violence has always played a vital role in The Boys. From the old Supe massacre, to the celebrities like Seth Rogen (executive producer of the show), Kumail Nanjiani, and more getting slaughtered by Soldier Boy, there were some very darkly funny bloodbaths. However, even these felt a tad dull, missing a certain depth that the first two seasons possessed.

Overall, the show delivered appropriately on everything we expect of this show. But, the final season had its share of problems.

Streaming Platform Drivel

Ironically, a show that criticised the evils of capitalism has delved into exactly the kind of drivel that it makes fun of. Where the first two seasons felt fresh and powerful, seasons 4 & 5 have felt like cheap fan-service. Season 5 kept introducing new characters and conflicts every episode, and overall felt very directionless for the most part. Even after I watched the penultimate episode (the one where Frenchie dies), the looming sense of the ending did not make itself apparent. Also, Frenchie’s death was so underwhelming. So was Firecracker’s and Black Noir II’s. The Deep stopped being interesting or relevant after season 2, and a lot of the long-running gimmicks just felt unnecessary.

Season 5 doesn’t feel like the end is anywhere near. In fact, I feel like the marketing for this season really worked against the relatively-sober final season we got. There was no epic showdown. We didn’t get any world-ending threats. At least none of the threats felt world-ending enough. Which is sad, because with a God-level Homelander, there were so many possibilities. Yet, the final showdown we got ended up being mostly a dull and straightforward fight.

While the individual parts are shocking and interesting, the overall pacing and writing just don’t work anymore. There were many awesome moments in the final season, yet it just feels very poorly written. Almost as if AI suggested what the beats should be, but no human bothered to actually develop it into a coherent, engaging narrative. Maybe it’s the over-reliance on shock and edgy jokes. Or maybe the writers’ failure to understand what audiences actually liked from Season 1 & 2, Maybe it’s simply that the ‘franchise’ has become too bloated to feel worthwhile. Either way, I’m glad that it’s over.

The Boys Season 5 Ending Explained

After Frenchie’s funeral, Sage provokes Kimiko to test her new power. Kimiko blasts her, draining her powers. Without her powers, Sage is now just an average person who leaves to live an ordinary life.

Homelander addresses the nation, demanding worship. At the same time, The Boys infiltrate the White House, where Ashley helps them escape the tunnels. Starlight fights The Deep, throwing him into the ocean where marine animals kill him for his involvement in the oil spill. Hughie and M.M. kill Oh Father. Homelander loses his mind when he reads the word ‘Father’ on the teleprompter. He then rambles threateningly until Butcher breaks into the room to fight. Ryan—who saw everything on TV—joins the fight, helping Butcher pin Homelander down. Kimiko fires all three of them with her beam, depowering them all. Homelander begs for mercy, but Butcher kills him anyway.

Ashley is impeached from her presidency, and Edgar retakes control of Vought. Ryan parts ways with Butcher. Butcher—after realising that his dog, Terror, died—plans to release the virus in Vought Tower. Hughier reluctantly kills him to stop him. The Boys finally disband.

Mother’s Milk reconnects with his family, taking in Ryan. Kimiko travels to France. The new president offers Hughie the head position of the Supe Affairs. Hughie declines, because he and Annie are pregnant. The last shot shows a pregnant Annie flying off to do superhero work.

On paper, very fitting. But the journey was so underwhelming and tedious that it robs us of a more cathartic conclusion.

Is The Boys Season 5 Worth Watching?

Not really. Unlike the first two seasons, Seasons 3-5 have had their issues, with 4 & 5 being particularly dull and boring. Season 5 also ended up spending way too much time on things that were more shock and less substance. The overall season could’ve been just 4 episodes long, if the writing were tighter and actually focused on the characters instead of being edgy.

Honestly, the ending is fitting in many ways, but the journey to the end is quite tedious.

Will there be a The Boys Season 6?

No. This was the final season and wraps up all the main storylines we had come to expect. There are, however, two shows in development. The first is a prequel titled ‘Vought Rising’, which follows Soldier Boy & Stormfront during the early days of Vought. The second is The Boys: Mexico. Also, we might get a third season of Gen V.

However, this is one franchise that should just call it quits before it ends up a bloated bag of underwhelming titles like the MCU.

In Conclusion:

The Boys Season 5 is a dull drag with bursts of awesome that is a fitting ending to a fantastically dark and relevant show.

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• The Punisher: One Last Kill (2026) | Film Review
• The Wolf of Snow Hollow (2020) | Film Review
• Project Hail Mary (2026) | Film Review
• Island of the Dying Goddess

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