After waiting two long years for its return, Eric Kripke’s (Supernatural) superhero satire The Boys is finally back with its fourth season. And while Gen V isn’t considered essential viewing in order to follow what’s going on in Season 4, I still highly recommend you watch its 8-episode inaugural season.
Spoilers ahead for Seasons 1–3 of The Boys and the Gen V finale.
Season 3 of The Boys saw an already psychopathic Homelander (Antony Starr) become even more unhinged. From Vought CEO Stan Edgar (Giancarlo Esposito) making Starlight (Erin Moriarty) co-captain of the Seven to his nearly dead Nazi girlfriend Stormfront (Aya Cash) unaliving herself on his birthday to the shocking discovery that Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles) is his biological father (and still alive), Homey was going through it.
However, the untouchable supe ended the season with his son Ryan (Cameron Crovetti) by his side and lasering a Starlight sympathizer in broad daylight, for which his zealot supporters promptly applauded him. Homelander is still held back by his longing for family and unconditional love from the public. But having Ryan around isn’t exactly what he had in mind because he’s too frustratingly human.
Homelander’s nemesis, Billy Butcher (Karl Urban), wasn’t having a good time either. His repeated use of Temp V24 left him with a brain tumor and only months to live. Butcher’s storyline picks up after he was last seen in a Gen V mid-credits cameo looking around Godolkin University’s underground lab The Woods. Jeffrey Dean Morgan joins the cast as one of Butcher’s old colleagues.
Tipped off by Grace Mallory (Laila Robins), Butcher also knows about the supe-killing virus left in the hands of secret supe Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit). The Congresswoman is back rocking killer pantsuits as she runs for Vice President with President-Elect Robert “Dakota Bob” Singer (Jim Beaver).
The Boys is as topical as ever with the presidential election and Homelander’s trial. Last season saw Starlighters rise up against the enraged Hometeamers. While last season was all about fatherhood and varying levels of bad dads, Season 4 sees the characters forced to confront their dark pasts, facing even more moral dilemmas.
Though he enjoyed his foray into supe-hood, Hughie Campbell (Jack Quaid) closed out Season 3 not using V24 but instead supporting his girlfriend as she discovers the extent of her powers. This season we also finally meet his long-absent mother, played by Rosemarie DeWitt, with his father Hugh Sr. (Simon Pegg) making a brief return. No longer in the Seven or going by her hero moniker Starlight, a costume-less Annie January is one of the Boys, now led by MM (Laz Alonso), who is once again out of retirement. Frenchie (Tomer Capone) and Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) continue to be my favorite duo.
A-Train (Jessie T. Usher) had a rough Season 3 full of corporate insincerity towards Black Lives Matter. He’s estranged from his brother/former coach, who understandably resents him for bringing the racist cop Blue Hawk (Nick Wechsler) to the neighborhood, which ended with several Black residents injured.
Amid a messy divorce from Cassandra (Katy Breier), the Deep (Chace Crawford) doesn’t have much going on in the first couple of episodes. However, his role increases as the season goes on. And even though he was fatally punched through the chest by Homelander last season, Black Noir (Nathan Mitchell) is somehow back. I’ll leave it at that.
The Seven gets two new members with very different power sets. Sage (Susan Heyward), aka Sister Sage, is the smartest person in the world and earns something most people never get — Homelander’s respect. He’s a cold-blooded killer but intelligence isn’t his strong suit and he’s surrounded by people too afraid to challenge him, so he recruits Sage as an advisor of sorts, someone to strategically help him enact his master plan for the Seven to go from “beloved celebrities” to “wrathful gods.”
Initially, Sage is a somewhat frustrating character with unclear motivations, which is to be expected from a genius no one listens to. Kripke explained to EW, “It’s both commentary and satirical that you have literally the smartest person in the world that could cure all of society’s ills, but she just can’t get anyone to listen to her. So then she becomes a bitter misanthrope.”
It’s amusing to see him listen to a brilliant Black woman over anyone else at Vought, including his teammates and himself. Another addition is Firecracker (Valorie Curry), an alt-right, pistol-packing podcaster who quickly declares war on Starlighters and easily gets her fellow conspiracy-minded followers to do the same.
Gen V ended with a Godolkin University massacre started by Cate Dunlap (Maddie Phillips) and the poor supes she rescued from the Woods. Homelander arrives and instead of praising Marie Moreau (Jaz Sinclair), he scolds her for “killing her own kind.” As far as the Vought-run media is concerned, Cate and Sam Riordan (Asa Germann) are the Guardians of Godolkin. They make a brief appearance this season, though I would’ve loved to see more of them.
Fans of The Boys will not be disappointed with its fourth go-around. We get more over-the-top violence, dark humor, and utter chaos, with some heartfelt and emotional scenes in between. Season four’s epic finale is the best ending to the series so far, a cliffhanger that perfectly sets up the already confirmed fifth season.
The first three episodes of The Boys hit Prime Video on June 13, 2024, followed by weekly episodes.
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