Scorched earth, shock and awe, blood and groan.
Yes, there's been a lot of backlash aimed at this final season of The Boys. Was it justified? One could argue that there has certainly been a dip in overall quality (I'd say since season 3, personally), but it does feel like some of the persistent complaints have more to do with viewers becoming somewhat jaded with a show that - for better or worse - has stuck to its mandate from day one.
Like the divisive comic series from Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, Prime Video's adaptation has always gone out of its way to be as offensive as it could get away with, delivering more violent, bloody carnage and outright debauchery than you could shake a crowbar at. As the show progressed, it began to get even less subtle (no easy task) in its satire, and focus more on skewering corporate greed and the American far right (just in case it wasn't obvious, showrunner Eric Kripke has never been shy about naming his targets), which, as you might imagine, did not sit very well with a lot of people.
You can call out The Boys' constant lambasting of the right all you want, but at the end of the day, if you're genuinely offended... that's kinda the point?
Others feel that the writing has suffered as a result of Kripke's constant need to default to crass humour and shock value, which is difficult to argue with. Season 5 also included way too much set-up for the Vought Rising spin-off (though he was never less than entertaining, Soldier Boy was basically brought back to... hand Homelander the V-One and then go back into deep-freeze).
Over the course of its five-season run, The Boys has often seemed like it was treading over old ground, resetting the clock, to some extent, with each season premiere in order to delay the inevitable final confrontation. Not exactly an unforgivable sin - as long as the story remains compelling and we continue to care about the protagonists.
In this respect, the final season - and series finale, in particular - was a success. Sure, some of the jokes fell flat (did we really need that stuff about Frenchie seeing his teammates' assholes during what should have been a sombre funeral scene?) and we really could have used a couple more action sequences over the course of the 8 episodes, but when it comes to doing right by its main characters, "Blood and Bone" delivered.
Spoilers from this point on.
The feud between Homelander and Billy Butcher has always been the backbone of this series, and crucially, the finale did not disappoint when it came to their bloody showdown. The final battle, which also featured Kimiko and Ryan, ended with a de-powered "John" begging for his life like the snivelling coward we always knew he was, before Butcher mercilessly drove a crowbar through his skull.
The other central relationship came to what always seemed like its inevitable conclusion when Hughie was forced to kill Butcher to prevent him from unleashing the Supe-killer virus. Billy's end was made even more tragic by the fact that he was moving his finger away from the trigger when Hughie pulled his.
Starlight also put an end to The Deep by blasting him into the ocean and allowing his former aquantic pals to finish him off, and Ashley found some redemption by rescuing the Boys and showing them the way to the Oval Office.
Following Butcher's funeral (you can probably guess what his epitaph said), Kimiko leaves the group and travels to France with her new pooch; MM gets married (it looks like Ryan has found a home with the "motherf*cker with a heart"); and Hughie and a pregnant Starlight settle down.
A much happier ending than most of these characters were given in the comic, and the episode was all the better for it.
An uneven season, for sure, but while the finale was a little rushed and messy, we can't lump it in with the growing pantheon of shows that went out with a whimper. It's impossible to please everyone (as Kripke has acknowledged), but the last ever episode of The Boys ticked enough boxes to feel like a satisfying send-off for this motley bunch.
And if you don't think so, we'll leave the final word to William Butcher.
In the fifth and final season of The Boys, it's Homelander’s world, completely subject to his erratic, egomaniacal whims. Hughie, Mother's Milk, and Frenchie are imprisoned in a "Freedom Camp." Annie struggles to mount a resistance against the overwhelming Supe force. Kimiko is nowhere to be found. But when Butcher reappears, ready and willing to use a virus that will wipe all Supes off the map, he sets in motion a chain of events that will forever change the world and everyone in it. It's the climax, people. Big stuff's gonna happen.
The Boys stars Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Antony Starr, Erin Moriarty, Jessie T. Usher, Laz Alonso, Chace Crawford, Tomer Capone, Karen Fukuhara, Nathan Mitchell, Colby Minifie, Cameron Crovetti, Susan Heyward, Valorie Curry, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Jensen Ackles, and Daveed Diggs.
Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, James Weaver, Neal H. Moritz, Pavun Shetty, Phil Sgriccia, Michaela Starr, Paul Grellong, David Reed, Judalina Neira, Jessica Chou, Gabriel Garcia, Ori Marmur, Ken F. Levin and Jason Netter serve as executive producers.