Spoilers The Boys Season 4 Discussion ( Spoilers)

[FPAlpha]

I was not expecting The Boys of all shows to have an incredibly well-acted, touching, and tearjerking couple of scenes dealing with dementia and the pain of letting go. Jack Quaid, Rosemarie DeWitt, and especially the unmatched Simon Pegg were absolute gold, wow.

I'm really grateful Kripke and company didn't do any kind of swerve, or twist, or shock-for-shock's sake, but played that completely straight.

Yes i loved that conclusion to the storyline even if it included the typical Boys gore. So far it is the best element of the season and i wonder if it will have an effect on Hughie to impact the greater storyline now that he knows/experienced how to make the hard call. It's time for Hughie to step up for real and reform the Boys, who are currently falling apart at lightspeed.

Yeah, like, how the heck they have the time to do anything else?

A weak explanation would be that they already started trailer production while the movie was filming and used completed scenes. Since the actor ( A-Train) has superpowers already they don't even have to do much VFX work, so in an even more well oiled machine that is the Vought Cinematic Universe ( loved the dig at the MCU and i'm a big MCU fan) it is not unfeasible to go that route. Especially in a Blindside movie copy that is most likely not very VFX heavy.

 

[Starkers]

I expect a lot things from The Boys, but I don't expect it to reach it's hand inside my chest and rip my heartstrings out, but man all the Hugie Sr./Jr. stuff. As someone who's mum (who had dementia) once asked where "Our Paul" was and when I said I was right there she just shook her head and said "No, our Paul" because she was expecting me to be a little boy, that scene really hit home.

Luckily we had killer sheep to cheer me up.

I like the idea that JDM is just in Butcher's head. I'm also wondering, the rabbit was on Temp-V, do we think that was keeping the monster/tumour at bay and could it work for Butcher too?

I wonder where they're going with Annie, is anger keeping her powers at bay somehow?

Giancarlo Esposito really needs to be a Bond villain one day!

Anyway a wonderful episode

 

[Lakenheath 72]

With Annie, she needs a strong enough electrical source for her to draw upon for her powers. There wasn't enough power in the barn for her. In the ranking of power, she rates rather low.

 

[Guy Gardener]

With Annie, she needs a strong enough electrical source for her to draw upon for her powers. There wasn't enough power in the barn for her. In the ranking of power, she rates rather low.

She is a battery.

Personal history gives her an expectation of how long that charge will last.

She's pregnant again.

 

[Lakenheath 72]

She is not a battery. Batteries convert chemical energy into electrical energy.

She draws her power from radiant energy, especially radiant energy that is nearby.

Chemical Energy: Definition, Facts, Examples, and Pictures

What is chemical energy. What are its characteristics. Check out a few examples from daily life, along with a drawing.

www.sciencefacts.net

Radiant Energy: Definition, Function, and Examples

What is radiant energy. How does it work. What are its sources. Learn its uses and applications, along with a diagram.

www.sciencefacts.net

 

[Scout101]

She is not a battery. Batteries convert chemical energy into electrical energy.

She draws her power from radiant energy, especially radiant energy that is nearby.

Chemical Energy: Definition, Facts, Examples, and Pictures

What is chemical energy. What are its characteristics. Check out a few examples from daily life, along with a drawing.

www.sciencefacts.net

Radiant Energy: Definition, Function, and Examples

What is radiant energy. How does it work. What are its sources. Learn its uses and applications, along with a diagram.

www.sciencefacts.net

Ok, she’s more of a capacitor. Absorbs energy and then releases it…

 

[Lakenheath 72]

The Boys episode this week hit really hard at home tonight.

From the episode.
"The truth is America is not a democracy. The word democracy makes people feel safe. But the founders never trusted the masses, because the truth is, the masses are fucking stupid. Anyone who owns a Live, Laugh, Love mug shouldn't have a say in how the country is run. People are a labor force that need a kind, but firm hand. There are no nations. There's Apple, Exxon, and Berkshire Hathaway. Corporations are the real superpowers here. You should be able to operate without any regulation or restriction whatsoever. After all, you're billionaires. You are smart enough to know what's best."

In the past week, we have seen SCOTUS attack the regulatory ability of the government. We have seen them create the real possibility of a billionaire becoming a king over this nation. In other words, the power of the oligarchy has increased greatly over the past week.

 

[FPAlpha]

Honest to god i don't know anymore with this show.

For 4 seasons they have shown us that most superheroes are Level 1 assholes alongside the top echelon humans at Vought and they did it by sparing little detail, especially the gore. They got famous for it and it was kind of the attraction to have a countershow to the sanitized DC and Marvel universes that keep it strictly PG13 to get the most profit.

It was "refreshing" to see what fans of the genre, including me, always imagined what a hard R rated superhero would be like if they used their superpowers and it had a "realistic" outcome. Season by season they raised the bar and tried to outdo the previous seasons in how outlandish they could go but i'm now really over it.

I don't need to be shown for the xth time that Vought affiliated superheroes are plain disturbing psychopaths and that the others all have massive personal issues and i don't need to see it in very graphic detail or rather extremely implied to what the showrunners can legally get away with before it is an actual porn or snuff movie.

I have now actually started to fast forward through this scene because after 4 seasons i am still invested in the characters and want to see how the story concludes but i don't know anymore if i would recommend the show to a newcomer given what i know now because the show is treading water and the shock scenes have no return anymore.

That being said this episode still had some nice bits anymore chief amongst them Jack Quaid who pulled off a brilliant acting piece both in the sex dungeon scene and afterwards when he broke down.

I also really liked Kimiko's and Frenchi's storyline this season and it broke my heart to see her like this at the end of the episode.

The unsubtle references to US conservative politics are also getting a bit tiresome but well, seems there's still people around who see Homelander as one of the good guys but no matter how direct the show is it apparently still isn't enough.

 

[The Wormhole]

but anyone else thinking Jeffrey Dean Morgan's character is another of Butcher's hallucinations like imaginary Becca, possibly fueled by the brain tumor fueled with V?

Called it, though I see others had it figured out too.

 

[Samurai8472]

I don't think it will be that easy if all the supes are dead. What if in the final scene of the series we see a secret chamber marked "Homelander 2" (Similar to how there was a contingency plan for if Superman died)

If they want to show more why not have a black haired Homelander 2 step on of the chamber.

It's never clear cut/all loose ends tied up with these types of shows.

 

[TedShatner10]

That was easily the weakest episode of Season 4 alongside maybe Ep. 2 (the Biys sneaked around Tek Knight's mansion way too easily; Homelander seemed lazy), with the problematic opinion by Kripke that the characters into BDSM (and other kinks) are only either cartoonishly evil (Homelander and Tek Knight) or if not villainous, compromised in some way (Frenchie and Ashley).

The political satire is increasingly South Park cartoonish, but I liked the skullduggery by Neuman, Firecracker, and Sage.

 

[Aragorn]

This show suffers the same problem as other shows. Homelander has all these abilities but the show isn't smart enough to take them into consideration unless it's plot-specific. Sage is the smartest person in the world but no one on the writing staff is. Same as when Star Trek or the MCU introduces super duper technology but then ignores it.

 

[FPAlpha]

This show suffers the same problem as other shows. Homelander has all these abilities but the show isn't smart enough to take them into consideration unless it's plot-specific. Sage is the smartest person in the world but no one on the writing staff is. Same as when Star Trek or the MCU introduces super duper technology but then ignores it.

Can you elaborate on Homelander what you mean?

I actually buy Homelander as is. His strength is actually also his weakness - he is that schoolyard bully everyone fears and because he had no reason to solve anything but with brute force he never had to challenge himself to grow beyond that simple approach to solving problems. He doesn't know what to do when a problem can't be solved with violence or threats.

It was very evident in the high level meeting where it was about intelligence and having a plan, Homelander never has a plan but waltz in and scare everyone in giving up or he just outright kills the room. He did one thing right and enlisted Sage because he realized he has this deficiency but in that case she was out of action and he was stumped, had Neuman not saved the day so to speak it could have well been that Homelander would have lost the nerve and torched the room to remove the humiliation ( remember that he as a narcissist can't deal with these things in a normal and healthy way).

It is just a bit sad that none of the cast will ever be truly recognized for the amazing acting work, chief amongst them Starr and especially in this episode Quaid, because it's a fantasy superhero show (and a pretty gory one).

 

[Aragorn]

Can you elaborate on Homelander what you mean?

Homelander can hear you, smell you, see you.... unless he can't. Season 1 they were worried about killing Translucent in a way that Homelander couldn't hear it, but now they can run around in the same house as him.

 

[FPAlpha]

Homelander can hear you, smell you, see you.... unless he can't. Season 1 they were worried about killing Translucent in a way that Homelander couldn't hear it, but now they can run around in the same house as him.

Sure but Homelander is now in such a deranged state that he's not at the top of his game plus his focus was elsewhere in this episode. At least that's my explanation, we all know that these shows and the genre takes huge amounts of suspension of disbelief.

 

[Lakenheath 72]

Homelander wouldn't be the only threat the Boys would have to navigate around at the meeting site. There would be the Secret Service, plus other law enforcement agencies involved. There were top governmental figures in that house, including the Vice-President elect.

This is the first episode of the series that I did not watch completely. It could be that I am not in the right mindset, and I am still recovering from the news. Or, that it seems that the writers seem hellbent on destroying the Boys as a team. They don't seem to get a break.

 

[TedShatner10]

Homelander wouldn't be the only threat the Boys would have to navigate around at the meeting site. There would be the Secret Service, plus other law enforcement agencies involved. There were top governmental figures in that house, including the Vice-President elect.

Contrived as fuck, but I got the impression it was a murky "off the books" illicit meeting between US VIPs and 'supes on Tek Knight's private estate, when they're plotting the destruction of the USA or/and human civilisation (plus add in Tek Knight's plausible arrogance with allowing few to none armed guards on his sleazy property and Homelander being completely deranged for a couple of seasons now, explaining how lazy the bad guys were this episode).

 

[Starkers]

Oh man that was nuts! I was worried about how far they might go with poor Hughie! Lovely bit of acting when he broke down late on. I also liked Annie's scenes with Firecracker (and seriously just how well known is Homelander's breast milk fetish?)

Homelander's barely suppressed rage when Neuman saved the day was great, as was Sage reverting to an idiot after being shot in the head, that was a nice piece of writing I have to say, taking Sage momentarily out of the picture to let Neuman take centre stage.

The smile of that little boy, and A-Train's reaction to it, was lovely. I've been waiting a long time for A-Train's redemption arc and I hope it doesn't get thrown away.

Seriously though, doesn't everyone have an imaginary JDM in their head? Guys? Guys?

 

[DarKush]

Season Four feels a bit rudderless to me. There are good, perhaps even great moments, sprinkled throughout the season so far, and I'm still curious to see the final two episodes, but for the most part the season feels a bit too disjointed.

I felt this episode should've given us more than it did. I had already seen the speculation about Kessler, but the episode treated it like it was some earth-shattering deal, even though the internet had already figured that out.

I thought The Boys did walk around Tek Knight's mansion way too easily as well. And I thought more would happen with Kimiko's lost phone, but that was forgotten. When Milk shot Sage why didn't Homelander hear that?

Homelander, Sage, and Neuman's plan makes little sense to me. She could just use her powers to assume the presidency after the inauguration without needing all those other people or even needing to evoke the 25th Amendment necessarily. I wonder if the real purpose of that scene was just to give The Boys the evidence they will use later to take Neuman down.

I did like some of the character moments. I liked Webweaver's suit, though I they couldn't resist being juvenile with his back web shooter gag, and also couldn't stop themselves from pushing the envelope or buttons with the sex dungeon scenes. I also liked when Tek Knight tried to buddy up with Homelander, and Homelander's put down as well. I was liking the twisted Batman/Superman vibe though. Speaking of twisted, I felt they went a bit overboard with Tek Knight. I wish they had toned him down a bit and kept him around because his powers make him very dangerous.

I have no idea what Deep has in mind for Black Noir II, but putting them two together was unexpected, and also gives Black Noir II more to do, which is good.

 

[Starkers]

Kimiko losing her phone was just part of setting up the amusing gag where she has to use books to get her message across to A-Train.

At least that's my assumption, maybe it'll be found outside the house and factor into the story next week but I doubt it.