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[trackercowe]

Am I the only one who thinks the show has gone off the Deep end this season? It began in season three, but I'm only watching out of loyalty at this point.

I do like the A-Train redemption story. At least one of the Supes are worth a damn. Otherwise other than the Homelander lab scene it's been a bad season.

[Locke]

Its a weird season, I'll admit. There are times I feel they're selling out story for gross-out jokes but there are also times where they get a genuine laugh out of me.

NSFW!

"It smells like ass sweat and broken dreams in here!"

[blankall]

Originally Posted by trackercowe

Am I the only one who thinks the show has gone off the Deep end this season? It began in season three, but I'm only watching out of loyalty at this point.

I do like the A-Train redemption story. At least one of the Supes are worth a damn. Otherwise other than the Homelander lab scene it's been a bad season.

I'm still liking it. I think the character development has taken a step back, but they've done a great job of incorporating real life politics, without bashing you over the head with it.

[KTrain]

I'm still enjoying the show but it's venturing a little too close to the reason I stopped reading the comic. Gross out scenes that add nothing to the story except to push what they can show. The Tek Knight's dungeon went on a little too long.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by KTrain

I'm still enjoying the show but it's venturing a little too close to the reason I stopped reading the comic. Gross out scenes that add nothing to the story except to push what they can show. The Tek Knight's dungeon went on a little too long.

Yup. I'm more or less in the same boat. I'll take creative shock, for sure, but prolonged scenes to just gross me out is not my bag.

That last episode was work. It was tough to get through so I hope it was designed to set up something important because otherwise it was just a waste.

Homelander wants to establish a Fascist Cabal? Thats no secret. The rest was just...like I said, it took effort to get through. I had to keep pausing it and forcing myself to finish it.

Not a fan of that.

[Yamer]

I'm still enjoying it too, and I look forward to every Thursday. That said, in a seasons ranking this one would be firmly 4th. I do like that they DGAF about satirizing the real-world political landscape, but I would disagree with blankall in it being at all subtle. Frankly, I think the satire loses a bit of edge when you're constantly hitting the viewer in the face with it. Woke, Pizzagate, Jewish Space Lasers, and so on. Wham, wham, wham. Even so, I still get a chuckle out of it every now and again.

They've definitely upped the gross-out and gore filler. I also thought the dungeon scene was excessive: all of that to find out team Homelander is acquiring internment camps and a meta-joke about Spider-Man.

Sister Sage is truly intriguing, and the A-Train redemption arc is going well so far. Hughie's entire story is still good, IMO. Butcher is still a great character and I'm invested to see how this parasite thing plays out. And Homelander still scares the #### out of me. Not really digging the Starlight/Firecracker feud, Frenchie and Kimiko, Mother's Milk stuff (still a good character, though).

[Cali Panthers Fan]

I know he's an absolute psychopath now, but after finding out some of Homelander's origin story, are we not at least a little more sympathetic to him with the abuse he went through? Still a massive overreaction, but I am maybe even more intrigued by how he ended up this way. A nice nature/nurture debate to consider on pathological evil.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Cali Panthers Fan

I know he's an absolute psychopath now, but after finding out some of Homelander's origin story, are we not at least a little more sympathetic to him with the abuse he went through? Still a massive overreaction, but I am maybe even more intrigued by how he ended up this way. A nice nature/nurture debate to consider on pathological evil.

Its an interesting debate, to be sure. Because you have...unchecked Power/Strength associated with a loveless, overly-controlled upbringing.

Really, Homelander is just the personification of the consequences of a system without checks and balances.

[blankall]

I should clarify. The political satire isn't subtle at all. They aren't bashing you over the head with preachiness over which side is in the right though. The show presents pretty balanced criticism of all sides of the political spectrum, which is refreshing. It clearly goes hard at the proud boys types, but also mocks the order side and bites at them for falling for playing into the rights stupid games.

[trackercowe]

Originally Posted by Cali Panthers Fan

I know he's an absolute psychopath now, but after finding out some of Homelander's origin story, are we not at least a little more sympathetic to him with the abuse he went through? Still a massive overreaction, but I am maybe even more intrigued by how he ended up this way. A nice nature/nurture debate to consider on pathological evil.

I wish they would have explored this angle more. Sympathy and reason for Homelander's actions is something I would like to learn more about. Instead they are repeating the previous stories in a loop, right down to him regressing back into breast feeding. It just feels rather unnecessary, as like Locke said we already knew about his plan for a Fascist cabal. The last episode didn't break any new ground, other than the Tek Knight dungeon.

The writing can still be clever. I liked how Kimiko used book titles to win over A-Train into helping MM. You would have to think A-Train's time is nearly up as he'll be found out. Maybe he'll take Sage down with him? Also the Homelander lab episode was one of the better episodes (and performances). I'm also curious where they go with Deep and Black Noir. I hope it doesn't end up with Deep backstabbing Noir. I prefer it when they make alliances rather than constantly undermine and plot against each other (ala Hitler's circle of evil). The show is better off with our characters are three dimesionsional, and don't lean as heavily into sterotypes.

I would think they'll up their game for season five. I also wonder if any of the rumors involving Anthony Starr and Emma Mackey are true? That she left the show because he was bullying her on the set. I'm sure that's only gossip, but I hope she returns to the show at some point.

[timun]

Originally Posted by trackercowe

I also wonder if any of the rumors involving Anthony Starr and Emma Mackey are true? That she left the show because he was bullying her on the set. I'm sure that's only gossip, but I hope she returns to the show at some point.

Emma Mackey?

[trackercowe]

Sorry, I meant Dominique McElligott. Wrong actor.

[Yamer]

The rumour seems to originate from a dubious source, one who evidently has had it out for Starr for some time now.

It's crazy how much sway a random blogger has in impressing truth or public opinion.

[Ozy_Flame]

I know someone mentioned M. Night Shyamalan for the reveal at the end of episode 5, but I got A Beautiful Mind vibe the whole way.

Also, masochistic knockoff Batman was awesome.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by trackercowe

Am I the only one who thinks the show has gone off the Deep end this season? It began in season three, but I'm only watching out of loyalty at this point.

I do like the A-Train redemption story. At least one of the Supes are worth a damn. Otherwise other than the Homelander lab scene it's been a bad season.

It's hard for popular shows to keep momentum as if you keep doing the same thing over and over it eventually gets stale but trying to keep things fresh sometimes involves risks and alienating fans. I still get a lot of laughs out of it and like some of the characters but it feels at times like they are trying too hard with the shock stuff which works much better in moderation. Also while I get the political satire angle which actually makes a lot of sense when you consider how divided people would actually be under the circumstances of the show, it's going to alienate some people that watch shows as an escape from reality.

[scotty2hotty]

Thought the season finale was fantastic.

[FireGilbert]

The finale had its title changed from Assassination run to Season 4 finale.

The Boys has gone from satirising US politics, to straight up copying US politics, to now predicting the future.

Yeah that episode was amazing. So much happened in the last 15 minutes. The writers must have taken the feedback about S3 just resetting the status quo because S4 takes the opposite approach. Bring on S5!

[FanIn80]

ngl, you guys had me at Emma Mackey.


Edit: Also, I've been scared to start watching this season cause I've heard it's bad. It started going a bit south for me in s3, to be honest, but I was excited when s4 started... until I saw a couple reviews before I was able to start watching... which delayed me watching it, which lead to more read reviews... etc. I'll eventually watch it though.

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by scotty2hotty

Thought the season finale was fantastic.

I get why the season has polarized people (the not-so-subtle politics of it) but I thought blowing the door wide open, especially in an actual election year, is likely a smart move. Pop culture influences people, it's as simple as that. Gets people talking, draws eyes to the product.

Also, doing sick plays off actual superheros (Spiderman, Batman) is a fun spin.

I loved this season and personally I want to see the final hurrah of Butcher be going out in a blaze of glory.

[Yamer]

Originally Posted by FanIn80

ngl, you guys had me at Emma Mackey.


Edit: Also, I've been scared to start watching this season cause I've heard it's bad. It started going a bit south for me in s3, to be honest, but I was excited when s4 started... until I saw a couple reviews before I was able to start watching... which delayed me watching it, which lead to more read reviews... etc. I'll eventually watch it though.

I think if I had gone into this season knowing that it's meant to put all the pieces in place for a big blow-out final season 5 I wouldn't have been so critical. It's still one of my favorite shows.

The political and real-world references are extremely heavy-handed this season. There's no mistaking what they're going for. And yeah, the gore and violence jumped up a notch.

Interested to see how they land this next year.