TV Review: ‘The Boys’ Season 4, Episode 4 Starts To Show Cracks
by Frank Martin
There’s an inherent problem with a show like The Boys. It spends so much time trying to push the bounds of shock value that it can become a distraction to the overall story. A show like American Horror Story suffered from this syndrome as it kept pumping out season after season. So far, The Boys has more or less escaped this trap by having a swift moving plot and strong characterization. However, Season 4 is starting to show cracks. This fourth episode of the season held a lot of shock value in terms of Homelander (Antony Starr), but his storyline didn’t move the plot at all. It was barely even an exercise in characterization as Homelander used his traumatic childhood as an excuse to commit heinous acts.
Sister Sage (Susan Heyward) continues to implement her plan to collapse democracy by giving Firecracker (Valorie Curry) her own show where she exposes some of Starlight’s (Erin Moriarty) secrets. This leads to Starlight beating her in a fit of anger and completely ruining any plans she had of ruining Vought. Meanwhile, Hughie (Jack Quaid) tries to make a deal with A-Train (Jesse T Usher) to give his father Compound V and save his life. Butcher (Karl Urban) continues to struggle with his cancer, but there’s an indication that there’s more to his condition than he’s letting on. The episode ends as Homelander leaves the underground lab he grew up in after slaughtering all the workers and leaving the director locked in a room with their eviscerated bodies.
In contrast to Homelander’s plot line of shock value, Sister Sage revealed she gave herself a lobotomy to momentarily cripple her daunting intelligence. That was a character moment that had both shock value and was revealing of who she is as a character. Unfortunately, moments like those were overshadowed by heavy-handed characterization involving Starlight. Firecracker revealed that she had an abortion, and an unnecessarily long time was spent trying to hammer home a message on this controversial subject. So far, The Boys has been successful masking its commentary through subtext. If this season is to succeed, they need to get back to that subtlety.
The Boys streams Thursdays on Amazon Prime.
