The Boys may have been a success for Amazon Prime Video, but the most recent fourth season was met with criticism. Some people said it was too political or complained it strayed too far away from the original The Boys comic by Garth Ennis. Others enjoyed the show for its stellar acting and story. Nevertheless, season 4 of The Boys made people feel something. So hate it or love it, the streams still count.
Each episode was good or great and had the memorable moments fans expect from The Boys. There are plenty of scenes of absurd violence, as per usual, but also scenes with depth that prove superhero projects are more than action vehicles. However, not every episode is created equal. Here are the eight episodes of season 4 of The Boys ranked from worst to best, and what made them good.
8. Episode 203: "We'll Keep the Red Flag Flying Here"
"The therapist was right. I need to face my past. So I'm going to kill them all." — Kimiko Miyashiro:
This was the weakest episode of the season. Not because it was bad. It was the buffer episode. Everything that happened was a prelude to things to come. Victoria Neuman and Homelander furthered their agenda while M.M. and Hughie listen, Butcher takes a stand against kidnapping Ryan, and Firecracker explains why she hates Annie January.
The best part is seeing Homelander talking to himself at the end. It leads into what many consider actor Antony Starr’s best performance no the show to date, but we'll get to that later.
7. Episode 205: "Beware the Jabberwock, My Son"
"This is your last shot at Homelander, and now you decide to go soft? Yeah, they are decent people, but you and me, we don't belong with decent." — Kessler
The Boys has a lot of bizarre and silly moments throughout the four seasons, and flying, super-strong sheep crazy from Compound V is near the top of the list. Our heroes (and enemies-turned-uneasy-allies) encounter the animal experiments when trying to track down a virus that kills supes, which they need if they have any hope of standing up to Homelander. Butcher takes a turn at the end of the episode, brutalizing the doctor who created the virus in the hopes that he can make more.
6. Episode 402: "Life Among the Septics"
"I swear, stupid people who think they're smart make me want to eat my own (censored)." — Ashley Barrett
If you needed an episode to explain what The Boys is about, this is it. It’s the perfect representation of the show. You get fighting, creative interpretations of what superpowers would look like in the real world (obviously, the superhero who can multiply himself uses his powers in radical acts of self-love), and pointed commentary on society; in this case, the show mocks right-wing conspiracy theoriests.
In terms of the plot, the most important part is the introduction of Firecracker. You learn how messed up and evil she is. She’s a step away from being a cult leader. It’s funny since the actress (Valorie Curry) played a cult member in The Following.
5. Episode 507: "The Insider"
"Nobody even knew. Except for this one kid. That felt better than anything that I'd ever done at Vought. Because for once... I didn't hate myself." — A-Train
This is where lines are drawn. The Deep kills his lover (and octopus) Ambrosius and in his grief completely devotes himself to Homlander. At first he bent the knee out of fear. Now he's all in without any reservations.
After saving M.M. the episode before, A-Train goes all in on helping The Boys. It’s right on time since he was needed to help Annie, Butcher, and M.M. fight Black Noir and The Deep. He tries to get Ashley to leave, but she stays with Vought and Homelander.
Lastly, M.M. decides to stay with his teammates rather than flee the fight with his family. He realizes that no matter how far away he goes, a takeover of the U.S. government by Homelander and his team of superpowered sycophants would eventually affect him. Too bad it was all for nothing. A shapeshifter infiltrates the team by masquerading as Annie January, setting up more challenges ahead in the season finale.
4. Episode 406: "Dirty Business"
"Yeah. Smell, vision, taste, touch. He's like Sherlock Holmes on meth." — Marvin Milk
This is where things started to get more diabolical. Homelander almost drops the ball giving a speech to billionaires during a party thrown by Tek Knight, who's clearly a twisted parody of Batman. He’s lucky Victoria Neuman is there to make things right. Otherwise, they wouldn't get the backing needed to pull off their coup.
Meanwhile, Hughie goes through one of the most traumatic moments of his life. He's sexually assaulted and almost killed in Tek Knight's Tek Cave. And this right after Huhghie had to kill his own father the episode before. This is easily the worst time in Hughie’s life and it only gets worse.
Meanwhile, we learn that Butcher's old buddy Kessler isn’t real, but rather a manifestation of his dark side. It wasn’t a surprise, but still well done. It felt like watching Edward Norton realize that he was Tyler Durden in Fight Club. Even when we know a twist a coming, we'll still care if the scene is well-crafted.
3. Episode 401: "Department of Dirty Tricks"
"Smartest person, and that person is too smart to give a (censored) about Pottery Barn." — Sage
The season 4 premiere establishes the main storyline by introducing the best new character of the series: Sage, the smartest person in the world.
Sage (Susan Heyward) does something only M.M. does on the hero side; she moves with purpose and never irrationally. Without her, this season isn’t nearly as good. She helps Homelander plan a coup of the U.S. government and is a really interesting new superhero with a unique power.
2 . Episode 404: "Wisdom of the Ages"
"Your life is literally in your hands." — Homelander
Annie January is violated when her medical records were announced to the world. Firecracker proves that her followers don’t care about the truth, and Butcher has powers. As great as all that is, Antony Starr steals this episode with Homelander's visit to the lab where he was born, raised and tortured.
Some performance is so good you forget about the rest of the episode. I had to remind myself that other important things happened. It wasn’t just the phenomenal acting by Antony Starr. Homelander's backstory makes you sympathetic to one of the worst villains ever, although you never forget how dangerous and crazy he is.
Maybe Homelander was destined to be evil, but the people who "raised" him didn't help. They ridiculed, tortured, and experimented on a child. The funny thing is they seemed surprised that he came back for revenge.
1. Episode 408: Season Four Finale
"To see if I could." — Sage
This will go down as one of the best season finales ever. It’s normal to see the heroes lose going into a final season, but this was more than that. Homelander is in charge of the United States and has no one to oppose him.
Butcher reveals his powers and uses them to kill Victoria Neuman, leading to her daughter being sent to the Red River Institute. After that, The Boys are captured by Homelander's followers. The only ones who escaped are Annie and Butcher. Annie flies away after Hughie tells her to leave before she's killed. Butcher is driving down an unknown road with Kessler at his side.
Frenchie and Kimiko are taken away by Vought guards with the help of Sam and Cate from Gen V. The saddest part is that Kimiko speaks for the first time to cry out to a mind-controlled Frenchie. They finally forgive themselves and kiss only to be separated.
After everything The Boys have been through, how did they lose? They went up against the smartest person in the world. Why did Sage do this? To see if she could. It should terrify viewers that this was only phase one. Whatever she has planned next will be worse.
Hopefully we'll find out sooner rather than later. Expect the fifth and final season of The Boys to come out in 2026, although if Amazon wants to surprise us and premiere it in 2025, we'll be very happy.
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