The Boys season 5 Episode 8 brings Prime Video's superhero series to a close, and it's a strong conclusion for the story — even if there are a couple of notable shortcomings. It's never easy wrapping a show with a large following like that of The Boys; the responses to Game of Thrones' ending and Stranger Things season 5's reactions prove you can't please everyone.
And with The Boys season 5 feeling unfocused at times, fans were understandably concerned heading into the last episode. Fortunately, their worries were mostly unwarranted.
Despite the series taking some detours on the way there, The Boys shifts its focus back to the main seasons-long conflict between the team and Homelander in its final episode. It's exactly where its attention needs to be, and the final showdown has everything you could hope for in a finale. It drives home the series' themes, ties up loose ends, and honors itself and its fandom. There are only two things I wish it'd done differently, but even those don't take away from all the ways the show sticks the landing. This article contains SPOILERS for The Boys season 5 Episode 8, "Blood and Bone."
- Nails it: The Boys gives the show's worst characters exactly what they deserve
- Nails it: The main team get mostly hopeful endings after all they've been through
- Nails it: The Boys ties up a lot of loose ends in just one hour
- Nails it: The Boys repeatedly honors itself and the fans in its final episode
- Nails it: The Boys strikes the right balance between hope and realism
- Gets wrong: Sister Sage's season 5 story is underwhelming
- Gets wrong: Gen V's characters are completely underutilized
Nails it: The Boys gives the show's worst characters exactly what they deserve
The Boys' series finale is immensely satisfying, and in part, that's because the show's worst characters finally get what's coming to them. Homelander is the most obvious example. After five seasons spent gaining power, then using it to hurt others, Antony Starr's supe gets exposed as a weak-minded, cowardly person beneath his powers. The choice to end his arc with him sniveling on live television is a brilliant choice. The show refuses to take him seriously, and it's exactly the legacy he deserves.
The Deep gets a similar send-off after refusing to take responsibility for all the harm he's done. (The shot of him screaming "no!" at the thought, like a toddler, is hilarious.) The Boys does an incredible job of demonstrating how these supes cause their own problems, making it impossible to feel bad as they meet their downfalls. Having both Starlight and the sea creatures play a role in The Deep's demise makes it even more gratifying.
Nails it: The main team get mostly hopeful endings after all they've been through
Although Frenchie dies in The Boys' penultimate episode and Butcher is killed in the finale, the majority of the main team get hopeful send-offs — and that's nice to see after all they've been through. Kimiko's grief is still present, but she finds a way to keep fighting and move on. And M.M., Hughie, and Starlight are able to find some semblance of normalcy following Homelander's takedown.
Many stories go for bittersweet endings, and that's definitely true of The Boys. Yet with the villains getting comeuppance and the (anti) heroes getting some much-deserved joy, it leans more sweet. In a world where all of us could use more of that, that's the right decision.
Nails it: The Boys ties up a lot of loose ends in just one hour
One of the biggest concerns ahead of The Boys season 5 finale was whether it could realistically tie up all the show's loose ends in just one hour. The series pulls it off, giving subplots and supporting characters the closure they need — and working that seamlessly into its final showdown.
Ashley Barrett gets a moment of redemption (and then consequences for her mistakes), Ryan confronts both Butcher and Homelander, and Stan Edgar returns to Vought in the self-serving manner promised. Even Robert A. Singer gets justice and a proper send-off. It's impressive how well it all comes together, and it doesn't take a super-sized finale to get there.
Nails it: The Boys repeatedly honors itself and the fans in its final episode
The Boys' series finale ties up many loose ends, but it still finds time to honor itself and its fan base. There are great callbacks in this installment, referencing running gags, older chapters of the show, and even more recent developments. Oh-Father's death gives Hughie one last blood splatter, and his response — "I really need a new job" — is a hilarious means of breaking the fourth wall and acknowledging that Jack Quaid will soon be moving on from The Boys.
Butcher entering the Oval Office with a smile and commenting, "Daddy's home," is another fantastic example of The Boys paying homage to its past. And the show even nods to recent chapters, ending Kimiko's arc by showing that she adopted Simone, the Bernedoodle Frenchie showed her last week.
Nails it: The Boys strikes the right balance between hope and realism
The Boys is known for its dark turns and realism; the latter is baked into its premise, which imagines what would actually happen if people had superhuman abilities. It's certainly cynical at times, but The Boys' ending strikes the right balance between hope and realism. It shows that the Vought machine will, indeed, carry on — but that it's still worth fighting, even when the odds seem impossible.
Some of the strongest moments from the final chapter drive this point home. Starlight telling Marie they need to "keep the light burning" for as long as they can speaks to the generational nature of the struggle between freedom and oppression.
And Hughie's assertion that it "just hurts to be human" highlights why people go to the extremes seen in The Boys. It all lands beautifully, capturing the show's themes exceptionally well.
Gets wrong: Sister Sage's season 5 story is underwhelming
Although most of The Boys' characters get satisfying send-offs in season 5, the finale could've done a better job with Sister Sage. Whether you like where she ends up or not, there's no denying that her character arc feels all over the place in the final outing. Sage goes from scheming for power to wanting to read in a bunker to helping The Boys...and the latter feels like a huge 180 for her, even before she willingly sacrifices her power for the greater good.
Having Sage give up her power to test Kimiko's, then making her disappear, is an underwhelming way to conclude a somewhat perplexing character arc. It's nice that she gets freedom from her thoughts, but her wanting that isn't established well beforehand. The Boys also swings a too far in the other direction, making her laughably ignorant rather than just having her revert to average intelligence.
Gets wrong: Gen V's characters are completely underutilized
The Boys' series finale works without Gen V's characters stepping in, and having Butcher kill Homelander is far more satisfying than making Marie do it. I'm not necessarily mad that Gen V doesn't play a bigger role in the finale, since the episode is great as-is. However, I do wonder what the point of hyping up their part in The Boys season 5 was.
Prime Video's superhero franchise could easily have kept the shows separate, but instead, it went out of its way to send them crashing together. It also established Marie as a Homelander-level threat, something it leaned into ahead of the main show's final chapter.
All that build-up isn't paid off, and it's bound to leave fans of Gen V disappointed. Even those who are lukewarm on the spinoff will likely wonder what the point was.
The underutilization of these characters is even more tragic following the news that Gen V season 3 isn't happening. Hopefully, they'll get the chance to show up elsewhere in the franchise.
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