MIDNIGHT REVIEWS The Boys Season 4 Episode 1 Review
Midnight Reviews features reviews and thought pieces written and edited by a parent, at night, after bedtime.
The Boys Season 4 Episode 1: ‘Department of Dirty Tricks’
Series created by: Eric Kripke
Featuring: Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Antony Starr
Synopsis: The CIA, in enlisting the help of The Boys, now pull their focus away from Homelander (Starr) and onto Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit). The problem is, she’s seemingly invincible and heading straight to the Vice-Presidency. Billy (Urban) can’t stand this change of pace, seeing as the boy who he thought was his son needs protecting from Homelander and his nefarious influence.
Review: In watching the first two episodes of The Boys, it seems this fourth season seems to be trying to focus on something different throughout each outing. This first episode, fittingly enough for a season opener, is focused on asking questions, but it’s also focused on behaviour. The quieter moments are the ones that stood out. For all the outlandish sex acts (this show’s answer to Ant-Man cannot be forgotten; Herogasm) and bloody violence (that whale), what this episode does best is seemingly sitting back and allowing the characters to talk to one another. It’s a superlative start.
There’s a lot going on.
For context, at the end of season three we had the reunion of Homelander and his genetic son, Ryan (Cameron Crovetti). What followed shortly after was a very public murder by America’s favourite (although his Q rating is going down…) hero with the chaser that, despite his fears of being found out as a maniac, the crowd actually loved him for it.
Billy Butcher is still regretting his missed opportunity to put Homelander down. This regret is doubled because he sees himself as the only one who can save Ryan, despite being hated by him. There’s also the fact Billy has about six months left to live after experimenting with the mysterious V compound that gave him temporary super powers.
This is before we even get onto Hughie (Quaid) feeling perhaps forced back into The Boys, Annie (Erin Moriarty) foregoing her superhero moniker, and the rest. There’s a lot going on.
Usher [is] finally being allowed to spread his wings.
But this early on in the season there are more questions than answers. If Billy knows he’s going to die soon, how will this change his behaviour? Will he become desperate? More gung-ho? Or more retrospective? How will Homelander behave now he has a son he’s chosen to look after? Will he be able to put someone else first? Will he reach breaking point, under the influence of disappointment? These questions and more are what drive the episode, but they aren’t all unanswered which means not all is Lost.
This show has a lot to say. Episode one happens to also be about those in power wading knee-deep in shit in order to keep that power. And the way those in power focus on the wrong issues to achieve the same aim. We also have a motif of those who return to old surroundings under new circumstances, with Becca (Shantal VanSanten) and Hughie’s mother Daphne (Rosemarie DeWitt) as surprise inclusions. Where do they fit now the characters, and the show, have changed?
While quite a few modern shows have an hour long runtime and find themselves padding, The Boys uses this lengthier time extremely well. It certainly doesn’t feel long and unlike the above summary, it feels like every character gets their fair share.
Speaking of which, their seems to be a ton more promise from A-Train (Jessie T Usher), with Usher finally being allowed to spread his wings after we saw glimpses of what could be done with the character in season one. That these wings were clipped somewhat in seasons two and three was a real shame, but here it almost blends with the frustration A-Train feels about what his life has become. Is power something he wants, or is it just a terrible habit? Again, the show is asking questions about those in power as well as mocking them.
Starr takes a character who could’ve been malignant and boring […] and develops layers that reveal themselves over time.
The Boys is still outrageous and gross, but at the same time labels and again, mocks, those who are somehow worse in this regard. From the quiet, cold politicians that frame innocent people’s murders as drug overdoses, to those who would just as coldly but much more loudly take advantage of those in need to make a quick buck and secure a powerful foot hold.
But as said before, things are changing. For one thing, the show has a vague sense that it wants to grow up, just a little. That it can’t hide behind lewdness all the time, or even the trappings of its genre. For that, we get Homelander out of his costume for the first time.
As much as the others certainly pull their own weight and then some, Starr takes a character who could’ve been malignant and boring, or even worse a simple villain of the week, and develops layers that reveal themselves over time. That Homelander is still relevant to the show through a slow, steady evolution and, somehow, balances the fine line between relatable and horrific, is consistently one of the better parts of an outstanding show.
Of course now we get something completely different for him as he must juggle not just a son who doesn’t know how to be him, but also Sister Sage (Susan Heyward) talking back to him.
But fret not, fans, because it’s not all change. Just when you think Billy has become more human, and then when you think he’s just the same old asshole, he and the show itself tell us they haven’t forgotten their roots by… well, let’s just say ‘the same old asshole’ still applies as a phrase.
The Boys is available to stream on Amazon Prime.
Matthew D. Smith likes to overshare his views on movies and TV shows whenever and wherever he can. Indulge him, and follow him on Twitter or listen to the podcast he co-hosts with Leslie Wai.
