MIDNIGHT REVIEWS The Boys Season 4 Episode 5 Review
Midnight Reviews features reviews and thought pieces written and edited by a parent, at night, after bedtime.
The Boys Season 4 Episode 5: ‘Beware the Jabberwock, My Son’
Series created by: Eric Kripke
Featuring: Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Antony Starr
Synopsis: With recent episodes adding copious new members to Vought in order to help The Seven, it’s time for The Boys to add some temporary members to their team. Enter: Stan Edgar (Giancarlo Esposito). He is essentially the polar opposite of Hughie (Quaid), who in the meantime takes care of his father (Simon Pegg), newly awakened after being injected with Compound V.
Review: While a fairly recent episode of The Boys felt overstuffed and underbaked with plot and action, episode five seems to take those actions and dole out the consequences. Does the thinking ‘More is more’ actually pay off here?
At first, there’s an underlying threat that episode five might simply be rinsing and repeating. There are the obvious references to real life corporations (an admittedly amusing middle finger to Disney and their expo). The miraculous return of Simon Pegg’s American accent, which no amount of super serum can change. Feeling like I need to shower after any appearance by The Deep (Chace Crawford).
But within the opening five minutes, the show’s confidence and almost real-time relevance takes over.
The fact that I viewed this episode shortly after the real life United States Supreme Court made a certain ruling (you may have heard about it) actually means there is perhaps more to unpack than even the show itself intended. In a similar vein to the prevailing idea that The Simpsons predicted the future, the relevance of a show featuring unchecked power and curious deeds done in the dark couldn’t be any more heightened.
Dispense with real life parallels and there’s still a lot to like.
As if The Boys needed anymore help in being a tale set very much in today’s political landscape, we have Homelander (Starr) simultaneously showing off his unchecked power and corrupting the next generation. Out of every character on the show, he would probably be the best choice for taking “I want to help people” and twisting it to fit his skewed view of the world. Starr and Cameron Crovetti as Ryan do much with little screentime.
We also have Billy (Urban, perfecting the devilish grin) doing what he wants. On the surface, he proclaims to still be one of The Boys, that it was enough that he reneged on the deal with Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit) at the last minute. And, despite the maddening abuse of power surrounding him, MM (Laz Alonso) refuses to balk and takes the high road instead (though even that road is paved with poorly thought out plans and flawed morals amidst the greatest intentions).
This is The Boys beginning to show the consequences of its actions.
Dispense with real life parallels and there’s still a lot to like and to focus on in episode five. There’s the lingering gag early on of the Aryan native American, which is just the start of a cringe-inducing Vought expo with A-Train (Jessie T. Usher) so close to cracking. Usher perfectly sells the ennui of selling a movie of his life built around a white protagonist combined with the pressure of being found out for crimes against The Seven. If anything, it’s a shame recent episodes haven’t featured more of Usher, especially after his fantastic turns in the opening few episodes.
Billy’s story isn’t really built on, but this episode proves plot isn’t all-important as Urban still gets a lot to do. Whether it’s having fun delivering his best c-word themed insult to date, or contemplating what comes after he dies, Urban is very much the dark horse of this episode.
Does something I never thought The Boys would do: tug at the heart strings.
Tension builds as certain characters take a trip round a farm of horrors (bulletproof chickens are just the start). The only negative is how obviously-telegraphed the violence and death are as the show cuts to a close-up of someone we’ve never seen before moments before things get messy. They’re not actually wearing red shirts, but they may as well be.
For the first time in a long time, I actually cared about Frenchie’s (Tomer Capone) story. Capone’s performances have always been excellent and it’s here where the writing meets the same calibre. That he breaks so quietly and without any persuasion feels natural for the character, and his opening up when he talks about his connection with religion is genuinely affecting.
Speaking of which, we have Pegg’s return to the show as he awakens and is given more to do than lie in a hospital bed. In all honesty, I never thought Pegg added much to the show in its first season, as his character seemed more like a stop-gap for Hughie to get past as opposed to a real person. Here he is given his chance to shine and by God does he take it. It might be because, out of every character in the show, Hugh Sr. might be the only one who is pure of heart and to see him dragged into violence and blood due to no fault of his own does something I never thought The Boys would do: tug at the heart strings.
I started off episode five fearing The Boys was rinsing and repeating, giving us more of the same. I find myself at the end of episode five wanting more of the same. Roll on episode six.
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.
