The Boys Has a Shock Value Problem

Season 4 was The Boys weakest season yet. While there was a lot to like in the Homelander/Butcher action, in many ways it became clearer than ever that its using shock value as a crutch. I go through my thoughts here.

[captainmidnight]

What did you think of The Boys season 4?

[taurusstudios]

I hated how Hughie was treated this season. He was sexually victimized for three episodes straight and they never wasted an opportunity to downplay and make light of his trauma.

[Zeppflyer]

A super-smart character can only ever be as smart as the people writing them.

[rebel_diamonds]

Frenchie goes to prison had to be the biggest waste of time since the casino planet in Last Jedi.
This dumb detour, then in the next episode, he's just back doing his thing like nothing happened.

[mehanich]

Soldierboy carried season 3 so hard, that he went to sleep for the entire next season

[Noodlyk]

Honestly, the final straw for me was when Annie/Starlight escaped the shapeshifter. Hughie had been in a non-consensual relationship with someone pretending to be his girlfriend, imagine how traumatic it'd be to realize you were with this weird creature that tears off its skin. This is after having already been SAd and traumatized by Tek Knight, and seen his father lose his mind and having to put him down.

And what does Annie do? She gets angry at him, the season ends with him having had to apologize to her for not recognizing her. Yeah. She wants an apology from the man who just got SA'd for the second time in a short amount of time. Terrible girlfriend is putting it lightly, the moment I saw she was angry, instead of upset that her boyfriend had that happen to him, I'd be outta there.

The writers just cannot take it seriously when it happens to a man.

[Seasonal-Shadow_]

2:20 tek knight was so much more threatening in Gen V and was wasted potential, we never even got to see him in a suit

[rogueguardian]

You're definitely right when it came to the shock value with Ryan and Grace, It felt gradual and when he finally pushed her it was actually impactful.

[hflordawn]

I think the Web Weaver death was played more for Firecracker's response, rather than Homelander and shock value for the audience. Firecracker is a character who is wholly devoted to Homelander, and in this moment of her "triumph" (her feeling that she is taking the lead on finding the leak and upstaging Sage), she is witness to his intense violence. So, the shock, that is important is her shock--perhaps planting a seed for next season.

[richardbigham]

The boys doesn't have shock value, it has valueless shock

[JerichoTheCity]

It feels like they're going in circles. I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy portions of the season, but overall it was fairly mindless content.

[rebel_diamonds]

Starlight being pissed at Hughie for sleeping with the shapeshifter was horrible. He was basically raped. If the situation was reversed, you can bet we wouldn't get a line about testing for STDs from Hughie.

[lawbinson]

Killing neuman in that way felt like such a shock value kill. The only thing it was good for is to show the power level of the Butcher parasite. Such a waste of a good character.

[Brax_animation]

My favorite shock kill this season had to be Ryan messing up the fake save & throwing the stunt man into a building

[alexanderwinn]

The Boys acted like "webs coming from his butt" is a funny and shockingly new idea, when they literally made that same joke in Spider-Man No Way Home. "Does it just come from your wrists, or does it come from... anywhere else?"

[agt_pendergast]

I'm kind of at the point where I don't care much for the titular "Boys" and am just on board to see how crazy Homelander gets and how it all ends.

[EmilyDunn-hz]

You're so right about Sage. The writers just declared her a genius without any work behind it.

And yeah, it is hard to write smart characters. Don't do it without a plan.

[Toxodos]

yeah, this season you really felt the formula of "problem -> get leverage on a superhero, including something gross/sexual -> solution -> also butcher shows up and looks mean"

[MoarCheeseBirb]

Brown Widow from venture bros, they did a butt web spiderman 14 years ago.

[TheCoolestGeekEver]

Every scene with Colin and the Deep's Octopus should have been replaced with scenes where we learn more about Sage but, more importantly, the Shifter.
Season 4, in my opinion, was really missing the presence a "Big Bad" character. Like season 2's Stormfront and season 3's Solider Boy.
Think of how much more suspenseful this season would have been if we were introduced to the Shifter early in the season.
We could've seen her take down targets from her perspective. Seen more of her character and little personal ticks.
She could've been played by a different actress in each episode so the audience would have to look out for those ticks to sus out who the Shifter might be.
She proudly proclaimed to be a sociopath! They could've really built her up to be Season 4's "Big Bad". But Instead we don't even know her name.