The Boys Season 4 Episode 1 Mostly Spoiler Free Review
The Boys are back in town! This is one of my favorite series and I feel like episode 1 of the new season definitely delivers the goods. Homelander is on trial for murder, If you recall, at the end of the last season, a protester threw a plastic bottle at Homelander’s son Ryan. Homelander decided to execute him with his laser beam eyes on the spot, The crowd, who were mostly supporters of Homelander, were stunned and silent at first before one person cheered and the rest followed along.
That scene set the tone for what season 4 would be getting into, how far can those in power go and will people still support them when they do go over the line? The answer here is yes, they will support the despicable acts of their savior. The first episode really seeks to play off these political themes as we see the Sarlighters lining up on one side, the anti sup movement that has started to form vs the superheroes of Vought, the Seven who are living less and less like the heroes they pretend to be.
On the other side of things there has been some change in the hierarchy of the Boys, with Mothers Milk in charge and Butcher almost on the outside looking in now. Starlight has ditched her costume and now goes by Annie January although the movement named after her is not so quick to adapt to the change as they still see her from her Starlight days.
Butcher on the other hand can't stay away from the Boy’s even though they don't really trust him at this point there is always something that he will either force himself into or manipulate others into going along with. His main focus seems to be on freeing Ryan from his father Homelands grasp so that he doesnt grow up to be something evil and also as a way to honor the kids now deceased mother Becca who as we know is Butcher's ex-wife. Also as he knows he has 6 months to live this serves as a way to give his last days some meaning to them.
We see glimpses of what new heroes are to come, Firecracker is a national figure somewhat in the vein of some real far right figures.With a flamboyant attitude she talks about unfounded conspiracy theories as a way to pander to her base and demonize the other side being the more left leaning aforementioned Starlighters.
We also get to see Homeland actor Antony Starr flex his acting muscles with some brilliant facial expressions as he talks to versions of himself in the mirror. We next see him in plain clothes, something I don't recall we have seen yet. He is meeting another possible recruit, one who might be more willing to speak out against him when he is wrong, which an earlier scene shows is something severely lacking in the Seven.
The first episode for me was a banger, really kicks off the new season and its intrigues quite well. I'm looking forward to what else they have in store for the remaining episodes!!
