Amazon Prime Video’s The Boys has never been the type of show to shy away from…well, anything really. Whether it’s a boat viscerally impaling a whale at full speed, a hopped-up supe crushing a man’s skull with her thighs, or an uninhibited sex party where supes infuse their powers into the debauchery (which even scarred some of the actors involved in the shoot), few things are off-limits. However, beneath all this irreverence lies a sharp political and social satire of the United States that very much keeps its finger on the pulse, which has never been more apparent than its recently released fourth season.
This was made clear from the opening scene, as vice presidential candidate and industry-planted, head-popping supe Victoria Neumann steps on-stage at a rally while the Sex Pistols’ anti-establishment anthem “God Save the Queen” non-diegetically rages on. This sets the scene for our titular group, who, working with the CIA, are on a covert operation to assassinate Neumann on behalf of her own presidential running mate, Robert Ringer (Jim Beaver), who has been made aware of the fact that he unwittingly selected a murderous supe as his vice president and knows that the moment he were to take office, she is one heartbeat away from the presidency, “My fucking heartbeat,” exclaims Singer. The mentioning of the January 6th presidential certification during this particular scene, which takes place after the failed assassination of Neumann, is no coincidence either, as the sheer utterance of the word evokes memories of the insurrection in the Capital Building by Donald Trump supporters.
However, it is not Neumann who represents Trump in The Boys, but rather her co-conspirator who is pulling many of the strings to put her in office, Homelander (Anthony Starr). As the series continued past its first season, it became ever more apparent that he is a searing indictment of Trumpism, with Homelander embodying both the man and the movement through his cynical politics, self-serving agenda, racist views, and clear instability that is only bolstered by a malignant narcissism, inflated ego, and constant pursuit of approval. What’s strange, though, is that a notable portion of fans are only now picking up on its overt satire of Trumpism as the show doubles down on its political commentary, with this season sporting a notably low and “Rotten” audience score, despite the general acclaim it has received from critics. While there are undoubtedly those who are simply dissatisfied with the opening three episodes of this season, it still likely hints at review bombing from a disaffected minority offended by its political leanings.
Meanwhile, the show’s creator and showrunner, Eric Kripke, could care less.
In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Kripke acknowledges that he may lose viewers over their more politicised approach to the series, telling them to “Go watch something else,” as the conservative go-to phrase “woke” is being launched at the show’s latest season. Kripke further concedes, “The show’s many things. Subtle is not one of them”, and this is certainly true as Butcher (Karl Urban), Hughie (Jack Quaid), and The Boys delve into the world of far-right media figures and conspiracy theorists, headlined by series newcomer Firecracker (Valorie Curry), who they encounter at a conspiracy theory convention called “Truthcon”. They are initially there tracking another supe, Sister Sage (Susan Heyward), whose power makes her the most intelligent being on the planet, rightfully leading Frenchie (Tomer Capone) to wonder, “Why is the world’s smartest person in a place such as this?” Well, she is there to recruit the rabble-rousing Firecracker, who admits that she, like many figures in far-right media, don’t actually believe what they are peddling, but instead seek to stoke the flames of the disenfranchised, essentially telling them what they want to hear rather than, you know, the truth.
In its fourth, penultimate season The Boys has wholly embraced its identity as the real U.S. election grows ever closer and debates over the future of the country heats up. It manages to mirror much of the recent ongoing issues in a manner only surpassed by South Park in its immediacy, such as Homelander’s trial for murdering a civilian in broad daylight just because he threw an object at his (invulnerable) son, which seems like an amalgamation of Trump’s recent criminal trial and when he famously said, “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose any voters.”
There are still five episodes to air, but it’s borderline unimaginable that Kripke and other likeminded creatives behind the show, such as Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, will take their foot off the pedal as it careens towards a fifth and final season, whose story will likely be influenced by the outcome of the presidential election in November.