So The Boys had a pretty good season. I was really looking forward to the finale and wound up pretty disappointed as they did something that I just didn’t buy for most of the characters, or what they had set up and it wound up just taking me right out of the show.
I hate when that happens!
SPOILERS BELOW!
So for most of the season Butcher and Hughie are after Homelander as should be everyone’s stated goal. They find themselves with Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles) a thawed out throwback. He was the original less crazy Homelander. He can steal supes powers so they point him at the flag wearing maniac with the understanding that collateral damage, indeed even their lives, don’t matter.
Oh both of them are taking Temp V giving themselves Superpowers for 24 hour time periods. There’s a bunch of other stuff going on but the finale is all our characters coming together for the Soldier Boy vs. Homelander showdown in which only Maeve has a brain.
Soldier Boy or Homelander?
Well MM at least has a good reason for wanting Soldier Boy dead and he’s consistent throughout the season. The others are all dumbasses.
Homelander has Ryan so Butcher after everything turns on Soldier Boy. And okay, admittedly I don’t give a flying fuck about the kid, but it seems stupid. Stupid. Stupid. I mean Soldier Boy isn’t great but, other than the PTSD explosions, he seems at least reflective. Plus he’s willing to talk and you can distract him with drugs and booze. Not to mention the fact that by the time they get to this point they know a weakness take him down!
To me there is no question- let him try for Homelander (who we find out is actually his son!) and then take him out if you have to!
I mean the list of shit Homelander does even this season would be too long. He’s a near invulnerable killer who truly believes he’s a God and can do what he wants. I mean he lays out in great detail how he’s going to destroy everything and take over the country for Starlight. He also kills a friend of hers whose trying to help and she’s still like…
Oh Soldier Boy we must stop him!
Ugh the scene where Homelander and Butcher where going after Soldier Boy together with their laser eyes. Maybe it was supposed to be a moment but it just made me roll my non-laser eyes.
Ryan Would Have Lived
Soldier Boy’s power was kind of inconsistent. He seemed to be able to take Super’s powers in an explosion. But they themselves all seemed to survive the explosions. So Ryan, whose pretty powerful, would likely have lived.
Not to mention the fact his wildly overpowered father was standing between him and Soldier Boy. So he would have been fine!
I mean Maeve pushed Soldier Boy out the window and was hugging him when he exploded- survived that and the fall! Which only makes them doing that to save Ryan even more pointless. Because that’s kind of what the whole story amounted to. It was pointless.
They may have depowered Homelander- that would have been an interesting twist. But why bother? They did that with Kimiko (oh Kimiko she, Hughie and Black Noir deserve their own posts) and she just took some more V to get them back.
So what was the point of any of it?
The Ending/ Soldier Boy’s Fate
We get an ending shot of The Boys, now including Annie, standing around watching a video of head-popper Victoria (whose betrayal sent Hughie down his spiral) now the vice-presidential nominee. Butcher’s like, ‘that bitch has to go…’
Meanwhile we have Homelander over at Vought Tower literally kill a civilian in front of crowds of witnesses while Ryan smiles and they don’t use that. He’s worse than ever and Soldier Boy is back on ice. Which… why?
If you wanted a twist you could have had him realistically team up with his son! Frankly the battle for Ryan’s soul doesn’t really interest me. Soldier Boy was set up to be a fairly compelling character with a lot of differences that might have played off Homelander well.
But I know some people who believe Soldier Boy was worse than Homelander. Considering what’s one screen agree to disagree on that one. They are in a conundrum because Homelander and Antony Starr are iconic parts of the show but also I’m getting a little tired of him. I mean if it was me with the facts presented I would have let Soldier Boy take his shot at Homelander- sorry kid.