[This review contains spoilers for the final episode of 'The Boys' Season 4]
'Make America super again!' a visibly exuberant and emotional Firecracker (Valorie Curry) of the Seven announces, as she tells the world that the Supes (superheroes in The Boys universe) are 'heralding' a new era under the all-powerful Homelander (Antony Starr) and the new sworn-in government which is under his thumb, as the lights go out on the season 4 finale of Amazon Prime Video series.
With show creator Eric Kripke having already announced the fifth season of The Boys as its final one, all bets are essentially off.
While this season may have been polarising and somewhat scattered -- given the many plots points and characters pursuing their own agendas, amid all the allegiance flip-flops in almost every episode -- it does end up culminating in a decent rounded-off climax. A dark hell-hole for the US of A in general, but nevertheless, it does.
But, it also sets off a do-or-die storyline in motion for the 'heroes', as the wait for season 5 begins, with some likely to get redemption, while others might gain a glimmer of hope in the big bad world of supes.
When the assassination attempt on President-elect Dakota Bob Singer, which Homelander's hired brain Sage (Susan Heyward) orchestrated fails after the shape-shifter Annie/Starlight is caught and killed on the job by the real one, VP-elect Victoria Neuman wants out of the machinations. Why?
Homelander is now totally unhinged, having already outed her as a Supe on live TV. He lashes out and threatens her and her daughter Zoe, forcing Neuman to turn to her friend-turned-foe Hughie in her time of desperation, wanting help and protection. In return, Stan Edgar's protegee promises dirt to take down Vought, and it seems like forgiveness is the way forward when they all grudgingly team up to decide the further course of action. However, a Doctor Octopus-esque Billy Butcher throws a wrench in the works. 'F*cking diabolical,' right?!
He kills Neuman, takes the Supe-killing virus which Frenchie has finally managed to squeeze out of Kimiko's infected leg and exits cool as a cucumber, with his teammates left gaping at his receding back. A real bummer for Hughie and co's plan!
But in the end, things turn out the way Sage had envisioned all along, albeit with a few hiccups. Homelander gets where he intended to, his grip firmly on the White House. As Sage tells the latter when he has seemingly given everything up after the failed assassination attempt, she did it to just see 'if she could '.
The Ryan-Butcher-Mallory scene packs a punch and how it ends is probably what pushes Butcher to make a choice, and seemingly turn on what feels like the calculative unhinged version (egged on by a phantom Kessler) we see later. One can't help but notice the parallels between what they try to do to Ryan and what was done to his father growing up -- a point Homelander's son realises all too well. Despite learning the truth, Ryan chooses to go back, but now that he knows of Homelander's skeletons, it remains to be seen where the young and powerful supe is headed in the final season.
As Homelander cements his position of power, actually and proverbially, his orders are clear, to round up the deeply embedded Starlight supporters and the Boys -- which are done quickly enough.
The United States is finally in the throes of chaos and all Supe-ed up -- patriotic just as they had imagined.
The parallels between the show and the America that Republicans have envisioned in the 'Presidential Transition Project 2025' -- something they plan to make active if Donald Trump wins -- are hard to miss. The Boys has often drawn parallels or made commentary on the American society in earlier seasons as well, with 'Supe lives matter' a clear nod to the 'White lives matter' chant that have rung out in recent times in the land of the free, home of the brave.
The episode earlier titled 'Assassination Run' saw its name change after the assassination attempt on Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally last week.
In the aftermath of the event which has significantly changed the landscape of the Presidential election campaign, Amazon and The Boys showrunners had to put out a disclaimer before the episode aired.
The final season before the curtain call on the series which has shown superheroes in a very different light -- all too human and fallible, will probably see Billy Butcher going off the deep end for what he thinks is for the greater good, but whether or not it works out for him or he goes out in epic gore-filled glory is yet to be seen.
P.S. Soldier Boy's (Jensen Ackles) seeped-in-ice cameo sets up a scope for the OG Supe's possible comeback in the final scheme of things. Yay!