Spoiler alert: Dont access youtube if Boys stuff pops up in your feed . Went to check on forner PM Abe's story and the first video was a big spoiler from the finale

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this episode is brought to you by the letter D

 

Yeah, same thing happened to me. Fairly minor spoiler, but still, hours away from the show airing and "Here's ____ doing ____ in the climactic end fight scene!"

 

This had some unexpected turns, overall I wished the final battle turned out a bit differently... I had expected, especially after we gotten some insight into Soldier Boy that he would resent Homelander for being just as bad as he is, and that deep down he knew he was terrible. In the end we barely got a fight between him and Homelander, as he was mostly fighting Starlight and the Boys.
Glad for the resolution for Maeve, she got to go toe to toe with Homelander and not die stupidly and easily like in the comics (I think it was on purpose that she never used her sword, knowing it cannot harm him - in the comic it turns out to be a prop which I guess she somehow never knew, and Homelander decapitates her with it).
I think given what happens at the end we are going to see the final arc of the comic happening, just more... smart. I like that we gotten glimpses that despite his narcissism and craziness Homelander does have an understanding of how things work. He is going to take over the USA, just not with brute force like in the comics.
Was bummed though that

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after all the flashbacks and support from his imaginary friends, Black Noir just dies in a stupid way. He should have realized after learning that Homelander knows who his father was that he will be pissed.

Liked that A-Train was again showing what an egocentric idiot he is, and how his brother hated him even more for taking such stupid murderous revenge for his crippling.

That ending though, especially with

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Ryan seemingly being OK with all... Can't help but feel we are getting something similar to the end of The Strain with how our protagonist's son joins the main villain but will realize his error and help take him down at the end.

Butcher will likely end up taking permanent V to cure himself, and become even more like the people he hates.
I loved that Hughie was not going for a stupid sacrifice to take the temporary V to help, but used his brains and helped Starlight in a more indirect manner.

And now his wife told the whole world what he REALLY does.
Man that guy, when you think he has hit bottom, turns out he can go DEEPER.  

 

Spoiler: Thoughts on the Season Finale

It was very deflating to have that build up to a confrontation between Billy Butcher's gang and Homelander only to back out of it through Ryan. Billy was using Soldier Boy as a necessary evil to take out the greater evil and all of that is undone because the near-indestructible child was hit? Billy could've simply ran out with Ryan while Homelander, Queen Maeve, and Soldier Boy killed each other. Instead, he has a pseudo team-up with Homelander against Soldier Boy, who apparently is now the bigger threat. That whole contrived scenario reeks of the showrunners trying to bide their time. Homelander can't go scorched Earth just yet, otherwise you don't have a show.

The finale also felt very toothless with how it made sure nothing too significant happened. Sure, Black Noir is seemingly dead, but he was far from the biggest character. He was only starting to be developed an episode prior to being killed off. Meanwhile, Queen Maeve can survive falling multiple stories and be in ground zero of Soldier Boy's discharge with non-life-threatening injuries. This show can hardly critique other Superhero properties when it falls for the same pitfalls they do. Namely, their being no consequences and being an excuse to have multiple spin-offs.

Lastly, Kimiko's whole development this season was undone with her gleefully mutilating a bunch of nameless security guards while listening to music. She said she wanted her powers back to protect the people she cared about like Frenchie. Instead, she revels in the violence that she was supposedly disgusted with and Frenchie gets injured in the process.

 

It was kind of stupid how most of the crew thought stopping Soldier Boy was a bigger priority than Homelander. Asshole as he is, at least he’s not an omnicidal maniac that’s one small push away from going through with it

 

I agree, atleast SB just wanted to kill his team for abandoning him and HL wants to kill everyone. Butcher wanting to save stupid ass Ryan is also lame since he is showing to switch sides by going with HL and he also killed Becka, Ryan is not even his blood. The first 7 episodes was great and the ending was kinda lame.

 

A dude with serious PTSD who can nuke whole neighborhoods is an issue, but at least its an answer for him as Butcher on TempV was able to hold his own for the most part, so ganging up on SB is an option. I think thats the difference between Butcher (and Maeve) and the rest of the Boys, there is no answer for Homelander, take care of him and everything else is manageable.

 

Brilliant finale, 8 episodes, 8 bangers. Top notch.

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Homelander finding Ryan was a hype way to start the episode. For all his many, many, many issues, he does genuinely love Ryan.

Frenchie and MM's scene was quite emotional. Their relationship has come a long way since their reunion in S1. MM's scene in the final moments with Janine was fantastic. Owning the trauma of his past and letting her know her family history, telling her about a real hero. I think MM might be the de facto leader of the Boys in S4. Frenchie being such an incredible chemist that he was able to whip up nerve agent in Vought's lab and Kimiko leaving him to save the others was a great development moment for her - like Frenchie has moved into standing up & being his own authority (the vacations & dental plan line was hilarious), she's doing good now and isn't just acting to protect only one person (her brother and then Frenchie).

I teared up at Noir's death. Superb acting by Starr (what's new). The scene with Homelander, A-Train, the Deep and Ashley was so intense, amazing. Him saying he expected the Seven to be his family was a great character beat.

A-Train's scene with Nate was also sad. Hard to tell where we'll find him and what he'll do in S4. Deep is probably going to put on weight; but he's settled into his role as Homelander's henchman.

Hughie gaining new appreciation for his father and realizing what true strength is was awesome. Him rejecting the V24 in the end and instead supporting & empowering Annie was a brilliant thematic (and cathartic) closure of his seasonal character arc. Annie's power up, allowing her to be the one to knock down SB to create the opening to gas him was badass. Her getting rid of her costume and becoming an official member of the Boys could be quite fun.

Loved Butcher and SB's scene talking about their fathers. The inter-generational trauma just doesn't end - this was a great perspective into SB's persona, and it was (another) harrowing look of abuse. However, no wonder they worked together so well, SB takes the torch from Butcher for 'acknowledging our screwed up childhoods yet still repeating them full force' - him referring to Homelander as a disappointment like he had been was striking. Butcher & Homelander ever so briefly teaming up felt so wrong but was so exhilarating in that moment.

The final fight was too cool. The power levels make sense - Homelander during the first half didn't want to fight her & was trying not to hurt Maeve and while bloodying his nose & stabbing him through the ear were very impressive feats, she did absolutely no lasting damage on him whilst he completely messed her up (the eye-gouge was gross). While he's the strongest being to ever exist, this means that he's never trained whereas Maeve has & did so non-stop for the year - again she wasn't harming him, but she was knocking him over and back because she was the more skilled combatant who knew how to fight. An awesome moment for her, allowing her to finally get some back on her abuser. Strong "final" moments with her too tackling SB out the window and saving everyone from his blast. It would have been a great death, but I like how she secretly survived and instead gets to go off and live a quiet, peaceful life without powers. Ashley deleting the footage was another awesome moment - she finally revealed her own humanity and did the right thing, allowing one person to escape the horror of Vought.

Todd is 110% a POS confirmed . Homelander has unveiled his son to the world, embraced the wackos as his base and seen that he can literally get away with murder with them. Things will probably get worse before they get better...

Butcher collapsing and being given months left to live feels massive. One of our main two being on a countdown is crazy. I suppose a cure story for S4 is possible but this really makes me feel that, even if he gets a cure or life extension, that Butcher will die in the final episodes of the series. The Boys trying to take out VP Neuman in S4 will be cracking.

An ending that firmly tips more to the bitter side than sweet of the bittersweet ending equation. Butcher started the season the best we've ever seen him having a great relationship with his wife's child. He went as bad as he's ever been in this season, doubling down on his worst traits and instincts instead. Now the season ended in the inverse of the prior season - he wrecked everything; he's largely lost his team's respect, he's living on borrowed time and he pushed Ryan to his father. This was how it played out for all the characters this season - for the most part, those who acknowledged their hurt & worked to move past their nature and do the right thing were awarded and (despite the struggles & lows) wound up in a better place than they were, whereas the characters who couldn't wound up stuck in a lousy spot (Butcher, A-Train's brother crippled & hating him, the Deep being humiliated by his wife and lodged in the role of Homelander's stooge, SB back in the box, Payback all dead, Edgar ousted from Vought). Consistent and followed through storytelling.

Somehow this was better than S2. The best comic-book adaptation tv season and show of all time, in my opinion. With this season in the bank, and all the incredible work in every single front on these three seasons, I believe The Boys can be included in the annals of the greatest tv series in history.

 

I like the episode but I didn’t love it like the rest of the season. There was good surprises but it felt like the show used the season finally budget and feeling on Herogasm.

I still look forward to Season 4.

 

Yeah....its a dumb show...   I only watch it now because....well...I have watched all the other episodes and I am up til all hours of the night anyway so why not? ARE there any good superheroes in that universe, really? Starlight, yes...Maeve...sometimes but she has had her terrible moments. I cannot think of anyone else in the whole show? Hmm...

 

Supersonic seemed like one of the good ones before Homelander murdered him.

 

I was going to say things but you summed it up nicely. Oh well. I guess we have to wait for the finale of the entire series to get some actual changes and consequences. The only thing I will add is that it felt like this whole season was an excuse to show Herogasm.

 

It's a Garth Ennis adaptation of a story that features superheroes. No, there isn't. That's the point. Garth Ennis cannot under circumstances believe that people with superpowers could be anything other than lethally dangerous shit-bags.

The TV series producers actually cut down the shitty-ness of some characters. Which I appreciate.

 

THE BOYS Showrunner Eric Kripke Confirms That We Haven't Seen The Last Of [SPOILER]

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Queen Maeve may return from retirement.

"We were intentionally building to a happy ending for her, always." Eric Kripke tells TV Line. "She deserved it. Believe it or not, The Boys is a moral universe, and when you make the right choices, you get rewarded, and she deserved a happy ending with Elena.”


So could Black Noir,

“Here’s what I will say for Black Noir fans mourning his passing: A completely silent masked superhero is super easy to recast. And there’s a reason they haven’t told the public that Noir is dead. So this is not the last we’ve seen of Noir. This is just the last we’ve seen of that version.”

That has some interesting implications. This paves the way for a new version, who's a clone of a specific character, if they wish to adapt that angle.

 

The fandom has kind of turned against the show with the finale… crazy how all it can take is one episode… how season 4 turns out will be crucial.

 

One bad apple spoils the bunch. Look no further than Game of Thrones for how quick fans can turn on a show. I do feel bad for the actor playing Ryan. I think he’s going to experience a lot of needless vitriol for the writing on the show.

 

The whole generational, possibly genetic, daddy issues was a over the top in a bad way. If they'd limited it too the established stuff with Butcher and Homelander shit home lives it wouldn't have been as bad. But making Soldier boy Homelander's sperm donor, which they then doubled down by giving him near the same issues. This plus the handing down of trauma that Butcher was engaging in with Ryan put it too far. Of course Ryan was going to run to Homelander, Butcher forcibly rejected him. I guess it was meant to balance Starlight/Wee Hugie, MM and his daughter, Frenchie/The female having to work at and fix their relationships and having something like growth, self awareness, and possibly even maturity. But it was a bit much.

 

I enjoyed all 7 episodes but yeah the final was a downer also read something that said the final was written by a first time writer for the show. If true that is an odd choice. I also think some characters on the show have too much plot armor not asking for an onslaught but I feel certain characters can die and not much would change with the overall storyline.