'The Boys' Season 5 Review: Prime Video's Superhero Show Is Set to End on a Diabolical High Note

Through all its highs and lows, The Boys has become one of the most popular series since debuting on Prime Videoin the summer of 2019. Eric Kripke's highly political superhero satire, based on the controversial comic series by Garth Ennis, has been made into a franchise of its own for Amazon. So far, that includes two spin-offs — the animated anthology The Boys Presents: Diabolical and the YA farce Gen V — and two more on the way, a prequel titled Vought Rising and a Mexico-set series titled The Boys: Mexico. Amidst these projects, the flagship series is finally coming to an end with its fifth season.

While it's often bittersweet to bid farewell to shows, especially those that you've grown emotionally attached to (even with all of its depravity), now is the most natural time for The Boys to end. The first three seasons were exceptional, but the fourth season was where the cracks began to show. How long is it going to take for Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) to finally kill the super-fascist Homelander (Antony Starr), or vice versa? The first seven episodes of Season 5 don't answer that, but they are an indication that Kripke is ending his raunchy, hyperviolent superhero sensation on a high note.

What Is 'The Boys' Season 5 About?

A year after being captured by Homelander's forces, the Boys are each facing their own demons. Billy Butcher, now with tentacle powers courtesy of Compound V, is on the run as a fugitive of the law. Annie January, aka Starlight (Erin Moriarty), is also on the run, and her Starlighter movement is struggling to stay afloat. Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) was able to break free from one of Homelander's Freedom Camps and is hiding out in the Philippines. Reggie Campbell, aka A-Train (Jessie T. Usher), is attempting to keep his family safe in a small coastal village in France. Hughie Campbell (Jack Quaid), Mother's Milk (Laz Alonso), and Frenchie (Tomer Capone) are still imprisoned, plotting their escape and trying to inspire hope in other detainees.

Homelander has become more feared than ever before, with the help of Vought's new CEO, Sister Sage (Susan Heyward). Vought's former CEO, Ashley Barrett (Colby Minifie), has not only become a Supe herself, but is now the Vice President of the United States and is married to the corrupt clergy Supe, Oh Father (Daveed Diggs). The Deep (Chace Crawford), now hosting a Manosphere podcast for Vought, is still staunchly aligned with Homelander, but Black Noir II (Nathan Mitchell) and Firecracker (Valorie Curry) have become increasingly paranoid of what's to come — especially as Homelander's latest plot is his most far-fetched to date, and the re-emergence of Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles) has increased the tension within the Seven.

If you've seen any trailers for Season 5, you already know that the titular team reunites, but things are not the same. Relationships have been strained, their methods are backfiring worse than ever, and they're forced to keep pivoting in their resistance against Homelander's tyranny. Although The Boys Season 4 was where the plot began to be stretched thin, Season 5 is a satisfying culmination of Kripke's irreverent superhero saga.

'The Boys' Season 5 Still Finds Unexpected Ways To Shock You

The Boys has never been the kind of series that plays it safe. Over the past four seasons, viewers have seen superpowered orgies, penis explosions, countless bodies being exploded into gooey mush, and adult breastfeeding, just to name a few. Kripke and the writers thankfully focus on story first in the fifth and final season, but that's not to say they aren't still finding grotesque, disturbing, and morbidly amusing ways to make you gasp. While other popular series have often been afraid to kill off major characters, the final season of The Boys ​​​​​​shows no fear of such a thing. Even when characters do meet their untimely end, the weight is felt, and arcs are concluded in an emotionally satisfying fashion.

The final season is juggling a lot, diving headfirst into timely themes of weaponizing religion and fascism, and following over a dozen different characters. Certain characters, such as Hughie, A-Train, and Mother's Milk, are sidelined at times, but they each get big moments in the first seven episodes. For a large chunk of The Boys' run, the romance between Annie and Hughie has served as the beating heart of the series, but Season 5 shifts focus to Frenchie and Kimiko's relationship. While these two may be surrounded by tragedy, their love provides a welcome glimmer of hope.

One of the biggest concerns going into The Boys Season 5 was whether fans needed to have watched both seasons of Gen V beforehand. Big franchises like the MCU have made spin-offs that are required viewing before the next movie, and it has almost always backfired. Fortunately, that isn't the case here. Some of the exposition dialogue recapping the events of Gen V Season 2 can feel forced, and fans may be disappointed that the characters from that series don't play a bigger role in the first seven episodes. One episode also teases what to expect from Vought Rising, but that exposition doesn't feel out of place in the overall season.

'The Boys' Season 5 Is on Track To End the Series on a High Note

It's difficult to please every viewer with the final season of a hit TV series. So far, The Boys Season 5 isn't playing things too safely, but it also doesn't betray what has come before. Kripke and the writers are fully aware that not every episode needs to be a set-up to the big battle. In fact, the best episode of Season 5 so far breaks from The Boys' typical formula and opts to tell a vital story via an anthology structure.

Adding in new characters at the very end can also bring mixed results, but Diggs' Oh Father is a perfect new addition to the show. Ackles' Soldier Boy also earns more of an opportunity to spar with Homelander after making his big return; Ackles and Starr have irresistible chemistry, and the final season fully embraces their complicated father-son dynamic. Fukuhara's Kimiko has been with the series from the start, but she operates in a far different capacity than we've ever seen her before. She's still a tragic badass, but she also has a mouth that shakes up her romance with Frenchie in an interesting way.

Prime Video has been holding the series finale back for now, which makes perfect sense, but if the last episode can maintain the quality of the previous seven, The Boys Season 5 may just be one of the show's best. It has all the gore, dark comedy, action, and vulgarity that you would expect, while also never veering too far out of control ahead of the final hour. In the words of Billy Butcher, Season 5 is bloody diabolical.

The first two episodes of The Boys Season 5 premiere April 8 on Prime Video.