‘The Boys’ Season 4 Episode 5 Review - A Bloody Family Bonding

A Comic Con-like event with a Marvel-like movie announcement takes place in the fifth episode of The Boys, and your response to this shallow commentary is, "Really?" The Boys once used to feel like an antidote to the superhero fatigue, but it's slowly turning into the very thing it so openly makes fun of and criticizes. Episode 5 says that all those men in suits who announce their movies with words like "Phase 1" or "Phase 5" give you nothing but an empty, trite cinematic experience. The superhero factory mechanically churns out shiny products that superficially target the woke audience. Basically, all those "Phase" lineups are dull corporate productions that treat the audience as money-dispensing customers. Without an iota of creativity or intelligence, the shows and movies merely overcrowd the market.

All that's fine, but it's funny that such a statement comes from The Boys, given it itself has grown into a franchise consisting of animated anthologies and spin-off shows that want to run for multiple seasons. Its ideas are becoming thin, and it's losing its freshness. Thankfully, the actors continue to pull you into the show even when the material seems mediocre. Karl Urban relishes every line that comes out of his mouth, and Karen Fukuhara's smile is heartwarming. Claudia Doumit brings in the perfect balance of vulnerability and swagger, and Jack Quaid looks so fragile that you think he will break into a million emotional pieces at any time. Cameron Crovetti, as Ryan, appears to be walking between innocence and megalomania. He is very exposed to outside influence. Ryan wants to do the right thing, but the company he keeps is far from virtuous. Observe how Homelander manipulates Ryan after expressing how terrible it feels to be treated like a puppet. He makes Ryan punish a man who harasses a woman. The boy orders the woman to slap the man, and she follows his order. Ryan enjoys the scene, thinking he has made the right decision. What he doesn't realize, and what we clearly see, is that he is getting high on his power. This is how people like Homelander come into existence.

Another thing that becomes apparent to us is the side effect of Compound V on Hughie's dad. When he asks his son if he knows where his mother went, we realize that his situation is heading towards disaster. Well, it turns out to be a bloody disaster. Daddy Dear disappears through walls and bodies and gets stuck on the chest of a patient. The Boys really knows how to use its imagination for murders. It throws in V'd up chicken, bull, and sheep. The violent chaos is amusing. Episode 5 is all about closure and family bonding. Victoria and Stan mend their relationship, Hughie lets his dad go off in peace, and it looks as if Homelander will successfully create a psychopath out of Ryan - they might end up bonding over dead bodies. What a cunt Homelander is.

Final Score- [5.5/10]