‘The Boys’ Season 4 Episode 8 Review - An Underwhelming Finale

The fourth season of The Boys has finally concluded, and it was quite underwhelming. In the eighth episode, there's a scene where Hughie talks about how he used to faint at the sight of blood but has now become desensitized to it. Similarly, we used to find The Boys' wild violence and concept fresh and innovative, but now we accept it as normal, although still entertaining. The kills are still over-the-top, gory, and shocking, but we don't react to them as enthusiastically as we did when we first saw them during the first season. Season 4's quality declined significantly. The first five episodes were mediocre at best, while the others (6 and 7) were just enjoyable. It's the actors who mainly sustained your interest. However, while watching the season finale, we wonder how long this show will rely on the strength of its actors. Will things improve in the next and final season?

So much happens in Episode 8, yet it all feels so little. Hughie continues his sexual adventures with the Shifter Annie. This psychopath - no, sociopath - decides to take the relationship to the next level. She proposes to Hughie, and he, all happy and excited, gives her the engagement ring. The shapeshifter might have taken the form of Annie, but she isn't able to stop herself from leaving behind clues regarding her actual identity. You can listen to the list from Hughie's lips when he talks about them to calm down Annie. Butcher, lying on a hospital bed, accepts his impending death. He refuses to fight. All that changes when Ryan walks in to meet him. The two boys play a game and have a good time, but Mallory feels tired of waiting. She discloses Homelander's dirty shenanigans to Ryan and asks for his help so suddenly, so desperately, that what happens next doesn't feel very surprising. Butcher takes Ryan's action as an indication that he has to embrace his dark side. And so he reunites with The Boys, who are seen with Neuman and her superhero kid. Hughie requests Butcher to trust him. He is the only character who is tired of fighting. Butcher, though, lives up to his name, and...well, it would be better if you see for yourself what he ends up doing.

What are Neuman and her daughter doing with Hughie and the team? You see, Homelander reveals Neuman's real identity on Live TV, and after a failed assassination attempt and a threatening phone call from Homelander, she decides to take her daughter and flee the country. Neuman calls Hughie to ask for his help, and he obliges. Meanwhile, Mother's Milk constantly urges Frenchie to speed up the process of creating the Supe-killing virus, which leaves him somewhat annoyed. What else? Let's see. Ashley injects herself with Compound V (I am excited to see what her superpowers would be), Sister Sage takes the credit for everything and walks away with a mischievous, vengeful look in her eyes, and Homelander looks at Soldier Boy's body during the post-credits scene. Even characters from Gen V make an appearance before the end credits. When Donald Trump was convicted on 34 felony charges, a picture of Homelander's trial was released, and people established a connection between the two things. What would happen if the reality of the American elections turns out to be something along the lines of those final few scenes? When real life also seems so bleak, how will the audience find the energy to laugh at The Boys' brutality?

Final Score- [6/10]