The Boys Season 5

Last Wednesday, the final season of The Boys was released on Amazon Prime Video. Season 5 of The Boys finished up the story of Hughie, Billy, and their team as they take one final stand to take down Homelander. I have really enjoyed the previous seasons of this show and hoped this final season would end with a bang.

In general, I was happy with how this season turned out. Just like the previous seasons, it features a ton of carnage and edgy moments as it brings a sort of bad boy energy to television. It also continues to do a good job of providing satire to modern political moments, corporations, and superhero franchises. I thought the finale did a good job of closing out everyone's arcs. Each character got an ending that fit with their journey over the previous seasons of the show. There was nothing that ruined the show as a whole or stepped on anyone's toes with how things turned out. It isn't a Game of Thrones type of ending. While the season doesn't upset anybody, it also doesn't shy away from major deaths. It isn't like Stranger Things, where no major characters die at the end. This show has several major deaths by the end of its season. Because of this, there end up being a lot of emotional moments that hit you throughout the season. As a whole, when the show ended, I was pretty happy with how everything ended up.

However, while the ending was fine, I wouldn't call it an amazing season that ended with a bang. I felt that this season should have gone bigger with how it ended things. While the actual endings were satisfying, getting there made me feel like things were a bit lacking. Even the posters tease a bigger finale than what actually happens. But at the same time, with a show like this, it is really hard to deliver an ending that meets everyone's expectations. I also felt that the pivot of the final plan was a bit odd; it made things feel rushed in the final couple of episodes. I felt that there may have been better planning with both seasons 4 and 5 to make things line up better. These last two seasons are definitely not as good as the first three.

Overall, I wouldn't consider this finale a grand slam or a whimper. It is just somewhere in the middle. Everything was entirely satisfying, but it definitely wasn't as big as it could have been. I would put it in the same boat as Stranger Things. It wasn’t a disappointing finale, but it didn’t live up to the hype either.

Score: 8.5/10 Grade: A- Recommendation: This is a must-see show