<\/p>\n
The Boys<\/span><\/p>\n Credit: Prime Video<\/small><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n The end is upon us. The final showdown between Homelander and Billy Butcher and the Boys drops this week, and all our burning questions about the finale will be answered. It\u2019s been a very uneven final season of The Boys, <\/em>with last week\u2019s penultimate episode now ranked the lowest of any episode across all five seasons. This finale really needs to stick the landing, but I have my doubts<\/a>.<\/p>\n Forbes<\/span>The 5 Biggest Problems With \u2018The Boys\u2019 Season 5 (And Why It\u2019s Still Mostly Working)<\/span>By Erik Kain<\/span><\/small><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n As we head into the series finale, titled \u201cBlood and Bone\u201d, Homelander (Antony Starr) and his crew of nefarious supes, now with the full backing of both Vought and the US government, are facing off against Starlight (Erin Moriarty), Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) and the rest of the Boys one last time. The finale\u2019s tagline reads: \u201cWith everything at stake, The Boys abandon it all for one final diabolical showdown.\u201d<\/p>\n Read on to find out everything you need to know about The Boys Season 5, Episode 8 plus a recap of the season so far.<\/p>\n New episodes of The Boys release on Wednesdays on Amazon Prime Video at midnight Pacific Time. This is a global release, so Episode 5 will drop at the same time in every region Prime Video is available. Here\u2019s what that translates to in your timezone:<\/p>\n The final episode clocks in at 1 hour and 5 minutes, pretty much in keeping with the rest of the season. Pretty much every episode has been just over an hour in Season 5. Anyone hoping for a super-long series finale is out of luck.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n The Boys<\/span><\/p>\n Credit: Prime Video<\/small><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n Read a full recap of Episodes 1 & 2 right here<\/a>.<\/p>\n One year has passed since the events of Season 4<\/a> and Homelander has solidified his hold over both Vought and the nation. A puppet president is in place. Butcher is on the run while MM (Laz Alonso), Frenchie (Tomer Capone) and Hughie (Jack Quaid) are all detainees in a Vought-run \u201cFreedom Camp\u201d for Starlighter sympathizers and other political prisoners. After Starlight releases the Flight 37 video showing Homelander\u2019s true nature, he vows revenge and has Sister Sage (Susan Heyward) leak that the Boys will be executed in three days. Butcher finds Starlight and Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) and they make an escape plan that goes very badly until A-Train (Jessie T. Usher) shows up and finally does something truly heroic, paying the ultimate price to save the team.<\/p>\n The Boys<\/span><\/p>\n Credit: Prime Video<\/small><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n The Boys escape and move on to the testing stage of Butcher\u2019s plan to release the supe-killing supervirus<\/a> (I think we should call it V-None), which involves breaking into a mansion that houses supe influencers and testing it out on them. Only, Homelander unfreezes his dad, Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles), and sends him after Butcher, withholding information about the super-virus. Things get crazy and two of the influencer supes are infected with the virus and die. Soldier Boy is also infected, but while everyone from Butcher and Starlight to Homelander himself thinks that Soldier Boy is dead, he\u2019s revealed to be very much alive in the end.<\/p>\n The Boys<\/span><\/p>\n Credit: Prime Video<\/small><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n Read a full recap of Episode 3 right here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Instead of going rogue, Soldier Boy returns to The Seven where he\u2019s proclaimed a hero whose reputation was smeared by the \u201clamestream media\u201d and who was framed by Starlight. The Boys head to Stan Edgar\u2019s (Giancarlo Esposito) bunker for help, and Butcher has a chat with Ryan (Cameron Crovetti) that doesn\u2019t go well. Zoe (Olivia Morandin) hitches a ride back to the Boys HQ where she finds her father and tells him Butcher killed her mother, Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit) whereupon the two destroy all remaining samples of the supe-virus. The Boys are tracked down by The Deep (Chace Crawford), Black Noir II (who may be someone other than we think, having gone silent), Cindy and Dogknott and a big fight breaks out, in which Black Noir captures Edgar but is double-crossed by The Deep who takes him back to Homelander. Ryan confronts Homelander and is nearly killed. Starlight abandons Hughie because she worries she can\u2019t protect him.<\/p>\n The Boys<\/span><\/p>\n Credit: Prime Video<\/small><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n Butcher, MM, Frenchie, Kimiko and Hughie head to Fort Harmony<\/a>. This is where Vought ran a bunch of experiments including experiments with V-One, and they\u2019re trying to track down any remaining serum before Homelander can get his grubby paws on it. Meanwhile, Homelander and Soldier Boy are also headed to Fort Harmony, though Homelander doesn\u2019t realize Soldier Boy is actually working against him, urged on by some not-so-subtle hints from Sister Sage. At Fort Harmony, something is wrong and everyone other than Frenchie starts acting angry and hostile. Some underlying tension bubbles to the surface. When they spot Homelander and Soldier Boy, MM and Butcher decide it would be a good idea to go fight them. When Frenchie stops that, they all turn on one another. <\/p>\n Frenchie finds a supe who we later learn is Quinn, effectively growing into the wall. The weird vines throughout the fort are his doing, and he is the source of the pure hatred that\u2019s overcome everyone. Frenchie gets Soldier Boy to kill Quinn, but when the hate effect is gone, Soldier Boy is crushed over what he\u2019s done. Clearly there is a lot of backstory here. Soldier Boy also managed to lock Homelander in a super cell filled with radiation, though it didn\u2019t hold him long. There is no V-One anywhere to be found. Someone else has taken it, likely Bombsight, another hero from Soldier Boy\u2019s time. Meanwhile, Starlight paid a visit to her father who she hasn\u2019t seen since childhood and meets his new family, learning a thing or two in the process. <\/p>\n Oh, and Homelander announces his godhood to the nation, as Vought launches the Democratic Church of America. It\u2019ll be interesting to see how that\u2019s received by the general public.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n The Boys<\/span><\/p>\n Screenshot: Erik Kain<\/small><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n This was the first episode of The Boys to really focus on Firecracker (Valorie Curry) the Vought News talking head and conservative \/ supe-supremacist \/ evangelical Christian rabble-rouser who has been one of Homelander\u2019s biggest supporters. We\u2019ve seen her conflicted over her boss\u2019s claims this season. Homelander wants to spread the good word: He\u2019s God, actually, and it\u2019s time to ditch all that pesky Jesus stuff. Not only does Vought start the Democratic Church of America, with Homelander as its lord and savior, they send supes to harass congregations that refuse to play ball and then malign their pastors and members as evil Starlighters and pedophiles.<\/p>\n Firecracker has a lot of misgivings over all of this, and these are heightened when she\u2019s visited by her old pastor who asks her for help after a supe attacked his church. When Firecracker goes on air, however, she\u2019s confronted with Vought\u2019s new angle: They want her to call out her old pastor as an abuser, effectively ruining his life and destroying her old church. Curry does a terrific job in this scene. Firecracker clearly doesn\u2019t want to comply, but she sets aside her values, her beliefs, and her convictions and toes the Vought line for Homelander. In the end, even after sacrificing her dignity, Homelander kills her anyway.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Homelander and Soldier Boy pay Mister Marathon a visit and find his mansion occupied by a bunch of comedians all played by themselves. The comedians and their supe friends all hate Homelander, but they\u2019re all revealed to have been complicit in the various show trials that have seen many of Hollywood\u2019s luminaries disappeared, killed or taken to Freedom Camps. When Malchemical gases Homelander, rendering him unconscious, they try to get Soldier Boy to kill him but he refuses. Everyone dies and Homelander and Soldier Boy return with new info about the location of the V1 serum: A superhero named Bombsight has it.<\/p>\n The episode was structured around various self-contained stories that shed more light on characters like Black Noir II, The Deep and even Butcher\u2019s dog, Terror. <\/p>\n The Boys<\/span><\/p>\n Credit: Prime Video<\/small><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n In Episode 6 we finally meet Bombsight<\/a>, another one of the V-1 supes from Solder Boy\u2019s days. Unlike the vast majority of Supes, and certainly unlike Soldier Boy and his ilk, Bombsight seemed like a pretty good guy, all things considered. He just wanted to give the love of his life, Golden Geisha, V-1 so she could live forever with him. Instead, he trades the serum to Soldier Boy in exchange for Soldier Boy taking his powers. Then Soldier Boy, in yet another about-face, gives it to Homelander who immediately injects himself and becomes \u201cimmortal.\u201d I use scare quotes because it\u2019s not quite immortality. He could still have his powers taken away by Soldier Boy, for instance, and die. But it\u2019s close enough and it means he\u2019s immune to the supe-virus, though it will still take him out temporarily.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a pretty dramatic conclusion to this arc, but my favorite scene this episode was between The Legend and Homelander. For the very first time in this show, and probably in Homelander\u2019s life, someone actually talks to him like he\u2019s just a normal person. \u201cA whack job\u201d he calls Homelander, \u201cBut that\u2019s just talent.\u201d It\u2019s probably my favorite scene of the entire season.<\/p>\n We also got a very lame fight between The Deep and Black Noir in which the former quite easily dispatches the latter despite all his super powers. Black Noir probably deserved it if only because his revenge on The Deep \u2013 causing a massive oil pipeline spill in the ocean \u2013 is among the most egregious things any villain has done over the course of this show.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Starlight and Hughie\u2019s plans to plant the supe-virus in the Democratic Church of America are ruined by Oh Father who, it turns out, is quite a lot more powerful than Starlight. That\u2019s . . . surprising and weird, but okay!<\/p>\n The Boys<\/span><\/p>\n Credit: Prime Video<\/small><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n We finally come to the penultimate episode of The Boys, and the one that has so many fans up in arms (though not for the first time this season). We see Homelander really stretching his evil villain wings this episode, killing the president because he\u2019s not \u201cfaithful\u201d in his heart and then dissolves the Seven, much to the dismay of the Deep. The Deep is also cast out of the sea, threatened by marine life for his role in the pipeline disaster, unable to save someone when they\u2019re drowning and fleeing in shame.<\/p>\n Gen V supes, Marie Moreau and Jordan Li, show up to help Annie and she tells them to get lost, which is incredibly annoying. They end up helping, but not to the extent we were led to believe by the spinoff series. <\/p>\n Meanwhile, Frenchie and Kimiko are trying to reproduce Soldier Boy\u2019s radiation blast power that depowers supes, hoping to use it on Homelander.<\/p>\n When Butcher, Hughie, M.M. and Starlight go to investigate some unusual activity at Oh Father\u2019s church, Butcher and Hughie are captured by an evil supe called Synapse who uses psychic powers to trap them in their minds. He uses his mind tricks to turn into Jeffrey Dean Morgan\u2019s character, Joe Kessler, who reveals a few grim details about his past with Butcher. They use this to distract Synapse and kill him, fleeing the otherwise totally unguarded facility.<\/p>\n M.M. and Annie rescue people at an Oh Father screening where they\u2019re trying to effectively force people to believe in Homelander. There\u2019s a big fight with Dogknott and Sheline who, in-between sniffing one another\u2019s butts, start massacring the test audience. Once again, it\u2019s a little too hard for Starlight \u2013 former member of the Seven and one of the most powerful supes \u2013 to win. A rat distracts Sheline and that turns the tide, but I feel like the show has depowered Starlight too much this season.<\/p>\n Homelander shows up where Frenchie and Sister Sage are conducting their Kimiko experiments and the two women hide. Frenchie isn\u2019t so lucky. He and Homelander have a little chat and he gets a big dose of radiation, but still manages to crawl pretty far before Kimiko finds him. It\u2019s a bummer to see a beloved character die, but it\u2019s the first casualty of the core Boys team and frankly I\u2019m surprised it took this long. (M.M. recovered from a gunshot wound to the back in minutes, so I half-expected Frenchie to pull through).<\/p>\n The goodbye between Frenchie and Kimiko was heartbreaking and there were some other good moments this episode, like Frenchie\u2019s line to Homelander \u201cLook at you. You\u2019ve never danced a day in your life.\u201d But like so much of Season 5 it still doesn\u2019t really feel like a final season to me and this didn\u2019t really feel like a great setup for a series finale. At least we got some good Butcher \/ Hughie moments.<\/p>\n One thing I\u2019ll give this show: I have no idea what\u2019s going to happen. I have no idea if they\u2019ll actually beat Homelander. I can\u2019t imagine they lose, but it\u2019s possible. I think Butcher will die, and probably some other good guys. Maybe the Deep goes down or maybe his exile from the sea is enough. Does M.M. get his family back? Do Hughie and Annie get to ride off into the sunset? Sister Sage, Ashley and plenty of other characters\u2019 fates hang in the balance. <\/p>\n Judging by the trailer, The Deep and Oh Father are having a conversation they\u2019d rather not have Homelander hear. Annie shows up and tackles the Deep, blasting him through a window, though whether to take him with her or just kill him remains to be seen. Butcher, meanwhile, says it\u2019s time to end the whole notion of supes altogether, so he\u2019s definitely going through with the virus plan. And we get a glimpse of Ryan, so it seems likely that he\u2019ll play a part in the final Homelander showdown, as will a vengeful Kimiko who, it seems likely, will be able to use the depowering ability at this point. We\u2019ll know more soon!<\/p>\n Look for more coverage of The Boys<\/em> here on this blog<\/a>. Follow me on Twitter<\/u><\/a>, Instagram<\/u><\/a>, or Facebook<\/u><\/a> and let me know what you think of Season 5 so far. I\u2019ll have thoughts on the series finale tomorrow.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\nWhat Time Does \u2018The Boys\u2019 Season 5, Episode 8 Come To Prime Video?<\/h2>\n
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What\u2019s Happened In \u2018The Boys\u2019 So Far This Season?<\/h2>\n
Episode 1: “Fifteen Inches of Sheer Dynamite”<\/h3>\n
Episode 2: “Teenage Kix”<\/h3>\n
Episode 3: “Every One of You Sons of Bitches”<\/h3>\n
Episode 4: “King of Hell”<\/h3>\n
Episode 5: “One-Shots”<\/h2>\n
Episode 6: “Though the Heavens Fall”<\/h3>\n
Episode 7: “The Frenchman, the Female, and the Man Called Mother’s Milk”<\/h3>\n
Watch \u2018The Boys\u2019 Season 5, Episode 8 Trailer<\/h3>\n