The Boys Season 5 finally landed on Prime Video. To rejoice or, on the contrary, to be disappointed, if not exactly black hollowed out, the way a TV series ends is part of the package. It’s almost a kind of tacit agreement put in place the very moment we decide to sit in front of the TV – or tablet or whatever you like – watching episode 1×01 of any serial production. And it’s not hard to understand why the epilogue of a TV series, of whatever kind, gives rise to such conflicting feelings. Unlike a film, even aside from those many epics divided into a thousand chapters and spin-offs that Hollywood has now accustomed us to, stories conceived for the small screen presuppose an implicit pact between the parties, between broadcaster and receiver: the investment of a significant amount of time. Which can be divided into the years, even decades of fidelity required by particularly long-lasting productions, at the 4- to 8-week mark of a limited series.
The Boys Season 5 finale has already been released, and with it, the series says goodbye forever as it closes its fifth and final season permanently. The great success of Amazon Prime Video has been broadcast for many years, becoming the undisputed leader of the genre thanks to its extreme violence and parody tone. Now, after so much time, the project has come to an end. In this fifth installment, we find ourselves in a world dominated by Homelander, completely subject to his erratic and egotistical whims, to the point of believing himself to be a god. Butcher, Hughie, Annie, Breast milk, Frenchie, and Kimiko have tried everything to stop him, from a virus that will kill all the Supers to even more confrontations. But now, in the final episode of The Boys Season 5, is the moment of truth. One last confrontation that will forever change the world and all its inhabitants. For this, the experiment in which Frenchie gave his life had to turn out well. Kimiko, he had to have obtained new nuclear powers that were capable of taking away any Super’s abilities. Very soon, we will find out if the boys’ latest plan works or not.
What Happens in the Last Episode of The Boys Season 5?
The farewell episode begins with the farewell to one of the most beloved Boys, Frenchie, killed by Homelander/Patriot, who arrived at the shelter where Frenchie and Sister Sage were experimenting with a uranium radiation-based upgrade for Kimiko, the last hope of defeating Homelander after the super of supers injected himself with the V1 that made him immortal and put his father Soldier back in the freezer. So everything is ready for the live TV celebration of the “second advent”, or rather the “first advent” of the true Messiah-but-also-God, an event that takes place at the White House and which will obviously also be attended by the uninvited Boys, as the Gen V boys bid farewell to the battlefield to save the survivors of the massacre of unfaithful enough in the Vought studios.
The Boys arrive as Oh Father introduces the new God, Starlight takes the humiliated Abyss/Deep for a ride to the beach and feeds it to the fish, who, as promised, kill it to avenge the ocean disaster caused (by the vengeful Black Noir, later killed by The Deep) to the pipeline on which the cowardly Kevin, former king of the deep, had personally guaranteed. With the help of Ashley and her mind-reading back of the head, The Boys arrive before Oh Father, who is killed by Breastmilk, who puts an indestructible “gag-ball” Ashley gave her husband in front of his mouth just as the reverend of the Democratic Church of America starts one of his devastating screams, which then suffocates in his throat, causing his head to explode.
And finally comes the showdown between an increasingly sad and lonely (Ryan Dixit) Homelander and Butcher, supported by a Kimiko who has already tested her newfound power on Sage, making her “as stupid as the rest of you”. Homelander realizes the bad save and tries to escape, but Ryan comes to Butcher’s aid, and after refusing his father’s offer to return to Vought Tower, he actively joins in to hold him down while Kimiko becomes furious.
But when she falters, it is Frenchie’s spirit that appears to her in a vision, in which she explains that her power is not like that of Soldier Boy, who feeds on anger (as when he had disempowered Queen Maeve), but comes from his cœur, from his heart. Kimiko realizes this and uses it to fire her power-erasing beam at Homelander, also hitting Butcher and Ryan. All three are left without superpowers, Homelander clumsily tries to fly away or escape somehow but Butcher hunts him; the one who proclaimed himself God until a few minutes earlier begs the forgiveness of his archenemy, but William doesn’t even think about it for a second and after punching him to death he finishes him off with a crowbar stuck in his head with which he uses to open his head. Goodbye Homelander, this was the best scene of the finale.
But it’s still over half an hour until the credits roll. Butcher then has time to slip away from the friends’ party after Ryan rejects the offer to start over with him and Terror, and after the old dog also dies forever. Hughie notices his absence and quickly figures out where he’s going with the vial of Supes-killing virus that’s missing from the drawer, and joins him at Vought Tower.
Butcher is not wrong to say that even if Homelander is dead, sooner or later another super madman will emerge who wants to conquer the world, which is why it is necessary to exterminate them all anyway. But Hughie objects and engages in a fairly unequal fight with his nutty mentor. However, when he has his hand on the trigger to spread the virus, William sees poor little brother Lenny in Hughie and hesitates like De André’s Piero just enough to allow Hughie to grab a gun and shoot him.
Butcher dies in Hughie’s arms, finally accepting his end and hoping to find his beloved Becca, next to whom he is buried at her funeral, the last meeting place among The Boys veterans who separate forever. Kimiko goes to live in Marseille and gets a dog, Ryan follows Mother’s Milk, who goes back to being just Marvin, and remarries his ex-wife Monique in front of their daughter Janine.
Everything goes back to normal in the button rooms, with Stan Edgar once again CEO of Vought, Ashley kicked out of the White House, and Robert Singer (who, no, wasn’t dead; he had been arrested on false charges of killing Victoria Neuman, who was actually killed by Butcher, and replaced by Calhoun, who was indeed murdered by Homelander) re-elected president. Good Singer himself contacts Hughie some time later, proposing that he manage the reopened FBI office to keep an eye on the restless supers, but our hero refuses as he enters the shop “Campbell Audio Visual,” which is his new business. Annie Starlight is waiting for him: the two have not yet married, but Annie is visibly pregnant.
In the back of the shop, they have monitors and radios that intercept police communications, and when they notice a dangerous situation, they decide to intervene. Hughie bids farewell to Annie and her unborn daughter, Robin (named after his girlfriend who exploded from the A Train at the beginning of the series, with a parallel in the death of the redeemed A Train at the beginning of season five), and the former Starlight flies, slippers on her feet, to once again go and save the good guys from the bad guys. End of The Boys.
What Was Missing in The Boys Season 5 Finale?
At every series finale, a hint of disappointment is inevitable, usually more because of what you haven’t seen, rather than what you have actually seen. And The Boys Season 5 is no exception. Among the closures missed by the epilogue, Queen Maeve can first be mentioned: it was reasonable to expect her to appear, or at least something more than being shown in the summary at the beginning of the episode and mentioned by Starlight in her farewell speech to Marie Moureau.
One could argue about the disappointing ending given to Soldier Boy, who remained in the freezer, perhaps to avoid the death of the protagonist of the next prequel series. Quite a different fate from the one his old teammates suffered during this season. And, by the way, at this point it can be said that Stormfront is undoubtedly dead, even if the disbelief of her old lover had made us suspect last-minute surprises. If she didn’t appear in some missed frame as we blinked, Zoe Neuman hasn’t been seen since, and so let’s imagine she’s safe and sound with her father and grandfather.
But the worst flaw in The Boys‘ ending is definitely the poor treatment of Gen V’s boys. Why, especially after the cancellation of Gen V, was it fair to expect a much more important part for them than that of babysitting people who, as Emma explicitly said, until the day before would do anything to please Homelander, including killing Starlight and followers. Above all, Marie Moureau would have deserved a more glorious fate. It had been said that Gen V had to be seen to understand The Boys and its ending. Gen V 2 and finished with the discovery that Marie could not only take out anyone, but also resurrect the dead, starting with her sister. In short, she seemed like the number one candidate to take out Homelander, but instead, The Boys preferred to nuclearize Kimiko, reducing the presence of Godolkin University darlings to fleeting appearances that reminded us of the pointless crossover episodes between Beverly Hills 90210 and Melrose Place.
What We Liked About The Boys Season 5 Finale?
Yet, despite its flaws, The Boys‘ ending is the best one could even hope for, especially after a season full of episodes judged “filler” (filler) by so many viewers that Eric Kripke responded Piquedly by saying that “first of all I didn’t have the money for an extreme battle with every episode” and then that “there were many characters who deserved an ending and personal insight”. Because in fact, we’ve had closed story arcs, characters who reached the finish line, in one way or another. From A Train to Fire Cracker, from Frenchie to Sister Sage (who left with an enviable goofy smile), from Black Noir to Abyss, from Homelander to Butcher and the other Boys, there was an ending for many if not all.
And it’s strange to say, but the most touching of all was that of the detestable Patriot: the punches thrown at him by Butcher were probably the most satisfying moment of the entire series.
After defeating his enemy, William no longer had a place in the world, so even his arrival at the finish line had the right mix of blood, sweat and tears. While if anyone deserved a “they lived happily ever after”, it was Marvin Mother’s Milk on one side, and Hughie-Annie on the other. Finally, the choice to name the little girl after the dead girl at the beginning is the perfect icing on the cake for this series, which, despite its strengths and weaknesses, has given us a collection of memorable moments in TV history.
The Boys Season 5 Ending Explained: The Strength of a Series Finale?
Since two gentlemen called David Lynch and Mark Frost unleashed Twin Peaks The Big Bang of peak TV, the series finals have imposed themselves with an impetuosity unparalleled in the collective imagination. Think of the image of a group of friends who place a handful of keys of an apartment on a coffee table with a camera that, initially, focuses on the kisses and hugs these people exchange, following them until they leave the house. Then, with a cross fade, the gaze returns to that living room kitchen with a pan that ends with a fade to black on a lilac door whose peephole is decorated with a yellow frame.
Or reflect on the times over time you’ve had heated discussions about the ending of a series that has gone so far as to search for all kinds of information and explanations online to get answers to questions that have almost become universal. But then Tony Soprano dies? But how did the doppelgänger get out of the Black Lodge? So, all the survivors of Oceanic Airlines Flight 815 had died since the first episode? Or maybe you still find yourself wondering like a series that, 90%, it was GREAT TELEVISION – yes, written all in caps lock – she managed to give us a final 10% that sent everything sensational that had been done previously to the nettle. Every reference to a thing called The Throne of Swords is completely random.
Then we get to the present here, The Boys, which is a story in itself. Which, with its ending, confirmed what many had already begun to suspect since the second season, namely that we would find ourselves regretting having dedicated 40 hours (or so) of our lives to the series of Eric Kripke, Seth Rogen, and Evan Goldberg. That with stuff like The Interview or The Studio, they gave us pearls, while here instead…
The Last Battle Against Homelander?
Fortunately for everyone, Kimiko, yes, he is capable of taking away the powers of other Supers. Something that they demonstrate very quickly by angering her and using a Wise Sister as bait. The most intelligent woman in the world, upon receiving the impact of energy, becomes totally common. Stupid even. With the test satisfactorily performed, it’s time to go for it, Homelander, taking advantage of the fact that the villain is going to give a speech to the nation from the White House to celebrate Easter.
The boys manage to infiltrate the place, something that was more or less foreseen by Homelandera and his henchmen. But with the help of Ashley, they manage to get into the kitchen. At the end of The Boys, the battle is divided into three. Annie, it takes Deep even a beach for their own personal fight between the two. Breast milk and Hughie distract Oh Father. And so, Butcher and Kimiko, with the unexpected help of Ryan, are left alone against the Homelander.
Who Dies in the Final Battle of The Boys?
On the beach, the fight between Annie and Deep doesn’t take long to resolve. After a few exchanges of punches, and as the sea man does not see reason, Starlight sends him flying into the sea from an impact of light. A priori, it would be in its surroundings, but as we discovered in the previous episode, the marine fauna has declared war on it Deep for his actions against those who considered themselves its friends. In the end, a huge tentacle suffocates him and ends up passing through him, turning the villain into simple food for the sharks. Finally, Annie, he has consummated his personal revenge.
As for Oh Father, he means, this fight is even faster. Hughie and MM manage to take him to a room so that he does not get in the way of the main mission. There, they prepare for the worst, as the reverend is about to make them mush with his ultrasounds. But, at the last moment, she finds the special gag that Ashley had given to her husband. The hero manages to put it on Oh Father just before he lets out his scream. As he does so, the sound waves fail to leave his mouth and end up causing his head to explode into a thousand pieces. All that’s left is Homelander.
The Death of Homelander in The Boys?
In the Oval Office, the battle at the end of The Boys, yes, it is much longer and more complicated. The villain can get rid of everyone again and again and beat them to the point of almost killing them. To top it all off, Kimiko at first fails to fire his nuclear energy beam at it. It is not until the last moment, when all seems lost, that she sees a vision of her beloved Frenchie. He convinces her once again that he is capable of doing it; he just has to believe in her. So Kimiko shot once and for all, Homelander.
The nuclear explosion leaves them all on the ground. But Butcher is the first to get up. Without hesitation, he goes for it, Homelander, with the entire country watching it live on television from the camera that is still on. Of course, the villain soon tries to kill him with his laser beams. But, to his surprise, he can’t shoot them. He also can’t fly away to escape. And when he tries to punch him, Butcher stops it without problems. Homelander has lost his powers permanently. It’s the turn of Butcher.
First, he starts hitting him in the face again and again as revenge for the murder of Frenchie. Faced with this extreme situation, Homelander becomes the real joke it always was. From the ground, kneeling, he prays for his life and promises to denigrate himself to the absurd. A pathetic image that reveals how pitiful and sad it really is. Of course, Butcher is unimpressed and, as final revenge for “his Becca“, he pierces his head with the metal lever and bursts his skull. Once and for all, Homelander has died at the end of The Boys.
The Death of Butcher?
With the evil dictator dead, the country, little by little, begins its reconstruction. Ashley refuses to resign as president, but the House unanimously dismisses her. Meanwhile, the protagonists celebrate by smoking cigars and looking, for the first time, to the future with optimism. Everyone except Butcher. The man tries to talk to Ryan, and he offers her to start a new life together from scratch, like Becca, I would have liked to. But the teenager refuses. “I know what my father was”, he tells her, accepting that Homelander had to die. “But you’re not a good person either”, she adds, ruling out going with him.
Butcher, saddened by the decision of Ryan, is going to see his dog Terror, the only thing he has left in life. But, upon reaching him, he discovers that his beloved pet has died of old age. Butcher is absolutely alone in the world. And therefore, make a final decision. He grabs the anti-Supers virus and takes it to Vought’s tower with the firm intention of committing genocide and wiping out all the Supers forever.
But before I get it, Hughie arrives to stop him. A fight breaks out between the two that ends with Butcher mortally wounded by a gunshot wound to the gut. Repent of all your sins, Billy finally dies in the arms of his friend, becoming the last victim of the series. In this way, the death counter of the final chapter of The Boys is the following: Homelander, Butcher, Deep, Oh Father, and Terror.
What About Vought and the Survivors?
After the funeral of Butcher, the end of The Boys includes a short time jump. Everything is much calmer, and we soon discover what happened. Vought is still standing, and Stan Edgar has regained his position as CEO, promising to be stricter in the future. For this reason, the president of the United States. The USA calls Hughie, and he offers him a job in the government to keep a close eye on the organization. But the protagonist kindly rejects it.
We also discovered that Breast milk, he finally gets married and can have a happy family life. The same thing happens with Annie and Hughie, although they are not getting married, they are going to start a new life together. Because, in fact, she is pregnant with a baby, Robin, a reference to the girlfriend of Hughie, whom A-Train killed by accident in the first episode of the series, and caused the young man to join the fight. With a daughter on the way and their own business, the two enjoy a normal life. And with this last scene, The Boys puts an end to it forever.