The Boys 4×08 “Assassination Run” brings season 4 to an end, and oh boy, it’s something. So many things happened in this episode, taking viewers on a crazy ride. Erin Moriarty’s performance as both the shapeshifter and Starlight shows off her acting range and is one of this episode’s highlights. Watching her go back and forth between the shifter and Starlight was pretty disorienting.
One thing that was missed, though, was not seeing A-Train. We saw him in his movie trailer and got a glimpse of his statue in the Vought Tower. His arc has been one of the best things about this season, and not seeing him in the finale seemed like a miss. Even a quick shot of him seeing the news of Homelander taking control, or living his best life, would’ve been nice and would’ve given us a glimpse of what could be in store for him next season. Despite his absence, A-Train’s character development and redemption arc made him this season’s MVP. All we can hope for is that he’ll join the fight against Homelander and Vought in the final season.
Homelander Is Now In Control With Sage’s Help
After firing Sage in 4×07, Homelander has officially lost his patience for everything and everyone. He didn’t have a burn-the-whole-world-down moment, but he went off the rails. Antony Starr’s performance as Homelander is always something to behold, but holy moly. Watching him yell at Ryan after destroying his room was downright terrifying. This season has been building up to Homelander taking control of the US through Neuman, but things have unexpectedly worked out for him in a different way.
Sage returns in The Boys 4×08 “Assassination Run” and tells him everything has gone according to plan despite a few bumps. With Neuman’s death and Singer being framed for it, Homelander is now in control of the government. What’s just as scary as this is Sage’s answer to him as to why she’s helping. “To see if I could.” Susan Heyward’s performance as Sage has ranged from calm, collected, and analytical to silly and simple-minded (when lobotomized) this season. But this scene showed a more sinister and almost maniacal side to Sage. She sees all of this as a fun game, and she’s letting Homelander think he’s in control. This episode has cemented her spot as the biggest threat next to Homelander.
Butcher Finally Picks A Side And Ryan’s Future Is Uncertain
All season, Butcher has been going back and forth between trying to do right and keep his promise to Becca, or giving into his dark side and killing all Supes in his way to get to Homelander. Now in The Boys 4×08, it looks like Butcher has finally given in to Kessler. Unfortunately, it looks like even Ryan might not be safe anymore. Can’t blame Butcher too much since Ryan killed Grace Mallory and didn’t seem disturbed by his actions. In Ryan’s defense, Grace revealing the brutal truth of his birth, Homelander’s many killings, wanting him to kill his father, and threatening to keep him imprisoned is a lot to take in.
Ryan’s arc this season was parallel to Butcher’s as he went back and forth between being the good kid Becca raised and being the son of Homelander. Cameron Crovetti has done a fantastic job of showing the internal conflict the young Supe is going through. Even after doing dark deeds, we are still reminded that this is a child. A child whose life has been turned upside down and has so many different expectations weighing down on him.
Now that Butcher is listening to Kessler, it feels like the show is setting him up to be a villain for next season. In the comics, Butcher becomes the final antagonist for The Boys and kills Frenchie, Kimiko, and MM. Whether this will come to fruition in the show remains to be seen, but we could also have a showdown between him and Ryan. Either way, it looks like Butcher is embracing his villainous side and very few will be safe from his wrath. He’s got the virus and Kessler hanging around. If there’s one person who’s just as frightening as an unhinged Homelander: it’s an unhinged Butcher.
Season 4 has felt a little disorganized with side plots taking precedence over the main story, but 4×08 “Assassination Run” manages to finish this season off nicely. With Hughie, MM, Kimiko, and Frenchie now captives of Vought, Butcher on the loose, Starlight on her own, Ryan seemingly being a runaway, and Homelander now in control, the final season looks promising for fans.
Some random thoughts about The Boys 4×08 “Assassination Run”…
- Understandable why they put a disclaimer to remind everyone that this is a work of fiction considering what happened with Trump. They actually changed the title from “Assassination Run” to “Season Four Finale.”
- Ashley took Compound V, and her head doesn’t look good. I wonder if she’ll be a Medusa-like Supe with snakes coming out of her head. She wouldn’t have to worry about her hair anymore.
- Bet Firecracker is rethinking her decision to take meds to be Homelander’s milk factory.
- Fun little Easter Egg for Supernatural fans, Jim Beaver saying “Balls!” and calling MM an “Idjit” was fun to hear.
- RIP Grace Mallory. The one time you lose your cool and you pay for it with your life.
- Kimiko and Frenchie shippers, our ship finally sailed! I’m glad they’re finally together.
- Okay, I get Victoria wasn’t an ally to The Boys, but that was a pretty brutal death.
- I almost cried when Kimiko spoke her first word when she saw Cate taking Frenchie away.
- Since Cate and Sam took Frenchie and Kimiko, does that mean we’ll see them in Gen V season two?
- Oh look, Cindy is back and…working for Vought?
- Starlight flying away was pretty awesome to see, but poor Hughie. She couldn’t save him.
- Love Sausage really loves hitting MM with his…well, sausage.
- Sage telling Homelander to “buckle up for phase two” sounds pretty effing ominous.
- Where in the world is Stan Edgar? Did they forget about him? I hope he plays a bigger part next season.
- Soldier Boy cameo in the mid-credits. Wonder if Homelander will put two and two together and realize Maeve is alive.
1. I’m glad to see you know the comics – I was going to say something like, well Butcher is the real big bad in the comics so there you go.
2. In fairness to Love Sausage, I think a fair amount of guys would dig being able to truthfully say “I smacked him with my ****.”
3. I was wondering if perhaps the people at the end taking The Boys – either including or excluding Sam and Cate – were Edgar’s people.
4. Meta-wise, this show has been a little too on-the-nose for my like for a couple seasons, it interferes with my escapism and enjoyment. But I still appreciate the overall adherence to the comic beats while still elevating characters who had lesser roles in the comics and altering them in interesting ways – Stotmftont and Soldier Boy spring to the front of my mind.
5. I liked the wink to Bobby Singer, too. But it’s a shame the SPN alums are so dispersed, and actual Kessler is dead, because if Soldier Boy returns, it would have been great to see some kind of scene with Ackles & JDM.
(I’ve also been disappointed to not be aware of any references to Xena, or Homelander having some kind of Banshee reference.)
6. Thank you for covering The Boys – if I remember right, I found this site via reviews of SEAL Team and The Brave, and it’s been a while since I’ve seen anything that could be argued to be primarily action covered here. So again, thank you.