‘The Boys’ Season 4 Finale Accidentally Hit a Little Too Close to Home

The Boys season 4 finale hit a little too close home, leading the show and Prime Video to release a content warning about the parallels between the episode and recent real-life events, and to change the episode’s title.

It’s no secret that the primary antagonist, Homelander (Antony Starr), is a stand-in for former president Donald Trump, while his supporters parallel the MAGA movement. As a result, the show has always paralleled real-life events, as viewers watch Homelander’s unhinged campaign to gain power and see his supporters become radicalized and violent in real-time. However, season 4 has been making these comparisons more pronounced. For example, prior to the season finale, the supes are planning to overthrow the American government on January 6. Similarly, Firecracker (Valorie Curry) has been touting prominent real-world right-wing conspiracy theories to stir hysteria and rally support.

So the season 4 finale was always going to be based on the real-life January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. However, it also unintentionally ended up paralleling a far more recent event.

The Boys issues content warning for season 4 finale

Just days before The Boys season 4 finale premiered, Trump was at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, when gunfire broke out. 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks fired shots at the former president before he was killed by a Secret Service agent. While Trump sustained a minor injury to his ear, an audience member lost his life, and several more were injured in the shooting. It is being investigated as an assassination attempt.

Even before the finale premiered, The Boys revealed that one of its major plot points would be an assassination attempt on the in-universe president, Robert Singer (Jim Beaver). The supes, including Homelander, see Singer as an obstacle to them achieving sole power over the country. As a result, they begin calling for violence as they raise hysteria over Singer’s “woke anti-Supe agenda.” Additionally, the supes begin conspiring to assassinate Singer so that his running mate, Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit), can be instated as President and act as their puppet.

Of course, the plot of the season finale was determined and filmed long before the recent assassination attempt on Trump. Still, The Boys recognized how the parallels might make some viewers uncomfortable, so it dropped a viewer discretion warning before the episode and another content warning statement on Instagram. It also changed the title of the episode. While it was supposed to be titled “Assassination Run,” upon release, it was merely titled “Season Four Finale.”

The brief statement clarified that any similarities the plot boasted to the recent shooting were pure coincidence. It also denounced all forms of real-world violence. In the comments, many users questioned if this clarification was really necessary. However, given that many conservatives didn’t realize the show was about them or genuinely thought Homelander was the hero, it’s understandable the latest episode might raise confusion. On top of that, it’s necessary to warn that it might be triggering for anyone who was in attendance at the rally.