‘The Boys’ Season 4 Has Made the Target of Its Mockery Undeniable

Everyone’s favorite diabolical superhero show is back as The Boys gears up for season 4. The Prime Video series has always been a sendup of some of our favorite hero archetypes, and the new season is no different. There’s just a bit more of a political edge to it.

Season 4 of the series takes place not long after what happened the season before. Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) is fighting a ticking time bomb within himself after his use of Temp V, and he’s unruly and hard to deal with, and the rest of the team doesn’t quite know what to do with him. Meanwhile, Huey (Jack Quaid) is dealing with drama with his family for the most part, and all of that feels incredibly small when you look at the bigger picture of this season.

Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit) is still pulling strings to get herself (and the Supes) in political power, and Homelander’s (Antony Starr) reputation is getting in the way whenever they back the same candidates. And it is all about trying to finally bring an end to Homelander because … showing the world who he is wasn’t enough.

It is a war between Annie’s (Erin Moriarty) supporters and those who still rally behind Tru—uh, Homelander.

In a lot of ways, season 4 of The Boys feels like more of the same twisted stories, but that’s the point of the series. It isn’t reinventing anything outside of its original premise, but where the series really shines is how it comments on our current political state by using Vought International to do its dirty work.

A season of mocking the current state of U.S. politics

It has always been funny to me (and other fans) that right-wing supporters think The Boys is for them. Homelander and his followers have always made a mockery of those who obliviously support someone without listening to what they’re saying. Season 4 very much leans into comparisons between Homelander and the former president.

The show has also played with a higher level of commentary and satire, poking fun at things but disguising itself as a commentary on “superheroes.” This season almost completely erases that thin veil and instead really shows what people like Homelander can get away with (even those without the ability to fly and shoot lasers out of their eyes).

I loved seeing the breakdown of everyone’s trust not only in each other but what they were fighting for. Huey has to think about his own family and loses sight of everything else around him, the Boys are still trying to stop Vought, and even those closest to Homelander are seeing the truth.

Season 4 of the series paints very clear and obvious comparisons to our own world, and maybe that will stop the idolizing of Homelander by right-wing audience members, but that is a bit too … hopeful on my part. Still, this season makes it impossible to wonder what the show is trying to say and instead sends very clear messages to the audience about the current state of the United States, and I love it.