TV Review - Amazon's The Boys Series Finale

Blood and bone, my son.

The Boys is a 2019-2026 black comedy superhero TV series created by Eric Kripke, produced by Kripke Enterprises, Point Grey Pictures, Original Film, Kickstart Entertainment, KFL Nightsky Productions, Amazon MGM Studios, and Sony Pictures Television, and distributed by Amazon Prime Video. The series is based off of Garth Ennis's 2006-2012 comic book of the same name. It stars Karl Urban and Antony Starr. This is the fifth and final season, although multiple spin-offs are in the works.

"This is for my Becca." - Billy Butcher

Plot

As Homelander prepares for his final ascension to Godhood, Butcher and The Boys take one last shot to save the world from his wrath.

SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THE SERIES FINALE OF THE BOYS!!

The Sweet

Going into this finale, I was skeptical. The penultimate episode of The Boys was probably my least favorite episode of the show. It felt rushed, illogical, and pulled together everything that had frustrated me throughout the entire season. I was curious to see how they were going to wrap all of this up, but I did not have a ton of hope that they would land the ship well.

And, given the circumstances, I think this is a decent finale that ends things on a satisfying note for all of our characters. The rest of the season set this finale up to fail miserably, and it didn't, so for that, I give it props. The most important things were done correctly.

As most finales do, this episode gives us a few incredibly satisfying moments that we've been waiting to see for years. This entire show is building to a final confrontation between Butcher and Homelander, and that fight, while way too short, is ultimately satisfying. I loved Ryan's appearance and his assistance in taking down his dad. And watching Homelander humiliate himself on live TV in the final moments before his death feels appropriate. He's spent this whole show seeking the approval of others without ever fearing that he might be mortal, so watching him beg for his life in the most pathetic way possible in front of the entire world before Butcher rips his brains out is great.

I think the characters that got the most satisfying endings, however, were Hughie and Annie. I've been frustrated with their usage this season, because it feels like they've been sidelined for other characters and plot lines that I'm simply not invested in, but they get a few standout moments here. Hughie killing Butcher felt right even if it was rushed. Annie getting to beat the crap out of The Deep was also just immensely satisfying, and his death at the hands of the sea creatures feels appropriately pathetic. The final scene with the two of them was fantastic. I love that Hughie has returned to a quieter life with his own store and refuses to be a part of Bob Singer's office of Supe affairs. Annie remaining as a sort-of underground superhero is also really satisfying...but the best moment is when you learn the name of their baby. "Take care of your mom, Robin" is a perfect final line for The Boys. It hits emotionally, thematically, and feels like the right final moment for Hughie to get with Annie.

The other characters also ended in satisfying places. MM being reunited with Monique and Janine was where we wanted to see him go. He deserves a happy life with his family, so it was nice to see him get that. Kimiko finally gets to live a peaceful, quiet life on her own with a dog. She will clearly spend the rest of her life doing all of the things her and Frenchie talked about, which I think fits her nicely. Even Ashley finally gets a heroic moment. She rescues The Boys and stands up to Homelander, losing her presidency in the process, but finally doing something she can be proud of.

I also liked that this finale felt smaller-scale. The main conflict of this show has always been The Boys versus Vought, Butcher versus Homelander, etc. It's much more about personal vendettas and how they have to navigate the political climate to achieve these revenge plots and take down Supes. Seasons four and five have moved away from that and focused more on the bigger picture, which is why I think they've struggled. This finale gets back to those interpersonal dynamics between Butcher and Homelander. It scales back the epic-ness and delivers a smaller, more personal final battle that resolves these relationships in the ways that you want.

So this is not a perfect finale. But I think it is a good finale. It's not Game of Thrones. It does not ruin the characters and kill the show. This may have been a disappointing season, but the ship landed in a satisfying enough way.

The Sour

I think a lot of my problems with this finale stem from the failure of season five to properly deliver on a lot of the setup it needed. This season was so concerned with setting up Vought Rising and having ridiculous humor that it forgot what was important to resolving this show. So when we do get to the resolution, it feels a bit cheaper and less earned than it should.

The biggest problem I have is with the pacing. This finale is rushed. The reason it's rushed is not the finale's fault: it's the season's. If we hadn't spent so much time focusing on finding the V1 (which ultimately plays no role in the season whatsoever), we could've set up Butcher turning in his last moments and trying to kill every Supe on Earth a bit more. As it stands, it just feels too abrupt and not set up. I think it makes sense for Butcher to not be satisfied after killing Homelander. He has always been very anti-Supe, so him wanting to kill every superpowered being on Earth makes sense...but that specific turn just should've been set up more directly in this season. The only time they really hinted at this being his true final turn was in the previous episode when one of the psychics shapeshifted into Kessler. If this was more of a running thread throughout season five, the final confrontation between Hughie and Butcher could've been so much more emotional and effective. Butcher's last moments as he realizes how much Hughie reminds him of Lenny are good, but they could've been great if we really reined in on his emotional turmoil about wanting to use the Supe virus.

And, while I think our main characters got satisfying endings, there are some characters that just disappear or have very abrupt deaths that I found completely unsatisfying. I have not liked Oh Father from the moment he was introduced, and I found his death to just be as stupid as his character. If Ashley got him this sex toy that wouldn't break based on his scream, why would it make his head explode? It just feels like a lame setup and payoff that did not work for me personally. And, as much as I'm glad that she was not involved in this final battle, Sister Sage was cemented in this episode as my least favorite character in the show. I get that she loses her powers so she's not as smart all of the sudden, but her becoming legitimately stupid and just leaving felt like such a waste. She was just terribly written throughout this entire season with her ineffective plans and abrupt changes of heart, so it's not really a surprise that her exit from the show is lame. And, finally, the absence of Soldier Boy is a crime. I expected him to not be in this finale, but come on. Getting choked out by Homelander for ten seconds is the last we're going to see of him? That is such a letdown for one of the show's best characters.

While I do find Homelander's death satisfying and the fight itself good, it's too short. Now, I'm a hypocrite, because I didn't really mind the fact that Stranger Things's final confrontation was too short, but I was more positive on the final season and way more emotionally attached to Stranger Things than I am to The Boys. This entire show has also built to the ultimate confrontation between Butcher and Homelander. Having the fight last, like, five minutes feels a bit cheap. I also think Kimiko getting Soldier Boy's powers in the last two episodes of the show is an incredibly rushed and lazy way to take Homelander down. What if, instead of having this entire season be a pointless hunt for V1, The Boys decided they to try and copy Soldier Boy's powers to take out Homelander? If they couldn't figure out how to do that and then figure it out in the last few episodes, that could be much more satisfying. As it stands, it feels like the writers couldn't figure out a way to kill Homelander after he got V1 so they decided to squeeze in this random idea that Kimiko could take away his powers by getting the Soldier Boy blast. It feels rushed and lazy and does undermine Homelander's death a tiny bit for me.

This is also a minor complaint, but I do think MM's role was actually a bit underwhelming in this finale. He didn't have much to do. He was the one to kill Oh Father, so I guess he does get a bit of a moment, but that's not really enough for me to be satisfied. If Soldier Boy was in this finale, he could've had a final confrontation with him. I also don't really understand Ryan going with him in the epilogue. Like, yeah, if that was setup, it would make sense for Ryan to go with MM, but the two of them have barely interacted, so it feels very abrupt and strange.

Finally, (and this is, again, a whole season problem) the inclusion of the Gen V characters was simply terrible. I have not watched Gen V, and I am honestly a little bit annoyed that to fully understand a season of The Boys, you have to watch the spin-off. I said this in my last review, but Marie Moreau and the rest of the squad from Gen V are included enough in The Boys to confuse people who haven't watched the spin-off but not enough to satisfy fans who have watched it. They've struck the perfectly unsatisfying middle ground where nobody is going to be happy with their inclusion. That remains true here. Marie Moreu and her friends are completely useless in the final season. They could not be in this season and basically nothing would change. That's lame.

Final Thoughts and Score

So overall, this is a satisfying enough but heavily flawed finale to an ultimately disappointing final season. It's tough to wrap up TV shows, and The Boys definitely struggled. I'm not crazy about the finale but I am happy enough where all of these characters left off.

I am going Savory here. Age range is 17+.

SWEET N' SOUR SCALE

Sweet (Great) Savory (Good) Sour (Bad) Moldy (Terrible)

"The Boys"

"Blood and Bone"

Fun Factor: 8.5/10

Acting: 8.5/10

Story: 7/10

Characters: 8.5/10

Quality: 7.5/10

Created by Eric Kripke

Rated TV-MA for strong bloody violence, language, frightening themes and images, thematic elements

Premiered on May 20, 2026

1 hour and 5 minutes

Karl Urban as Billy Butcher

Antony Starr as Homelander

Jack Quaid as Hughie Campbell

Erin Moriarty as Annie January / Starlight

Laz Alonso as Mother's Milk / Marvin T. Milk

Karen Fukuhara as Kimiko Miyashiro

Chace Crawford as Kevin Kohler / The Deep

Tomer Capone as Frenchie

Colby Minifie as Ashley Barrett

Susan Heyward as Jessica Bradley / Sister Sage

Daveed Diggs as Oh Father

Cameron Crovetti as Ryan Butcher

Giancarlo Esposito as Stan Edgar

Jaz Sinclair as Marie Moreau

London Thor as Jordan Li

Jim Beaver as Robert Singer