The Boys Season 5 review:
The joke of Pagliacci, the clown, as popularised by Alan Moore’s Watchmen comics, is a tragicomic tale. As the joke goes, a man goes to a psychiatrist to find a way to become full of happiness, for which the doctor recommends him to go watch Pagliacci, who is in town along with the entire circus. To which the man replies, “But doctor, I am Pagliacci.” Eric Kripke’s The Boys is a similar, satirical tale about people trying to restore meaning in a ruthless world. In its swan song, The Boys sheds the forced edginess and directionless storytelling of previous seasons for a narrative propelled only by what is needed. With this simple switch, the series is completed holistically, without losing its identity.
Creator: Eric Kripke
Cast: Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Antony Starr, Jensen Ackles, Karen Fukuhara, Laz Alonso, Erin Moriarty, Tomer Capone, Chace Crawford, Nate Mitchell
Streamer: Prime Video
While the first two seasons went the dark comedy route, the third and fourth were more attuned to a dramatic style. But with its fifth season, the series seems to have found its true style by settling into grounded, no-nonsense storytelling. The focus shifts to the humane moments the characters experience rather than references to real-world politics. For a series that is filled with characters who are in danger of dying at any point, the final season was a choc-a-block with various characters to juggle and storylines to complete. But when we finally reach the end of these storylines, we are given moments of silence to sit with them and take it all in, rather than reacting to the nudges from the makers through visuals, edits, and music.
These writing flourishes are bolstered by the performances of the lead cast, especially Karl Urban as Billy Butcher and Antony Starr as Homelander. Butcher and Homelander are two sides of the same coin. The former has his identity defined only by rage and revenge, while the latter has his identity defined by rage and vindication. In a quiet moment with a former talent manager, The Legend (Paul Reiser), Homelander realises that the former isn't afraid of him since his heartbeat is calm and clear. But Homelander lets him go simply because The Legend saw him as human and offered sympathy. Starr is supremely terrific in these moments, expressing momentary satisfaction, inner conflict, and melancholy in a matter of seconds. Meanwhile, the only time we see Butcher, the man with an unstoppable will, distraught is when someone close to him passes away. That's because Butcher loses his hope for the world and the probability of some good existing in it. After going from blind narcissism, to compromise, to renouncement, Urban is still able to convince the audience of the polarising change that Butcher undergoes, without the help of dialogues.
The rest of the cast ably carry their characters to the finish line of their stories. Hughie (Jack Quaid) and Mother’s Milk (Laz Alonso) are two humans caught in a world of Supes, the actors also carry the burden of not having a superpower. But Quaid and Alonso play their parts of being the paragons of hope and integrity, respectively, with great finesse. On the other side, Jensen Ackles as Soldier Boy is a charismatic addition to the final season. Ackles, as the hollow and self-absorbed Soldier Boy, goes toe-to-toe and stands tall against his co-performers.
While there are many such positives, one element that drags the series down is logical errors. In a particular scene, The Deep (Chase Crawford) conveniently forgets how to swim or that he can breathe underwater. In another, Homelander's super hearing is ignored, to accommodate a fight that happens a few rooms away. These mistakes bring down the momentum.
The final season of any series is bogged down by the “expectations” that it sets for itself. In its long goodbye, The Boys shake off the expectations and take the simpler route to drive home its core theme: in the brightest day and in the blackest night, always do the right thing.
