On April 8, Amazon Prime Video released the two-episode premiere of its fifth and final season of the satirical anti-superhero series “The Boys.” The show debuted in 2019, with the final season releasing one new episode every week since its premiere, bringing the series to an end on May 20. 

The series is based on the comic books of the same name, created by writer Garth Ennis and artist Darick Robertson.

“The Boys” centers on a group of superheroes known as The Seven and operated by fictional conglomerate Vought International, powered by a serum called Compound V. 

Heroes are perceived by the public as celebrities, but abuse their powers for selfish gain behind the scenes. In response, a group of non-superpowered vigilantes, known as The Boys, team up to expose The Seven and Vought for their true nature, evoking a narrative of the powerless vs. the powerful.

Picking up from where the previous season left off, “The Boys” Season Five revolves around the main antagonist, Homelander, played by Antony Starr, seizing control of America and reining terror through tyrannical fascism. Homelander and his supporters have imprisoned dissenters in freedom camps, including an ally of The Boys, Hughie Campbell, played by Jack Quaid.  

This further compels The Boys’ leader, Billy Butcher, played by Karl Urban, and the members who weren’t ensnared in the camps to mount a desperate resistance to end Homelander’s corrupt ways for good.

Showrunner Eric Kripke shared in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter that he feels rather anxious about how audiences will react to the series’ finale.

“It’s super hard to do a finale. Fans will retroactively judge the show based on how they feel about the finale,” Kripke said. “If we stiff it, they will definitely say, ‘Well, that show wasn’t as good as we thought it was.’ And it’s almost like you’re trying to secure your legacy with these finales.”

Kripke said “The Boys” is the first finale he’s ever done.

With this in mind, “The Boys” Season Five currently sits at a 98% on Rotten Tomatoes, and fans will seemingly be in for a bloody good time, in classic Butcher fashion.

The first episode, “Fifteen Inches of Sheer Dynamite,” showcases the impact of the freedom camps that Hughie and some members of The Boys have found themselves in. It even reflects the impact of Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity, as super-powered individuals and those who oppose Homelander’s ways are detained in those camps.

In the same interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Kripke said it’s not a great feeling watching the headlines leading up to “The Boys” Season Five premiere, as even the word “homeland” strikes familiarity with the actions of the Department of Homeland Security and ICE officers.

“It’s a sinking feeling,” Kripke said. “It’s never great when the world out-crazies your superhero show with the stuff that has come to pass since we wrote it — including internment camps, sending federal troops into cities, it’s really upsetting.”

A botched camp escape by Butcher and Hughie results in a surprising character death and ends the episode in a more somber tone. The episode retains the cynical, violent, and dark comedic elements that the series is known for, and does it as well as ever, but the subdued tone makes the fifth season feel more distinct.

The episode even satirizes other aspects of the current social and political climate, such as with AI-generated imagery, diversity, equity, and inclusion, and even memes, making “The Boys” speak to a modern audience.

With the next episode of the season, “Teenage Kix,” the show steps back more from the political and authoritarian aspects of the first episode and focuses on The Boys’ plan to deploy a superhero-killing virus while Homelander brings back a dangerous ally, Soldier Boy, who posed a significant challenge to The Boys in previous seasons.

While Starr’s performance as Homelander carried the episode, it lost some of the momentum the first episode was building on with the freedom camps, as it made the show more predictable, leaving me wondering where the rest of the season is going. 

The episode was still well-made regardless, and I see myself watching “The Boys” all the way to the end.

Kripke may be concerned with how audiences will interpret the series finale of “The Boys,” but knowing that, along with the somber tone of the two episodes, makes the series an unpredictable and exciting watch.