Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for ‘The Boys’ Season 4, Episode 5.
Few series in recent memory have had as much cultural impact asThe Boys. Created byEric Kripke, this Amazon Prime series has astounded viewers for years with its dark portrayal of what a world with superpowers would look like, showing howlegions of spandex-wearing, empowered narcissists would make existing social problems so much worse. With such a huge influence, it was inevitable that the show would branch off and give its fans more of the universe they love so much — enterGen V.
Focusing on the next generation of superheroes, this college-set series awed by featuring the best parts ofThe Boysand so much more. It had intriguing storylines, riveting characters and, as the show is known to do, petrifying villains intent on wreaking bloody havoc. With this continuation of the main series being such an accomplishment, audiences were excited to learn that there would be some Easter Eggs from the show sprinkled throughThe BoysSeason 4, small callbacks that would culminate in somehuge cameos from some of its biggest characters…which, unfortunately, turned out extremely disappointing.Gen Vis a testament to how ingeniousThe Boys' premise is, but with these cameos being so lackluster, it’s clear the main show doesn’t quite know what to do with all that greatness.
The Boys is a drama series that explores the darker aspects of superhero culture, portraying a world where superheroes abuse their powers rather than use them for good. Centered around a vigilante group aiming to control these corrupt heroes, the series delves into themes of power, corruption, and accountability. The show features a complex narrative with multifaceted characters, offering an unfiltered look at the consequences of unchecked power.
‘The Boys’ and ‘Gen V’ Know How To Make a Supervillain
While The Boyshas created some great characters over the years, few are as impressive as the franchise’s supervillains. The main series has many great examples of this, with faux-Superman Homelander (Antony Starr), shady politician Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit),and countless other insidious Supesshowing how people with powers could ruin the modern world. While most of these walking terrors are adults in the main series,Gen Voffers a look into how people like this become who they are; the spin-off is set within Godolkin University, the first school for Supes, and most of the first season focuses on Dean Indira Shetty (Shelley Conn) as the main antagonist with her Supe-hating mentality and goal of wiping out their entire race.
She is painted as someone who creates a potentially world-ending threat — which is why it’s such a shock when she’s murdered, and previously heroic characters Cate Dunlap (Maddie Phillips) andSam Riordan (Asa Germann)launch a bloodthirsty, human-hating massacre across the school.Every episode saw this pair plunge deeper and deeper into their hatred against humans, watchers learning how Sam was subjected to traumatizing experiments his entire life and that Cate had been judged and used by every adult she encountered for her powerful psychic abilities. The series portrays their descent into brutal mass murderers in shockingly understandable depictions, using their wealth of character development to create characters who are as compelling as they are terrifying.
With such endearing antagonists, the announcement of their appearance inThe Boys Season 4was thrilling — and why it was so upsetting when these cameos actually occurred. Nobody ever expected that these two would suddenly receive all the spotlight, as this season is already filled with so many overlapping storylines that it would do the narrative a huge disservice to suddenly switch attention over to two new characters.But even knowing they couldn’t receive that much attention, it was disheartening to see a duo who’d been so scary on their original programbe reduced to one gag joke and two lines at the end of the episode. It was a disservice not only toGen Vfans, but the series as a whole, as these exceptionally crafted villains were unequivocally marked as followers rather than the vengeful leaders they’d worked so hard to become.
Cate Dunlap and Sam Riordan Definitely Deserved Better
The worst part aboutCate and Sam being wasted inThe Boysis that there were ample ways to integrate them into the episode that would have fit perfectly within this franchise’s storytelling. A running theme of Season 4 is Homelander’s trauma, the egotistical, ultra-powerful man growing bored of the fearful submission he receives from everyone around himand deciding to investigate the childhood torture that made him who he is. This horrific past is driving him to take control of the human world in an arc that almost perfectly mirrors Cate’s, as while Sam also has a deeply sad backstory, it’s Cate’s that really showcases how those with superpowers can be abused by the humans who created them.
The end ofGen Vsees this young woman take control of countless people throughout her university,using the pain a lifetime of manipulation has caused her, and psychically forcing other students to massacre any human they see — and any Supe who would dare stand in their way.The Boysis renowned for how, in spite of its bombastic fights and loud characters, it expertly uses subtlety to slyly convey the overarching story being told. But instead of featuring someone like Cate in a way that could drive forward the main story while teasing her insidiousness, her whole presence consisted of two lines and acting as a simple player in Homelander’s game — this character who was a terrifying, mind-controlling beast in one show beingreduced to an obedient pawn in another.
This episode makes one thing very clear:The Boysdoesn’t know what to do withGen V. One of the great successes of this other series is how, despite being a spin-off, it stood on its own, borrowing narrative elements from the original show and transforming them into something utterly unique in its story of corrupted youth and social degradation.The Boyshas offered complex stories around similar topics, but rather than building off of this spin-off to ensure that these messages really resonate with the audience, the show reduced it to a simple callback — much likehow the MCU and DCU will randomly reference other properties,something that this franchise has parodied many times before. Cate and Sam being relegated to background actors is a huge waste of potential and cheapens of the chilling figures they’d become inGen V. It was an unfortunate mismanaging that not only served as a disappointing Easter Egg, but hurt that program while doing nothing thematically forThe Boysitself.
‘The Boys’ Season 4, Episode 5 Trailer Features a Major ‘Gen V’ Crossover
The first four episodes of Season 4 are now streaming on Prime Video.
‘The Boys’ Needs To Give ‘Gen V’ The Respect It Deserves!
The Boyshas many nuanced storylines, and in juggling so many interesting plots it’s understandable why the show couldn’t take the time to really platform theseGen Vcharacters. And even if they were mishandled, Cate and Sam’s cameos didshow how deeply they’ve been taken in by Voughtand their potential rolesin the bloody coup Homelander and Sister Sage(Susan Heyward) have spent all season planning.
Yet even with this possibility,it’s undeniable what a disservice these throwaway cameos areto the terrifying antagonists who defined so much of what madeGen Vgreat. These are formidable, complex figures, ones who represent why this world is so depraved. They could have helped elevate this series even further, yet instead, they just showed thatThe Boysdoesn’t seem to understand how to draw fromGen V’sgreatness in order to improve its own.
The Boysis available to stream on Amazon Prime Video in the U.S.
