The Boys’ Daddy Issues Make Season 5 More Impactful Than Ever

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The latest season of The Boys is starting strong, with bigger risks, increased conflict, and some significant character deaths. While it’s still full of action and shocking moments, the show is starting to explore deeper themes, and storylines are beginning to pay off. It seems like many of the characters, both good and bad, are grappling with complicated relationships with their fathers.

As a fan of the show, it’s become really clear that Homelander is losing it. We’re seeing more and more signs of his instability – he’s hearing voices, and the creepy high-pitched sound with flashing lights whenever there are cameras just adds to it. Then, he does something completely impulsive: he tells the press that Soldier Boy isn’t just a hero, but his father! The guy literally just sent Soldier Boy into a risky situation without giving him everything he needed to know. They already had a strained relationship, but this is a whole new level of messed up. And in a private moment, Soldier Boy just tears into Homelander, calling him…well, it was a really unsettling and frankly disturbing insult. It just felt…wrong.

The dynamic between Soldier Boy and Homelander is getting increasingly strange, especially after Soldier Boy shockingly asked Homelander if he was his son’s father. It felt like a bizarre, uncomfortable situation, and immediately raised questions about an inappropriate relationship. This tension was heightened by moments like Homelander and Soldier Boy’s vulnerable conversation about needing a father figure, and later, a gratuitous nude scene. A particularly interesting subplot involved Soldier Boy sleeping with Firecracker, believing it would upset Homelander, but instead learning from her how his son actually perceives him. This interaction seems likely to have a lasting impact on their complicated relationship.

Homelander has never really had a stable parental figure, and the show quickly flashes back to several men telling him he didn’t measure up. He was always closer to his mother, so it’s fitting that he now hallucinates a comforting maternal figure – a woman he actually killed and then forced a shapeshifter to impersonate as an angelic being. This hallucination fuels his inflated ego. Later in the episode, he comes face-to-face with one of those disappointing father figures, Stan Edgar. After violently attacking his own son, Ryan, Homelander may be questioning whether he wants to be a father at all.

Ryan is in a difficult situation, forced to kill people to stay hidden, and his first meeting with Butcher is far from warm. Butcher immediately asks Ryan to undertake a dangerous mission – to eliminate Homelander. While not Ryan’s father, Butcher isn’t offering much in the way of guidance. Instead, he shares traumatic details about killing Ryan’s biological father and even reveals where the body is. Their connection seems shaky, built only on a shared love for Becca and a mutual hatred of Homelander. This flimsy bond likely won’t be enough to hold them together once their current goal is achieved, especially as Butcher often treats Ryan dismissively. Though seemingly harsh, Butcher’s actions might stem from a misguided attempt to protect Ryan. However, this approach ultimately pushes Ryan into a confrontation with Homelander, who delivers a far more brutal form of parenting. They fight amidst monuments dedicated to Homelander, with Ryan destroying images of his father during their struggle. Ryan is caught in an impossible situation. Despite earlier plans to eliminate him, Butcher is present at the end, offering a strange sort of support.

Zoe is still deeply affected by the death of her mother, Victoria Neuman, and being abandoned at Red River by Butcher. She’s been living with her grandfather, Stan Edgar, and manages to rejoin Frenchie and Kimiko, initially with the intention of finding and killing Butcher. Instead, she unexpectedly finds her father, Sameer, who she believed was dead. Both are, understandably, hurt by the deception. Frenchie wants to hold onto them, but Kimiko is trying to move on and encourages them to leave. It’s admirable to see Kimiko’s compassion, though this reunion could still end sadly.

Adding to the emotional complexity, we have Maverick, another young man dealing with his father’s death – this time, it’s confirmed, as Hughie killed Translucent in season one. Edgar falsely blamed Homelander, but The Deep blurted out the truth in a clumsy way, swearing he witnessed it himself. Even before knowing the details, Hughie’s attempts at connection were awkward, and his later attempt to comfort Maverick is equally clumsy, revealing he also killed his father. Surprisingly, Maverick handles the revelation remarkably well, essentially sacrificing his own emotional well-being for Hughie, intentionally or not.

Everyone in this episode is struggling with issues related to their fathers or father figures. Mother’s Milk opens up to Stan Edgar about his dad, while also reacting with unsettling laughter to the news that Soldier Boy – the man responsible for his grandfather’s death – may be immortal. Even The Deep is shown desperately seeking approval, going so far as to attack his teammate, hoping to impress Edgar and deliver him to Homelander.

It’s satisfying when a story has a central thread that connects everything together, especially when it’s been subtly developing over a long period. Seeing all those carefully laid elements finally come together in a single episode is really rewarding. Knowing we don’t have much time left with these characters, I’m hoping for more episodes that explore their complex relationships and deeper themes, even amidst all the action.

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2026-04-17 19:47