The Boys Series Finale Review: The Show (Mostly) Sticks the Superhero Landing

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After seven years and 39 episodes across five seasons, the final episode of The Boys has arrived. Getting to this point in the show’s fifth and final season hasn’t been easy, and like other popular series such as Game of Thrones and Stranger Things, the last episodes have received mixed reactions. Some viewers feel there was too much unnecessary content, that too much time was dedicated to setting up a Soldier Boy prequel, or that the show lost its original direction.

Episode 7 of The Boys Season 5 received the lowest IMDb rating so far—just 6.5 out of 10—which suggested the show might not have a satisfying conclusion. The series finale was initially released in a limited number of U.S. theaters before becoming available on Prime Video worldwide. Once negative reactions start, they can be hard to overcome, making it a tricky situation for the show. However, I think the finale generally succeeds in delivering a good ending.

Rating: 3/5

The finale of The Boys isn’t flawless. It likely won’t fully satisfy those who disliked Season 5, as some plot points feel predictable and the scope might be too limited for some viewers. However, I still enjoyed it. It hits the important emotional notes and provides a fitting, logical ending to the story we’ve been following. While there are issues – some of which are surprisingly simple to fix – overall, the finale is successful. Be warned: spoilers follow.

The Boys Series Finale Spoilers & Recap:

  • The episode opens with Hughie reading Frenchie’s will, which is a blend of funny (with a lot of talk about their a**holes) and emotional.
  • Homelander tries to reunite with Ryan, but his son tells him to “get f**ked,” which leaves the villain visibly upset.
  • Marie, Jordan, and Emma from Gen V briefly appear, with Annie instructing them to focus on saving people from Homelander’s potential destruction, rather than joining the fight.
  • Sister Sage goads Kimiko into blasting her, proving she has the ability to remove a Supe’s powers. Sage loses her super intelligence, becoming an “idiot,” and heads off to Harry Potter world.
  • Homelander addresses the nation, saying he is the “first coming,” and that they deserve a God who will fight for them and promises a new dawn, but later flips his message into a threat that he will “reign eternal and be God of the ashes.”
  • While that’s happening, the Boys infiltrate the White House, with some help from Ashley.
  • M.M. and Hughie cover Oh Father’s mouth with a ball gag, and his sonic scream ends up exploding his own head.
  • Starlight flies the Deep out of a window to a beach, where they fight. Eventually she blasts him into the ocean, where he’s torn apart and killed by sea creatures.
  • Kimiko and Butcher fight Homelander in the Oval Office, but she is unable to blast him. Homelander tries to escape, but Ryan flies in and tackles him, with the fight continuing.
  • Kimiko has a vision of Frenchie, which gives her the strength she needs to blast Homelander and remove his powers. Now weakened, he begs for his life, but Butcher beats him up, shoves a crowbar through his skull, and rips the top of his head off.
  • Ashley is impeached and removed from office; Stan Edgar is later named the new CEO of Vought.
  • Ryan and Butcher have both lost their powers. The latter wants a fresh start together, but Ryan turns him down, saying he’s not a good person.
  • Butcher then finds Terror is dead, somehow (seemingly of natural causes), which causes him to go to Vought and take steps to unleash the Supe virus.
  • Hughie figures this out and goes to stop him. They have a fight, which is then ended when Butcher has a vision of his brother, Lenny, while looking at Hughie. Hughie fatally shoots Butcher, who dies at peace.
  • The Boys say farewell to Butcher at his grave. Kimiko leaves and goes to France. M.M. gets married and has seemingly adopted Ryan. Hughie and Annie stay together; he turns down an offer from the U.S. government to head up a Bureau of Supe Affairs, instead running an Audio Visual store, while Starlight continues to work as a Supe. They’re also expecting a child, who will be named Robin.

The Boys Gives All Its Main Characters The Right Ending

For me, the most important part of a series finale is whether it feels emotionally satisfying and gives the characters a fitting conclusion – whether that’s a happy, sad, or open-ended one. I believe the finale of The Boys achieves this. The ultimate fate of its main characters – Butcher, Homelander, Hughie, Starlight, Mother’s Milk, Kimiko, and the Deep – feels perfectly aligned with their journeys, thanks to creator Eric Kripke.

As a fan who’s been following this story since 2019, I was really happy with how everything wrapped up for the characters. Their endings felt earned and natural, fitting perfectly with their journeys. Honestly, nothing felt too surprising, and while some might want a big shock, I appreciated that the writers stayed true to who these characters are. It felt respectful of their development, and that’s what mattered to me.

The deaths of Homelander and Butcher were the main events, as expected. It felt fitting that these two characters had the final showdown. Although the fight in the Oval Office wasn’t particularly impressive – and maybe even made Homelander seem less powerful than he should have – it ultimately led to the correct outcome. Antony Starr delivered a phenomenal performance in his last scenes, portraying a broken and desperate Homelander begging for his life. It was a satisfying conclusion after five seasons of him being such a menacing villain.

As a critic, I was really moved by Butcher’s final moments, and Karl Urban and Jack Quaid absolutely crushed their last scene together. Quaid really reminded us that Hughie is the relatable, human core of the show, while Urban hinted at the buried decency within Butcher. I also loved seeing The Deep finally get his comeuppance, taken down by Starlight and a bunch of sea creatures – a perfectly silly payoff. Overall, the way things wrapped up for the remaining characters felt genuinely satisfying and hopeful.

Not every character gets a strong conclusion. While it was known Jensen Ackles’ Soldier Boy would be put back into cryo-freeze, it doesn’t feel like a particularly fulfilling ending for him. Also, the characters from the now-cancelled show Gen V are underutilized, especially since their appearances were filmed before the cancellation was announced. Whether this is a problem is subjective, but their involvement in the recent episodes feels largely unnecessary.

The Boys’ Series Finale’s Biggest Problem Is Not Having Enough Time

My biggest problem with the ending of The Boys is that it felt too short. At just over an hour long – the same as a typical episode – it’s not inherently a bad thing, as I usually believe finales should match the show’s overall length. However, it led to a rushed feeling. This ties into a larger issue with the final season, which sometimes felt like it was stalling, and I was worried the finale wouldn’t be able to wrap everything up properly.

As a movie fan, I thought the story did a solid job of moving the characters forward and hitting all the emotional notes. But honestly, I think it would have been even better if it had a little more room to unfold – maybe a longer runtime, or if they’d introduced some of the other storylines and characters a bit sooner. It just felt a little rushed at times.

As a fan, I felt like some parts of the story rushed by a little too quickly. I think the show could have been even stronger if we’d spent a bit more time with certain characters. For instance, Homelander’s death happened so early, and then Butcher was gone not long after! The finale itself felt short. It really needed more time to develop Terror’s death into something truly impactful, and to really build up the tension around Butcher’s plan and what happened to him. I also would have loved a longer ending – something that let us really see where everyone ended up and reflect on everything that happened. It felt like we just jumped to the end a bit too quickly.

Some viewers might still find things to criticize, particularly if the show aims for a larger, more impressive scale. Expectations surrounding Homelander were also set high – Antony Starr hinted at an even more shocking act on The Kelly Clarkson Show, which didn’t quite materialize. While I appreciated how things ended for him, the impact would have been greater if we’d seen a truly unrestrained and disturbing display of his power beforehand.

Honestly, I didn’t mind that it wasn’t a huge, flashy event. The smaller, more personal scale actually worked for a superhero satire. While a big CGI battle might have been expected, finding a middle ground between that and the intimate feel could have made it even better.

Overall, the finale felt true to the characters and the show’s spirit, which was my strongest impression. It included satisfying moments for longtime fans – like a classic Hughie scene – but avoided being overly reliant on past references or feeling smug. While some plot points were neatly resolved and others weren’t, considering how disappointing finales can be and that the show was at its best in seasons two and three, I think the ending we got was a good one.

The Boys‘ series finale is now streaming on Prime Video.

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2026-05-20 19:11