Much has been said in recent weeks about The Acolyte potentially being review-bombed. As we write this, Disney+'s latest Star Wars TV series boasts a 14% Audience Score on Rotten Tomatoes, a stark contrast to its 84% Critics Score.
Now, there are concerns among fans of The Boys that it too is being targeted by unhappy viewers. Season 4 is "Certified Fresh" at 95%, but has slipped to an all-time low 50% Audience Score following last week's three-episode premiere.
For context, The Boys season 1 has 85%/95%, season 2 sits at 97%/83%, and season 3 is currently at 98%/75%.
The Audience Score has gradually declined from year to year, so interest may have begun to decrease as viewers grow tired of the series and its premise. After all, the news The Boys will end with season 5 received a surprisingly positive response, at least in part due to it feeling like the show has been treading water in recent years.
If The Boys is indeed being review-bombed, then it may be in response to its strong political messaging during an already tense election year.
The Boys has never been subtle but is also no longer disguising its disdain for those who some might consider as having far-right views. That's something showrunner Eric Kripke freely acknowledged in a recent interview.
"I'm just going to lean into it, and then the audience can sort of decide whether they want to watch or not. I mean, it’s almost become like 'South Park,' you know what I mean?"
"There’s just so few shows that can directly comment on the world we’re living in, and they get to do it as a cartoon. We get to hold up a mirror as a fantasy genre show. But again, because we’re just like, we’re right there. I mean, it’s all in the original comic. The comic is really political. It just, it’s political about the post-9/11 George Bush era."
"The show’s not subtle. It wears its politics on its sleeve. And it’s funny to rip on the madness on the right, and we get some shots in on the left of all the performative wokeness and everything."
Kripke has also made it clear he has little love for those who rally around Homelander as a "hero."
After Captain Marvel was review-bombed in 2019, Rotten Tomatoes took steps to stop that from happening by making its users have verified ticket purchases. How they can do the same for reviews submitted for TV shows is hard to say.
Here are some examples of The Boys season 4's most extreme negative verdicts: