The series finale of The Boys is less than a week away, but will Season 5 end on a high note? Fans have been critical of the show's final batch of episodes, complaining about filler and a lack of epic action, the latter of which was teased on posters depicting worldwide devastation.
In episode 6, Homelander finally took V1 and became immortal. Aside from a gory run-in with the United States President, not much about him was different in this Wednesday's penultimate chapter.
Frenchie's death certainly packed a punch, but "The Frenchman, the Female, and the Man Called Mother's Milk" was otherwise largely uneventful. That wasn't helped by the show's sudden shift from figuring out how to unleash the Virus to giving Kimiko the same power-sapping abilities as Soldier Boy.
Now, many fans have taken to IMDb's rating system to share their dissatisfaction with The Boys' latest episode. As we write this, it's been awarded a 7.0, making it the show's worst-rated episode ever behind Season 4, episode 2, "Life Among the Septics."
The highest-rated instalment is still season 3, episode 6, "Herogasm," which has a mighty 9.6/10.
Heading into next week's finale, showrunner Eric Kripke needs to somehow conclude the story on a satisfying note, bid farewell to each lead character, and do right by the Gen V cast after the series was recently cancelled after two seasons.
"None of the things that happen in the last few episodes will matter if you don't flesh out the characters," Kripke recently said of the "filler" complaints. "I'm getting a lot of online dissatisfaction, to put it politely. And I'm like, 'What are you expecting? Are you expecting a huge battle scene every episode?'"
"One, I can't afford that. And two, it would be so empty and dull, and it would just be about shapes moving without having any import."
"What makes me most anxious about the final season is really hoping we land the plane," he continued. "It’s super hard to do a finale. Fans will retroactively judge the show based on how they feel about the finale. 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."
The Boys Season 5 is now streaming weekly on Prime Video.