The Boys' fifth and final season drew mixed reviews from fans who felt the final batch of episodes featured too much filler and a noticeable lack of epic action. Prime Video teased post-apocalyptic destruction in posters, only for the final clash to be a relatively low-key battle in the Oval Office.
While each character got what felt like a fitting end, there were some telltale signs of budget cuts, highlighted in social media clips from earlier seasons (showing scenes taking place out in the world, not just the empty interiors of buildings).
The Boys showrunner Eric Kripke has already dismissed the online complaints as a vocal minority, pointing to Season 5's high viewership numbers as proof that people loved this clearly divisive send-off.
In a new interview with TV Line, Kripke broke his silence on the finale backlash—"Blood and Bone" is rated 5.5/10 on IMDb—when he said, "I'm not healthy in that I'm like, 'Oh, I never look.' I see it all.' Obviously, there are a lot of unhappy people online, but there are two things I would say: First, I'm just glad people are passionate, legitimately."
"My job is to make people passionate about the work I put out. If they're arguing about it and hating it and fighting, that's all passion, man. You're watching, and that's all good. My job is to get an emotional reaction, not necessarily to dictate what that emotional reaction is."
He added that a lesson he's learned "a thousand times over" is that "the online world is not the real world" and explained, "We have way north of 60 million viewers, so that makes the online storm, which feels very all-encompassing, actually a fraction of a single percentage point. Everyone's entitled to their opinion, of course, and I'm sorry if I disappointed you, but it was the story I wanted to tell."
"You just have to put it into perspective of it being a reasonably small, vocal audience when the vast majority seem to be happily tuning in," Kripke concluded.
Without specific viewership figures for each episode, there's no way to know whether Kripke is correct. Many bad movies have broken box office records, but that doesn't mean they're beloved. Still, people tuning in to see how The Boys ends doesn't necessarily mean they disagree with the (admittedly hyperbolic) online sentiment.
Regardless, it will be interesting to see how Vought Rising is received when it debuts next year, especially as it will likely deal with Soldier Boy's unresolved fate at the end of The Boys Season 5.
The Boys is now streaming in its entirety on Prime Video.