Warning: This review contains full spoilers for The Boys Season 5, Episode 7!
The Boys may have meandered its way through the first half of Season 5, but things have certainly picked up in the last few weeks. Episode 6 ended with exactly the sort of dramatic, game-changing cliffhanger the series needed, as Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles) defied the odds and handed his son the literal keys to immortality. Everything our heroes have fought and bled for has been for nought. It’s a strong way to lead into the series’ penultimate chapter, and Episode 7 is mostly successful in building on that foundation.
Naturally, Homelander (Antony Starr) himself is one of the big draws in Episode 7. It’s quite something to kick off an episode with Homelander casually murdering the President and ordering the death of democracy as we know it. He may be reveling in his newfound godhood, but we’re quickly reminded that nothing is ever going to fill the gaping void of need and loneliness that exists where his withered heart is.
That feeds nicely into Homelander and Soldier Boy’s reunion, where the latter tries to make a clean getaway to Bogota and winds up right back in the cryo tube for his troubles. As much as I feel Episode 6 failed to justify Soldier Boy’s decision to hand over the V1 to Homelander, at least here the series emphasizes the idea that it was an act motivated by love for Stormfront (Aya Cash) and not attachment to Homelander. I assume Soldier Boy still has a part to play in the final episode, but I also wouldn’t be disappointed if this was how his story ended.
I feel similarly about The Deep (Chace Crawford), who really goes through some stuff in Episode 7. His reward for his unyielding loyalty to Homelander is to be summarily dismissed and tossed aside. He gave up everything for Vought and its master, and he has absolutely nothing to show for it. It feels like The Deep as a character is well past the point of redemption, so let his final scene on the series be him running away like a coward while an innocent man drowns.
You can’t discuss the villains here without mentioning Oh Father (Daveed Diggs) and that incredible musical number that opens this episode. It’s good to see the series taking full advantage of Diggs’ musical theater background in a sequence that’s as hilarious as it is mortifying. Diggs is strong throughout the episode, as we get a better sense of a man who is truly a believer, yet also coming to terms with the fact that so few around him feel the same way.
Episode 7 is also effective in further exploring the theme of maintaining hope in a hopeless time. At this point, even Hughie (Jack Quaid) is struggling to keep his morale up, forcing the deeply cynical Butcher (Karl Urban) to be the ray of sunshine in these dark days. MM (Laz Alonso) also has a great scene with Starlight (Erin Moriarty) as he explains the real significance of his odd nickname and casts aside his own facade of cynicism. Of the team, MM has probably enjoyed the strongest arc this season.
Another highlight this week comes with the “return” of Butcher’s CIA buddy Joe Kessler (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). It’s funny to think that Kessler has played a pretty major role in the series despite never once actually being a true flesh-and-blood character. It’s satisfying to learn more about the twisted history between Butcher and Kessler, and then for Hughie to finally turn the psychic tables on Synapse (Steven Yaffee).
Then there’s the tragic climax of Episode 7, where Frenchie (Tomer Capone) makes his final stand against Homelander. His death isn’t necessarily that surprising, as the script pretty blatantly telegraphs that things aren’t going to work out for Frenchie and Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara). Still, the moment hits the right emotional notes. The series definitely needed a big death to remind us of the stakes leading into the finale, and Frenchie is a worthy sacrifice.
So what didn’t quite work in Episode 7? For one thing, the series is guilty of delivering too little, too late with the overdue Gen V tie-in. We finally see Marie Moreau (Jaz Sinclair) and Jordan Li (London Thor), only for the two to be quickly brushed off and dismissed by Starlight. In the effort to not upset viewers who didn’t watch Gen V, the series has managed to punish those who did. And, sure, it seems like Marie and her friends are being set up to play a role in the finale, but after they’ve factored so little into the conflict so far, they’re almost surely going to feel shoehorned into the final battle.
In a broader sense, Episode 7 suffers from the fact that it doesn’t necessarily feel like the penultimate chapter of the series. The sense of urgency isn’t quite there, even with Homelander having achieved his full power. For the most part, this episode plays out like just another madcap caper for Butcher and the gang, with only Frenchie’s death reminding us that the endgame is fast approaching.
It feels as though the series has too many loose ends to tie up and too many living characters still to juggle for everything to be wrapped up in a neat, satisfying bow in one last, hourlong installment. Should we have reached this point earlier in the season? Maybe. I just hope there’s room enough to give fans a proper conclusion in Episode 8.
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