5 Times The Boys Went Too Far — & It Was Totally Worth It
As far as political and social satire go, few shows have hit the mark in the 21st century quite like The Boys. Eric Kripke, who always has his finger on the pulse, somehow manages to match the chaotic energy of our world with each passing season of his superhero show.
Themes of government corruption, malignant leaders, and corporate propaganda run deep in The Boys, with a healthy side order of graphic violence. It’s one of the most entertaining TV shows on our screens today, and Season 5, its last, will surely cement that legacy.
To mark the series coming to an end, we put together this list of the five most shocking moments in The Boys to date (Seasons 1-4). Truth is, we could have filled this list ten times over simply with Homelander’s antics, but he’s not alone when it comes to debauchery and destruction…
1. A-Train’s Hit and Run
The Boys didn’t take long to leave our jaws on the floor. In fact, in the very first scene of Season 1, Episode 1, we’re given a clear idea of how gruesome and unforgiving this show will be when A-Train interrupts a loving moment between Hughie and Robin. This is not your typical awkward or rude interruption, though: A-Train ploughs through Robin at breakneck speed and leaves nothing but a pile of blood and bones behind.
For my money, it’s one of, if not the best, TV openings ever. The Boys wastes no time in telling the audience what it’s all about, and there’s an implicit promise that, if this is how the show kicks off, just think how much more radical it’s going to get along the way. Some shows don’t live up to that promise, but The Boys most definitely does.
2. Homelander Reveals His True Colours
While the show itself is devilishly dark from the get-go, it takes a few episodes until Homelander’s true nature emerges. In fact, until Season 1, Episode 4, the leader of the Seven appears to be your standard golden boy superhero.
In the first episode, Homelander and Queen Maeve deal with the fallout of a plane crash they seemingly couldn’t prevent. Come Episode 4, and the cold, calculated, and downright cruel motives of Homelander during that incident are revealed. The truth is, the victims of Transoceanic Flight 37 were never going to be rescued. Instead, Homelander killed the pilot, destroyed the plane’s control panel and then refused to help the passengers. After letting the plane crash and burn, Homelander delivered a rousing speech to the press, cleverly hinting that these lives could have been saved if only superheroes were given the same jurisdiction as the military. It’s a brutal ploy, but executed brilliantly.
3. Victoria Neuman Blows Everyone’s Mind… Literally
One of the few characters in The Boys who could truly give Homelander a run for his money is Victoria Neuman, though we didn’t know it at first. The superpowered congresswoman keeps her abilities hidden for most of Season 2, largely to fuel her fight against Vought and also to protect her daughter. However, the reveal of what she’s capable of is terrifying and tantalising in equal measure.
Throughout Season 2, Vought executives and supporters get their heads popped left, right, and centre, and we don’t know how. Then in Episode 7, a congressional hearing is brought to a bloody end when almost every head in the room explodes… but Neuman survives. That may seem like good fortune, but in the season finale, we learn that she is the one behind it, thanks to her blood manipulation powers. It’s an incredible pull-the-rug moment for the audience and characters in-world, as a formidable new villain emerges from the shadows that nobody saw coming.
4. Termite Picks the Worst Time to Sneeze
I’m not saying that people dying is inherently funny, but The Boys orchestrates such wild, over-the-top deaths sometimes that you just have to laugh. That’s definitely the case in Season 3, Episode 1, which features one of the most ridiculous death scenes I’ve ever witnessed on television.
Termite, a Supe who can shrink in size, figures he will put this power to good use by making himself small enough to crawl up inside his lover, Peter’s, penis. The problem is, Termite has a cocaine addiction, and there’s just one rule to his power: if he sneezes, he returns to full size. This hazardous combination sees Termite get a little itch in his nose while he’s inside the appendage, causing him to sneeze, grow, and absolutely obliterate Peter in the process.
If you enjoy this kind of mindless, graphic violence with a sexual twist, you’ll also love the sixth episode of The Boys Season 3, titled ‘Herogasm.’ It’s sheer hedonism for hedonism’s sake, but it’s so much fun!
5. Homelander’s Revenge on Vought Scientists
Even superpowered bad guys have to confront their demons, but Homelander, being the efficient machine that he is, decides to get all his ticked off in one fell swoop in The Boys Season 4, Episode 4. In the episode, the increasingly troubled Homelander returns to the Stranger Things-style lab he was raised in to deliver some long-overdue comeuppance.
While Homelander comes bearing gifts in the form of a chocolate ice cream cake, the scientists soon realise that his visit is not a happy one. He forces one of them into the incinerator and burns him alive, makes another masturbate in front of him before killing him with a laser beam, and then turns his attention to the boss, Barbara. Though she was like a mother to him growing up, Homelander has no qualms about locking her in what was known as ‘the bad room’ and making her watch while he exterminates every other scientist in front of her. The fact that Homelander holds this grudge for so long and still returns to get his revenge says a lot about his violently psychotic tendencies. He will stop at nothing to make people pay for wronging him in the past.
