The following contains spoilers for The Boys Season 4, Episode 5, “Beware the Jabberwock, My Son,” now streaming on Prime Video
Summary
- The Deep’s line in The Boys Season 4 responded to the backlash against the show’s politics and themes.
- The show anticipated divisive reactions from fans and made no secret of its political satire.
- Criticism of The Boys’ “wokeness” ignores the show’s long history of political commentary and social critique.
boys directly comments on one of the biggest criticisms of season four and highlights the flaws of that criticism. boys The show was a dismal hit for Prime Video, with the fourth season receiving rave reviews. boys Season four highlighted the potential of the series, which has already expanded into spinoffs such as Fifth Generation The fifth season is about to end. However, the show has increasingly become a target of criticism from some fans who believe its themes and commentary are too explicit.
on the surface, boys is a bloody remix of the superhero genre, with many of its costumed crime fighters appearing to be flawed at best and outright monsters at worst. boys“True villains are cruel reflections of society’s worst impulses, expressed through capes and costumes. However, as the show uses this setting to deliver increasingly pointed satires of the media and politics, it seems well aware that some fans are resisting this aspect of the show.
RELATED This New Character on The Boys Is Season 4’s Secret MVP
Season 4 of The Boys introduced several new characters, with one in particular being a standout, stealing the spotlight in every scene they appear in.
The Deep’s “Go Woke” line in Season 4 of The Boys was a direct response to the backlash
Vought is trying to turn “Awakening” into another thing they can profit from
The Abyss mentioned that Walter woke up, highlighting boys Anticipating negative criticism from some fans about the show’s political stance. At a fan expo where Vought’s superhero lineup announced new shows and movies, Deep participated in the announcement of the “Black At It” initiative, which focuses on BIPOC characters such as Sister Sage and A-Train. Deep commented that while some may say “woke, you’re broke,” Vought believes “woke, you’re bound.”
This moment highlights how willing Vought is to use this quote as part of his business plan, trying to attract a wider audience in an obvious and unseemly way. The Deep’s reference to Awakening is also a direct comment on the negative reception boys Some conservative fans of the show have claimed that the show has become “woke” in its fourth season, mainly due to the inclusion of a gay love story, more overt political commentary and explicit criticism of the far right.
Abyss’s line proves The Boys anticipated season 4’s divisive reaction
boys Seeing right-wing critics coming
In fact, boys Commenting on the response the show received, it highlighted how the show’s producers and creators anticipated how some of the audience would react. boys The show has been slammed on reviews on sites like Rotten Tomatoes and IMDB, with many claiming it has become too “woke” and overtly anti-Donald Trump. The show makes no secret of its content or the intentions behind it, with the series full of political satires focusing on capitalism, war profiteering and the media’s whitewashing of history.
Season four has only amplified these elements of the show, explicitly drawing attention to Victoria Newman’s political ambitions and the growing conspiracy to make Homelander, the show’s ultimate strongman, the leader of the free world. “The Abyss” makes a joke about corporations stealing ideologies like “woke” and profiting from them for their own gain, highlighting how the show is expected to be called “woke” because of its narrative choices.
Related Five years later, the boys’ first story is officially complete
The Boys Season 4 marks the finale of the Amazon series, and its latest episode finally resolves the show’s first storyline.
Why the most vociferous criticism of The Boys Season 4 makes no sense
boys Irony has never been so subtle
People commented angrily boys There are people who “wake up” all the time, but they miss the point of the show. boys Political themes were placed front and center, especially with Starlight’s #MeToo-inspired Deep storyline and Vought’s attempt to bring Superman into the military. Season 2 directly confronted the supremacist views of many members of the alt-right, with Stormfront being an openly discriminatory “superhero” who was ultimately revealed to be a real Nazi. Season 3’s Soldier Boy storyline highlighted outdated ideals while drawing attention to Homelander as a dangerous megalomaniac.
boys It has always been political, with social criticism mostly hidden beneath the surface of more obvious superhero parody. boys It’s engaging and complex, and gives it the necessary depth to balance out the cruder humor and over-the-top action beats. The Deep offers in-universe commentary that highlights how accustomed the creators are to audiences misunderstanding their intentions. boys has never been afraid to poke fun at that segment of the fandom, and that became more open in season four.
boys 
The Boys is a superhero/black comedy satire created by Eric Kripke based on the comic book series of the same name. The story takes place in a “what if” world where people revere superheroes as celebrities and gods, and they get little punishment for what they do. However, a group of vigilantes led by vengeful man Billy Butcher will fight back against these superheroes and expose their true colors.
Cast Elisabeth Shue, Jensen Ackles, Goran Visnjic, Jesse T. Usher, Chace Crawford, Dominic McElligott, Laz Alonso, Nathan Mitchell, Aya Cash, Colby Minifie, Karl Urban, Erin Moriarty, Karen Fukuhara, Jack Quaid, Antony Starr, Claudia Dumit, Tomer Capone
Release date July 26, 2019
Season 4
boys
Writer Eric Kripke Directors Erin Moriarty, Karen Fukuhara, Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Eric Kripke
Eric Kripke
expansion