The Boys was a true tonal shift from Eric Kripke’s first TV hit, Supernatural. Its gritty, absurd and grotesque take on superheroes never fails to leave me shocked – and desperate to talk about it to anyone else who has witnessed the depravity.
I was also a devoted fan of Kripke’s breakout show on The CW. During the 15-season run of Supernatural, I went to conventions, frequented Tumblr and even managed to dedicate part of my dissertation to the fandom of The Winchesters and co.
In that time, I witnessed a downward trajectory in quality as Supernatural was gradually milked for all it was worth, and now I’m worried that the same thing may happen to The Boys.
In 2020, the showrunner stated on Twitter that he had a rough idea to end The Boys after five seasons, because “creatively five feels like a good round number”. Many fans (myself included) were inclined to agree. After all, many stellar shows with satisfying endings weren’t dragged out beyond this number – this includes Breaking Bad, The Wire, Ozark and Succession.
But with the fourth season of The Boys approaching fast, the writer appears to be walking back on that claim.
Spoilers for Supernatural and The Boys below
In an interview with Inverse, Kripke said: “I have learned since then to not try to call the seasons as the person who, and this is without hyperbole, is literally the most wrong in entertainment history of how many seasons their show should go.”
Amazon Prime Video, naturally, seems to be on board with the decision, with executive Vernon Sanders saying the following to Entertainment Weekly: “It’s probably premature to talk about that beyond saying we believe in Eric, and if Eric is interested in continuing the story, we’ll be the first ones in line to really work with him on what that is.”
This attitude is perhaps not surprising. The Boys continues to be one of Amazon’s biggest shows, and if it continues to bring in cash, why cancel the money train?
And therein lies the problem. For some executives, it doesn’t matter if the quality of a show deteriorates, as long as it’s making bank. With that in mind, guess which other show was supposed to run for a perfectly formed five seasons, only to have that decision overturned? That’s right. Supernatural.
Jack Rowand/The CW/Warner Bros
Jensen Ackles, who plays Dean Winchester, told SFX magazine the following: “I know that [creator] Eric Kripke had a plan sketched for five years when he started the show, so he had a master skeleton, but filling in all the details is something that just kind of comes as you keep moving forward.”
When you watch the show, it’s quite clear that there was some sort of direction in the first five seasons. Sure, it went from a monster-of-the-week format with just two brothers hunting various horrors in season 1, to a showdown between archangels and the devil himself in season 5. But these threads all connected and there was still some cohesion.
After the episode Swan Song, Kripke departed as showrunner. And then the glory days were over.
The head writer changed many times over the next ten years, and the storylines varied hugely in quality. Some of the biggest complaints that cropped up stem from the drawn-out Leviathan plot in season 7, to the arrival of the British Men of Letters in season 12.
Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t a complete downfall post-Kripke. Season 11 comes to mind as a high point, which follows our heroes battling an entity called The Darkness, Castiel being possessed by Lucifer and the creative episode Baby, which is entirely shot from within the iconic Impala.
The show also kept its promise of bizarre episodes, which remain beloved in the fandom. This includes The French Mistake, in which Sam and Dean enter a parallel universe where they’re actors on the Supernatural set, and their actual lives are a work of TV fiction.
However, nearly every other season was rocky, with only a few diamonds in the rough. That’s because, quite often, new writers wouldn’t know what to do with our cast. The lore became so sprawling and expansive that it wound up ridden with plot holes and contradictions.
Dean, Sam and Cas were killed and brought back to life so many times that by the time the final season rolled around, the stakes felt particularly low. That made the final few episodes of season 15 a kick in the teeth to fans. Seeing Dean and Cas lost to inconclusive and unsatisfying deaths, with minimal explanation or pay-off (or in the angel’s case, none), was demoralising.
And sure, Sam lived a long and happy life. But his tale was only told through short flashforwards, complete with a blurry wife, a budget wig and an X Factor-esque version of Carry On My Wayward Son layered over the top. The ending was so poorly received that rumours of a revival have been heavily circulating, which audiences hope could finally promise some answers.
As a long-time fan, the term ‘sunk-cost fallacy’ came to mind as the credits rolled and I stared dead-eyed into the void, wondering why I had invested over 236 precious hours of my life into this stupid show. I don’t want to have that same feeling repeated for The Boys.
The CW / Warner Bros.
So far, the quality of the diabolical superhero series has been quite consistent. Season 2 didn’t quite match up to the novelty of the debut, but the third instalment was a return to form and showed us that we’re far from done with the debauchery and political machinations of the Supes and Vought.
Now we’re rolling up to season 4, and it feels like we’re marching towards a similar climax to Supernatural.
Butcher’s days are numbered due to his excessive use of Temp V24, and he’s yet to speak about his fate to the Spice Girls. Ryan is slowly being corrupted by his dad, and we don’t know whether he will see the light. Plus, the secret, head-popping Supe Victoria Neuman is closer than ever to obtaining a powerful position in the government.
But one fact has always remained true. Homelander is the big boss of the show, the true villain. Can the show sustain his character, and keep it interesting, beyond five seasons? I’m doubtful.
If our rag-tag heroes defeat him, who takes his place as the new big bad? Again, Supernatural tried many times to fill that role, and they always came back to Lucifer – with varying degrees of success.
Prime Video
The thing is, it’s not like the universe of The Boys would be over if the main show did come to an end in a few years. Spin-off Gen V has been met with praise from audiences and critics alike, and that’s been renewed for another season. There are plenty of other stories that Kripke could explore in this universe without flogging the same superheroes to death.
Five seasons is plenty to bring The Boys to a satisfying conclusion. If the writers do go beyond that, I’m praying it’s not by much more.
If it’s destined to be another long-haul run, I’ll see you in a decade when we witness an aged-up, wig-wearing Hughie living his life through a vague montage, set to a backdrop ballad of We Didn’t Start The Fire.
