If you were to describe the Amazon series The Boys in a single word, that would hands-down be ‘diabolical’!
Imagine a universe where superheroes are as callous as the villains they fight, all lines of morality are blurred, and the idea of a superhero is completely opposite to the do-gooder trop that has been established through comics and films. That is The Boys for you! After a successful three-season run since 2019, the show is back to entertain fans with a new season.
Adapted from Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson's groundbreaking comic series, season 4 of The Boys promises to be as fun and subversive as its earlier seasons, if the trailer is anything to go by. Three episodes of the fourth season will be released on June 13, 2024 and the remaining episodes will be released on a weekly basis, on every Thursday. Before you start this crazy journey, let's reminisce about the top moments throughout the series that made us pause and think “What did I just watch?”
10) Looking at the whale from the inside (Season 2: Episode 2)
The boys are escaping in a speedboat, away from a police helicopter, while there are furious sharks all around them. Whenever there is a mention of an aquatic animal, a character that will soon make their appearance is The Deep. The unfortunate yet diabolic character, in this scene, parks a large whale at the shoreline, in an attempt to prevent the boys from escaping.
What he could not anticipate was that Butcher, as his name suggests, is a carnage in human form. Rather than slowing down, Butcher accelerates the speedboat. Whenever you think the show is taking a slight break from its gnarly nature, the fans will always remember this scene when the speedboat, with the boys in it, punctures through the whale, killing the poor life and with them being stuck in the insides of the animal, covered heavily in goo and blood. Even if you were given a warning, this is a scene that would never fail to make the jaws drop.
9) Becca is alive and hiding? (Season 1 finale)
Throughout the first season, Butcher’s main story arc revolves around his missing wife, Becca. He hates Homelander as he believes his wife, died shortly after meeting the supe. Although he has no evidence that Homelander was responsible for her death, Butcher’s only aim is to destroy the supe for ruining his life.
What comes as a complete jaw dropping moment for the viewers is that Becca, who was believed to be dead throughout the entire season, is alive and hiding all this time. The reunion of Becca and Butcher is an iconic and heartwarming moment for the show’s fans even as they are left with so many questions—How is she alive? Why was she hiding? What will happen to Butcher? And the most interesting question of all, who is the small boy living with her?
8) Soldier Boy? More like singer boy! (Season 3: Episode 4)
One of the scenes that led to so many memes was when Soldier Boy appeared in a music video, performing Blondie’s 1980 hit song “Rapture”. The moment was certainly surprising and brought out some laughter.
All the conversations and recollections ever made by the characters related to Soldier Boy up until now had been on how he was one of the most powerful all-American superheroes while he was alive. This old music video came as a surprise to the viewers who could not fathom this ridiculous moment.
7) Stormfront is a Nazi who is a century old! (Season 2: Episode 8)
Stormfront was hands down one of the most evil characters in the show who successfully matched the crazy of Homelander. The show, initially, tricked us into believing her to be a strong-willed character that we could root for. The hope didn't last long as she got together with Homelander. This was unpleasant in itself but what took the viewers by complete surprise was the revelation that she is a century old, with super-life longevity injected in her, and that she is the wife of Frederick Vought (creator of Vought company and compound V).
Her character became truly unredeemable when her true intentions of creating an Aryan cult and recruiting Homelander for the same was revealed.
6) Battle of fists, lasers and egos (Season 3: Episode 6)
This list would be incomplete without a mention of one of the best and most anticipated fights in the entire series—a showdown between Homelander and Soldier Boy. What makes this fight scene even more exciting is when we hear a classic "Oi” in the background and see Butcher shoot lasers through his eyes, absolutely confusing Homelander. The cherry on top is when Hughie teleports to the scene and with Soldier Boy and Butcher, form a force to fight Homelander. From body-slams to massive blasts, this scene serves what it promised, a diabolical face-off.
5) Crash of Flight 37 (Season 1: Episode 3)
Fans of the show are quite familiar with Homelander and his acts of absolute chaos, evil and insanity. As you watch further, you realize that there is no limit to the evil that the sup is capable of. This scene makes it to this list of jaw-dropping moments as this is the very first time you witness who Homelander really is.
The scene is, Homelander and Queen Maeve entering a hijacked Flight 37. What seems like an attempt to rescue the passengers, soon turns gory when the control panel of the plane seems to be destroyed. Homelander is all set for the plane to crash with no intention of saving any of the passengers. To not tarnish his image, he chooses to save himself rather than find an alternative solution. You really get to see how evil he is when he threatens to burn alive passengers who refuse to stay back. It is truly a shocking scene as Homelander and Queen Maeve watch from afar, while the plane filled with innocent lives crashes down.
4) Mind-blowing conference (Season 2; Episode)
Finally! Vought is going to have a much-needed governmental accountability. No more supe turmoils, murder of innocent lives and a win for the boys. The show gave this false hope and shortly reminded the viewers that The Boys is not all rainbows and sunshines.
The high-profile hearing, which was supposed to change the company’s fate (for good), was radically interrupted with heads literally exploding in the room. There are some terrifying moments in the show but what makes this moment especially scarier, apart from the exploding heads is, as this meeting was heavily media covered, millions of people all around were witnessing this occur on their TV live. Someone who can make heads explode, that too of the most powerful congressmen of the country, is someone to be feared, forcing the viewers’ jaws to drop and stare blankly at the screen.
3) Homelander is loved for who he is (Season 3: Episode 9)
Viewers have been well-aware of the innate evil and narcissism that Homelander possesses and he is rightfully considered as one of the worst characters in television history by fans. We seem to be lucky and rather smarter than the people in the show. The last scene of season 3 shows Homelander burning a person alive in the crowd with his laser beams, who threw trash on Ryan.
The action does not make the crowd fearful, instead they cheer for him. Their reaction initially confuses Homelander but suddenly he smiles as the realization dawns on him that he has been accepted and will be worshiped by the common folks no matter what he does. This is certainly a bone-chilling moment because now he is heading Vought and there is no authority stopping him from whatever he wants to do, demanding season 4 to be an absolute annihilation.
2) Soldier Boy and Homelander share the same DNA (Season 3: Episode 7)
Season 3 of The Boys was full of twists and turns that viewers were not prepared for, but a revelation that gave even Homelander the shock of his life happened during an unexpected phone call. Soldier Boy dramatically reveals himself to be Homelander’s father. This was arguably one of the most astounding twists in the season. We were already in fear, watching Ryan turn into another version of Homelander but now Soldier Boy being added to this genetic mix, even though it explains their similar killer instincts, was a turn of events no one expected.
Even the possibility of Soldier Boy and Homelander teaming up is a recipe for disaster but considering their large clashing egos and Soldier Boy disowning Homelander, Season 4 promises all kinds of possible damages and more jaw-dropping moments.
1) Explosion of Robin (Season 1: Episode 1)
Where it all started! The makers of the show had absolutely no intention of giving their viewers a moment of settlement or comfort. This can be seen from the very first episode when one minute, Hughie and Robin are walking and discussing their future together and in the next moment you see Hughie’s face is splattered with Robin’s blood while all that is left of her are her hands held in his. A literal hit-and-run case where A-Train ran through her, ripping her on the spot. Certainly, a sight that will make you pause the screen and give yourself a minute to try and understand what just happened!
This is the first and most impactful jaw-dropping moment in the show that sends a clear message to the viewers that “this show is not for the weak souls.” This list would be incomplete without mentioning the moment that acts as the catalyst to the plot and an iconic scene of the show that shall never be forgotten by fans.