Imagine how much better S5 would have been with a proper budget
Actual fight scenes
Better CGI
Bigger cast
Actual scorched earth, the teasers were promising
Bigger and better season in general
I can't really prove it, but I don't see any other reason they would drop this storyline they clearly set up in the S4 finale
My theory is that since they got Jenson back as Soldier Boy, they couldn't manage to pay Jeffery the salary he needed to return, except for a quick cameo
So they decided to drop the storyline and redeem him in episode 1, since Butcher on his own wouldn't be as interesting or fun to watch
It would explain why the V1 search storyline drags for 2 episodes instead of just 1, as I think Butcher's arc was going to conclude or take a backseat in episode 4 after Ryan almost died because of him
But hey, that's just my crackpot theory
EDIT: Found out Jeffrey Dean Morgan did an Interview with Collider and said that Kessler would have a huge role in S5 right after the S4 finale. This, along with Eric Kripke saying
"He's committed to being a true monster in order to achieve his goals... The question for this season is, as scary as Butcher is, and as driven and bloodthirsty as he is, can Hughie and the others rekindle some spark of humanity in this guy?"
Confirms to me that this storyline was written and done, but something went wrong during production that led to it getting cut
Would have been an actually funny scene
I get why Bayverse Optimus never tries diplomacy with them