Guys is it crazy to say I liked the finale?
I saw a post detailing all the arcs they had to wrap up, and broadly I think they did a pretty good job of hitting all of them.
Butcher V Homelander: ABSOLUTE CINEMA!! It was everything I hoped it would be. The fight was amazing and A-train/Vogelbaum/Stan/butcher/soldier boy/ryan were all proven right about who Homelander really was.
The Future of Vought: admittedly I didn’t love this, they killed the president and somehow the company still exists? But Stan surviving and retaining control of a dying corporate empire is on-brand for the show’s tone. We don’t live in a perfect world where the bad guys lose immediately and fully all the time.
Ryan coming back: he came into his own during the fight and as a character, retaining the lessons from his mom about being a good person and his own man. I would’ve liked to see more of him, but his dressing down of Homelander at the beginning was fucking perfect.
All of the remaining boys: they all got happy endings fitting for their characters. Seeing starlight pregnant and still being a hero warmed my heart, and kimiko’s made me tear up.
Butcher’s ending: PEAK. He gets pushed to the edge by the destabilizing nature of the only thing he’s been working for ending and the way remnants of his normal life leaving him. And then Hughie brings him back from the edge for just long enough to kill him anyways.
Homelander’s lackeys: Also peak! The deep and Oh Father dying at the hands of their vices and mistakes was exceptional.
Gen V: admittedly wasn’t a huge fan of this either. But I loved the moment where Annie says (paraphrasing) “if we lose, then we need someone else to keep the flame. Stay golden.” So all and all it wasn’t the worst? And they still helped.
Soldier Boy. This is my only serious gripe. What tf happened to him? Is he still in stasis? Is vought still gonna use him? Idk, his whole arc this season was bad. I digress, not everything can be perfect.
Outside world: I think they did a decent job at showing how the world turns on bought and heroes as a whole once they actually see with their own eyes just how pathetic they were. People walked out as soon as they saw their golden boy broken, disgusted that they put their faith in him.
Sage/Ashley: very in character for sage to embrace being a dumbass. She’s wanted it for years. Would’ve preferred her to have a less happy ending for someone who’s as evil as her, but fits with the tone I think. Sometimes people who don’t deserve it get away with it.
Ashley having just enough of a soul to save the boys and get them into the White House but not enough to help and then attempting to retain power is also very in character and made me laugh hysterically when it showed up.
This season was definitely not perfect, and it had quite a few flaws, like Soldier Boy, Black Noir’s ending, the Gen V stuff being underdeveloped, and I wish that we saw more of the outside world instead of being told about it. But I think that the season was pretty good all things considered. And I think anyone saying the whole series is retroactively ruined is being unfair, even if you didn’t like the ending.
Overall, the finale wrapped up all but one of the plot lines in a satisfying way for me, and the ending message that butcher gave to hughie is the show’s whole theme. Fight evil wherever you see it, but don’t lose yourself to hatred.
What did you guys think?