What Freedom Looks Like: The Boys Season 5 Premiere Review

Originally published April 9, 2026. This article covers the 2-episode premiere of season 5 of The Boys.

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The Boys are back in town. Prime Video’s super hero satire The Boys has returned for its fifth and final season. Its first two episodes, “Fifteen Inches of Sheer Dynamite” and “Teenage Kix,” are wall-to-wall, gory action, complete with clever political commentary, darkly hilarious one-liners, and powerful performances. It’s – wait for it – diabolical.

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Diabolical Action

It wouldn’t be The Boys without a heaping helping of ultraviolence. The first two episodes of season 5 don’t shy away from pushing the envelope in that regard. “Fifteen Inches of Sheer Dynamite,” in particular, is an action-packed affair. Whether it’s Annie battling Black Noir while disguised as Firecracker during Vought’s shareholders meeting, Mother’s Milk fulfilling a three-season-long revenge fantasy by taking out Love Sausage, or Homelander lasering Kimiko in half, season 5 lays the groundwork for what’ll undoubtedly be this show’s bloodiest yet. It’s the final season, after all. Go big or go home.

The action in episode 1 culminates in a high-octane action sequence as Butcher, Annie, and Kimiko attempt to free Hughie, MM, and Frenchie from a Vought internment camp. While that in itself is exciting, A-Train’s stopping time to save the day is easily the best bit of action in the outing. It offers a moment of hope in a world where hope is scarce, and the narrative stakes are through the roof.

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Art Imitates Life or Something Like That

Without going too in-depth on specifics, The Boys season 5 premiere feels like an example of “art imitating life.” It hits a little too close to home. Eric Kripke and his writing team have always kept a finger on the pulse of the pop culture zeitgeist and the world at large. While it fires on both sides of the political spectrum, it leans quite heavily into parodying one particular party in season 5.

The writers harbor a deep understanding of history and its penchant for repeating itself. Homelander is a dictator with absolute power, even over the President of the United States, no thanks to Sister Sage’s methodical planning. Anyone who so much as posts a “derogatory” meme against him gets rounded up and shipped off to Vought’s “freedom” camps. It’s a world where freedom of opinion is suppressed, and one must fall in line with a fascist regime. The Boys is a cautionary tale and a documentation of life as art, all wrapped in one. It’s a compelling watch that cuts to the quick.

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Propulsive Performances

As usual, Antony Starr steals the show on The Boys as the mercurial Homelander. I was on the edge of my seat during all of his scenes, wondering if his scene partners would emerge unscathed or lasered to a bloody pulp. Homelander is a ticking time bomb with a desperate need for love, which he dresses up as devotion. He wants the whole country to worship him.

Here, The Boys cleverly plants the seeds of Homelander’s incessantly expanding ego. During A-Train’s funeral in episode 2, he hears the late Madelyn Stillwell’s voice as a bright light shines on him from above. Could Homelander believe he’s more deity than Supe? That seems to be the trajectory on the show. Starr injects Homelander with equal parts menace and grit. There’s a machismo that’s clearly overcompensating for his insecurities and his daddy (and mommy) complex.

Susan Heyward delivers a calculated, intricate performance as Sage, the smartest woman in the world who found the secret to maintaining power. While Homelander is a formidable obstacle for our titular Boys, Sage is really the one holding the keys. Other standouts include Karen Fukuhara (as the now strangely talkative Kimiko), Karl Urban (and his bearded smirking), Jessie T. Usher (in his swan song as A-Train), and Valorie Curry (and her uncomfortable smiling).

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You Can’t Catch the A-Train

From the outset, it was abundantly clear that not everyone would survive this series. The Boys season 5 kicks off the rest of the narrative with a major death, although it’s not entirely unexpected.

A-Train has one of the most well-rounded character arcs in the show, and with the seeds of redemption planted in season 4, it’s unsurprising that he would go out as a true hero. We even get a nod to the series pilot as A-Train avoids speeding through that woman in the street, calling back to his murdering Robin in front of a traumatized Hughie. He also mends fences with his family, joins the resistance, and saves Hughie in the end. He’s unequivocally redeemed by the end of the first episode.

The moments leading to his death are chill-inducing. We see Homelander confront a battered A-Train in the woods before the latter calls Homelander out for the coward he is. A-Train laughing coldly will undoubtedly haunt Homelander’s nightmares. A-Train refuses to massage Homelander’s ego, even in his last moments, and if there’s one thing Homelander hates, it’s someone who doesn’t kowtow to him. It’s a great ending for A-Train, who has more backbone than Homelander ever will.

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Where Do We Go From Here?

The season 5 double-episode premiere sees the Boys test out Samir’s Supe-killing virus to see if it’ll kill all Supes or just Homelander. Jury’s still out, but at least we now know that Soldier Boy truly is immortal. Episode 2 focuses on the virus arc and digs deeper into intriguing character dynamics, like Kimiko and Frenchie’s blossoming romance and Annie and Hughie’s strained relationship.

With Vought spinning the false narrative that Annie killed A-Train, Homelander’s murderous act gets swept under the rug. Ashley, now the Vice President of the United States, feels morally compromised as she’s asked to do increasingly unethical things. It feels like the calm before the storm, in a way. More people are turning against Homelander, and despite Sage hand-waving the Flight 37 footage (another callback to season 1) as AI, it clearly left an impact. Folks are waking up to just how dangerous Homelander is.

Soldier Boy will surely exact revenge against the Boys for trying to kill him with the virus. Homelander will stop at nothing to kill his enemies. It’s “All systems go” from here on out. Better strap in for the ride.

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