The Boys Season 5 Has Fans All Saying The Same Thing (And They're Not Wrong)

Spoilers ahead for "The Boys" Season 5, Episode 5.

"The Boys" Season 5 (which Jeremy Mathai reviewed for /Film) is the swansong installment of Eric Kripke's hit superhero comic book TV adaptation. With the end in sight, one would expect its story to be full of momentum and heading toward a dramatic, high-stakes finale. However, some fans believe "The Boys" Season 5 contains too much filler, especially after the most recent episodes. What's more, they might have a point (though Season 5 naturally has its defenders on that front as well).

The overall end goal for Billy Butcher (Karl Urban), Huey Campbell (Jack Quaid), Starlight (Erin Moriarty), and the gang in "The Boys" Season 5 is to stop Homelander (Antony Starr) from obtaining the V-One serum and becoming immortal. However, Season 5, Episodes 4 and 5 are mostly dedicated to side-quests and randomness, including "Starlight" confronting her father and a "Supernatural" reunion with some major Hollywood cameos thrown in for good measure. One fan summed up viewers' frustrations on X/Twitter:

"Funny how there's supposed to be a 'resistance' and a 'war' going on yet hardly any scenes this season would have you thinking that."

Elsewhere, some folks have taken issue with the celebrity cameos, feeling that they've been used at the expense of moving "The Boys" Season 5's story forward. Here's what another fan had to say on X:

"They really spent more time on a dog humping a toy and Seth Rogen exploding than advancing the main plot with 3 episodes left."

Of course, there is an argument to be made that the plot doesn't need to move forward for a show to be enjoyable, but is that the case with "The Boys" Season 5? The series is still entertaining, sure, but when does filler become too much filler?

Look, I'm not going to sit here and say that I didn't laugh watching Terror hump that Homelander toy in "The Boys" Season 5's fifth episode. Dogs humping things will never not be funny. That said, Episode 5 spends too much time focusing on side characters like Firecracker (Valorie Curry) and Black Noir (Nathan Mitchell). Meanwhile, the celebrity cameos — Seth Rogen, Kumail Nanjiani, Will Forte, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Craig Robinson, Jared Padalecki, and Misha Collins — are nothing more than fun distractions that get in the way of the main mission.

Add this to Episode 4 having also drastically stalled this season's main storyline (the pursuit to stop Homelander from finding the V-One first), and it becomes tiresome. There are still major plot developments, specifically the discovery that the V-One serum is missing from where it should be, but they're overshadowed by the filler. As such, it feels like the show's writers are trying to delay the final outcome. As one fan wrote on X:

"I think they put everything they had in the finale (+maybe the episode before that) cuz they really wanted a banger ending. And that has left us with loads of filler stuff. Like they wrote 2 episodes worth of good material and filled the rest with BS."

It remains to be seen if the rest of "The Boys" Season 5 will continue this trend. With only a few episodes to go until it's over, though, it's time to pick up the pace. Otherwise, anything good that comes from the go-home episodes might not feel as impactful. What's the point in sticking the landing if people tune out during the journey there?

"The Boys" is currently streaming on Prime Video.