10 Best Episodes Of The Boys, Ranked

Now that the dust has settled on "The Boys" series finale ending in blood and thunder, it's time to take a look back at the Prime Video series. Based on the comic book by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, the show offered a crass subversion of the entire superhero genre. This was done with plenty of pointed political allegory, but also absolutely diabolical mayhem as antiheroes collided for the fate of the world. All of that super-powered murder and mayhem is precisely what kept us coming back for more, making it one of Prime Video's greatest shows ever.

Running for five seasons, there was enough else like "The Boys" or its spinoffs on television. Now that the full run of the main series is over, we're highlighting our favorite episodes from the show. These installments underscore just how demented the story could get, while maintaining a surprisingly genuine amount of heart. These are the 10 best episodes of "The Boys" ranked, showcasing what the superhero show was all about.

One of the big underlying themes throughout "The Boys" was the dangers of cults of personality outweighing basic moral decency. Season 3's finale "The Instant White-Hot Wild" makes that abundantly clear as Homelander (Antony Starr) kills a man in cold blood in public and is applauded for it. This comes following the (temporary) defeat of Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles), reminding the heroes that though they won a victory, they lost the one for hearts and minds. Overall, this is an episode that runs heavy on consequences, from Billy Butcher's (Karl Urban) condition from his reliance on V24 and the exit of Dominique McElligott's Queen Maeve.

Really, the themes in "The Instant White-Hot Wild" had been building ever since Homelander announced his superiority and was congratulated for it earlier in the season. But the eerie final scene cements the villain's widespread support even in the face of murder, paralleling political indifference to wrongdoing when convenient. But beyond Homelander's seemingly unassailable public image, this is an episode that reminds audiences that for every step forward the good guys take, they suffer two steps back. "The Instant White-Hot Wild" leaves our heroes on the defensive against an enemy currying public favor and that's just where we like them.

"The Boys" series premiere, "The Name of the Game," kicked things off with a bloody bang as only it could. After introducing its world of costumed superheroes revered by the public as celebrities and backed by the powerful Vought Corporation, things take a gruesome turn. Mild-mannered young man Hughie Campbell's (Jack Quaid) life is upended when his girlfriend Robin (Jess Salgueiro) is obliterated by popular speedster A-Train (Jessie T. Usher). A-Train's nonchalant attitude and Vought's attempts to buy off Hughie from preventing the scandal from going public drives him to team up with the fiery Billy Butcher.

The gory torrent that coats a shocked Hughie might as well have covered the audience watching "The Name of the Game" for the first time. This visceral opener immediately sets the tone for the show moving forward, in terms of graphic violence, dark humor, and superhero satire. The episode also ends on the shocking twist that brutally shows Homelander isn't the noble hero that the public thinks he is, but a murderous corporate enforcer. An unforgettable start to the show, "The Name of the Game" makes audiences rethink everything they assumed about superheroes.

The most mysterious character in early seasons of "The Boys" is the fully masked vigilante Black Noir (Nathan Mitchell), a member of the Seven. The original Noir's backstory is unveiled in the penultimate Season 3 episode, "Here Comes a Candle to Light You to Bed" through a wacky animated sequence. Meanwhile, Homelander learns the truth about his parentage, with Soldier Boy as his father, while Butcher relives his traumatic upbringing in a telepathic vision. With all the pieces on the board and Soldier Boy's temporary truce with Butcher and Hughie hanging by a thread, the stage is set for the season's final confrontation.

"Here Comes a Candle to Light You to Bed" is all about uncovering secrets, particularly those involving its main characters' respective pasts. While Black Noir's is the most memorable because of its presentation, Homelander and Butcher's backstories are even more important to the overarching narrative. Big "Star Wars" style "I am your father" reveals may seem a bit cliche, but the reveal feels earned here and informs Homelander's arc. With both the heroes and villains making headway in the episode, "Here Comes a Candle to Light You to Bed" raises the stakes in time for the season finale.

Originally titled "Assassination Run," the Season 4 finale received its significantly more innocuous title after coincidental and unintentional similarities to real-world political violence. The episode itself has Homelander launch his bid for power after publicly exposing Vice President-elect Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit) as a Supe. This power play catches the Boys off-guard having just foiled an assassination attempt on the President-elect. The group's plans are derailed further when Butcher embraces his dark side and murders Neuman before his team's eyes.

"Season Four Finale" has a multilayered confrontation between the story's heroes and villains and, like so many other season finales, the heroes lose, at least for now. Annie January (Erin Moriarty) is able to save the President-elect, but Homelander still succeeds at seizing control of the United States. Worse yet, the team is unsure if they can trust their duplicitous and even more murderously unhinged leader. The lowest the Boys were ever brought, with their enemies holding all the cards, "Season Four Finale" brings a bleak edge to set up the final season.

Another episode particularly focused on unresolved issues from its main characters' respective pasts is the penultimate Season 2 installment "Butcher, Baker, Candlestick Maker." The episode has Butcher and Annie separately address their respective unhappy dynamics with their parents, with Annie's mother setting a trap for her. Meanwhile, Homelander tries to be a supportive father figure to Ryan (Cameron Crovetti) as best he knows how, only to fail miserably. This is all immediately tabled when Neuman clandestinely makes her head-busting move during a congressional hearing surrounding Vought.

"Butcher, Baker, Candlestick Maker" mixes the series' signature dark humor with a combination of different familial betrayals. Surprisingly, it's Annie's mom that delivers the cruelest move in the episode, not Butcher's mom or Homelander, speaking to the show's themes of everyday evil. But beyond the domestic issues, this installment also delivers one of the series' best guest star appearances with Lamplighter (Shawn Ashmore) and his ultimate sacrifice. A deliciously messy story, "Butcher, Baker, Candlestick Maker" goes painfully deep with its most pivotal figures.

One of the major characters introduced in "The Boys" Season 2 is the Seven's newest member, Stormfront (Aya Cash). This Supe's horrific true nature is revealed in the season's third episode "Over the Hill with the Swords of a Thousand Men" as a murderous white supremacist. This comes to a head as Stormfront pursues Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) and her long-lost brother Kenji (Abraham Lim), killing many innocent bystanders in the process. This is juxtaposed with Annie exposing the existence of Compound V, only for Vought to go into corporate clean-up overdrive.

Stormfront's heel turn was something that any savvy "The Boys" viewer saw coming but "Over the Hill with the Swords of a Thousand Men" still pulls out the shocking twists. Cash plays her unveiled and unhinged xenophobic villain to the lethal hilt, delivering one of the vilest characters in the show's history, which is really saying something. The episode also heightens the tragic stakes for Kimiko, with Fukuhara delivering the heartbreaking and fiery determination that comes with the story. Laying out the true nature of what Butcher's team is up against in Season 2, "Over the Hill with the Swords of a Thousand Men" leaves audiences shaken and stirred.

"The Boys" always excels at underscoring the dramatic consequences of its characters' actions, something abundantly clear in the first season finale "You Found Me." As the Boys go on the run for killing Translucent (Alex Hassell), Homelander makes moves to integrate Supe activity into the federal government. Though this endears him with Vought executive Madelyn Stillwell (Elisabeth Shue), she makes a revelation that finally turns him against her. The season culminates in Butcher and Homelander facing each other, with a mutual reveal that makes their feud even more intensely personal.

Anytime Butcher and Homelander have a face-to-face confrontation, the result is super-powered electricity and that remains true in "You Found Me." The introduction of Ryan and Becca Butcher (Shantel VanSanten) informs both opposing characters' arcs, with all the associated complications, for the remainder of the show. The episode also demonstrates how cunning an adversary Homelander can be, though this may be forgotten by the series' final season. Defining the show's core feud while hinting at Homelander's growing power grab, "You Found Me" is a fantastic close to a fantastic debut season.

As uneven as some of its seasons are, "The Boys" has a consistent tradition of sticking the landing with each finale. The best season finale the show ever did was its Season 2 ending, "What I Know," which has Stormfront's Nazi identity publicly leaked. This comes as Butcher moves to rescue Ryan from Homelander, putting the two men on a collision course again. These two developments converge explosively, giving "The Boys" one of its saddest deaths and a heck of a setup for Season 3.

"What I Know" is full of the backstabbing and political maneuvering that "The Boys" has always been particularly good at. Both heroes and villains resort to deception, blackmail, and, of course, loads of bloody violence including Stormfront finally getting her comeuppance. The episode serves as a reversal of the dynamic in the Season 1 finale but even as Butcher wins the moral victory, it still costs him tremendously. Antony Starr and Karl Urban's performances elevate this distinction, closing out Season 2 on a pivotal note with "What I Know."

Is there a more defining moment in "The Boys" than the Seven's disastrous attempt to rescue a hijacked airliner? Taking place in Season 1's "The Female of the Species," Homelander nonchalantly abandons the passengers to their grim fate after botching the save. Meanwhile, Butcher and his team free a Japanese woman, later discovered to be named Kimiko, who was used as a test subject for Compound V. This comes as Hughie gets closer to Annie but regrets using her as the team's spy on the Seven and struggles with his own guilt after killing Translucent.

Serving as the season's halfway point, "The Female of the Species" turns everything on its head. Any doubts about Homelander and his moral compass are quickly dispelled, especially as he uses the tragedy he caused as a springboard for his ambitions. This sadistic nightmare is juxtaposed by Karen Fukuhara's virtuosa debut in the show, with her performance powered by single-minded fury unleashed. A turning point for "The Boys" forming its eventual connection with "Gen V," "The Female of the Species" is where the show's tone and stakes firmly click into place.

Ever since its first episode, "The Boys" had taken a clear satisfaction in how much it was able to consistently shock viewers. That said, things never got more salaciously shocking than the Season 3 episode "Herogasm," named for a secret annual orgy between lesser known Supes. The event is derailed as Butcher's crew and the Seven converge on it, reigniting old grudges, with plenty of guilty bystanders. This culminates in skirmish where Butcher, Hughie, and Soldier push Homelander to his absolute limits.

"Herogasm" has a scene that even gave Amazon MGM Studios pause, given the level of unchecked debauchery throughout the episode. That said, even though the episode is best remembered for its over-the-top carnality, it also marks several major turning points for the series overall. For the first time, Homelander is incredibly vulnerable, both physically and emotionally, something that Antony Starr delivers on both counts expertly. The episode also marks major crossroads for Starlight, who quits the Seven, and Hughie, who finally comes face-to-face with A-Train again, paying off an arc since the series premiere.

At once a perfect showcase for what "The Boys" was capable of and the culmination of several character arcs while teeing up the show's future, "Herogasm" has it all.