“So far not impressed”: ‘The Boys’ Ruins Season 4 Plot With 1 Character That Fails to Live Up to Fan Expectations
Season 4 of The Boys has finally premiered, and the show has brought many twists and new revelations. Some of the major cast members that have joined the show include Sister Sage, played by Susan Heyward, who has become the central focus for the time being. That is of course, until Homelander decides to kill her, something which has become a repetitive problem for characters on The Boys.
Homelander is manipulating Victoria Neuman. Butcher’s life is now limited, and he has lost Becca’s son along with his leadership of The Boys because of his lies, and group is now struggling to save the world from the supes.
Sister Sage’s Introduction Meets Criticism
Susan Heyward’s Sister Sage’s presence and motives are yet to be explained. Branded as ‘the smartest person in the world’, she has certainly set the tone of the show and sparked a discussion among the viewers about her portrayal.
The showrunner of The Boys, Eric Kripke, declared Sister Sage to be unstoppable. In an interview with IGN, Kriple hailed her as a calculating character who moves “eight steps ahead” of everyone else. However, he also confessed that it is way more difficult for writers to write a super smart character who can defy all the predictions of the viewers, than writing a dumb character.
She’s very challenging because every single thing she does, she’s eight moves ahead and she’s brilliant. Getting yourself in that head space is really hard because we’re not nearly as smart as her. I’ll tell you, writing dumb characters is much easier than writing smart characters.
Although many viewers are happy with how Sister Sage is portrayed, some have complained about her portrayal as the season progresses, pointing out that her actions lack depth and the differences one would expect from the smartest person in the world. Netizens expressed their concern that the writers are not developing the character as expected.
New season of THE BOYS makes the classic mistake of introducing a character who’s the “smartest person in the world”, who is immediately hobbled by being exactly as smart as the writers of the show.
— Gentleman Doofus (@GentleDoofus) June 16, 2024
So far not impressed. She’s clearly playing multiple angles to undermine Homelander and it’s a problem how stupidly obvious that is
— Gentleman Doofus (@GentleDoofus) June 17, 2024
Yes, the most intelligent person would build up the weaker side to do more damage to the stronger side, leaving both depleted when they finally fight.
— John Helmich (@itsborken) June 17, 2024
Average people writing super smart characters is something that once you see, you can't unsee. "that dryer lint can only produced by 1982 Huey Lewis and the News concert t-shirt".
— Scott Swigart (@scottswigart) June 17, 2024
I've yet to see anything from that character that would lead anyone to believe shes the smartest person in the world…
— The Nature Boy Dick Hammer (@EssentialBusin7) June 18, 2024
This is also what makes-or-breaks great scifi writing.
— Jon Simon (@thoughtomato) June 17, 2024
To successfully blow your mind the author needs to be *many* steps ahead of anything you could come up with yourself.
In the interview with IGN, Kripke revealed that if Homelander is derived from Superman, then Sister Sage can be a derivation of Lex Luthor, with some characteristics of Ozymandias from Watchmen, and Heyward perfectly fits the role of the intelligent yet psychologically damaged character.
Sister Sage’s Questionable Motives in The Boys Season 4
Spoiler Alert!
Throughout the season, viewers never really get a clear understanding of why Sister Sage is really there, or what her intentions are. First introduced as the puppet master controlling Homelander’s decisions, her exact purpose behind helping the supe is unclear. Of course, do not pretend that she has any choice in the matter.
In the interview with IGN, Kripke talks about Sage’s miserable life as the smartest person in the world. He said,
Once you put the world’s smartest person in the real world, you immediately get to, ‘Oh my God, they’d be miserable. It’s so miserable to be smart,’ and all she wants to do is be stupid for a little bit. Just understanding her pain, which I think is what makes her such a misanthrope.
According to one speculation, Sage’s main target is Ryan, who is the first naturally-born supe in the show. Maybe she wants to save Ryan from his father’s evil, as Homelander might get jealous of Ryan due to his rising popularity, and Ryan’s power makes him a threat to Homelander, which they might use in the future.
As for the future of The Boys, the role of Sister Sage and her connection with the plot is not quite clear at the moment. Only time will tell if she will prove beyond the viewers’ imagination, or if she fails to reach that level.
The Boys Season 4 is now streaming on Prime Video.
