SUMMARY
  • 'The Boys' episodes relate to current news.
  • Its satire provoke thoughts about real life.
  • Its season 4 finale renamed due to real assassination attempt.

Imagine watching your favorite show and noticing something eerily similar to recent news. This happened with The Boys when a fictional political attack in the show closely matched a real-life assassination attempt on Donald Trump.

A Still from The Boys Season 4
A Still from The Boys Season 4 (Credits: Amazon Prime Video)

Amazon quickly changed the episode’s name and added a warning. The Boys fans might be aware that the show likes to mimic real-world events. Since its 2019 debut, it has used humor to satirize serious issues.

The Boys Issues Warning Following Controversial Finale Scene

Donald Trump
Donald Trump (Image by Gage Skidmore, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

It‘s strange how TV shows can sometimes mirror real life. And The Boys doesn’t shy away from doing so. It often uses satire to address political and social topics. Originally, the Season 4 finale was named Assassination Run, but it was renamed Season Four Finale after a real assassination attempt on Donald Trump.

This incident involved a 20-year-old named Thomas Matthew Crooks who attempted to assassinate a former US president at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania last Saturday. Even though The Boys was made long before the real event happened, its release felt oddly timed.

Amazon assured everyone on Instagram by releasing a statement that The Boys is just a fictional story, and any similarities to real life are purely coincidental. They put a “viewer discretion advised” warning before the episode to prepare viewers for its content (especially since it was close to a real-life event). 

The Boys Takes Aim at Celebrity Authoritarianism in Season 4

Antony Starr
Antony Starr as Homelander in The Boys (Credits: Amazon Prime Video)

The latest season of The Boys is wading deeper into political territory. For instance, episode 6 features Homelander and political figures working together to control the country through fear and violence. This includes putting political opponents in camps and assassinating a key official.

The story picks up after a recent election, with two key players vying for control: Robert Singer (Jim Beaver) and Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit). Neuman has been working with the powerful superhero company Vought and its leader Homelander (Antony Starr). Her actions have made her a target for assassination by The Boys (a group led by Butcher and Hughie). They’ve been trying to take her out since the season.

Showrunner Eric Kripke told Variety that the show’s increasingly political themes are a reaction to real-world events. He developed the show before Donald Trump became president, but the idea of a celebrity becoming a dictator seemed far-fetched at the time. With Trump’s rise to power, the concept became more relevant. The Boys has always explored the dark side of celebrity and power, but Kripke said this season pushes those themes even further. 

Watch The Boys on Amazon Prime Video!

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