The Boys Season 5, Episode 5 fixes the show’s Bucher problem, but it does it in the weirdest possible way. The Boys Season 4’s ending makes it obvious that Butcher is headed down a dark path, and later episodes continue to drive that home. Once he chooses to embrace the part of himself represented by Joe Kessler, his humanity begins to wane. He’s unwilling to hear his team’s reasoning before killing Victoria Neuman, and he’s no longer concerned about protecting them — or even Ryan, for that matter. SPOILERS ahead for The Boys Season 5, Episodes 1-5.
It leaves viewers to wonder if there’s truth to what Hughie tells him in The Boys Season 5, Episode 4: that he’s becoming just like Homelander. There’s even an argument to be made that Butcher will become the show’s real final boss, though the jury’s still out on that one. And although Butcher has always had a dark side, it’s surprising to see him embrace it to such an extreme degree. Fortunately, the latest installment fixes the problem of Butcher becoming the very thing he set out to destroy, at least a little bit. It might not stick, but it’s nice to see there’s still some humanity in the character.
The first half of The Boys Season 5 paints Butcher in a very villainous light, which is to be expected after his Season 4 journey. He’s willing to commit genocide to get rid of Homelander, and he doesn’t mind his own teammates and friends getting caught in the crossfire. Despite Butcher promising Becca he’d protect Ryan, he’s now willing to let the boy die taking down Homelander. And he treats The Boys team poorly, especially when they call him out on bad behavior. This puts Butcher and Hughie, especially, at odds during recent episodes. Butcher has always been one to embrace extremes in pursuit of his goal, but he usually has more regard for those closest to him. He’s an anti-hero, but he’s one with some moral code, however twisted.
It starts to look like morals and humanity are out the window for Butcher completely, but The Boys Season 5, Episode 5 ensures he’s not a fully one-note villain. “One-Shots” dedicates part of its runtime to Butcher’s dog, Terror, who gets into some chocolate sitting in the trash, causing Butcher and Hughie to work together to save him. Butcher’s concern for the dog, along with their sweet interaction at the end of the segment, proves that there’s still something he cares deeply about. And once his humanity surfaces for Terror, he realizes Hughie is right — and agrees to let the team help Annie and Kimiko, assuming they find the missing V1. It’s a positive turn, even if The Boys gets to it in the strangest way.
With the conflict between Butcher and Homelander needing to be resolved in three more episodes, The Boys must remind us why we once rooted for the former. In that sense, this glimpse of Butcher’s humanity in Season 5, Episode 5 is a good thing. However, the choices The Boys makes getting there are odd. The Terror segment in “One-Shots” is told entirely from the dog’s point of view, which makes for a fun storytelling choice — but raises questions about why the segment needs to be conveyed this way. Through Terror, we get a look at all the members of The Boys, but we don’t see anything pressing that couldn’t be shown through Butcher. And it’s not just the fact that we’re in Terror’s head that makes this storyline bizarre.
The show also focuses heavily on Terror’s Homelander toy and how infatuated with it he is, going so far as to show us Terror’s dirty dreams about the supe. They’re hilariously absurd, but they don’t contribute much to the story the episode is trying to tell. In fact, Terror seems far more enamored with Antony Starr’s supe than Butcher. If we were going to be in the dog’s head, it would have made sense to see why someone might still admire The Boys‘ anti-hero. Instead, we focus more on his nemesis. It’s a weird detail, but “One-Shots” still gets us where we need to go. Unfortunately, I’m not entirely convinced Butcher’s humanity will prevail either way.
The Boys Season 5, Episode 5 may fix the problem of Butcher becoming a wholly one-note villain, but this glimpse of humanity likely won’t win out in the end. He’s still planning to commit genocide against supes, and unless he has a sudden change of heart, that still makes him as bad as Homelander. And while his treatment of his friends might feel more in-character in “One-Shots,” he doesn’t seem that committed to saving Annie and Kimiko. He’s more open to the idea, which is a step forward, but he’d still happily sacrifice them to get to his nemesis.
He’d also sacrifice Ryan, which drives home just how far gone Butcher is. Becca may have been his motivator once, but his willingness to break his promise underscores that he’s acting for himself now. Homelander’s downfall may be in the interest of the greater good, but Butcher is still going too far to make it happen. And seeing how readily he chooses Joe Kessler in Season 4, I have a feeling the small humanity we see in The Boys‘ latest episode won’t prevent him from doing something unforgivable. Hopefully, something or someone else can instead.
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