The Boys Season 4 Finale Resonates (Too?) Strongly With the American Presidential Election

Prime Video is forced to issue a statement to ensure that this latest episode, filmed in 2023, does not intend to echo the assassination attempt against Donald Trump.

The timing is unfortunate, to say the least. Five days after the assassination attempt on Donald Trump, the former President who is running for re-election in 2024, the season 4 finale of The Boys – broadcast this Thursday on Prime Video – largely revolved around the same theme! Warning: spoilers…

Indeed, the leader of the free world of The BoysPresident Singer, was the target of an assassination attempt orchestrated by Homelander, to put Supe Victoria Newman in his place in the Oval Office. But she herself was assassinated and it was President Singer who was arrested and accused of the murder of his VP. Of course, real American political life is (fortunately) less bloody. But in this particularly tense context, over the course of a campaign that highlights a little more the fractures of today's America, Prime Video wanted to distance itself.

First, the platform changed the official title of this finale. Previously titled “Assassination Run”, the title of episode 8 of season 4 of The Boys is now simply called “Season 4 Finale”.

Then, Amazon issued a very serious statement to explain that this episode, written and filmed more than a year ago, contains elements that could shock the sensibilities of American voters today.

“The season finale of The Boys contains scenes of fictional political violence, which some viewers may find disturbing, particularly in light of the injuries and tragic loss of life suffered in the attempted assassination of former President Trump,” can we read in this press release shared online, which specifies that no, The Boys is not intended to echo this trauma: “This is a fictional series set in 2023, and any plot or scene similarities to real-world events are coincidental and unintentional. Amazon, Sony Pictures Television, and the producers of The Boys reject, in the strongest possible terms, any form of real-world violence.”

A precision which is justified by the very political resonance of this season 4, which bluntly denounces the rise of exacerbated partisanship across the Atlantic. Eric Kripkea self-confessed democrat, also confided to Première that “The writing for season 4 started right after the events of January 6th (the storming of the Capitol in Washington). I was very affected by that. So this series clearly sets out this message: if a powerful man stands in front of you and announces that he is going to save the world, he is lying to you! He is manipulating you! I wish people were a little more aware of the fact that they are constantly being manipulated by these super-macho men who pretend to be heroes above the fray.”