How ‘The Boys’ Pulled Off THAT Butcher Reveal in Season 4, Episode 6

The Big Picture

Joe Kessler was revealed as a figment of Butcher’s imagination in
The Boys
Season 4 Episode 6.
Show creators used unique angles and subtle hints to build the reveal.
This is not the first time Karl Urban’s Butcher has hallucinated seeing others in
The Boys.

Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) is absolutely going through it in Season 4 of The Boys. Ousted from his group of vigilante pals (which was entirely of his own doing), the one-time leader is knocking on death’s door thanks to his heavy use of Temporary V back in Season 3. To make matters worse, he keeps seeing his deceased wife, Becca (Shantel VanSanten), who implores him to take care of her son, Ryan (Cameron Crovetti), and get him away from his maniacal biological father, Homelander (Antony Starr). This week, things got even worse for Butcher as the number one fan theory of Season 4 was confirmed — his old work pal, Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Joe Kessler, is yet another figment of his imagination — albeit a much more sinister one. While there were several signs pointing to this big reveal, it still knocked viewers off-guard and served as the cherry on top of Butcher’s going crazy sundae.

During a conversation with Collider’s Christina Radish, series creator, Eric Kripke broke down how the show’s writers wanted to handle the moment in a way that stayed true to their characters and the production’s overall tone.

“I seem to remember, in an early version in the writers’ room, we were gonna reveal it the way all of these movies reveal it, which is a character walks in the room and says, ‘Who are you talking to?’ I was like, ‘Well, let’s not do that. Everyone’s done that. Let’s have the two imaginary characters in the room start yelling at each other. And then, that will be the reveal that they’re both imaginary.’ It was just looking for a new angle on how to do one of those reveals.”

The Signs That Kessler Was Imaginary Were All There

The big Fight Club-like reveal surely got some gasps from audiences, but there were plenty of signs stacking up over the first five episodes that pointed towards this conclusion. The major one was that Joe was never seen with the other characters aside from Sameer Shah (Omid Abtahi), who gave Butcher a few suspicious looks when he referred to himself in the plural form. Another hint was in this season’s third episode when Joe and Butcher toss over drugging Ryan to kidnap him and get him away from Vought. Joe is seen devising the plan with Butcher but then disappears when Ryan comes over, only to pop back up later on.

If you missed them the first time, you can watch the signs add up as the first six episodes of The Boys’ fourth season are now streaming on Prime Video.