Warning: spoilers for The Boys ahead!
Based on a comic book series that was never considered particularly exceptional, Prime Video’s The Boys took the world by storm in 2019 when it became “the next big thing” on television. A smart satire of modern pop culture and the superhero genre, The Boys is full of clever social critiques and direct mockery of people and events highly relevant to modern society; it immediately garnered a cult following and hasn’t died down in popularity since.
Throughout four seasons, The Boys has offered fans plenty of outstanding episodes. Whether because they’re particularly funny or exciting or because they show game-changing plot twists and instantly iconic moments, the show’s very best episodes never fail to take viewers’ breaths away. With visually stunning set pieces and brilliantly written scripts, these episodes are the peak of what superhero media has to offer nowadays.
The Boys
- Release Date
- July 26, 2019
- Creator
- Eric Kripke
- Seasons
- 4
- Studio
- Amazon Studios
15 “We Gotta Go Now”
Season 2, Episode 5 (2020)
In any show as story-focused as The Boys — especially one with as many characters as it has to keep track of — setup episodes are important. As far as those go, “We Gotta Go Now” is a perfect example of what the people behind this show can do when they really try to make a setup-intensive episode that’s perfectly able to stand on its own two feet. In it, Homelander, Maeve, Stormfront, and Starlight are shooting a new movie together while dealing with personal drama. In the meantime, while Butcher tries to get away from Supe-fighting, Noir tracks him down.
There are a bit too many subplots to keep an eye on for this to truly be as exceptional as Season 2’s best episodes; but all of these storylines are fun and engaging, making it both easy and entertaining to follow them. Maeve’s romantic life, Starlight’s conflicts with Stormfront, Homelander’s decaying sanity, and Butcher’s tragic past are all effectively steered in the direction that the latter half of this season will take them in.
14 “Cherry”
Season 1, Episode 2 (2019)
After an exceptional first episode, The Boys gleefully (and gorily) proved that it wasn’t just a one-trick pony. The show’s second-ever episode, “Cherry”, sees the Boys try to figure out a way to kill Translucent (frankly, one of The Boys‘ most underrated characters), while Homelander tries to track down the missing member of the Seven.
While taking viewers far deeper into the blood-and-guts-filled tone of the show, “Cherry” also perfectly establishes what makes the main characters tick. Taking a closer look at Hughie’s grief over losing Robin, Butcher’s relentless methods, and Homelander’s terrifying omnipotence, the episode is a fun and often scary experience with a hell of an explosive ending.
13 “The Self-Preservation Society”
Season 1, Episode 7 (2019)
The episode before any show’s season finale is usually the calm before the storm, but “The Self-Preservation Society” knows its audience, and it’s sure to not give viewers a single break from all the bloody mayhem. It follows the Boys as they learn (the hard way) not to trust a washed-up Supe, while watching Homelander deal with complicated revelations about his past.
The episode perfectly sets up the fiery finale, while making sure to throw in a few twists all of its own. Characters are brought to their breaking point in memorable moments such as the reveal of what happened to Butcher’s wife, Annie learning that Hughie isn’t quite who she thought he was, and a certain scene involving the Deep that’s sure to send chills down anyone’s gills.
12 “Glorious Five-Year Plan”
Season 3, Episode 4 (2022)
One of the most highly anticipated elements of Season 3 of The Boys was the arrival of Jensen Ackles as Soldier Boy. “Glorious Five-Year Plan,” placed right in the middle of the season, finally gave fans what they had been waiting for. The episode sees the Boys looking for a mysterious weapon in Russia while trouble brews back home at Vought.
“Glorious Five-Year Plan” brings plenty of character arcs to their boiling point, from M.M. struggling to keep the Boys together to Hughie experimenting with powers he’s never felt before. The episode balances those character moments with some of the season’s best action sequences, featuring deaths by rather unconventional weapons and characters trying out abilities fans would never have imagined seeing them use.
11 “The Female of the Species”
Season 1, Episode 4 (2019)
The first season’s fourth episode introduces Kimiko, one of The Boys‘ strongest and most important characters. In “The Female of the Species,” the Boys run into this mysterious human weapon while tracking a trail of Compound V, while Deep struggles to find his purpose, and Homelander and Maeve rescue a plane that’s been hijacked.
As bloody as it is sentimental, “The Female of the Species” is a perfect halfway point for the show’s perfect debut season. The introduction of Kimiko promises a really intriguing addition to the titular team, and Hughie’s mental struggles after killing Translucent two episodes prior make for some really meaty drama. More than anything, though, the episode is remembered for the tension-filled plane scene where Homelander decides to leave the passengers to die despite Maeve’s protests. It was the first moment when viewers saw how genuinely disinterested the villain was in human lives, which made him seem like all the more horrifying of a force.
10 “The Name of the Game”
Season 1, Episode 1 (2019)
The art of the television pilot is a tricky one. Only a select few shows are able to kick things off with an episode that immediately makes fans out of newcomers. Even fewer are the shows that can count their pilot among the best episodes of the whole series, like The Boys. “The Name of the Game” is a pitch-perfect introduction to the show’s world, characters, and stories, following a young man who teams up with a vigilante hell-bent on bringing down corrupt superpeople after one of them kills his girlfriend.
Fans will always fondly remember becoming hooked on The Boys after seeing the bloody aftermath of A-Train running through Robin. Things were never the same after that moment, which showed just how unhinged and ruthless The Boys could be. Coupled with the pilot’s intriguing introduction to the main characters and hilarious parody of The Boys‘ connection to franchises like the MCU, this is an episode that should have all eyes glued to the screen.
9 “Here Comes a Candle to Light You to Bed”
Season 3, Episode 7 (2022)
In the penultimate episode of Season 3, the stakes are high, and tensions have skyrocketed. “Here Comes a Candle to Light You to Bed” finds Hughie, Butcher, and Soldier Boy going after the latter’s former teammate. Meanwhile, Starlight has to evade Homelander’s threats to uncover a scary secret. “Here Comes a Candle to Light You to Bed” ends with one of the show’s most shocking and pivotal plot twists: that Homelander, meant to be Soldier Boy’s replacement, is actually his son.
The show also spends time with the internal conflict of M.M. and Frenchie, cementing them as two of The Boys‘ best non-supe characters. Perhaps most memorable, though, are the scenes where Black Noir hallucinates animated characters recreating scenes of his past connection to Soldier Boy. The episode is focused much more on complex character-building moments than on explosive action, which masterfully sets the stage for the jaw-dropping reveal.
8 “Wisdom of the Ages”
Season 4, Episode 4 (2024)
Smacked right in the middle of the most recent (and controversial) season of the show, “Wisdom of the Ages” is far and away one of The Boys‘ most shocking episodes. In it, Annie negotiates with Singer and Frenchie finally reveals to his lover what ties their pasts together. The episode’s pivotal storyline, though, is Homelander’s visit to the place where he grew up.
The episode’s side stories all bring something fresh and interesting to the table. Deep and Sage’s relationship takes a twisted yet hilarious turn, A-Train reaches a point of no return in his journey to redemption, and Butcher’s mind keeps deteriorating. It’s Homelander’s story that really makes “Wisdom of the Ages” one of the series’ best episodes, though. Terrifying, bloodily creative, and expanding on Homelander’s backstory in horrific ways, this plotline offers numerous of the show’s most memorable moments.
7 “Over the Hill with the Swords of a Thousand Men”
Season 2, Episode 3 (2020)
Probably best remembered for the epic chase sequence where Deep commands sharks and a whale to go after the Boys’ yacht, “Over the Hill with the Swords of a Thousand Men” is where Season 2 of The Boys really picks up steam. In it, the Boys take to the high seas to safeguard their prisoner, Kimiko’s terrorist brother, while Homelander experiments with Becca and Ryan.
The best episodes of The Boys are usually the ones where the antagonists are several steps ahead of the Boys, who are ultimately unable to save the day. This episode does exactly that, showing the titular team at the lowest that viewers had seen them up to that point. Revealing Stormfront’s true character, “Over the Hill with the Swords of a Thousand Men” makes her partnership with Homelander seem like an obstacle that will be impossible to beat.
6 “You Found Me”
Season 1, Episode 8 (2019)
One of the best TV season finales in recent years, “You Found Me” is the explosive culmination of all that Season 1 of The Boys built up to. Answering questions and revealing secrets, this monumental episode sees the team desperately playing their final cards to defeat Homelander while Starlight finally discovers what her role in the conflict is supposed to be.
Incredibly thrilling and suspenseful to the point of almost being scary, “You Found Me” has no problem tying up loose ends while setting up plenty of interesting plotlines for Season 2. Chief among them, perhaps, is the shocking reveal that Becca is alive and hiding with Homelander’s child. Cliffhangers in season finales are hard to pull off properly, but this one is executed phenomenally, bringing a nearly-perfect debut season to a pretty perfect ending.
5 “Butcher, Baker, Candlestick Maker”
Season 2, Episode 7 (2020)
The final three episodes in Season 2 of The Boys make for a finale that’s incredibly gripping, and “Butcher, Baker, Candlestick Maker” is an outstanding middle episode in that trio. In it, Mallory and the Boys turn to an unlikely ally to make a case against Vought, while Homelander and Stormfront further their master plan for Compound V.
It’s episodes like this one that make Season 2 of The Boys one of the highest-rated seasons of television on IMDb. Like all great television pre-finales, “Butcher, Baker, Candlestick Maker” sets the stage for a riveting climax while being just as compelling. With Homelander and Stormfront’s plan running smoothly, Lamplighter’s betrayal, and the infamous head explosion sequence in the courtroom that kills all hope for the Boys’ success, this is an episode that’s impossible to look away from at any time.
4 “Season Four Finale”
Season 4, Episode 8 (2024)
Thankfully for fans, what was mostly a rather disappointing season of one of television’s best satires culminated with a finale that was far better than what most viewers were expecting. “Season Four Finale” follows the Boys as they race to stop the plan to make Homelander the Supe in charge of the United States. As usual, though, the odds are against them. Very much so.
For every glimmer of hope that it offers viewers, the episode crushes them with multiple of the most surprising and devastating twists the show has seen thus far. Bold, emotional, and as nail-biting as they come, “Season Four Finale” leaves things off in a hole that the heroes will have a very tricky time getting out of next season. The Boys is always at its best when it’s not afraid to skyrocket the stakes, and nowhere is that clearer than in the most recent episode of the series.
3 “The Bloody Doors Off”
Season 2, Episode 6 (2020)
“The Bloody Doors Off” kicks off an engrossing chain of events in what might be the best season of The Boys. It finds the titular team and Starlight following a lead to Vought’s mysterious Sage Grove Center, where they find one of the company’s darkest secrets and someone even darker from their past. Meanwhile, Homelander and Stormfront’s relationship deepens to points that are nothing short of disturbing.
The episode mostly takes place in Sage Grove Center, where Vought is imprisoning patients to conduct experiments to perfect Compound V. The scenes that take place here are among the season’s most memorable, from the prisoners’ violent breakout featuring a particular abnormally long body part to Lamplighter’s introduction and his connection to Frenchie’s past. “The Bloody Doors Off” perfectly balances quiet character moments with loud action sequences, making it the perfect beginning to an even better end.
2 “Herogasm”
Season 3, Episode 6 (2022)
One of the highest-rated TV episodes on IMDb, as well as many fans’ number one favorite The Boys episode, “Herogasm” is the long-awaited adaptation of the comic books’ most infamously graphic story. It finds the team attending a secret superhero sex party, where they intend to have Soldier Boy defeat Homelander once and for all. Of course, not all goes according to plan.
Aside from having what might just be the show’s best action scene—and exhilarating battle between Homelander, Butcher, Soldier Boy, and Hughie—”Herogasm” dives deep into Homelander’s increasingly broken psyche and Frenchie and Kimiko’s evolving relationship. The show’s depiction of the Herogasm event is about as disturbing and vulgar as fans were hoping, and the final confrontation between Butcher, Soldier Boy, Hughie, and Homelander is just the cherry on top of an extraordinary piece of television.
1 “What I Know”
Season 2, Episode 8 (2020)
“What I Know” brings the second season of The Boys to a resounding close. It shows Becca begging Butcher for help. The Boys and Starlight agree to back him in their final confrontation against Homelander and Stormfront, but things go very badly, very fast. It’s a breathtaking season finale with about as many satisfying arc and plotline conclusions as it has shocking plot twists.
With gory action, a brilliantly written script, and one of The Boys‘ best needle drops, “What I Know” is so gripping that it might have many viewers forgetting to breathe all the way until the credits roll. It sets the story up for an incredibly exciting Season 3, allowing the Boys a few wins while also handing out just as many losses. Violent, thrilling, and very suspenseful, it’s easy to call “What I Know” The Boys‘s best episode to date.
