Ending a beloved TV show is no mean feat – as The Boys creator Eric Kripke is discovering, following fan complaints that the final season features too many “filler” episodes.
Just like the showrunners of Game of Thrones before him, Kripke is facing the wrath of angry viewers, and many believe the show is not even close to wrapping up the biggest plot points with just two episodes left until it reaches its conclusion.
The Boys, which launched in 2019, and became a surprise hit for Prime Video, follows a group of vigilantes who attempt to take down corrupt superheroes who abuse their superpowers.
After a dramatic start to the fifth and final season, fans appear to be disappointed with the small number of explosive showdowns between the supervillain Homelander (Antony Starr) and the satirical show’s band of heroes, led by Karl Urban’s Billy Butcher.
But former Supernatural showrunner Kripke is adamant that all of the episodes fans have described as filler were necessary for the events of the last two episodes to have an impact.
“None of the things that happen in the last few episodes will matter if you don’t flesh out the characters,” he told TV Guide. “I’m getting a lot of online dissatisfaction, to put it politely. And I’m like, ‘What are you expecting? Are you expecting a huge battle scene every episode?'”
Part of the reason that Kripke strayed from battle sequences in the final season is because the Prime Video series didn’t have enough of a budget – despite being a juggernaut hit for the streamer, with two spin-offs.
He said such scenes “would be so empty and dull, and it would just be about shapes moving without having any import”.
Kripke continued: “At no point during the writing of it was I like, ‘Oh yeah, we’re making filler episodes. So who cares?’ We all thought at the time we’re really getting these important character details. We have something like 14 characters, maybe 15. And I owe it to all of them – in that television is the character business – I owe it to all of them to flesh them out and humanise them and their stories.”
He said that viewers are duped into thinking “nothing happened” because a lot of the big moments occur in a scene where two people are talking to each other.
“The craziest, biggest moves happened – it just wasn’t someone shooting someone else and going, pew, pew, pew,” he continued. “And if that’s what you want, you’re just watching the wrong show.”
The Boys has been a huge success for Prime Video since it launched in 2019. Spin-off Gen V started in 2023 and ran for two seasons before its cancellation, with a second offshoot, Vought Rising, arriving in 2027. The show stars Aya Cash and Jensen Ackles, returning as Boys characters Stormfront and Soldier Boy, as well as Mason Dye, Jordan Myrie and Nicolo Pasetti.
