3 min read`The following story contains spoilers for The Boys season 5, episode 5, “One-Shots.”
AS THE BOYS heads toward the stretch run of its fifth and final season, it’s easy to get caught up in the drama of everything. Anyone watching is eager to finally get the answer to the show’s most important question: Will The Boys be able to stop Homelander (Antony Starr)? Will anyone?
And, rightfully, most of season 5 has revolved around that question. As Homelander continues to consolidate power, lose his mind, and push what is now a literal god complex on America, that will be top of mind for everyone watching. But it’s also important to remember that we’re watching The Boys. This isn’t any other superhero drama or action thriller—we’re watching a show that’s mastered a very specific tone that balances those aspects, yes, but still manages to have a totally wicked sense of humor. The best kinds of genre satire and parody aren’t the most outlandish, but the ones that can count themselves also as legitimate works of that genre. And The Boys has always succeeded in that way.
The fifth episode is the final season’s best to date. Titled “One-Shots,” after the comics format that tells a full story in just one issue, the episode jumps around for segments from the perspective of characters like Firecracker (Valorie Curry), Black Noir (Nathan Mitchell), Sister Sage (Susan Heyward), Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles), and even Butcher’s dog, Terror. And through this, we progress the story forward. We get some truly great character development for Firecracker. We get the best moments between Butcher (Karl Urban) and Hughie (Jack Quaid) of the season so far. And we really get our best glimpse into Soldier Boy’s psychology to date.
Through Soldier Boy’s POV, we also get a whole bunch of cameos. Fans have long been waiting for appearances from actors Jared Padalecki (who plays Mister Marathon) and Misha Collins (who plays Malchemical). Those two and Ackles starred in The Boys creator Eric Kripke’s long-running show Supernatural—and here they finally get a reunion, as Soldier Boy and Homelander are sent to Mister Marathon’s house in search of the V1 that could give Homelander immortality.
And the reunion is an enjoyable one. But in Mister Marathon’s house, we find even more cameos: Seth Rogen, Will Forte,Kumail Nanjiani, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse are all bunkered up, hoping they’ll be spared in Homelander’s mass fascist state. We’ve been getting breadcrumbs all season long telling us that Homelander’s regime has been taking out all sorts of celebrities and patrons of the arts, and our friends here are scared. Well, not entirely: Will Forte is pretty psyched that his old Saturday Night Live costar Bill Hader got the axe, because it means more work for him.
It brings to mind Rogen’s 2013 comedy This Is The End, which Rogen starred in and co-directed, and centers on a bunch of celebrities all playing very funny versions of themselves as the apocalypse hits Los Angeles. Here, instead of the apocalypse, we get something pretty close: a power-mad superhero who will imprison (or kill) anyone who looks at him slightly funny.
The cameo-bonanza makes for the highlight of the episode. From Mintz-Plasse calling Homelander “Homie” (and his look of disgust in response) to Nanjiani’s bragging about how ripped he is, it reminds us that The Boys is very, very funny, and also puts the benefits of counting Seth Rogen as an executive producer front and center.
Eventually, the blood starts flowing. After Mister Marathon and Malchemical unsuccessfully try to convince Soldier Boy to take Homelander out, the celebrities become collateral damage. Craig Robinson shows up for about six seconds before turning into a pool of blood and guts. Forte, Nanjiani, and Mintz-Plasse don’t fare much better.
Rogen gets a big death scene. “I’ll remember you every time I watch An American Pickle,” Mister Marathon says of his mostly-forgotten Covid-era comedy, as Rogen’s intestines hang out of his severed bottom half. Reader, I laughed.
The Boys has a lot of threads to tie up here before the end of the series, and with only three episodes remaining, time is getting a little thin. But we won’t complain about a supremely well-executed, blood-filled sequence that used celebrity cameos to perfection.
