Department of Dirty Tricks - The Boys 4x01 Reaction

The Boys is an American satirical superhero television series developed by Eric Kripke for Amazon Prime Video. Based on the comic book of the same name by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, it follows the eponymous team of vigilantes as they combat superpowered individuals, known as "Supes", who abuse their powers for personal gain and work for a powerful company that ensures the general public views them as heroes. The series features an ensemble cast that includes Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Antony Starr, Erin Moriarty, Dominique McElligott, Jessie T. Usher, Chace Crawford, Laz Alonso, Tomer Capone, Karen Fukuhara, and Nathan Mitchell.
Originally intended to be a feature-length film trilogy, the comic book series adaptation began its development in 2008, with Adam McKay set to direct the films. Due to creative differences between the crew and the studios that picked it up, the project was left in development hell. Eventually, the development for The Boys was revived in 2016 by Cinemax, which announced that it would be reworked as a television series. Kripke was recruited to be the showrunner of the series, while Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg would be credited as executive producers. Amazon Studios obtained the rights for the series in November 2017, with production starting in May 2018 in Toronto, Canada.
The Boys premiered its first season of eight episodes on July 26, 2019. A second season premiered on September 4, 2020, with the third season following on June 3, 2022. In June 2022, the series was renewed for a fourth season, which premiered on June 13, 2024. In May 2024, the series was renewed for a fifth and final season. As part of a shared universe, a spin-off web series, Seven on 7, premiered on July 7, 2021, an animated anthology series, Diabolical, premiered on March 4, 2022, and the second live-action television series, Gen V, premiered on September 29, 2023.
The series has been nominated for eight Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Drama Series in 2021, and has won two Saturn Awards and seven Critics' Choice Super Awards.
Politics
The series explores issues like systemic racism, white nationalism, white supremacy, and xenophobia, with Kripke seeing an opportunity to introduce Stormfront, a racist superhero who believes in Nazism. Kripke stated that unlike the comics where Stormfront is male, the character would be gender-swapped for the series with the intention of creating "Homelander's worst nightmare that would be a strong woman who wasn't afraid of him and proceeded to steal his spotlight". The show contains political satire, and many consider the show to be a critique of conservatism and far-right politics. The show has also made references to corporate corruption, homophobia, police brutality, and sexual harassment. Various analogies have been made to current social and political movements such as Black Lives Matter, the MeToo movement, and comparing Homelander to Donald Trump. Promotional materials for the fourth season included the quotes "Make America Super Again" and "Supe Lives Matter", likely a parody of the slogans "Black Lives Matter" and "Make America Great Again", respectively.Some of the showrunners have said that these analogies are intentional and made to cast a political message. In June 2024, Kripke described the series as a "story about the intersection of celebrity and authoritarianism and how social media and entertainment are used to sell fascism".
[EVERYTHING SOURCED FROM WIKIPEDIA]