Editor’s note: Deadline’s It Starts on the Page (Drama) features standout drama series scripts in 2025 Emmy contention.
The Boys showrunner Eric Kripke‘s grand five-season plan for Prime Video‘s comic book adaptation came into focus with its penultimate chapter, which escalated the stakes to super proportions in a shocking “Season Four Finale” episode (originally titled “Assassination Run” before the July 13, 2024 attempted assassination of Donald Trump).
The action-packed episode, written by Jessica Chou and David Reed and directed by Kripke, culminates with a new president swearing his loyalty to Homelander (Antony Starr) and declaring martial law with a promise to inflict revenge on the country’s enemies and “Make America Super Again,” rounding up The Boys and taking them into custody.
Below is the script for “Season Four Finale” with an intro by Kripke, Chou and Reed, in which, channeling the show’s satirical, self-deprecating tone, they make the case for the series’ writers and stars Starr, Karl Urban and Erin Moriarty getting Emmy recognition while highlighting several standout scenes in the episode.
Jessica Chou, David Reed and Eric Kripke
Courtesy
We knew this was going to be our penultimate season, and so we framed it as an End of Act 2 low point — our heroes divided and on their heels as Homelander is ascendant and unstoppable. And to be honest, “divided and on their heels” is how writers usually feel by the end of the season. But not here. This is an extraordinary team – in these fraught times, simply hanging out with them is often the only reason to get out of bed – and they did the really hard work of setting up all of the stories. All we had to do was pay them off.
There are a few scenes that stand out — Erin Moriarty playing her character, Annie January, along with her murderous, shapeshifting doppelganger, which gave Erin the chance to show incredible range. Then there’s Kimiko’s first, heartbreaking word – “no” – as her soulmate Frenchie is dragged away.
Another is Butcher’s story about his late brother, Lenny, wanting to visit a topless steakhouse. It encapsulates everything we like to do on The Boys — it’s heartbreaking because of how deeply Butcher regrets his brother’s death — and at the same time it’s funny and weird and specific in a way that makes it feel true. Which it is! The topless steakhouse exists, David’s cousin went there. Karl Urban brought such depth and pathos to the scene. We’re supposed to convince you to give the writers an Emmy, but sign Karl up for one, too, please. And while you’re at it, one for Antony Starr please? He pulled off quite a magic trick this season – making the audience understand, even feel empathy for, a complete sociopathic monster. The way 16 different emotions can flit across his face in a single moment continually surprises, amazes and confounds us.
Writing for The Boys is challenging, sometimes maddening, but also therapeutic. This dumpster fire we call ‘reality’ can ground you down, make you feel helpless. But we get to talk about it, satirize it, thumb our nose and poke its eye. We know we’re not changing the world, we’re basically carnies, but at least we have an outlet to process it all. And maybe someone out there watching won’t feel quite so alone. Frankly, we could use more kids in the back of the class throwing spitballs these days. So we’d appreciate that Emmy, if that’s alright with you. That way, if we’re ever arrested, vanished, deported, or accidentally fall off a balcony, the news can say “Emmy winning writers disappeared today,” which will be a nice consolation.Eric Kripke, Jessica Chou and David Reed
The Boys‘ Emmy history to date includes nominations for Outstanding Drama Series and Writing For Drama Series. Here is the Season 4 finale script:
