‘The Boys’ Season 5 Finale Review: Rotten Tomatoes Score Revealed After Final Episode Drops

After five seasons of chaos and violence, The Boys has officially ended, closing out its story with a finale full of major deaths, emotional decisions, and long-running conflicts finally coming to an end. Alongside the ending, the final season has also received its overall critical score, with review aggregators showing strong but mixed audience reactions.

According to Rotten Tomatoes, The Boys Season 5 holds a 97% Tomatometer score based on 72 critic reviews. The audience score, also known as the Popcornmeter, sits at 66% with over 500 viewer ratings. The information comes from Rotten Tomatoes, which collects reviews from critics and audiences across different outlets.

The final season focuses heavily on the long-building conflict between Billy Butcher and Homelander. After years of hatred, the two finally face each other in a direct fight. Homelander is first weakened when Kimiko uses radiation to strip away his powers, which allows Butcher to gain control of the battle. Butcher then kills Homelander using a crowbar, ending the show’s main villain arc in a brutal way.

Creator Eric Kripke told reporters that this ending was always part of the plan. He said, “We 100% knew that Butcher was going to kill Homelander with a crowbar.” That moment becomes one of the central emotional payoffs of the entire series, closing a storyline that has been building since the first season.

But the story does not end there. After Homelander’s death, Butcher turns into a new threat himself. He decides to use a supe-killing virus to eliminate all superheroes, which leads to a final confrontation with Hughie. Hughie eventually stops him by shooting him, resulting in another major death that completes the cycle between the two characters.

Kripke explained that this conflict between Butcher and Hughie was always meant to be part of the ending. He said their relationship had been building toward a breaking point for years, making their final scene the emotional core of the story.

Kimiko also plays an important role in the final battle. Her radiation-based ability becomes the key to stripping Homelander of his powers, which shifts the outcome of the fight. Kripke said this idea came from early planning sessions where writers worked through each character’s ending in detail, making sure everything connected in a natural way.

While the main story focuses on deaths and final battles, the season also shows the aftermath for the surviving characters. Annie, Mother’s Milk, and Hughie survive and begin rebuilding their lives. Ryan, Butcher’s stepson, also survives but chooses to walk away from Butcher, rejecting any relationship after the events of the finale.

Critics responding to the final season have been largely positive. Reviews highlight the show’s bold storytelling, intense action, and emotional weight in its final episodes. Some critics praised the way the series handled its ending, calling it a fitting and chaotic conclusion to the story. One review described the season as “scorched earth, shock and awe, blood and groan,” pointing to its extreme and violent style. Others noted that while some parts felt rushed, the payoff of long-running character arcs made the ending satisfying.

Not all reactions were fully positive. Some reviewers felt the show became uneven in its final stretch, with certain storylines not landing as strongly as earlier seasons. One critic said the show had become more exhausting in tone, though still acknowledged its impact and ambition.

Despite mixed audience reactions, the critical score shows that The Boys ended on a strong note with reviewers, even if viewers were more divided. The series closes with its core conflicts resolved, major characters dead, and a world left changed by the collapse of its central power structure.

With its final season now complete, The Boys leaves behind a story defined by extreme violence, moral conflict, and the long-running battle between Butcher and Homelander, ending exactly where it began: with chaos at the center of everything.

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