Posted in: Adult Swim, Amazon Studios, Opinion, TV, TV | Tagged: opinion, primal, the boys

The Boys & The "Filler" Episode Myth: Maybe You're the Problem?

No, The Boys S05E05: "One-Shots" wasn't a filler episode by any stretch. But some folks seem to have forgotten how to watch television.

Firecracker (Valorie Curry) was killed by Homelander (Antony Starr) after selling out her family's pastor on national television. The Deep (Chace Crawford) killed Adam Bourke (PJ Byrne), driving a deeper divide between him and Black Noir II (Nathan Mitchell). Butcher (Karl Urban) promises to let Annie (Erin Moriarty) and Kumiko (Karen Fukuhara) take the V1 before the virus gets unleashed – but can he be trusted? Sister Sage (Susan Heyward) revealed her master plan, looking to bring Ashley (Colby Minifie) into the mix. Homelander and Soldier Boy's (Jensen Ackles) trip to see Mister Marathon (Jared Padalecki) for more intel on V1 offered more clues about Soldier Boy's past with Clara Vought (being played by Aya Cash in the upcoming prequel spinoff, "Vought Rising").

That's just some of what happened in the fifth episode of the final season of Prime Video and Showrunner Eric Kripke's The Boys, which directly impacted the ongoing storylines leading into the series finale. And that's without taking a deep dive into what it all meant and how it impacted a number of dynamics moving forward. Homelander and Soldier Boy's twisted father/son "road trip." Firecracker, forsaking her faith to worship a false god that cast her out from his "Heaven." Edgar (Giancarlo Esposito), still playing the role of the impossible-to-please "father," this time dismissing both Homelander and Soldier Boy as disappointments – even in the face of death.

And yet, there are people out there who will look you in the eye and argue that "One-Shots" was a filler episode, with "filler" meant to denote an episode that isn't seen as having any impact on the major storylines and isn't seen as progressing the series forward. To them, I humbly say this. There are no "filler" episodes – just close-minded viewers who don't understand how television storytelling works and believe that the series in their heads is ten times better than what they're watching. Spoiler? They're not.

If that's coming across a certain way… good. Because it's starting to get a little old to see folks posting that just because Butcher and Homelander aren't getting into dick-measuring fights for eight episodes, then the show's running "slow" and wasting time with "filler." If you were expecting some third-rate summer action film for the final run and you're feeling disappointed, don't blame Kripke and the creative team. Look in the mirror and take a moment to figure out what show you've been watching over the past four seasons. It's not The Boys. Because, in the midst of all of the madness, the show has never lost sight of making it about the characters – the good, the bad, and everyone in between.

And that brings me to Adult Swim's Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal S02E05: "The Primal Theory," directed by Tartakovsky and co-written by Tartakovsky and Darrick Bachman. Originally airing in August 2022, the episode was a shock to the system for viewers, transporting the action to 1890 England as Charles Darwin looked to defend his theory on evolution. Yes, that Primal – the one with Spear, Fang, and a setting that definitely wasn't England in the 1890s. And yet, the story of how we all tap into our primal state in times of fear and danger, with the visual symbolism in play during the battle between C. D. Darlington and that monstrous escaped inmate, made it as real an episode of Primal as the ones that came before and after it. And yet, there are still those who dismiss it, as if Tartakovsky just whipped it up at the last minute or something to make a deadline.

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