Summary
Billy Butcher fromThe Boyswould be the first to admit that he’s no boy scout. Over the past four seasons of the Prime Video show, he’s done terrible things ranging from cutting off the leg of a scientist to fake his death to killingvice president elect and serial head exploder Victoria Neuman. In some ways, Butcher’s embrace of Supe genocide via his Compound V-induced brain tumor hallunincation of Joe Kessler seems inevitable.
Since his first appearance, he’s advocated for getting rid of Supes all together. However, with the inclusion of Kimiko and Annie January to the titular Boys as well as his fondness for Ryan, born from his hated rival Homelander and his beloved wife Becca, it seemed as if Butcher was embracing nuance or, as the Kessler part of his brain might say, “going soft”. However, in the Season 4 finale when he’s ripped apart Neuman, stolen the Supe-killing virus, and seesa clear vision of Kessler, it seems like he’s reverted to an older, darker version of himself. Perhaps, a viewer could surmise, there’s no saving Butcher in the fifth and final season.
However, Butcher isThe Boys’true blue antihero at his heart. Unlike Hughie, Lenny, or Becca, who all represent pure good in Butcher’s life or “canaries” in the parlance of the show, Butcher is complex. Raised in an abusive household, the urge to commit violence sprang up in him at a very young age. Rather than choose to stay and commit what he felt like would have been the destiny of killing his own father, Billy left before any blood could be split. However, no good deed goes unpunished andLenny, his much more sensitive brother, left alone with their father, saw no way out other than to take his own life. Since then, Butcher’s life has been marked by tragedy after tragedy. His wife Becca, who was thought possibly dead after being sexually assaulted by Homelander, is shown to be raising their son in secret. After Ryan, her son, accidentally kills Becca in front of Butcher, he learns to forgive the boy, only to push him away for fear of raising him to be a monster life himself. He also pushes away Hughie, who is ostensibly a replacement for his brother and the living embodiment of his conscience. Now that Butcher is now listening to the Kessler (devil) side of himself rather than the Becca (angel) side of himself, is he capable of redemption? There is definitely a possibility.
Butcher’s Visions Are Him Grappling with Morality
Butcher’s primary conflict as a character is his love for his Boys and Ryan versus his hatred and dire need for revenge against Homelander. Becca represents the part of him that is fighting for his humanity, for his affection for the Boys, as well as his need to protect Ryan, not just as Becca’s son, but as a possible replacement for Homelander if he ever does manage to kill him. Kessler, on the other hand, represents Butcher’s darkest desire to kill Supes, even Kimiko, Annie, and Ryan. However, when viewers were able to briefly meet Becca, she alluded that Butcher’s more bloodthirsty tendenciesdidn’t start with her assault and presumed death. There has always been something dark lurking in Butcher. When Butcher hallucinates Lenny, it’s a more innocent part of him trying to be good. When Becca does, it’s a more mature part of him, asking him to do the harder things that need to be done, likeprotect Ryan from Homelander’s influence. Prior to hallucinating Kessler, who represents a part of Butcher that he fears cannot live a normal civilian life outside the violence of war, he was imagining verbally sparring with Homelander. Kessler is a more troubling vision because while Homelander purely represents an enemy, Kessler was a friend. However, the fact that Becca is still present shows that there is a chance that Butcher can be pulled from Kessler’s influence and do the right thing.
Butcher Always Comes Back for The Boys
Butcher may leave the titular Boys a lot to chase a whim, but he always ends up coming back to them. Although he could have doomed Hughier to die fromrepeated use of Temp Vthat Butcher himself would later face, he chose to save him from that fate instead. (In his own, Butcher way, of course.) This act encapsulates whyHughie can’t give up on Butcher. No matter what line he crosses, and he crosses a lot of them, there’s still a shred of good in him that cares. He even asks M.M. to look after the Boys. This shows that Kessler’s assertions that he doesn’t really care about them, particularly Supes Kimiko and Annie, are false. Butcher has always cared and while the Kessler part of him, and the part of him that comes from his abusive father, may see that as a weakness, it’s Butcher’s love that might ultimately save him.
Ryan May Be the Key to Butcher’s Redemption
Butcher may have seen Kimiko and Annie as “weapons”, but Ryan was always going to be someone he saw with a little more complexity. Becca raised a good and sheltered boy, who she loved, but also feared. Part of why she used the delicate hand that she did was because she understood that someone with Homelander’s incredible abilities, could be goodif he were raised with kindness. The moment that Becca died, Ryan was isntantly pulled from two father figures. The first is his insane biological father, Homelander, who wants to instill in Ryan that as Supes, they are superior to civilians. The other is Butcher, who is not nearly on the firm side of good that Becca was when she was alive. Through Ryan, Butcher is forced to confront his prejudice and admit he does care for Ryan, not only because he’s Becca’s son, but because there’s still something pure within him. Something that Lenny had. Something thatHughie tries to have. Ryan and Butcher are both people that desperately need goodness in their lives. Season 4 made it clear that Ryan still loves Butcher and Butcher feels the same, even if he is straying from the path. For a good end forThe Boysto be possible, the two of them will need to bring out the goodness in each other.
Without Billy Butcher,The Boys, the show and the team, simply wouldn’t be possible. He’s the sarcastic, wounded, bittersweet heart of it all and although he seems to be careening down a path of pure villain, there’s still hope from him yet.Unlike his tragic comic counterpart,Butcher’s hallucinations of Becca show that there’s still some part of him that’s good and can be redeemed. It’s hard to imagine the show version of Butcher permanently turning on his Boys or abandoning Ryan. Although he deserves redemption, even if it means a heroic sacrifice, whatever Butcher’s end may be, he was always as complex as he was entertaining.
Prime Video
Prime Video is Amazon’s streaming service that began as Amazon Unbox back in September 2006. The streaming service has gone through many rebrandings over the year but has managed to successfully compete with other streamers such as Netflix, Max, and Disney+. Some of their most notable titles include The Boys, Carnival Row, and Sound of Metal.
