In the latest episode of The Boys, “Dirty Business,” the plan Sage (Susan Heyward) and Homelander (Antony Starr) have been cooking up in the background is revealed: they’re going to invoke the 25th Amendment. Which, even for a sure that’s frequently right on it in terms of modern politics, is a bonkers plot point to bring up this week, on July 4th, when the 25th Amendment is very much on the minds of many Americans.
Spoilers past this point. In the episode, Homelander, Sage, and VP-elect Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit) are all at a party at Tek Knight’s (Derek Wilson) house to schmooze and booze the elite of government and billionaires. There’s a secret, second purpose to the gathering, though: Homelander reveals to the gathered Illuminati that they are planning on essentially throwing a coup in order to get President-elect Bobby Singer (Jim Beaver) out of office, once he’s officially sworn in on January 6.
The real reason for all of this — and there are several reasons — is that Singer is anti-Supe… He wants them to be simple entertainers, and that’s it. Homelander, Sage, and Neuman — who is secretly a Supe herself — don’t want that. So once Neuman steps up and wins over the billionaires by basically saying her Presidency will line their pocketbooks, they’re all on board. In order to do that, they’re going to use the 25th Amendment. But what is the 25th Amendment?
What Is The 25th Amendment?
Look, I’m no Constitutional scholar, I write about comic book-based TV shows. But the short version is the 25th Amendment, which was adopted on February 10, 1967, deals with Presidential succession and disability. Basically, if the President becomes unable to fulfill his or her office, either due to death, illness, or lack of confidence on the part of the government or the people, there are options to remove them from the role.
To be clear, it can be proactive. For example, when various Presidents have gone in for surgery they’ve invoked the 25th to make sure the line of succession would continue in case things went wrong while they were under. But it can also deal with things like when Nixon left office after being impeached, or when Reagan was the subject of an attempted assassination.
In the case of The Boys, it seems like they’re going to go for another option, that the President isn’t mentally fit for the office. They’re going to pretend Singer is losing his mind and has to be replaced. That parallels questions that were raised about Reagan during his second term, which sort of panned out as the ex-President was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s five days after leaving office.
However, there’s a pretty wild real-world parallel we should probably talk about.
President Biden Has Been The Subject Of Discussions Regarding The 25th Amendment In The Past Few Weeks
Like above, this is not a political site, and I am making no qualitative or pointed judgments about real-world events here. However, time and again, The Boys has been right on point in terms of the political touchstones in the series, paralleling what’s happening in real life… All this despite the fact that this season, for example, was done filming well over a year ago.
In this case, after the first Presidential debate between President Biden and ex-President Trump on June 27, concerns were raised about Biden’s mental acuity, due to his performance at the event. Since then, numerous op-eds and think pieces have discussed his progressing age, as well as whether he does have the mental fitness for the office.
Whether he does or not doesn’t actually matter here on Comic Book Club Live dot Com, because what we’re far more concerned about is how bonkers it is that in the same week where the 25th Amendment has been a near non-stop part of the discussion on news networks and in papers, it crops up as a plot point in a similar manner on The Boys.
Clearly, different circumstances. And whatever happens with President Biden has far more serious ramifications than whatever happens to Bobby Singer, because one is real and one is not. But my jaw certainly dropped when this was brought up late in the episode, and I’m sure other viewers did too.
But that’s probably the end of the eerie political parallels on this season as they head towards President Singer being sworn in, right? Yep, sure. Definitely. Cough.
The Boys Season 4 Premiere Dates And Episode Guide:
The Boys season 4 will officially premiere on Prime Video on Thursday, June 13 at 3 am ET / 12 am PT. The season will be eight episodes long, with three dropping on premiere day.
Here’s the full list of episodes in The Boys Season 4, with expected premiere dates:
- Thursday, June 13, 2024: The Boys, Season 4, Episode 1 – “Department of Dirty Tricks”
- Thursday, June 13, 2024: The Boys, Season 4, Episode 2 – “Life Among the Septics”
- Thursday, June 13, 2024: The Boys, Season 4, Episode 3 – “We’ll Keep the Red Flag Flying Here”
- Thursday, June 20, 2024: The Boys, Season 4, Episode 4 – “Wisdom of the Ages”
- Thursday, June 27, 2024: The Boys, Season 4, Episode 5 – “Beware the Jabberwock, My Son”
- Thursday, July 4, 2024: The Boys, Season 4, Episode 6 – “Dirty Business”
- Thursday, July 11, 2024: The Boys, Season 4, Episode 7 – “The Insider”
- Thursday, July 18, 2024: The Boys, Season 4, Episode 8 – “Assassination Run” *Season Finale*
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