The following contains spoilers for The Boys season 4 episode 5, “Beware The Jabberwock, My Son,” now streaming on Prime Video

The Boys brought back an unexpected character, who draws attention to one of the show’s biggest story problems. The Boys may be about a world full of superheroes, but it’s also a painfully grounded show that highlights the perverse, grisly, and ruthless realities of living in that kind of universe. It’s remained grounded largely thanks to the complex characters at the heart of The Boys‘ uniquely dark riffs on superhero archetypes.

However, as the show has gone on, it has also picked up a narrative problem that countless other stories with lethal consequences and brutal elements suffer from. It’s something that The Boys has actively been able to explain through character choices, but season 4 draws attention to just how pervasive this has become and how The Boys‘ cast of characters are a major part of that problem. The Boys is still a strong series, but it can’t avoid a simple reality about how stakes have evolved in the show.

Edgar’s Line In The Boys Season 4 Proves It’s Amazing No Main Character Has Died Yet

Edgar’s Joke About The Boys Highlights A Stakes Problem With The Show

An off-hand comment from Edgar in The Boys season 4 points out just how ridiculous it is that none of the show’s main characters have been killed yet. The Boys season 1 introduced Butcher, MM, and Frenchie as members of the clandestine group, ultimately recruiting Hughie and Kimiko over the course of the season. Despite the frequently fatal consequences of their missions and the overwhelming power of their enemies. Both Edgar and his estranged daughter Victoria have pointed out, that the crew has not necessarily become better at their jobs over the course of the series.

In fact, “Beware of the Jabberwock, My Son” highlights just how wild it is that the entire group has survived. Several no-name characters with the same mortality as MM and Frenchie suffer horrible deaths to the Compound V-tested animals, even as the main characters perfectly evade danger. The team has frequently dodged certain deaths elsewhere in the season, only for last-minute saves to keep them alive. Given the brutal abilities of characters like Homelander, it’s frankly amazing that no one has died yet, which does raise a question about how the show intends to keep the stakes high going forward.

The Boys Looks Unlikely To Kill Any Main Character In Season 4

Season 5 Will Likely Be More Willing To Kill Off Major Characters

With season 5 of The Boys set to close out the series, The Boys seems increasingly unlikely to kill off any main character in the latter half of season 4. Given the pace and focus of the season on the group all trying to overcome their past mistakes, it would feel cheap for a character to suddenly die ahead of the finale. Instead, the promise of a fifth and final season indicates that the show is planning on concluding everyone’s stories in the finale. As a result, even Butcher’s fatal prognosis doesn’t seem to matter on The Boys anymore.

By the very nature of storytelling, it’s unlikely The Boys will conclude without Butcher center-stage. Homelander and most of his super-powered allies could literally tear the Boys to pieces with their bare hands, but keep holding back. The Boys has done a great job building that restraint into character choices. It nevertheless impacts tension when audiences grow comfortable that the main characters will always be one step ahead of danger. When characters in-universe can recognize that, it’s become a problem. It’s an inherent element of stories like The Boys, and a double-edged sword the show is still dealing with.

The Boys’ Reluctance To Kill Main Characters Is A Double-Edged Sword

Why Shows Like The Boys Run Into Problems With Stakes After Multiple Seasons

Any story, especially those with bleak turns and dark plots like The Boys, needs compelling characters to keep the audience interested. That takes time to establish, something The Boys has accomplished with strong writing and great performances The Boys has done a great job in this regard, with all five of the titular Boys (as well as later recruit Starlight) proving compelling and complex enough to drive the show forward and keep the audience’s attention. As a result, though, they’ve been through an improbable number of dangerous situations, and the heroes keep coming out largely unscathed.

As a result, the tension in the season is impacted. The stakes don’t feel as high when Hughie can escape Homelander’s grasp through external help or the Boys themselves just so happen to not be targeted by the super sheep. It’s the unrealistic aspect of an otherwise absurd show that breaks the tension of disbelief. Even as the battles become harder and more dangerous, audiences are less worried because the heroes have already survived so much. While the concluding season 5 might be more willing to kill off main characters, The Boys season 4 seems unlikely to slay anyone early.