The following contains spoilers for The Boys season 4 episode 7, “The Inside,” now streaming on Prime Video

The Boys‘ most recent death scenes add an ominous layer to expectations for the upcoming fifth (and final) season of the Prime Video superhero satire. The Boys has never necessarily been a shy series. It’s featured plenty of violence, sex, and darkness filtered through jokes about Marvel and DC archetypes. However, while the show has always been dark, there was a certain amount of grisly and gory humor to be found in the early seasons. The heroes puncturing through a beached whale or exploding a villain from the inside out were treated as ridiculous punchlines rather than horrifying turns.

However, the show has become darker over time, building to the grim heights of The Boys season 4. Despite the carnivorous flying sheep and bizarre octopus romances of the season, The Boys‘ story has become increasingly bleak. Two of the latest deaths in the series seem to reinforce that idea. Despite being clear parodies of established superhero icons, they’re quickly and brutally killed off to push forward the show’s central storyline. It’s a showcase for how much darker the show has become, and sets a precedent for season 5 that promises more death and destruction.

The Boys Is Killing Off Some Of Its Most Pointed Superhero Parodies

Approaching the end of The Boys season 4, the show has been increasingly killing off its superhero parodies like Tek-Knight and Web Weaver, which implies the show is pushing the lethal stakes of the story more than ever. The Boys has always been full of specific superhero riffs and parodies, with some of the most pointed being subversive takes on major figures. The Boys‘ version of Spider-Man, Web Weaver, was a particularly gritty version of a wall-crawling hero. Meanwhile, Tek-Knight was a harsh version of the classic Batman archetype that reimagined him as a cruel and casually racist billionaire.

Both characters easily fit into The Boys approach to superhero debauchary, which has resulted in plenty of dead heroes and villains over the last four seasons. However, The Boys has become more comfortable dispatching more prominent characters. Tek-Knight was killed in “Dirty Business,” strangled by his butler and The Boys‘ version of Robin, Laddio. Meanwhile, “The Insider” sees Homelander rip Web Weaver in half when the villain believes Web Weaver was the Boys’ mole within the Vought organization. It’s two very grim fates for some of The Boys‘ subversive takes on superhero archetypes.

Will The Boys Season 5 Abandon The Show’s Dark Comedy Roots?

The Boys is increasingly approaching its endgame. Although there is currently a season 2 of Gen V and a Mexican-set spin-off of the series set to come to Prime Video, the core The Boys series will formally come to a close with the upcoming season 5. As it approaches that conclusion, it appears that The Boys is becoming darker than ever. While the show has never neccesarily been an optimistic or light watch, it’s previously balanced the harsh satire and horrifying deaths with character growth and comedic beats.

Season 4 has retained some silly highlights (the unmasked Black Noir complaining about his role, for example), but it’s also been more harrowing. The season has featured some of Homelander’s most frightening rampages, as well as becoming an increasingly somber series. The abuses and tragedies heaped onto the Boys as a whole have provided some heartbreaking turns in season 4. Season 5 will likely continue this trend, and the grisly deaths of Tek-Knight and Web Weaver highlight a willingness on the show’s creatives part to use even potential gag characters as a means of raising the stakes.

The Boys’ Endgame Is Looking Increasingly Bleak

With The Boys heading headlong towards a confirmed ending, it’s worth considering how bleak the show has become. The anti-Supe virus that has been developed could wipe out innocents and monsters alike, with the Kessler-infleunced Butcher potentially embracing that path despite the cost. Homelander and Sister Sage’s plans seem to be getting closer to fruition, with characters like Victoria Neuman seemingly trapped by the parts they’re forced to play in the schemes. Beyond that, Homelander’s increasingly embracing an openly murderous approach that could see him unleash his terrible potential. This would notably match the overall arc of the source material.

The Boys comic became increasingly grim as the series went on. The final stretch of the comic saw several notable deaths before building to an emotional and deadly conclusion. While many details of The Boys‘ fifth season differ from the original comic, the general throughline seems to be on track to match the comic’s conclusion. Coupled with the show’s increasing willingness to suddenly kill off characters like Tek-Knight and Web Weaver, it looks like The Boys will further embrace the ominous tone of season 4 and largely abandon the parody aspects that were more common earlier in the series.