Have you been paying close attention to Butcher in Season 4 of "The Boys"? Even if you have, you might not have seen this twist coming.
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00:00Have you been paying close attention to Butcher in Season 4 of The Boys?
00:04Even if you have, you might not have seen this twist coming.
00:07Beware, spoilers ahead.
00:09To put it plainly, Billy Butcher is a brutal bloke.
00:12In fact, this might be the most obvious statement ever uttered about the beloved Amazon Prime
00:16series.
00:17That was diabolical!
00:19However, beneath this devil-may-care unpredictability lies layers of emotional baggage.
00:25Unresolved childhood trauma revolving around his younger brother's death, being cuckolded
00:29by Homelander, and the gruesome death of his wife Becca, to name a few.
00:34As such, the constant clash between morality and purpose has continuously defined his arc
00:38throughout the series.
00:40More recently, we've seen his inner conflict play out in the form of Becca's apparition
00:44acting as the angel on his shoulder, nudging him firmly towards the light on more than
00:48one occasion, such as when Butcher decides not to betray Huey by handing over incriminating
00:52files to Victoria Newman, or when he chooses to talk to Ryan instead of drugging him and
00:57containing him in a facility.
00:58Meanwhile, war veteran and CIA case officer Joe Kessler feels like a demon perched on
01:03Butcher's other shoulder, whispering the most reprehensible schemes possible at any given
01:08moment.
01:09And it's in Episode 6 where we find out the shocking truth.
01:12Kessler is no more real than Becca.
01:15He's a figment of Butcher's imagination as well.
01:17Should we have seen this coming?
01:19Honestly, yes.
01:20It's not like this is a new brand of twist we aren't painfully used to by now.
01:25You're a voice in my head.
01:26You're a voice in mine.
01:27You're a f-----g hallucination.
01:28Why can't I get rid of you?
01:30You need me.
01:31Regardless, let's recap a bit and discuss the breadcrumb trail.
01:35Butcher meets Kessler at the CIA headquarters after Grace Mallory prevents him from interacting
01:39with President-elect Robert Singer, prompting M.M. to take over.
01:43This is also the moment when M.M. assumes leadership of the boys as he deems Butcher
01:47too unpredictable, especially after it's revealed that his reckless consumption of Compound
01:51B has given him a fatal tumor.
01:54Just when Butcher is loitering alone in the halls and feeling robbed of purpose, Kessler
01:58crops up, like a deus ex machina in the form of a long-lost friend who has returned to
02:02team up with the now-disenfranchised Butcher.
02:05The two chat about how they go far back, expressing fondness for each other while establishing
02:09an emotional baseline for near-future cooperation.
02:13We need someone like you, Billy.
02:16Right f-----g now.
02:18Right off the bat, there are some glaring inconsistencies.
02:21Although the boys have been collaborating with the CIA for quite some time, no other
02:24operative ever mentions Kessler, not even Mallory who is close to Butcher despite the
02:29two sharing a somewhat contentious relationship.
02:32During the reunion scene, no one else bumps into Kessler or acknowledges him.
02:36If we are to take Kessler's credentials at face value, his return to the CIA would be
02:40considered a big deal in their plans to thwart Vought.
02:43This pattern continues whenever Kessler shares a scene with Butcher, as the two only converse
02:47with one another without being perceived by a third party.
02:51The horrifying ordeal at Stan Edgar's farmhouse in Episode 5 is an especially strong example
02:55of this.
02:56Butcher and Kessler kidnap Samir after amputating his leg and speak in the prisoner's presence.
03:01Samir does not acknowledge Kessler at all, but answers to Butcher alone as if he is the
03:06only other person in the room.
03:08He even looks confused when Butcher looks over at Kessler and says,
03:11"'We'll patch you up.'"
03:12Beyond that, Kessler seems to know the members of the boys a little too well, even when taking
03:17his profession into consideration.
03:19During a conversation with Butcher, his descriptions of the team members feel too personalized
03:23and derogatory, resembling Butcher's perception of them over the years.
03:27Kessler doesn't know these people at all, but hones in on specific traits that reduce
03:31them to their inherent or perceived flaws.
03:34He reduces MM to his anxiety, Huey to his inability to act without conviction, and Frenchy
03:39to his tendency to resort to drugs.
03:41Thinking about this in retrospect, it's easy to see that Kessler is just a personified
03:45version of Butcher's most resentful thoughts about his flawed team.
03:49So what actually happened to Kessler?
03:51Turns out, he's been dead for years, and was abandoned and left to die by Butcher, no less.
03:57Every time Kessler expressed warmth for Butcher during his hallucinations, it was a gross
04:01inversion of the truth to alleviate guilt over the wrongdoings of his violent and turbulent
04:05past.
04:06After Butcher is forced to face the truth, he realizes that every extreme proposition
04:10put forward by Kessler stems from his own tortured heart.
04:14The callous indifference towards others, the sudden violent misogyny, and even the urge
04:18to wipe out every soup to appease his twisted sense of retribution.
04:23It remains to be seen whether Butcher will let Kessler in by accepting these horrible
04:26parts of himself, or banish him altogether while he's still in control of his mental
04:30faculties.
04:31The light surrounding Becca's desperate pleas for Butcher's salvation seems to be dimming
04:35with time, paving an unforgivably dark path that will only end in tragic catastrophe.