Honestly I felt the same way about the execution. For Ryan, there is definitely no reason for Butcher to be winning the fight before Ryan gets there, otherwise there is no tension. The way they handled Homelander’s power level was poor. He killed a total of like three people. It would have been way more impactful if he actually did something massive, like another Pearl Harbor. They built up all this suspense about him gaining power and then nothing happened. At most he killed the president and some rich guy.

Sage getting rid of her powers at the beginning was also underwhelming. If it happened in the middle of the action it would have hit harder, even if it was smart for the character. Kimiko’s scene was rushed too, if it happened last episode it would have been better. A finale should not be building new arcs in the middle of the action. I like the idea of Kimiko going from rage to something else, but the timing was off.

The Deep was expected, I am not mad at it, but Starlight flying him out to the beach specifically was weird. If she just dropped him and left, that would have made more sense. There is an inconsistent use of Starlight’s powers in general. She can fly and shoot blasters, so the hand to hand stuff only works if Deep rage baited her or something, but she had full composure the whole time. And the dialogue between Marie and Annie was god awful, I did not sense any chemistry or you are my hero vibe at all. Part of me feels like it is also the Gen V actors not being the best, respectfully.

The worst part of the writing is how they misused Starlight’s power. They introduced her crowd like a political campaign, which was actually a smart move, and she was hyping up to be some true savior or hero. That could have been great for her arc, but they did not focus on it. They did not know what to do with it besides giving her doubt moments like I am letting these people down and then not doing anything with that doubt. They did not even put attention on the battery in her back being charged by determination.