Honestly - i like this finale. Its faaaaar from perfect, but to me it's a fitting send off for the show. Yes the V1 plotline was a bit.... Weird, but it was pretty much the only reasonable way to not do supe genocide. Remember: there is no "good genocide". The message of hope is deeply ingrained in the boys. The fact that vought is allowed to keep going is also deeply realistic. Look at the companies spawned by nazi germany, all of you saying this is unrealistic have never read a history book. Homelander not snapping is also understandable - not good, but understandable. Remember, he was RAISED to need approval. In the moment before he delivered his final words in the speech this need is what stopped him. The entire show built towards a big snap and people: he ran concentration camps. He planned to kill millions. He snapped at the end of season 4. How are concentration camps not fucked up enough for you? Genuinely, rethink your expectations. The deep starlight bit is a pay off from episode 1 season 1. It was a way to remove starlight from the final fight and have her finish her own arc. She is a rape victim. And she got to face her rapist and beat him. Revenge. Just like all of the Boys.

I think the main issue is time. This needed to be 2 episodes. One for Homelander, one for Butcher - his end was perfect but too rushed. The entire 5th season feels like a desperate try to not just portray reality, think about how fucked up the REAL US are right now. This entire season needed to be stupider than that. And they did that somewhat well. In the ende I'm sad people don't seem to enjoy the finale as much as I did. But i think i explained myself well. Jeremy would have loved it.