This post was updated July 21 at 11:13 p.m.

Warning: spoilers ahead.

“The Boys” season four runs in place at super speed.

This summer, showrunner Eric Kripke delivered the hotly anticipated fourth season of the diabolical superhero show “The Boys” with the final episode released on Amazon Prime Video on July 18. Dying of a tumor, desperate Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) is forced to make increasingly dangerous decisions in an attempt to kill Homelander (Antony Starr), the star-spangled supervillain who must rebuild The Seven and overcome his humanity. As for the rest of The Boys, the characters embark on various side quests where they are confronted by their past. While there are great moments in individual episodes, the overarching plot of “The Boys” falls victim to its toughest opponent yet: being the penultimate season.

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Some of the season’s notable highlights are the hilarious portrayals of The Deep (Chace Crawford) and Black Noir II (Nathan Mitchell). A lot of actors would probably pass on playing such an irredeemable character like The Deep, but Crawford gives it 110%, comedically coming to unintelligent conclusions with full confidence. As for Mitchell, after playing the silent killer Black Noir for three seasons, cutting loose as a talkative Black Noir II and making fun of his previous character adds a humorous element the season benefits from.

The Deep and Black Noir II also have phenomenal chemistry together, managing to make a laugh-out-loud exchange just from saying the word “dude.” The entertaining super duo adds so much levity to a show that sometimes can be too obsessed with being edgy.

Over the past three seasons, Homelander and Butcher have become the driving force of the show. Their onscreen banter and tension is a significant reason why the series is a national phenomenon. Their eventual confrontation is the climax fans are eagerly awaiting, but because this cannot happen until the final season, season four puts a pause on their development and instead fills its runtime with unresolved situations.

From its first episode to the last, this season dramatically reduces the tension between characters as everyone is protected by the threat of mutually assured destruction. Almost every moment of potential conflict is completely erased by the writers creating some reason why the characters cannot take each other out. These manufactured plot conveniences make what could be dire moments feel meaningless since audiences know nothing of consequence can happen until season five.

This caveat also butchers the show’s side characters by subjecting them to pointless subplots. Hughie (Jack Quaid) dealing with his dad’s stroke and his mom’s return into his life feels entirely out of place because his personal life has not been a major plot point since season one. Additionally, Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) facing her dark past and Starlight (Erin Moriarty) trying to give up her superhero moniker are storylines that have already been explored and mostly resolved in previous seasons.

While the mentioned subplots feel meaningless enough on their own, Frenchie’s (Tomer Capone) is the defining example. As opposed to last season, this season tries to add emphasis to Frenchie’s criminal history by having him turn himself into the police, only to be entirely undermined and forgotten about when Butcher bails him out two episodes later. This pattern occurs with the other secondary characters’ arcs as well: Everyone is upset while they sit around and do nothing to advance the overarching plot until Butcher comes along and says it’s time to get back to work. It is almost as if the show cannot work without him.

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Touted as one of the greatest villains of all time, Homelander remains one of the show’s most important characters, but he doesn’t get the chance to prove it this season. Since Homelander can’t break bad until season five, he invents roadblocks to get in his way, such as relying on Sister Sage (Susan Heyward) to tell him what to do. While destroying the last remnant of his humanity, the lab that created him, led to some diabolical moments, it didn’t seem to change anything for the character.

Instead of capitalizing on his newfound power and freedom, Homelander resorts to his usual plans that failed in season two and three. He rebuilds The Seven only to learn he can solely rely on himself. Homelander tries to raise Ryan (Cameron Crovetti) to be like him only for Ryan to decide he doesn’t want to. Since Homelander can’t go through any major changes until the next season, the villain famous for being controllable is disappointingly forced into a standstill.

Since audiences went into season four knowing it’s not the end, the show ultimately feels inconsequential. Viewers are aware Butcher won’t die from the tumor in his brain because he has to be in the next season. Similarly, the audience is not as invested if The Boys secure a way to kill Homelander because it knows the plan can’t be executed until season five. Since the payoffs to these major plot points are missing, the show fails to create the tension and engagement it did so well for the previous three seasons.

At the end of it all, while “The Boys” season four still delivers on the fantastic performances and adult humor fans expect, the stalemate it created for itself diminishes it of its usual superpowered punch.