A new picture posted by The Boys showrunner Eric Kripke reveals the title of season 4’s first episode. First airing on Prime Video in 2019, the satirical superhero series has gone on to become one of the streamer's most successful shows to date. Famous for parodying the superhero genre and real socio-political issues, The Boys follows a titular group of vigilantes on a mission to expose the corruption of commercialized superhumans and their corporate overlords at Vought International.Based on a comic book series created by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson in 2006, the show has drawn heavy inspiration from its original source material. Though the series has made some notable deviations in its plot and characters, such as altering the powers and background of Soldier Boy (played by Jensen Ackles) and gender-swapping the character of Stormfront (played by Aya Cash), The Boys features notable and sometimes on-the-nose tributes to its comic book origins. Often teasing the themes and plot lines of individual episodes through their titles, The Boys season 3’s “Herogasm” episode was arguably the show's most eagerly anticipated as it made direct reference to the comic book miniseries centering on an annual superhero orgy.Now, the title for episode 1 of The Boys season 4 has been revealed in a post from Kripke. Celebrating “Day One” of filming for the upcoming season, the showrunner shares a picture of the script cover for the first episode. Entitled “Department of Dirty Tricks”, the cover lists David Reed as the writer, with Phil Sgriccia attached to direct. Check out the post below:
While the title’s link to the Boys comic books is not immediately clear, it seems likely that it will pay some homage to Ennis and Robertson's work. Sometimes used in reference to the shady dealings of intelligence agencies, it is also possible that the title refers to the CIA, to which leading protagonists Billy Butcher and Grace Mallory are both affiliated. Another explanation is that, following the finale of The Boys season 3, the title could refer to the underhanded dealings of other government departments as a covertly superhuman Victoria Neuman pushes her political campaign to become Vice President of the United States.
With production on The Boys season 4 officially underway, fans may be eager to see if any insight can be gleaned from the episode 1 title. Though previous episodes including “The Big Ride” and “Butcher, Baker, Candlestick Maker” were taken directly from titles in the comics, some, such as “The Only Man in the Sky”, were far more subtle in their references. Others shared no links at all. Regardless of whether any meaningful connection can be made between the newly-revealed title and the comic books, fans of The Boys can at least be satisfied with the fresh piece of information and its possible implications for the plot of season 4.
Source: Eric Kripke