Amid an entertainment landscape oversaturated with generic superhero films, Amazon Prime’s The Boys quickly set itself apart as a sharp satire not just of the Marvel fad but of society and media more broadly. The show’s fourth season, however, veers off into a cartoonish screed aimed at lambasting right-wing caricatures, losing much of the balance it once maintained.

Antony Starr continues to shine as Homelander, whose terrifying on-screen presence is heightened by his shrewd command of his facial features and the effectiveness with which he communicates his emotions. A talented crew of writers can only take you so far. It is acting of this caliber that makes a character stand out.

But despite Starr’s triumphs, his character hasn’t evolved much since last season. Homelander remains the same sadistic villain driven by his unquenchable need for power and adoration, a fact showrunner writer Eric Kripke feels compelled to remind viewers repeatedly. What was intriguing in season 3 begins to feel stale and unimaginative in season 4.

In an attempt to refresh the narrative, Homelander recruits Sister Sage (Susan Heyward) into the superhero group The Seven. Touted as the smartest human in history, Sage lacks conventional superpowers. Her superhuman intelligence is lazily conveyed by reams of books stacked throughout her shoebox apartment. She hasn’t put her ostensibly unbridled brain to use curing cancer or tackling unsolved mathematical problems because she is victimized and shunned by society as a black woman. Harvard University is apparently too busy hiring plagiarists to pay attention to a genius Supe (the show’s name for superheroes).

Unintentionally breaking the fourth wall, Homelander concedes he is out of ideas, a glaring parallel to Kripke’s struggle with the show’s direction. Sage, after proving her intellectual prowess to Homelander by pointing out his graying hairline, suggests staging a presidential coup to install Homelander as the effective dictator of the United States. Relying on an overused trope in political thrillers, Sage’s superhuman genius evokes Mark Wahlberg in Michael Bay’s 2013 film Pain & Gain, where he confidently declares, “I’ve seen a lot of movies. I know what I’m doin’.”

The Boys has always referenced real-world events, from Vought Enterprises, a satirical stand-in for corporate behemoths, to the show’s earlier, more subtle jabs at modern culture and politics. For instance, the first season’s depiction of Homelander as a twisted patriot subtly critiqued the intertwining of nationalism and corporate interests. Similarly, the show’s exploration of celebrity culture through Supes such as A-Train (Reggie Franklin) and The Deep (Chace Crawford) offered biting commentary on the nature of fame and the facade of public personas.

However, the introduction of Firecracker (Valorie Curry) exacerbates the show’s shift toward overt political commentary. Reminiscent of a cross between Alex Jones and Tucker Carlson, Firecracker is written as a simpleton conspiracist designed to satirize right-wing media personalities.

This season pulls heavily from contemporary events, touching on “Critical Supe Theory,” Black Lives Matter, transgender concerns, and even giving superhero Starlight an abortion backstory, randomly making Homelander’s sympathizers anti-abortion advocates. Kripke’s agenda feels more like a Democratic campaign manifesto than a balanced satire, making the show’s political leanings heavy-handed and preachy.

One redeeming scene involves Vought Enterprises in a public town hall announcing its entertainment road map. A-Train boasts that the studio has finished “reshooting the reshoots” for his blockbuster, making it “the most expensive TV show ever made.” He adds, “So, it’s gotta be good, right?” It is generally nonpartisan jabs such as this where the series has always shined, and it’s a shame Kripke is unable to realize it.

A-Train emerges as the season’s highlight: The only character with any developmental arc. Finally realizing Homelander has been using him, he decides to defect and help the anti-superhero group, The Boys. A poignant scene where A-Train speeds someone to the hospital, unnoticed by everyone except a wide-eyed child, encapsulates his growth. For the first time in his superhero career, A-Train truly feels like a hero.

The biggest problem with the season, even beyond its trite string of references, is that the severity of the Supes seems to have been lessened. In the first season, The Boys’ Hughie Campbell (Jack Quaid) and Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) spent consecutive episodes dealing with a single Supe, which convincingly portrayed the threat they posed. But in this latest season, such skirmishes come and go unnoticed.

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There’s another scene where Campbell is sent undercover into a high-powered political dinner at a supposed Republican politician’s estate. It becomes clear that the writers have never actually consulted or spoken with any conservatives, as every other line they spew is about how much they love corporations and tax cuts. These characters are mere caricatures of right-wingers, boogeymen who feel hollow and one-dimensional. Even as Campbell is caught and apprehended, the sequence is largely shown as a joke. He’s abducted into a twisted sex dungeon and tortured, but it never feels as though he’s in any real danger.

This broader problem plagues the season. The characters remain compelling, but the story feels washed out and without purpose. Kripke appears to have run out of anything interesting to say, but at least he has a flashy way of saying the same things.

Harry Khachatrian (@Harry1T6) is a film critic for the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog and a computer engineer in Toronto, pursuing his MBA.