Once again, I am back to grumble about how certain streaming services release their shows, though I frequently cite Amazon Prime Video as worse than most. And now they’re back, making a big mistake with the series finale of The Boys, the culmination of five seasons of storylines. The release time is wrong, and this was perfectly avoidable.
What is The Boys series finale release time?
The Boys series finale release time is 12 AM PT, 3 AM ET. Yes, this is what it always is, but that’s the point. This is always a bad call when it comes to Amazon’s weekly shows, but here, more than most, we are looking at the series finale of one of their highest-profile shows ever, and they’re still doing this.
Why is this bad?
The problem, of course, is spoilers. If you air a show at that time, few are staying up for that, and then you spend the next day dodging them since the internet does not remotely care about spoilers, whether that’s on social media or even just attempting to Google things. On Google Discover, for instance, the recommendation engine that pops up whenever you use the app, you can run smack into spoilers right then and there thanks to sites not bothering to hide them.
This could have easily been avoided by a primetime Tuesday or Wednesday night airtime for The Boys finale. Other shows have recognized that this is the correct move, even Netflix of all services, separating out its Stranger Things series finale and airing it at 8 PM ET, as opposed to the overnight dump it does for all its binge series. Special occasion, you make an exception.
The other issue here is that, like Stranger Things, The Boys is doing a theatrical release, a limited selection of sold-out showings of the finale. But that is Tuesday night, meaning those people will see the finale before everyone. And again, when Stranger Things did it, they had that theatrical viewing air at the exact same time as the episode itself.
While I am being America-centric here, the fact that this release time is still in the morning over in Europe and adjacent regions is not really any better. I think this means that…Fiji and Samoa get a better 8 PM release time? Lucky them, I suppose. But sure, I’m being a bit selfish.
Since this is my job, I guess I’m waking up as early as I can before I have to take my kids to school to watch it before anything can spoil me. While I do think spoiler culture can be a bit overblown, this feels different as the series finale of a big show, and I think Amazon could have handled this like Netflix, of all places, in this instance.
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