Boston — weigh in: genius move or a rolling disaster? The MBTA is about to give its late-night freak show an encore, and you’re picking up the tab. Drop your verdict in the comments before you even get to the bottom.

Starting August 24, the T will keep subways and buses running almost an hour later on Fridays and Saturdays. And for five weekends straight? Rides after 9 p.m. are free. That’s right — no fare, no barrier, just swing the doors wide open and let the midnight parade roll in.

We’ve Seen This Movie Before

This isn’t the MBTA’s first trip around the late-night block. The Night Owl buses in the early 2000s? Flopped harder than a Sox playoff run. The 2014 subway pilot? Died when the money dried up and no one could explain why a handful of riders cost taxpayers millions. Every attempt has ended the same way: quietly taken out back and put down.

Your Friday Night Preview

If you’ve ever been on the T after dark, you know what’s coming:

• Club kids screaming into their phones like they’re headlining a reality show.
• Junkies nodding out so hard you check if they’re still breathing.
• Shady guys pacing the car, eyeballing your pockets.
• Someone blasting bass-heavy hip hop from a Bluetooth speaker on the Orange Line like it’s their personal nightclub.
• Random drunks squaring up in the aisle while everyone pretends not to notice.

Now, give them another free hour to work with. What could possibly go wrong?

The Sales Pitch

Transit officials will tell you this is for night-shift workers — the bartenders, servers, and hospital staff who keep Boston humming after hours. And maybe it is. But we all know the MBTA after 9 p.m. is less “safe, affordable ride home” and more “rolling, unsupervised party bus with mystery fluids on the floor.”

Your Move, Boston

So what is it? A long-overdue lifeline for hardworking Bostonians — or five weekends of taxpayer-funded chaos with no curfew?