The Boys (Amazon) TV Show • Page 17

I do think it’s interesting they abandoned Black Noir’s comics identity. I get it, but also would’ve been a wild direction to go if Homelander had been de-powered.

 

This kind of ending to a season worries me that they’re keeping things going to keep the show going instead of making sure the right story is told

 

Even beyond it being a reset, there's just decisions in here that feel unsatisfying. Killing off Noir after spending all of the last episode detailing why he in particular might want revenge on Soldier Boy, Maeve and Soldier Boy's fake outs were pretty lame, the way everybody (except Maeve) just suddenly decided Soldier Boy was the real threat instead of Homelander, Kimiko brutally murdering those guards after her whole arc being "I don't want to be a monster" and the "We save everyone. Especially the ones who don't deserve it" speech Hughie gave earlier. It wasn't a bad episode, but it was a pretty disappointing finale

Also Maeve definitely killed a BUNCH of people just chucking that nerve agent out the window into the most populated city in the country

 

Did I miss something with black noir? Was he just hallucinating those cartoon characters?

 

Yeah he was. I thought it was because of what Soldier Boy did to him in Nicaragua, but apparently they mentioned something about being there while he was in school so maybe not.

 

Yeah unfortunately count me in the contingent of people let down by the finale/kind of disappointed at where the show is going. Maybe it was inevitable with so many characters now but the writing feels sloppy now in a way it was distinctly not before. There was so much stuff in the first season, the plane scene most of all that felt so sinister and complex and it feels like that's all being discarded for a barrage of "look at how fucked up and gross this is" stuff and a constant stream of extremely unsubtle sociopolitical commentary (I have no qualms with the message itself obviously, it just feels so much more half baked)

Frenchie and Kimiko have nothing to do which is a problem in and of itself but Homelander is probably suffering the most from that imo. Antony Starr is acting the hell out of it but he feels so much less nuanced than he did in season 1, aside from maybe his relationship with Ryan (which also suffers on account of the kid being a shitty actor). Hey did you guys know he's supposed to be Trump haha!

I'm still enjoying the show but it's clearly downgraded to me from all time great potential to simply a fun watch, which is kinda a bummer

 

ultimately it’s going to be a show going forward where i really enjoy the week to week in the middle of seasons but basically ignore everything in the bookends having to do with plot since it’s always the same and doesn’t have any stakes/matter

 

I imagine they can only do 1 or 2 more seasons unless they go on without butcher.

 

Might as well end it then lol

 

This show running past 5 seasons would be awful. I’m willing to accept that this was an unsatisfying season finale in an otherwise very good show, but it’s walking a very thin line rn.

 

Soldier boy being able to remove someone's powers isn't even a big deal because they can literally just take more compound v lol

Also I feel like butcher and hughie end up taking the real stuff eventually

 

Yeah I didn't get the impression that they'd leave Homelander depowered, the idea was to depower him then kill him, right? Maeve already hated being a supe so I'm glad it's her that got hit by it (and I'm glad they didn't fall into the kill your gays trope). I'm also glad Kimiko actively made the choice to regain her powers, giving her a level of agency she didn't have nearly as much of in the first couple seasons.

I've expressed disappointment regarding the finale. Upon further reflection, I get that there isn't much you can do to progress a show's villain who's already all powerful, so in lieu of getting rid of him entirely I'm glad Homelander is at the very least just getting more and more unhinged. I still think Herogasm is the high point of the season, though. Still, I'm excited to see where this goes.

 

We don't know how compound V will affect adults, though right? That was the whole point of the episode with lamplighter. The test subjects were adults given compound V to adjust the formula so there wouldn't be unintended side effects. If homelander lost his powers and took compound V to try and get them back, there's no guarantee he'd be able to control what it does to him. Kimiko took a risk injecting it again to protect Frenchie and luckily it's worked out for her (so far).

 

Is homelander supposed to be trump? I feel like I’m seeing this a lot, but to me he’s always supposed to have been a stand-in for the military/US in general.

 

Yes, Homelander is absolutely a Trump analogue.

Edit: and Todd is an analogue for every brainwashed MAGA moron.

 

Homelander didn't become a Trump analogue until this season though. Before he was so concerned about putting on the friendliest possible PR face at all times. Then he has the breakdown on TV and gets a boost from it and decides that it's better to be more crass

 

Both

 

Just American fuckery in general

 

why isn’t jensen ackles a bigger star???

 

Can’t believe that’s his voice

 

it’s been that way since smallville haha

 

Too much time fighting heaven and hell.

 

Man I loved all of this season up till the finale. A good hour of television that went in the complete opposite direction I was hoping for.

 

Thought the whole season was great. Was certain that Maeve was a goner. Jensen Ackles as Soldier Boy was great.