This series came out of nowhere. If I wasn't a subscriber of Screen Junkies, I probably wouldn't have watched this show. In fact, having the Epic Voice Guy narrate the trailer as an Honest Trailer may have been the best marketing tactic to promote this series. I don't see any other way it would have gained traction.
The series takes us into a territory we don't want to think about: what if our favorite superheroes want control of the world. With the Marvel Cinematic Universe not slowing down, the DC Extended Universe picking up speed, and other Superhero Cinematic Universes being greenlit, we don't really think about what happens when the capes and cowls are part of a global conglomerate. They're not just saving people daily, but starring in the film industry, putting professional athletes out to pasture, and are on a campaign to enter the armed forces. But little do they know that their biggest threat would be the people who once worshipped them.
Throughout the series, we see the revered Supes for who they really are, and they're sadder and more depressing than the people who look up to them. Queen Maeve is a woman without a lasso of truth who's lost her mojo. Black Noir is real even when he isn't useful. The Deep is basically Aquaman if he's on the sex offender registry. Translucent is one dead invisible sh*thead. A-Train is a Flashy junkie. And Homelander stands for truth, justice, and the American way...and weird-ass Oedipal complexes.
Then there is Starlight, the Seven's newest member. She becomes uncertain of her position when she realizes it's all basically a reality show, and everything is about approval ratings. It's like real life Hollywood. No one cares about the stressful lives of the stars, they must appear just as super as these fictional heroes.
The Seven's Ozzian curtain gets pulled back by the titular Boys, a group of vengeful mercenaries out to prove that they are a fraud. Hughie is a little wuss turned killer after his girlfriend gets plowed into by A-Train. Mother's Milk is a skeptical prison guard who is only concerned about his family's well-being, which isn't a bad thing but Monique was right to leave him. Frenchie is an assassin/chemist with a passion for romance in the littlest of things. And Butcher, a British C U N Thursday with a personal vendetta for Homelander. He says the "C" word a lot in this series. Together they uncover the blue drug of this end of the '10s: Compound V. It initially sounded like a hidden document that controlled the Supes' accidents. But it turns out to be a magical substance that turns normal people into the X-Men or Inhumans or whatever your favorite mutant group is. You know, if they want to take out the Supes, they should fight on the Supes' level by juicing up. That's probably why Kimiko is here. Kimiko is a former child soldier, the Boys rescued from an underground V ring, with immense animal strength and healing powers. She doesn't speak yet maybe she'll be useful in future seasons.
The sex in this is probably why Amazon doesn't promote Prime and Chill. The sex is terrifying and the innuendos are a little unsettling. One guy's head gets crushed in an ass-sitting, the Deep thought it was still okay with sexual harassment in 2019, and Homelander has a weird mother love thing with Madelyn Stillwell, the VP of Vought.
Throughout the series, I kept wondering if Homelander and Stillwell are a couple who were torn apart by Stillwell's baby, or if they were mother and son. They appear to be the same age, so the Oedipal thing is out.
Butcher gets a rude awakening in the season finale. His hatred for the Supes started when his wife was raped by Homelander, and she disappeared. He kidnapped Stillwell and strapped C4 blocks to her to use as bait to get Homelander. Then Homelander kills Stillwell herself. Thinking he was already a dead man, Butcher blows the C4. Then he wakes up in his wife's front yard. Rebecca and Homelander were one time lovers, and she blessed him with a son. Seeing similar stories, I'm sure Butcher still loves Becca. He is probably right now pissed that Becca lied to him, but deep down he'll do anything for her. We've already seen how aggressive Homelander can be, and with Stillwell gone, who knows how unstable he can be? Maybe Butcher could use this to his advantage by becoming Homelander Junior's guardian should Homelander kill Becca because she refused to comply. He could even kidnap HJ and hold him hostage to get back at Homelander.
I honestly think the episode, "Good for the Soul," was the best episode of the season, absolutely Emmy worthy. It plays with the thought of why God would choose a select few to have special abilities. Butcher's deadpan humor about God's decisions is so funny that you really can't be mad at him for pointing God's flaws. Hughie taking charge after his phone is destroyed in the baptism pool is a huge developing point not just for the character but for the series moving forward. He manages to scare Ezekiel even though he longer had the footage to threaten him with. Starlight's breaking of the script was another development point that shows that not all the Supes are perfect. Her part throughout the episode, you really see how she felt shaken up by how the Expo isn't what she was used to. Then she drops that she questions her faith and she isn't sure of what to do, especially since she also revealed that she was sexually harassed. Then episode takes it further to reveal that the Supes weren't chosen by God at all, but the Compound V is injected into infants. Now, that I think about it, if it's being administered to a select number of infants why isn't EVERYONE a Supe? The V was packaged as polio vaccines, and the polio vaccine is like one of the first things administered to infants. Is it a placebo lottery where the lucky ones get the V and everyone else gets the regular vaccine? Or are there two million followers of Jenny McCarthy who choose not to vaccinate their children, sparing them from getting abilities? Are there Super Squibs, like in
Harry Potter: infants who are given the V but aren't affected by it?
One other thing I want to know: Is Billy Zane a real-life Supe? Is that why he's been distant? He makes a brief appearance at the Comic Con-like convention where Frenchie and Milk pick up Mesmer, but the Mesmer thing's not important. Billy Zane appears as himself. Is he a Supe? You can come out now, Billy,
Titanic's now number three in the world. No one cares that you're in it.
Overall, I can't wait for season two. I'm excited for what's in store, and I have no doubt that the Boys will not disappoint.
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I hope you liked this. Be sure to subscribe and leave a comment about what you thought or if you want to recommend a movie for me to review. Thank you for reading. I'll return on Friday with another movie. See you then.
Released On: July 26, 2019
Rating: TV-MA
Stars: Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Antony Starr, Erin Moriarty, Dominique McElligott, Jessie T. Usher, Laz Alonso, Chance Crawford, Tomer Capron, Karen Fukuhara, Nathan Mitchell, Elisabeth Shue
Directors: Dan Trachtenberg, Matt Shakman, Phil Sgriccia, Fred Toye, Stefan Schwartz, Jennifer Phang, Dan Attias, Eric Kripke
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 82% Certified Fresh
IMDb Score: 8.9/10 (Average)
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