are you even an ally if you don't drop an episode at the beginning of pride month where an uncensored naked dude enters the dickhole of his lover? are you?¿?
Didn’t spark my intrigue but not bland enough to make me stop watching either
Season 1 was 10/10 gross and sick and fun. Season 2 cranked it up to 11/10. This episode just turned up knob beyond that...at least twice.
Karl Urban and Antony Starr continue to be neck-and-neck in terms of having the most fun out of anyone on television. New Zealand really builds em different, I guess.
Pull my hair. Pull it out!
I wish Starlight would stop emotionally abusing Hughie and passing it off as a "joke".
[7.8/10] At the end of season 2 of The Boys, I wondered where they would go from here. It worked as, if not a full and final ending, then certainly more of a period at the end of a sentence than the figurative ellipses at the end of season 1. But I’m impressed with what the show has set up for almost all of its characters going into season 3, with challenging new places for everyone in the roster to go.
Poor Hughie. The guy isn’t perfect (see: him being a jerk toward Starlight due to jealousy over her ex-boyfriend from when she was a teenager). And yet, the episode starts out with everything going his way for once.. He and Annie are public. They can come over and hangout and schtup together at their leisure. He’s a person of renown at a government agency that’s making a difference to the amount of harm Supes cause and giving them some accountability. He even gets to boss Butcher around, in a marked change of pace. The needle drop of “Uptown Girl” is a bouncy way to highlight the way this “downtown man” has come up in the world.
By the end of the episode though, he’s ticked off his girlfriend, seen Butcher screw things up despite going to bat for him, and realized that his boss is another Supe with a big secret tht leaves him covered in blood and guts once more. The more things change for Hughie, the more they stay the same, and that’s sad.
I’m perhaps most intrigued by Annie’s story though. Her being offered the position as co-captain of The Seven, with the chance to direct real power toward her causes, to brig in her people, to mess with Vought from a place of pride, is tantalizing. I suspect we’re heading toward a lesson that good people are coopted by these corrupt organizations, rather than agents of change within them. Nonetheless, it’s intriguing to see Starlight mull what it could mean to wield that sort of power for good, even if she remains a little naive as to how Vought can use that position of power to manipulate her.
While Annie’s star is rising, Homelander’s is inking, and it’s the last thing in the world he can stand. I love the idea that the most important thing to Homelander is being adored, worshiped like the god he thinks he is. The fact that Annie is receiving the adulation that he believes is rightfully his, the fact that he has to march to the beat of someone else's drum because people have blackmail over him, drives him mad. The Stormfront revelation has dinged him in the public, and that’s the great sin to a thin-skinned person like him. Watching him slowly go crazy behind his sociopathic smile is chilling. The only thing scarier than Homelander with absolute power is Homelander with nothing to lose, and it seems like we’re getting closer and closer to that state of affairs.
Not if Maeve can help it though. I’m intrigued with the fact that she’s Butcher's source, giving him not only intel on an Avengers pastiche who lost their own headlining supe, but providing him with a new 24-hour version of Compound V. In that, she challenges what Butcher stands for, to see if he’s willing to become what he’s long hated, even temporarily, for the greater good. Especially if that greater good is getting a weapon that could kill Homelander. As practicalities go, I’m compelled by the idea of Butcher and The boys hunting for a weapon that could take out their adversary, and the mystery of just what happened with the Avengers knockoffs.
For his part, Butcher is in one of the most interesting places we’ve ever seen him. I like the idea that, despite everything, or maybe because of everything, he’s a different man. He doesn’t like taking orders from Hughie, but he’s willing to work within the system, and even spare a Supe when he could easily kill one instead. Most of all, he’s a surrogate father to Ryan, getting a big hug from the little munchkin and bonding over their shared love for Becca. He’s still a prick and thinks he’s too toxic to be around the youngin’ much thanks to his own spiky upbringing, but it’s the most well-adjusted we’ve ever seen him, and I kind of love him as a wholesome, rough-around-the-edges weekend dad who doesn’t know how good he is for the kid. Knowing The Boys, it’ll all end tragically, but I’ll take this for now!
I’ll also take him playing Homelander a bit (I think?). Homelander’s ready to go scorched Earth from his perceived slights at Vought, feeling like a tool rather than the captain of his own ship. Butcher can relate, being ordered around by Hughie and restricted in what he can do much like Homelander is. But I don’t buy that he’d actually work with his mortal enemy, even if the show seems to want to tease that. That said, his attempt to manipulate Homelander to his advantage is an intriguing development.
The other bits and pieces we get here are solid. I love the sequence where Kimiko imagines herself singing. MM trying to get out of the game, but having lost his wife in the past year due to him getting back in, is sad given how positively the show left things with him last season, though she has a point since he’s still on the Supe mystery-solving bandwagon. A-Train isn’t running because of his heart condition, which people are starting to notice. The Deep is now on the “I escaped from not-Scientology” media circus. Mallory is a surrogate grandmother to Ryan, which is a sweet place to take things for her. Stormfront survives but is in miserable shape and is likely being abandoned by Homelander. Even Jim Beaver’s character (!!!) is running for President.
Hell, whatever The Boys accomplishes in terms of story and character, it hasn’t ost it s ability to utterly disgust and shock me between seasons. Just hwen I think the show has set the high score for gross, jaw-dropping depravity, it has an Ant-Man-esque hero crawl into his partner’s penis, sneeze his way into killing the dude by growing big by accident, trying to murder Frenchie as a witness by crawling into his rear end Thanos-style, and getting caught and subdued in a giant bag of cocaine. I’ll admit, much of it seems gratuitous to me, but it’s part of the show’s brand, and by god, I cannot deny that they are good at achieving what they set out to do in these sorts of sequences, whether or not the goals are good.
But the most intriguing plot development of all is the reveal that Stan Edgar wants to be out of the superhero business and in the pharma/defense business. The prospect of a twenty-four hour version of Compound V is machiavellian perfection. It means Stan and Vought can still sell the formula and make their ill-gotten gains, without having to deal with the egos or PR insanity of having to stage manage superheroes. It’s cruelly brilliant.
I’ll admit, I’m less intrigued by the Victoria Neuman business, since it feels tacked on to everything else that’s going on. But hopefully we’ll dig deeper into the character and get to know more about what makes her tick and why she’s on this path. And whatever her reasons, the fact that it drags Hughey back into the muck despite him thinking he’s gotten clean makes for a rough ending.
Overall, though, I’m excited to see where season 3 takes all these ideas. This is something of a second pilot, or a new storytelling cycle that puts the characters in markedly new places versus their pretty similar positions from season 1 to season 2. A year passing, and a set of new challenges for hero and villain alike provides promise as we embark on the latest batch of episodes.
This one is solid, but the gore seems to be fan service more than anything else at this point, and the pandering takes away from the story.
That was weird as fk. But a strong start for the new season.
Holy crap, they certainly went where no man had gone before..and the sneeze! haha this really sets the bar for the season, so glad they went there, this show is awesome!
This first episode does take its time to show the transition from the one-year-off screen-peacetime to the action again. So it is no wonder they spent the first half of the episode rather slowly, showing the peaceful lives of the cast. They don't shake off the uncomfortable feeling of Homelander's unpredictability though; every time he's on screen I'm never so sure what would happen next. Not to mention that there's also Neuman, every time she's on screen I can't get rid of the feeling that anything something explode at anytime.
I like that they still play the vulgar sex, gross violence, and not-so-subtle allegories (Homelander being jerked off) like in previous seasons. But like the other reviewer said, I hope they don't rely too much only on those tropes and offer something new to the table.
gross and inhumane and i still wanna watch it
What a start for the season lol. I can't hate this show haha
"We did a lot of butt stuff" lmao
I gotta think that a portion of the ideating/writing process for The Boys involves asking the following:
1. Pick an interesting superpower that a lesser-known The Boys "supe" might have.
2. What extremely creative adolescent prankish dumbassery might a not-terribly-wise (or just drunk or high) supe do with this power?
3. What could go very very wrong with said dumbassery?
4. How visually horrifyingly gross can we make that look?
I suppose it's fair, given that a fair chunk of the human population is foolish enough to engage in all sorts of because-we-can dumbassery (including those who might do so only for being drunk or high), so why wouldn't at least some portion of supes be the same. The realisticness of random supe-ness popping up in the real-life human condition with no correlation to intelligence or wisdom.
Which is why, as part of the story, it works, almost no matter how "WTF?!?!" it can feel to watch. A little like what makes the more realistic (but still drama-ridden) of reality TV work, but amped up to [even more] ridiculous levels.
Daaamn.
The first 15 minutes were not what I was expecting from the season premiere. The Boys returns with it's captivating bloody and gory storytelling that's sure to have more jaw-dropping moments this season. And Giancarlo Esposito's performance makes him my favorite actor to see on screen playing a clever villain.
Forgot how much I missed this show! New season is already off to a deliciously gory start. Can't wait to see where it goes from here.
I cannot believe what I just saw! Absolutely vile! But still the best show out there!
Muthafucking gross.... Whoa... This season already coming up hard!
Those were some gross scenes for sure. But that's what this show's been doing and I'm glad they didn't tune it down.
Anthony Starr is amazing. How he switches from one expression to another within a heartbeat and scare the shit out of you. But I think ultimately Homelander has to be gone by seasons end. You can't keep this plot up forever.
Season 3 has started off with a disappointment just in the first few minutes the show becomes a mess of bad pacing, cringy dialogue and awful pandering. The only relevant stuff in the plot was towards the ending. 4/10
Robert Singer: "V24 huh?"
Butcher: "Your whole's life's a compromise."
Hughie: "Hey, at least I have a fucking life!"
Butcher: "Everybody's losing their fucking minds!"
Hughie: "Or maybe they're just trying to be happy."
Hughie: "I thought it sounded great."
Aw :)
Damn, Butcher watching that video of the plane with the kettle :|
Edgar: "I am offering you real power. You should think about it."
Butcher: "And what makes you think that me, of all people, would want to turn into one of you?"
Maeve: "This is our best chance to kill Homelander. Don't fuck it up."
7/10
This show would be so much better without Butcher.
Where's the hook? For a season premiere, this episode didn't really excite or intrigue me. (setting aside the few gore scenes, which I was indifferent about)
i just love the acting ,the much details they done for this show ..
fantastic
Enjoyed the first season but there was an embedment of social politics that at times flet forced into the plot.
6.5/10 - Oh boy, it's still so fucked up... - but that's the point of it :o :D
I'm not quite sure why I'm still watching it but it's probably a mix of dismay and love for Starlight and Hughie (they're both so cute :D).
Homelander must be really suffering...
Starlight becoming co-captain is probably good for her though. She could do quite some good but it won't be easy and it could blow back into her face.
Maeve working with Butcher is interesting (that's new, right?).
I'm glad that Hughie finally knows who his boss really is. It isn't good for his safety but at least he knows the truth.
Well i gave it another try the ending is kind of cool but after all boring ep and the first 15min...
We don't need stuff like this just hardcore kills...
I'm so glad I've been completely out of the loop about this show as I came to it late, since I've had no spoilers. Watching it just today, the cameo in the first scene completely caught me off guard as the creators probably would have ideally wanted.
I have to say, after two entire seasons of watching people get splatted, this show really knows how to intersperse and time it so that it still fucks with you differently every time. The end of last season, I actually saw the splat coming, but thought it had to be either the senator or the cultist about to die, so I was nonplussed seeing his head explode, but the show runners were keenly aware of this, and the reveal subverted my initial reaction. And this season they continue to get a reaction out of every one (and I was laughing during the scene where Hughie has to saw off Lamplighter's good hand, since it was played for morbid laughs) but I'm still not desensitized to exploding and maiming even when you know it will keep happening.
Even with that said, I still have to say that the opening scenes of this ep were more thrilling than any 5 MCU films back-to-back, and had me in bewildered hysterics, laughing while at the same time wondering what the fuck I was watching. I personally think that's still faint praise, yet I know I can still trust these showrunners to deliver on the intrigue after the shock openings are over.
This episode was, thankfully, in no way a let down, and seems to have every bit of humanity and virility that it had in seasons 1 and 2. It was actually really nice to see MM's kids happy, and you have to feel for the guy.
I admit I also felt like stealing a bite of Hughie's bagel. It was such a natural and believable dynamic, yet you knew it couldn't last.
Funny coincidence: I also just finished watching the season 2 finale of Succession (which was great in its own right) and that closer also used "Uptown Girl", to somewhat different effect. Also, I'm not old enough to have been born when either were made, but the Moody Blues song playing over the 1960s(?) model suburban house scene genuinely got me nostalgic for going to see grandma.
"Go on, son. Have a bump."
I want to say this was a decent start to the season, and I suppose it was, to a certain extent, but at the same time, it didn't drag me in as much as I feel a premiere should. And that brings me to the assumption of manipulation by the writers: using the previous seasons as an excuse to, still, not make this season's premiere a draw, and instead, rely on scenes like the one with Termite and Peter/Ashley and Adam, as well as the one with Stormfront and Homelander, and the episode's ending, distracting from the lack of overall intrigue from the premiere itself.
I get the impression that the writers are using shock value as a plot device in a way where they have less responsibility, as writers, to create a premiere that doesn't rely on such tactics. But that doesn't and can't change the facts: this premiere was underwhelming.
In a sense, I can't blame them because it seems to have worked considerably; most people would probably disagree with my sentiment. They probably believe those moments make this premiere fantastic; those moments generate the buzz, and that's all most people seem to talk about, but they don't see that as the overall premiere being underwhelming. Or maybe they genuinely believe the whole episode was incredible: to which I think they must've watched something different than I did; the overall premiere seemed somewhat lackluster.
And I'm also not feeling the relationship between Hughie and Annie or their characters, although I guess I "like" her more. I know people feel warm and fuzzy inside due to them, but they're the weakest characters for me so far. Their screen time together almost seems a waste of it to me. Butcher and Homelander, especially Karl Urban and Antony Starr, are by and large the lifeline of this show; every other cast member and their characters don't even come close. And their performances in this premiere, especially by Antony, were exceptional.
And while the potential romantic aspect with Frenchie and Kimiko; I don't know whether they were romantically involved in the comics: which seems possible, is a bit much (a platonic relationship seems better and more appealing), I felt some way when Frenchie and Kimiko showed up; I like their new looks, especially his. Even though I never cared too much about both characters individually, until now, it would seem.
Other than that, I liked the introduction of V24, as it's in line with the comics, and it's great seeing that aspect brought into the mix of this show; it was missing the first two seasons. I seem to remember reading someone saying that they preferred that aspect not existing (yet) and that they hoped the writers would continue on that route, and how wrong they were: such a significant aspect of the comics isn't going to be glossed over. It makes sense for the writers to do it at some point, and that 'some point' is now: three seasons into the show. I can't wait to see that aspect being brought more into the spotlight and what occurrences will come of it.
And I liked the utilization of sound (ringing in the scene with Homelander blankly watching Dawn of The Seven and when he was walking past A-Train; the kettle whistling as Butcher is staring at the recording of Homelander and Maeve) used in this premiere. But not just in this premiere: sounds have been utilized previously in this show: if memory serves. It seems simple, yet it adds so much, and surprisingly, I feel it's not used that often in TV shows and films.
I also liked some of the work done by the cinematographer, Dan Stoloff. There were instances where particular shots looked good, and the lighting was well-done, like the scene with Kimiko and Tyler: the blue, and the contrast of the blue and yellow; in the penthouse room with Termite and Peter: the yellow.
My main takeaway from this premiere was that it felt slightly underwhelming, but I guess those moments made up for it: probably a lot more to everyone else than me, though. Not to mention, they (those moments) also come across as a sign of what's to come, that this season will likely get better as far as not being underwhelming is concerned; only more emphasis on the shock value scenes, I imagine. At the very least, this season should have sustainable entertainment.
By the way, Charlize Theron's cameo was lame, and her performance wasn't that good. Her voice sounded monotone, and her acting was a bit wooden. She came across as Charlize Theron, reading lines: I've seen bits and pieces of an interview with her; this cameo was pretty much her, minus more emotion/expression. You could argue that was the point, for whatever reason, but her cameo was still unnecessary.
Whats that f crap pile of crap shit? I mean its so bad i puke on my screen 10 times lol
s1 and 2 where 10/10 this is 2/10 ....
Hilarious....this top class show could run for another few seasons no problem.
Those first ten-ish minutes...
The show hit the ground running ; yeee ha.
What’s the time line between season 2 and 3 lol?? Everyone talks about as if it’s been years since what happened at the end of season 2, but then talk about what happened “last year”
it was ok i guess. it just seems repeated. like, show me something new, show me character's evolution. it's fine to continue other seasons things: all the blood, bizarre sex, superpowers and toxic masculinity. that's the show's brandmark. but go beyond that, bring new elements. like stormfront and the social commentary last season. i hope it gets better, but now i'm kinda bored.
W O W
N O W O R D S
worst case of the sniffle ever it sure rectum
why would you wanna go into someones penis butt naked? beats me.
Just as violent and gory as ever, and the story is just landing all the right punches to keep me hooked
Anthony Starr is still the best thing about this show. There's a lot of deadweight in this show though. Okay season return.
in case you forgot how violent this show, termite is here to remind you by thanos-ing someone lol
The Termite scenes... no word lol
Oi! Can’t wait for it
Shout by LillyBlockedParent2022-06-03T12:54:40Z
never unseeing that first 15 mins...