The Boys

[Syegfryed]

It didn't happen a lot. To use your "Russian Roulette" comparison...it's one time out of six. That's a 16% chance for the first pull and it increases steadily after that. In A-Trains case, the more he used his speed, the more likely it was that the next time would be the last. In the end, his heart did actually fail...he was just lucky enough that the guy he murdered had a compatible heart.

And like i said, i understand that and im not actually fan of that plot, he surviving in the end

[Delever]

I really feel like we were watching a different show sometimes.... soldier boy was not going for the kid specifically but the reason butcher got pissed is because it was clear he was disregarding the kid and he would not hesitate to go for homelander if Ryan were to become collateral damage and Butcher was not willing to risk that. So Butcher going against him made sense. There seems to be more meat to A-train that will be covered next season with reconciling with his brother so its fine that they didnt kill him.

That being said, Maeve surviving the fall and blast and the starlight power up scene were kinda dumb I agree.

[Syegfryed]

I really feel like we were watching a different show sometimes.... soldier boy was not going for the kid specifically but the reason butcher got pissed is because it was clear he was disregarding the kid and he would not hesitate to go for homelander if Ryan were to become collateral damage and Butcher was not willing to risk that. So Butcher going against him made sense. There seems to be more meat to A-train that will be covered next season with reconciling with his brother so its fine that they didnt kill him.

That being said, Maeve surviving the fall and blast and the starlight power up scene were kinda dumb I agree.

Or, he could just take Ryan to somewhere else, and let soldier boy and Maeve fuck up homelander, then, join in later.

Im fine with starlight power up, i think it make sense some heroes get more powerful by training or some side effect, i personally not a fan of things going stagnated.

[Delever]

Or, he could just take Ryan to somewhere else, and let soldier boy and Maeve fuck up homelander, then, join in later.

Im fine with starlight power up, i think it make sense some heroes get more powerful by training or some side effect, i personally not a fan of things going stagnated.

Oh thats not what I meant with the power up. I m fine with her becoming more powerful. I meant the whole staring at her and waiting for her to power up.

[WoWGoneBad]

Oh thats not what I meant with the power up. I m fine with her becoming more powerful. I meant the whole staring at her and waiting for her to power up.

You must not watch too much anime huh........

The whole, power up and I will still crush you trope is ALL over the place in comics, movies, and anime. I just mention anime because of the dumbasses Kakarot and Vegeta

[Delever]

You must not watch too much anime huh........

The whole, power up and I will still crush you trope is ALL over the place in comics, movies, and anime. I just mention anime because of the dumbasses Kakarot and Vegeta

I watch a ton of anime so I m well aware of the trope but I just felt like this did not fit the Boys.

[Magistrate]

The reason Homelander's so deeply broken may really not have anything at all to do with how he was raised. Hell, Soldier Boy wasn't raised that way, and he's nearly as bad, right? Sure seems like sociopathy runs in that genetic line.

It was hinted at in e7 I think that soldier boy was raised by a toxic father. It was something about him saying he could never measure up and then took V and was deemed a cheater by his dad. I think there were other implications.

Also take in to account the childhood he likely would have had at the beginning of the 1900s with a distant father in a very rich home, and also that he's like a hundred years old and has himself been sort of forced through a lot of the same shit we see of current heroes but for a longer period. Regardless of how he was raised, I could imagine that warping someone.

[Kathandira]

It was hinted at in e7 I think that soldier boy was raised by a toxic father. It was something about him saying he could never measure up and then took V and was deemed a cheater by his dad. I think there were other implications.

Also take in to account the childhood he likely would have had at the beginning of the 1900s with a distant father in a very rich home, and also that he's like a hundred years old and has himself been sort of forced through a lot of the same shit we see of current heroes but for a longer period. Regardless of how he was raised, I could imagine that warping someone.

The Boys is basically 'damaged by childhood, The Series'.

Most, if not nearly all, of the main characters had traumatic childhoods.

MM - Watched his family die
Hughey - Lost his mother and was raised by a broken father.
Frenchie - Father abused and controlled him
Butcher - Abusive Father and lost his brother
Star Light - controlling mother who basically treated her as a Child Pageant star
On and on and on.

[eschatological]

Most Millenials have boomer or early GenX parents, back when parenting was often neglectful and negative. It reflects in our art. Almost every serious drama about issues with parental figures.

I wonder if that'll change as younger millenials and GenZers start making these shows, where parents become stifling and controlling.

[Ophenia]

Im fine with starlight power up, i think it make sense some heroes get more powerful by training or some side effect, i personally not a fan of things going stagnated.

Her 1v1 against A-train in S01E08 was more impressive in terms of power displayed than whatever was her power up in S03E08, where she needed to be plugged to the entirety of vought tower’s power in the middle of New York, just to barely push Soldier Boy back by a few centimeters…

That was immensely disappointing and I’ve given up hope of seeing her ever useful/impressive.

[callipygoustp]

A pretty "eh" type of season.

[Very Tired]

Her 1v1 against A-train in S01E08 was more impressive in terms of power displayed than whatever was her power up in S03E08, where she needed to be plugged to the entirety of vought tower’s power in the middle of New York, just to barely push Soldier Boy back by a few centimeters…

That was immensely disappointing and I’ve given up hope of seeing her ever useful/impressive.

I think that scene against Soldier Boy was more of a not so subtle, on the nose, show that Hughie doesn't need that Temp V vial he seemed on the fence on taking, even though realistically he didn't even have the time to inject it into himself. Rather they are trying to show Hughie being a better guy by instead propping his girlfriend up... which I guess is probably some kind of progressive message of some sort.

The message didn't exactly fit into the script of being the right way to take down SB, so they had to play it off as just another attack.

[Ophenia]

I think that scene against Soldier Boy was more of a not so subtle, on the nose, show that Hughie doesn't need that Temp V vial he seemed on the fence on taking, even though realistically he didn't even have the time to inject it into himself. Rather they are trying to show Hughie being a better guy by instead propping his girlfriend up... which I guess is probably some kind of progressive message of some sort.

The message didn't exactly fit into the script of being the right way to take down SB, so they had to play it off as just another attack.

Yeah I get your point. But Hughie taking the Temp-V would have been 20 times more efficient to save the day than boosting Starlight for her to barely knock Soldier Boy off. If not for Maeve's "sacrifice", they'd all be dead.

Meanwhile, Hughie on Temp V could have :
- Teleported Homelander in front of Soldier Boy's radioactive beam
- Teleported everyone away from Soldier Boy's radioactive beam
- Teleported Soldier Boy somewhere else just before its explosion
- Teleported himself behind Soldier Boy to administrate the remaining Novichok himself

So yeah, I get the message was maybe to show Hughie can be a good addition to the team without the Temp V, which he doubted of, but that's disappointing to have used that scene, where we could finally see what a fully powered Starlight could do. Most of the times we saw her in action, she had limited possibilities to show off :
- First mission with The Deep, on the docks with barely any light/electricity around
- When she saved that girl from being raped, in a dark alley at night
- Against A-Train in a dark abandoned warehouse with dim lights
- Against Stormfront in some remote fields, where the only source of electricity was the car batteries (apparently Stormfront's lightning doesn't count as power source for Starlight, disappointedly)

In fact the only time we see her use her powers while surrounded by electricity, it was during her "casting video" to apply for the Seven, where she basically destroyed the room she was in in the Vought Tower. Just think about it: She did more damage trying to show off for a video than she did when overpowered in a life-or-death situation against Soldier Boy. That's terrible

[Nymrohd]

Honestly felt that however shitty a person Soldier Boy was, he was still far less dangerous than Homelander and they really should have prioritized offing Homelander. Ofc you cannot rely on Butcher but when could you rely on Butcher?

I'm not sure Hughie had the time to inject and get to act. His teleportation seems to be short range.
I do wonder what an actually powerful Supe like Maeve or Starlight could have done to Homelander if they dozed on V.

[Snuke]

Honestly felt that however shitty a person Soldier Boy was, he was still far less dangerous than Homelander and they really should have prioritized offing Homelander. Ofc you cannot rely on Butcher but when could you rely on Butcher?

I'm not sure Hughie had the time to inject and get to act. His teleportation seems to be short range.
I do wonder what an actually powerful Supe like Maeve or Starlight could have done to Homelander if they dozed on V.

He teleported Starlight pretty far in the Herogasm episode.

[Ghost of Cow]

Most Millenials have boomer or early GenX parents, back when parenting was often neglectful and negative. It reflects in our art. Almost every serious drama about issues with parental figures.

Or certain types of blame just become really trendy in certain groups.

- - - Updated - - -

Yeah I get your point. But Hughie taking the Temp-V would have been 20 times more efficient to save the day than boosting Starlight for her to barely knock Soldier Boy off. If not for Maeve's "sacrifice", they'd all be dead.

That's been a theme in the show for a long time, and I'm just glad that one character (Kimiko) finally realized that it's bullshit.

I'm especially sick of fucking MM and his stupid holier than thou shit about powers. Like he just wants to fucking 1v1 Soldier Boy - and not because he's some badass that's willing to fight someone stronger - but because he's a goddamned crybaby that just needs to lash out. But no one better use any tools to level the playing field because we're all Moral Orel's here who will find the high road!

And then the writers give the character the satisfaction of being the one to gas Soldier Boy - with the help of supes holding SB back, of course. But he won't talk about that. I'm sure he'll give some bullshit preaching session later about how he did it all without powers and you can too.

[Koriani]

Oh thats not what I meant with the power up. I m fine with her becoming more powerful. I meant the whole staring at her and waiting for her to power up.

For me it was - all that 'power up', slow floating up, all cool - oh Ryan's helping her! He's supporting her for her to be the best hero she can be! Woo! - and would have been awesome... Except there was no payout.

They had all those moments of "ooh look she's gettin power nao!" "Ryan's boosting her!" and then.. she knocks Soldier Boy over for a few seconds. :/

They dropped the payout. I wasn't expecting her to slaughter them or blow the building - but for her to buy them more than "oh you knocked him back into the wall for a few seconds" and then she collapses from the effort.

THAT really took the "this is cool" out of the moment. And I was really digging the moment and wanting to see her make an 'impact' - to get "that's it?"

Kinda like in one of the earlier (in the movie) Batman/Bane fights and Batman throw what come off as 'bottle rockets' at Bane at one point, which obviously have no effect. To have a few flash-pops go off in the middle of what was supposedly an intense fight - just made the whole scene play out as stupid for me once the fireworks pop off.

I mean I don't have a lot of complaints about this Season, I can totally enjoy the ride and not nitpick it apart. But I really felt they robbed Starlight of having at least one impressive "I can fight like the big heroes too!" attack. For zippo reason. They never should have given her the 'big power up moment' help from Ryan if all she was going to do was throw him into a wall.

Maybe that was the point - to show that Starlight actually has very little power, even "maxed out" that way. Which to me still sucks - because I'd rather there be a LITTLE more equal heroes across the board then just "Homelander/Maive" (even if not anymore) on one tier, "Everyone else" way down below that, and the humans down below them.

(And totes agree with all the stupidity in no one bothering to just take Ryan off somewhere - but writers gotta keep the plot moving and there was no way Homelander was going down this season.)

- - - Updated - - -

And like i said, i understand that and im not actually fan of that plot, he surviving in the end

Oh yeah - of all the Supes we COULD have killed off this season - he really needed to die. He would have been a fine throw- away character to satisify the idea of "hero dead numbers" without killing off anyone actually important to the plot.

Him and Deep really don't seem to serve much purpose at all this last season other than to spin in their own juices, waiting to be given some "bigger purpose" for the plot that never really came. A-train appeared to maybe have growth but we never really saw that follow out to 'know for sure' if he "gets it" about himself or Homelander now. And Deep has never been anything more than an ass kisser wanting to be actually important; but serving no purpose as a character otherwise. I'm hoping next season shows us a real payout to keeping them as filler until then - or really satisfying deaths.

[Rennadrel]

Just got through season 2 today and the first episode of season 3. So I know a lot of people thought season 2 was not very good but I felt it started off weak and by episode 6, was actually pretty good, with the finale being great. The first episode of season 3 was decent but it seems to be following a trend of very on the nose topical stuff from season 2, which personally I don't mind because it's actually pretty funny in light of the last several years. Also the "attack on the capitol" in season 2 was hilariously on the nose along with Stormfront being so blatantly a Nazi from the get go just from her speeches. But the narcissistic facet of her personality was also kind of funny to me as well, because I feel like pretty much all of the 7 aside from Starlight come off as being that way, or just completely lacking any shred of empathy for what they've done to innocent people.

I know there's a lot of people who complain about the show being "woke" but really, even the comics kinda are in their own way. Sure, they've taken some creative liberties with some aspects of the story and the characters, but I've actually thoroughly enjoyed it and don't think it's really woke at all, just very topical to the Trump era of American politics. The excessive violence feels a little over the top but is par for the course to the comics apparently, but a lot of the sexual content is downright cringe or just really dumb. Overall I've loved the show so far

[eschatological]

The excessive violence feels a little over the top but is par for the course to the comics apparently, but a lot of the sexual content is downright cringe or just really dumb. Overall I've loved the show so far

Wait til you reach Herogasm for cringe sexual content. Not even good cringe, like, boring "look at this!!!" cringe.

Edit: FWIW, they have a really good episode that takes place while Herogasm goes on in the background. I sometimes wonder if it was intentional to put good character and plot development against the backdrop of cringe-level sex scenes, but if so, kudos.

[Koriani]

Wait til you reach Herogasm for cringe sexual content. Not even good cringe, like, boring "look at this!!!" cringe.

Edit: FWIW, they have a really good episode that takes place while Herogasm goes on in the background. I sometimes wonder if it was intentional to put good character and plot development against the backdrop of cringe-level sex scenes, but if so, kudos.

Eh I think its more the show (or comic, never read it so can't say) takes whatever its doing and rachets it up to x100 for the craziness/out of the world/bizarro/F*edUP factor, intentionally. As it always has - as part of its satire-taken-to-extreme type of commentary.

I mean its not a show for any particular topic to be shown as "realistic" or "handled with seriousness" so the Herogasm orgy, of course, was just kept "on brand" if you will =D. Also - to me - its meant to show the ridiculousness, decadence, self-indulgent spoiled-ness of the "Superhero" in this world and, again, Herogasm just kept that going also.

So really (IMO) its more that any good character or plot development in the show almost always happens in that backdrop of "this is fucking nuts" reality moreso than only, or specifically, choosing that particular cringe-orgy scene to do that, particular, "good character development." Its not the exception of the show - its how the show was made, from the ground up. Of course, how "good" that writing is at pulling that off, episode to episode, varies - but its always "been the way" of the show.

Herogasm might take that up a notch because it IS an orgy sex scene - something rarely to never seen in any public media format and so, by default, has a 'shock' value to it -- but I didn't see that episode as any worse, or better, or more or less over the top, than the rest of the episodes.

And I genuinely doubt anyone's ability to somehow, seriously show, an orgy sex scene and make it NOT cringe. Hell, I'm not even sure you can do that IRL and it not be cringe, at least on some levels. =D (depending on what about the scene one finds "cringe")