Reality seems stranger than fiction a lot of the time recently, and particularly in the U.S. where civil unrest is at boiling point it almost seems impossible to create entertainment that effectively parodies or critique’s a lot of what we’re encountering in our everyday lives. Yet somehow, The Boys has not only managed to deliver the best season of the show yet in its third outing, but it’s perfectly nailed the scathing critique of a broken post-Trump America.
It has been one year since the Stormfront (Aya Cash) scandal at Vought. The Boys, consisting of Frenchie (Tomer Capone), Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara), Butcher (Karl Urban), and Hughie (Jack Quaid) are now working under Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit) at the Burau of Superhuman Affairs. Stan Edgar (Giancarlo Esposito) is struggling to control Homelander (Antony Starr), who is becoming more volatile by the day; and so, Starlight (Erin Moriarty) is promoted to co-captain to try and reign him in and appease the general public. But when The Boys discover Neuman’s head exploding superpowers, and Homelander begins a takeover of Vought they must act fast to find a way to kill them both. It just so happens that the Russians may be hiding a weapon capable of killing a super as powerful as Homelander, a weapon used once before on Vought’s first hero, Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles).
It has been one year since the Stormfront (Aya Cash) scandal at Vought. The Boys, consisting of Frenchie (Tomer Capone), Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara), Butcher (Karl Urban), and Hughie (Jack Quaid) are now working under Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit) at the Burau of Superhuman Affairs. Stan Edgar (Giancarlo Esposito) is struggling to control Homelander (Antony Starr), who is becoming more volatile by the day; and so, Starlight (Erin Moriarty) is promoted to co-captain to try and reign him in and appease the general public. But when The Boys discover Neuman’s head exploding superpowers, and Homelander begins a takeover of Vought they must act fast to find a way to kill them both. It just so happens that the Russians may be hiding a weapon capable of killing a super as powerful as Homelander, a weapon used once before on Vought’s first hero, Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles).
The first season of The Boys felt fresh and exciting because it felt like a modern-day interpretation of Alan Moore’s Watchmen graphic novel. An extremely pessimistic and gratuitously violent critique of capitalism and superhero culture. The second season meanwhile started to grow tiresome as it went on, running out of ideas and just throwing as much gore at the screen as it could. Season Three then had some making up to do, and it delivers tenfold.
First up, Homelander. Wow! I’ve honestly never been more terrified of a character from film or TV as I am this man. If Starr doesn’t get an Emmy for this performance, I’m throwing hands. Honestly, he is the hill that this show will live and die on, and whilst the other characters and actors are all doing a great job, it’s Homelander that’s keeping me hooked. Every single time he is on screen I’m uncomfortable, he’s just so unhinged that I can never tell how a scene is going to play out. Is he going to be calm, composed, and vindictive…or is he going to lose his shit and straight up murder everyone in the room? We get a lot of both in Season Three and it really keeps you on your toes.
The dynamic of The Boys is also shaken up by the reluctance of Mothers Milk (Laz Alonso) to re-join the group, and by the introduction of V24, a temporary version of Compound V, the drug that gives super’s their powers. Butcher and Hughie want to fight fire with fire, meanwhile Frenchie, Kimiko, M.M., and Starlight see that as overstepping the line.
The Soldier Boy storyline also allows for older super’s to enter the fray, as well as introduce this kind of boogeyman presence to the story as everybody is absolutely terrified that Soldier Boy may not be dead. This even allows for some much needed fleshing out of Black Noir (Nathan Mitchell).
The way Season Three has been constructed even allows for the gore to remain as gratuitous as it was in Season Two without crossing that line into absurdity. It’s still cool to see someone explode into red goop, but there more often than not feels like there’s sufficient justification for it. Where Season Two was just gory for the sake of it, Season Three uses the gore to hammer home the severity of the situation (as well as to give some outrageous laughs). This combined with the usual stellar special effects, cinematography, editing, and soundtrack make Season Three a real treat to watch.
In fact, I can’t really think of anything I didn’t like. Everyone gets so much time to shine, and everyone’s story is taken in interesting new directions. Even characters that were starting to become tiresome like The Deep (Chase Crawford) and A-Train (Jessie T. Usher) are taken in interesting new directions. The Boys Season Three will definitely be a big contender for my best TV series of the year list, and it’s reaffirmed my love for the show big time. Whilst the gory violence may not be to everyone’s taste, I can think of few shows that are as boldly brilliant as The Boys right now.
First up, Homelander. Wow! I’ve honestly never been more terrified of a character from film or TV as I am this man. If Starr doesn’t get an Emmy for this performance, I’m throwing hands. Honestly, he is the hill that this show will live and die on, and whilst the other characters and actors are all doing a great job, it’s Homelander that’s keeping me hooked. Every single time he is on screen I’m uncomfortable, he’s just so unhinged that I can never tell how a scene is going to play out. Is he going to be calm, composed, and vindictive…or is he going to lose his shit and straight up murder everyone in the room? We get a lot of both in Season Three and it really keeps you on your toes.
The dynamic of The Boys is also shaken up by the reluctance of Mothers Milk (Laz Alonso) to re-join the group, and by the introduction of V24, a temporary version of Compound V, the drug that gives super’s their powers. Butcher and Hughie want to fight fire with fire, meanwhile Frenchie, Kimiko, M.M., and Starlight see that as overstepping the line.
The Soldier Boy storyline also allows for older super’s to enter the fray, as well as introduce this kind of boogeyman presence to the story as everybody is absolutely terrified that Soldier Boy may not be dead. This even allows for some much needed fleshing out of Black Noir (Nathan Mitchell).
The way Season Three has been constructed even allows for the gore to remain as gratuitous as it was in Season Two without crossing that line into absurdity. It’s still cool to see someone explode into red goop, but there more often than not feels like there’s sufficient justification for it. Where Season Two was just gory for the sake of it, Season Three uses the gore to hammer home the severity of the situation (as well as to give some outrageous laughs). This combined with the usual stellar special effects, cinematography, editing, and soundtrack make Season Three a real treat to watch.
In fact, I can’t really think of anything I didn’t like. Everyone gets so much time to shine, and everyone’s story is taken in interesting new directions. Even characters that were starting to become tiresome like The Deep (Chase Crawford) and A-Train (Jessie T. Usher) are taken in interesting new directions. The Boys Season Three will definitely be a big contender for my best TV series of the year list, and it’s reaffirmed my love for the show big time. Whilst the gory violence may not be to everyone’s taste, I can think of few shows that are as boldly brilliant as The Boys right now.