#marghe watches the boys

[postmodernmulticoloredcloak]

Before starting season 2 of The Boys I wanted to see if I have some thoughts to sort out about season 1. I’m probably gonna sound a little too much “person who’s only watched Supernatural watching a different show: I’m getting Supernatural vibes from this”, but I think that in this specific case I’m justified in doing this kind of comparisons, also considering that literal professional publications have been doing the same. So.

I liked how well-planned and relatively enclosed the season feels. It has a starkly circular structure, starting with a woman’s fridging and ending with a woman’s unfridging; the Deep and A-Train, who commit the “original sins” at the beginning of the series, go though a contrappasso of sorts, suffering exactly what they inflicted to someone else; Homelander, repeatedly placed in opposition to people’s children (hating Stillwell’s baby for stealing her time, killing the senator and his son on that plane, letting the girl and her mother die in the other plane) eventually finds his own. (It’s funny, thoughout the season I was blindsided by the planes and expected the climax of Homelander’s arc in the season to be about one more plane, instead it was about the children. I should have expected that! That’s how you know a narrative is good. I’m spoiled enough about future developments now to know that the theme of parenthood is strong with this one. I appreciate it.)

So many parallels throughout the season, I couldn’t list them all if I spent the entire night looking for them. It stood out for me in the finale the parallel between Kimiko taking care of her appearance in front of the mirror, reclaiming her humanity they tried to strip her of by attempting to turn her into a monster*, and the Deep shaving also in front of a mirror, as he struggles with his identity and role in the world. Mirrors in mirrors. But this is just one of many, every arc and plot point mirrors at least another.

*It’s not as shoved in your face like in Supernatural, but a major theme of the narrative is what makes a human and what makes a monster, and how you can build your identity in the space between the two.

Identity, who you are, who (what) you want to be - not a coincidence names are so important in The Boys, with so many characters who go with nicknames/pseudonyms, and dance between the two depending on context, or others play with their name. The Deep is called by his real name only by his therapist, Homelander - who even mentions forgetting he even has an actual name at times... - only by Vogelbaum... The scene where Hughie speaks his dead girlfriend’s name Robin and A-Train retorts that his dead girlfriend also had a name, Charlotte - the first time we hear it - is so poignant and powerful.

It’s intriguing to me how Dean Winchester somehow tweaked his way in this show, too. I don’t know if this was intentional - The Boys definitely seems to be a show where things are intentional and planned thoroughly in advance, but who knows - but the vibe I got from the show is that it started out as a Supernatural AU of sorts where Hughie was clearly supposed to be Sam and Butcher was supposed to be Dean, but Dean looked at it and said “nope, that’s my father, I’m that one” and pointed his finger in Frenchie’s direction.

I mean, I’m kidding, Butcher is a sort of amalgamation of a certain side/concept of Dean (more like the aesthetic/vibe Kripke started the character on) and John (the wife “killed” by Yellow Red Eyes, her affair with Homelander the equivalent of Mary’s deal with Azazel, the baby being somewhat responsible for the mother’s death/disappearance due to his involvement in the supernatural stuff... it’s quite direct.) But Frenchie is the Dean who finds Cas, as Kimiko and Cas have a ridiculous lot in common, and so have the two relationships.

It’s interesting how the season operates a speedrun unfridging of Mary (of course since in the universe of The Boys normal people cannot come back from the dead, she turns out never to have died in the first place, but for her husband and the audience she counted as dead, so). Of course there’s plenty of foreshadowing that she was actually alive, although I was also blindsided by the fake flashback and felt very surprised, because I was assuming that Becca would turn out alive, so I believed I was wrong and then it turned out I was right.

The difference is that this Mary comes back to life when John is still alive, still pursuing his destructive path of revenge. Butcher being both John and Dean, I presume as I approach the season season, will allow the character to deconstruct the mental image of Mary-Becca he had in his head (a flawed woman, not a pure martyr) but also question his own choices, something Supernatural’s John didn’t get to do.

Homelander, of course, is a mixture of Azazel and Lucifer (then of course, in Supernatural Azazel and Lucifer, Mary and Kelly, Sam and Jack etc are all mirrors for each other) but I’d also say that... he’s evil Castiel. Then again, Lucifer and Castiel are absolutely mirrors for each other, too, so it tracks. Homelander repeatedly goes against Vought, frustrating Stillwell as he pursues his own methods. And of course his conflict with Stillwell comes to the dramatic climax in the finale. Vought his heaven, obviously, and he does not quite obey to the orders. He does what he does for Vought, but also... in his own way and with his own perspectives, rejecting the strictly business approach of the corporation. It’s not the profit of the shareholders he cares about, I’m sure. Or maybe calling him the evil Castiel seems more fitting since calling him Lucifer sounds like an insult Homelander and his actor don’t deserve XD

This is getting a little too long, so I’ll wrap this up for now. I’m here if anyone wants to talk about the show, just don’t spoil me for seasons 2 and 3!

[postmodernmulticoloredcloak]

Five episodes of The Boys in and at this point I can definitely file it under things I like, because I am totally feeling that I need to see more of these people. I’d read somewhere that it’s hard to connect to characters since hardly of them are good people, but I’m fascinated by how utterly human everyone is, and the more messed-up they are the more fascinated by them I am.

I think it’s interesting how there’s fundamentally a disconnect in how the show is advertised and what it is really about (a disconnect on purpose, I mean). Because the show is advertised as “lol what if superheroes were real and were like bad, because power corrupts” but the villain of the story is not superheroes, it’s capitalism. Superheroes are just people.

It’s not really a ~dark parody of the MCU or anything, really. It’s not “actually if superheroes existed they wouldn’t be the good guys”. It’s about capitalism and America. It’s basically a step higher than the MCU, it’s about the corporate capitalism that produces the MCU (and much more than that).

At least that’s how I am seeing the show? (Sure, I’m only five episodes in, so, I don’t know.) I’ve seen people criticize the show for not considering the positive connotations of superheroes (as in superhero stories), but I don’t think the show is really saying anything about superhero stories, it’s saying something about how everything - good, bad - is just cogs in the machine of the system. They’re not even superheroes, they’re people trapped into roles just like everyone else. Well, in this sense it’s also about how superhero stories are also cogs in the machine. (It is definitely a big dig at Disney, which I like.)

I also think they should have more Emmys or whatever. (Anthony Starr?)

And the episodes are yes very crowded (slightly too many things happening) but they’re well structured and there are themes and parallels holding everything together, so, it doesn’t even feel too cluttered. Pacing is good and that forgives a lot.

So, yeah, I guess by now I can say this is a yes from me. I’m not just watching to get to the jooty...

[postmodernmulticoloredcloak]

Finally watched the season 1 finale of The Boys! Well, that was intense. The narrative obviously was built to suggest that Becca was alive but I assumed that the plot twist was that she was actually dead despite making you believe she wasn’t. So I suppose this counts as surprising me? Or not? Rip Dark Breaking Down story, you were hilarious while you lasted.

The thing I noticed about this episode was that it was very tropey and predictable, but in the good, fun way. It feels predictable because it wraps up the season’s storylines in a way that makes sense with the way they developed. And that’s good! Wild, right? It feels satisfying! At times it felt even a little ridiculously tropey, but still not in a bad way, sometimes the best thing is to see good acting through some plot that makes sense and you nod while you follow. Also did I mention the good acting?

I’m looking forward to the next season :D

[postmodernmulticoloredcloak]

ironworked replied to your post “Five episodes of The Boys in and at this point I...”

Yeah, I think it is definitely about capitalism and how it relies on corruption and manipulation, and it gets clearer with every episode.

Also, yeah, a lot of things happen but I really really appreciate that there's consequences! bc I'm used to shows that keep throwing stuff at the characters but don't deal with what those things mean for them, you know? here it matters

hollowed-boy replied to your post “Five episodes of The Boys in and at this point I...”

Finally a good take in #the boys thank you OP (as someone who's caught up you're 100% correct)

rosesocietyy reblogged your post “Five episodes of The Boys in and at this point I...”

#incredibly rare to see an actual good analysis of this show #it's weird too cuz i think the themes are pretty clear but for some reason #people are taking the wrong things away #i lowkey blame the marketing #the show is too good for the reputation it has to be the gore and not the brilliant writing #but oh well #the boys amazon #the boys #the boys spoilers

aha thank you ^^ I actually think the themes were pretty clear since the very beginning, although it takes you a few episodes to get to know the characters. It’s interesting that several characters are introduced by immediately showing you the worst of them (A-Train killing Robin and acting nonchalant about it, the Deep harassing Starlight, etc) and only after that you get shown that there are more layers to them (A-Train actually having a drug problem he does feel bad about but obviously needs to keep it a secret, the Deep being the one who feels trapped in a toxic workplace and trying to get the upper hand against the newcomer, etc) which paints them in a very human light.

I also like how issues like drug addiction are shown in a very compassionate light? Popclaw and A-Train are never treated by the narrative as stupid or as a joke for having a drug addiction problem. Apparently Maeve has an alcohol problem (it’s just been introduced by the episode I’m currently at) but from what I can tell it’s also not a ‘aha she has an alcohol problem’ thing, or as a “vice”, but a mental illness issue because she’s depressed af. (She is also initially shown as, like, unassertive and just there to go along with what Homelander says, but then you realize it’s not a moral failing, it’s depression in addition to her fear of Homelander and all.)

Of course some characters are just bad, like the hypocritical ‘pray the gay away’ preacher that has sex with men in sex clubs and uses homophobia for fame and money, but people like that exist in our world, and in the narrative they’re tools for the show to say something. The preacher serves to show Starlight that the world she romanticized from her childhood is actually super toxic, and the show in general has a strict ‘homophobia is bad’ line. The same episode reveals that Maeve used to have a female partner, so it’s not like the only queer characters are bad ones. Also in that scene where the homophobic senator is tricked into sex with a guy, the punchline is not “aha man tricked into sex with a guy” but “aha homophobic senator gotten into trouble by his own pursue of a homophobic voter base”.

I was also expecting something with considerably more gore than the show has? It is true that the pilot starts out pretty gorey, Robin’s death being basically Hannibalesque in its visuals, but then there’s not really as much gore as I was led to believe. And especially, the horrific stuff is treated as horrific. I was expecting a narrative that sort of... relished in gore, if you get what I mean? Instead, it does not shy away from horrific stuff, but it frames it as such.

And yes, the writing is good. It proceeds on patterns, and the various plotlines inside an episode are connected to each other though parallels/contrasts and common visuals/keywords (in the latest episode I’ve watched, for instance, Starlight’s mother calling her a miracle - but it’s a a bad thing in context - and Frenchie calling the Asian girl a miracle - but it’s a good thing in context -, in the previous episode Homelander holding his hand out for Maeve on the plane - she takes it, but that breaks her - and Frenchie holding his hand out for the Asian girl - she rejects it but eventually they forge a positive bond, etc).

I totally think that the PR is deliberately marketing the show as something different than the show is actually about, because, well, they are part of the system they’re critiquing, it’s actually a pretty interesting extra commentary on the show XD I don’t think amazon would love if the cast pranced around saying that the show is about how corporate capitalism is bad. So they market the show as a narrative about superheroes being immoral like that’s the fundamental layer, instead the fundamental layer is that the immorality stems from the system. Superheroes are just people, and their flaws are not actually “vices”, they’re simply human flaws. (Even Homelander is fundamentally a very messed-up dude. I love his character, I wasn’t expecting that lol.)

Funnily enough, I think that the weakest character so far is the one that Kripke intended as the Dean of the story (according to the original concept of Dean, not the Dean that emerged from the story as it progressed). Well, Hughie is also kind of a less interesting character than others, but in Hughie’s case it’s a feature, not a bug, since he’s the filter for the viewer to access the story, so he doesn’t have layers to be explored, just development to have as he gains confidence and skills. So in Hughie’s case, being the “Sam” of the story (nerdy, smart, bit shy, kinda awkward with girls) is not really a problem, but in Butcher’s case, I feel like the story needs to step it up a bit more to make him interesting to me. I mean, on a surface level he’s alright, he’s a cool character to have on screen, but I’m not actually interested in his story yet. Like, he’s more interesting when he talks about the Spice Girls than when he thinks about his tragically disappeared girlfriend.

Then again Dean and Sam became interesting when they developed their own personality rather than the original concept of them, so.

(This isn’t really a criticism of Kripke, it’s actually fascinating to see how characters can develop as the story progresses! Every writer knows that once you actually start writing a story down, characters will change from the idea of them you had when you sat down to write them. That’s how writing works.)

It’s actually a cool mental experiment to think of how many The Boys characters can be seen as Dean parallels (or Cas parallels, but Dean and Cas are parallels for each other after all), but then if you think too hard about this stuff, you get too many feels and your head explodes, so maybe not.

[postmodernmulticoloredcloak]

Oh! I almost forgot to post a little comment after watching The Boys 1x06. I was saying that I was not feeling really interested in Butcher’s disappeared wife plotline, but now it immediately becomes more interesting as it is now officially about Homelander. (Did I mention I love him? I mean, as a character. Not him. I want to dissect him like a little narrative frog in narrative science lab.) I suspect that the “Homelander raped Butcher’s wife” is the real version of the story, because it’s too... normal. Like. "Raping a lady” is something a normal shitty man does. Like the Deep who’s just some shitty dude. I think Homelander is too fucked up to do something as normal as that. (Maybe I’m wrong lol. I am almost entirely unspoiled about the show so I’m just going with it. Seems pretty clear that there’s Something Up with the Butcher’s wife plotline, so.)

On a slightly different note, if Homelander is really like that because he was raised in a lab with only 1 blanket as a family, then I think he’s allowed to do some murder and stuff. Just saying.

Now, curiously the other day I was saying I like Hughie enough and I’m not super into Butcher, now I’m getting bored with Hughie and starting to get into Butcher. Not too much yet because I can see the character development arc in front of him and I wish we could just speed it up. But I’m even less interested in the tròûblëd heterosexual romance, which I can also kind of see the narrative points coming up.

Absolutely here for Frenchie and Kimiko and for all the supes. It’s funny, isn’t it? Eric Kripke makes a SamandDean duo for a new show and everyone else is more interesting than them.

No, wait. Butcher AND Frenchie are both Dean. He split the original/initial concept of Dean into two (the badass macho guy and the drug-using weapon expert guy he couldn’t quite make Dean into at the WB). Which makes Kimiko Castiel.

iconnectedthedots.jpeg

[postmodernmulticoloredcloak]

Okay, a more serious review of episode 1x07 of The Boys. Theme is red flags in relationships, couples cracking because of secrets coming out, “you and me” that are not quite such. Maeve and Homelander act like there’s a “you and me” but both know there’s not, Sitwell tries to “you and me” Homelander but he declines and she sees the big red flag when he tells her to be with her baby, and of course Hughie’s secrets blow up his relationship with Annie and MM’s secrets damaging his relationship with his wife. (Funnily enough, Dean and Cas, er I mean Frenchie and Kimiko*, have a lil nice domestic time.)

*I think I forgot to talk about it the other day, but Kimiko and Frenchie are a massive Destiel parallel? They even learn her name from a group visit to a psychic who gets hurt in the process! Coincidence? I think not! Especially since it’s pretty obvious Frenchie and partly Butcher are set up as the unruly outcast Dean to Hughie’s nerdy techie Sam (although as the show has progressed, of course Butcher gets more John than Dean with the dead wife fueled revenge tunnel vision thing, but still you can see the various concepts underneath) and then Frenchie gets given a non-human, autistic-coded partner with super strength and that won’t stay dead, so I’m pretty sure all of this is intentional.

I had read that since pretty much all the characters in the show are not “good” but most of them are horrible people, it’s hard to relate to them, but I find it’s absolutely the opposite?? A-Train literally kills a woman right away, and then you feel so much for him, the pressure from the expectations that come with his position, his pain over his girlfriend. The Deep literally rapes a woman the first episode, and you want to hug him because he’s so miserable all the time and does not get 1 (one) win. I hope that, for the rule of three, he gets to save someone in the season finale, after the fiasco with the dolphin and then the lobster.

Of course, the narrative has a stark contrappasso structure for these characters. A-Train kills someone’s beloved partner and he loses his, and also his speed (that wound doesn’t look good). The Deep rapes a person to feel superior to her and gets raped while at his lowest... it’s a sort of atonement journey through fire. Interesting that these are not redemption arcs, but contrappasso arcs. From pain does not come redemption, but understanding. From understanding then come choices, and we’ll see what choices the characters will make.

Speaking of rule of three, I suspect we will see Homelander associated to a plane again (once he deliberately destroys a plane, then he makes a mistake and causes another to crash, third ??). And speaking of Homelander. He. He’s literally a mass murderer and manipulating abuser and yet?? You actually feel for him?? The actor does such a great job. You can both feel the utter menace and toxicity that comes from the character but also the pain and vulnerability?? I really did not expect the character to be like this. Kudos.

Of course the most noteworthy thing in the episode is still the fact that Homelander thought he couldn’t conceive children and gets a woman pregnant with a fast-growing child that claws its way out of the mother’s womb, just like that famous Twilight comic. Am I the only one who thought of that?? I can’t possibly be?? I’m sorry but... I can’t... take this seriously... Butcher’s wife died of Unfortunate Renesmee Cullen... Becca and Bella even sound similar...

Expectations: dark parody of Marvel. Reality: dark parody of Breaking Dawn.

Well. So far a solid season, looking forward for the season finale.

[postmodernmulticoloredcloak]

Watched episode 1x03 of The Boys and I think it’s growing on me. Probably not the thing I was supposed to notice the most, but the funniest thing is that in the scene where the woman with the claws accidentally kills her landlord there’s a moment when you think she’s going to stab him with the claws but she stabs the floor instead, and then the credits roll and you see the episode is directed by Phil Sgriccia, and you realize you already knew.

Three episodes in and I feel like that meme “person who’s only watched Supernatural watching another show: I am getting Supernatural vibes from this” but then I remember that at some point Jim Beaver appears in it as a character called Robert Singer, so I think it’s not just me.

[postmodernmulticoloredcloak]

so @super-sootica​ asked for the tea on the boys first episode and i’ll copy&paste here for my convenience:

transscript: well it's true it's not a show for everybody, it's basically a strong critique of corporate capitalism and police impunity told in a gritty gorey way. the pilot as often pilots do needed to cram a lot in a hour so it's probably not super significant in terms of pacing and stuff, esp since it's an ensemble show with a lot of characters to introduce. it's also very kripke-y, it's very different in terms of plot but also weirdly reminiscent of the supernatural pilot lol. it also shows a lot of kripke's original concept for spn because you can tell the sam character (nerdy, strong sense of justice) and the dean character (badass, kind of vulgar). there's even a couple of shots that are also in the spn pilot (one character grabbing the other inside, car crashed into a building). that's kind of funny, like, did he rewatch the spn pilot to write the pilot of his new show? lol

ah of course the inciting incident is a fridged girlfriend lol. at least she's not called jessica?

there are two plotlines though, the dean-sam characters but also another plotline where the main character for now is a woman who joins the corporate superhero thingie and gets immediately coerced into performing sexual acts with a senior coworker. it's kind of funny this is distributed by amazon because it's super explicitly a critique of powerful abusive corporations lol

disney in particular since the evil corporation is basically disney but with real life superheroes (i mean real life in the show's universe) but it goes for pretty much all big corporate capitalism

basically it seems interesting but also difficult to go through because of the themes and tone if it's something one is sensitive to. especially sexual harassment and stuff. but i guess it's part of the identity of the show, it makes sense they choose to have gore and nudity and violent themes if they want to critique marvel cleanwashing

of course one needs to be careful of warnings

i think a big part of it is years of frustration of having to make a horror show without showing disturbing things or having the characters say fuck. i think that if they forced me to have my characters say frigging and gank for years, i'd totally write a show like this as soon as i get the opportunity. first episode we already see penis

no wonder we'll see the jenis. this entire show was made for jenis

and let jensen say fuck

[postmodernmulticoloredcloak]

Finally watched The Boys 2x01! A really solid episode with a lot going on but that’s not too heavy on you. The protagonist of the episode is negative space - what is not there. Butcher and Becca, who appear only at the end, and even more so Becca’s son. But also the shadowy terrorists, the barely visible guy from the video footage, whoever kills the deputy director, who feel more of a threat because you cannot see them (him?).

I think this is the only American piece of media I’ve seen where the concept of “terrorists” doesn’t make my eyes roll out of my skull. Because this shows says that terrorists are... well, not really a thing. Homelander even insists for calling them villains, not terrorists - they’re made-up characters in the story Homelander is crafting, not actual people, so to speak. They’re more fictional than real. They’re just guerrilla groups or similar organizations that would not be much of a threat, or at least would only be relevant on a local scale, in the country or region they’re based, not an actual threat to the United States. They become a threat to the United States because the United States make them so, arming them and blowing their dangerousness out of proportion to justify bloating their military. And the show isn’t exactly suble about it.

Homelander keeps being a delicious villain. He discovers that maybe killing Stillwell was not a very good idea, as Stillwell had a soft spot for him and never really tried too hard to rein him in when he went off script and acted on his own. Mr Edgar is a different creature. Ashley’s growing discomfort is going to be relevent too... I think he’s going to end up isolating himself and that’s going to bite him in the ass. He’s not even paired up with Maeve in public appearances anymore except during the awkward filming thing, but with Annie (of course, it’s probably because Homelander wants to lowkey keep an eye on her, which will cause problems).

The Deep’s arc seems intriguing - once at rock bottom (probably he’s going to dig a little lower still, but he’s mostly there already, so) he’ll start going up and eventually achieve what he thinks he wants, and find out it does not quite work for him, because he has changed.

(Okay, it’s funny that I’m making predictions for a season that’s been out since forever, but hey.)

The boys - it’s funny that they keep saying that they need Butcher as their leader, not because Butcher is a good leader, but because neither of them is enough of an asshole to be a leader. Hughie has the potential but he’s not there yet. Frenchie is soft and I love him. MM is also soft in a different way and I also love him. I can’t wait for the arc of Kimiko learning how to communicate effectively with Frenchie! (Well, with everything else too, but what matters is Frenchie.)

I am a bit spoiled for some things about this season but not too much, and not really about how the things happen, so I think I’m really going to enjoy the ride.

[postmodernmulticoloredcloak]

Well, I’ve watched the first episode of the Boys, it sure is intense. Gonna give it a few more episodes before I decide on how I feel about it, I mean Supernatural clicked by episode 3 and then it took a while more before clicking for good. Pilots always need to cram too much stuff to be really good anyway.

[postmodernmulticoloredcloak]

Episode 2x02 of The Boys! Okay, that was too much tv for one day, my head is not liking it. Note to self, no more than one episode a day.

It’s impressive how well the show keeps so many storylines happen in one episode without making it feel excessive. I think I’ll say something for each storyline, actually. I’m enjoying this.

The boys - it’s happening even faster than I thought, Hughie setting the basis for becoming the leader of the group, or least the one that restructures how the group works. Frenchie called Butcher because he thinks they need Butcher as their leader, but they have outgrown Butcher. Butcher needs to catch up with them now, change his behavior and stop with the omissions. He does a little bit when he realizes the others are not following him, telling them about Becca and all, but he still has a long way to go. All of them have way to go as a team.

Stormfront is intriguing, or better yet, Edgar’s intentions in hiring her are. Because the narrative made a big deal out of her being the only one that Edgar chose himself. The others were approved by Homelander, i.e. they were Stillwell’s creatures. (One could speculate whether Edgar promoting Stillwell was a way to control her better, but now that she’s dead, we can’t really tell.)

When Annie joined the Seven and acted against the script, she was immediately reprimanded to try to rein her in. Stormfront is openly acting in a way that goes blatantly against the regular superhero propaganda of Vought, and with Edgar telling Homelander that they’re not a superhero company but a pharmaceutical company, I’m wondering if Edgar’s plans are to dismantle the current superhero propaganda line (Stillwell’s creation rather than his?) for something else, something that does not need Homelander the way Stillwell’s line did.

In addition to this, I believe she’s there to investigate on the others. Her pushing Annie’s buttons so insistently have led Annie to reveal a lot about herself that she really shouldn’t have. That she agrees with Stormfront’s remarks on Vought, that she’s not what she appears, that speaking too freely about Vought is not safe--girl, you cannot trust a stranger with this information! Be careful!

(I wonder if with all this “if Homelander finds out about this you’re dead!!” is narrative irony and it’s not actually Homelander she needs to be careful of. Well, it kinda happened already with A-Train, although in this case the threat is that A-Train goes talking to Homelander.)

Now, speaking of Homelander--ouch. He actually has Feelings(TM) about the situation with the kid. I think he’s sincere when he basically says he’s desperate to find someone like him, because being “a god” is so isolating and lonely, and he also projects (not necessarily being wrong about it) his trauma about growing up in a lab onto Ryan’s situation of growing up in what is essentially a golden cage, but still a prison. Of course it’s a prison to keep something out rather than something in, but when you build a wall to keep something out, you also keep something in. He has a point when he brings this up to Becca, although of course the reason all of this is happening is that Becca (and Vogelbaum) wanted the kid to be the least like Homelander he could possibly be, which is not a bad concept.

(I think the thing will blow up in both Becca’s and Homelander’s faces in different ways. Then again, what in this show doesn’t blow up in people’s faces.)

The Deep’s situation is quite interesting because he’s being taken in by a straight-on textbook cult, but it could actually help him out (until it doesn’t) or at least be a catalyst for him to help himself. I guess it will be an Experience(TM), painful but useful. I wonder if Eagle is a cult man through and though or if he has his own goals (joining the Seven himself?). I have suspicions. I think you can imagine what my suspicions are.

That first shot of his paper where it says “What could I not live without” and his answer is a large MY TALENT makes me also suspect he’s going to lose it at some point. Bit of too on your nose, you know? He also has a pattern of really shitty luck. We also gotta introduce the concept of the possibility of a supe losing their powers sooner or later, right?

A-Train--I really feel for the guy. He’s not a bad guy and the circumstances of the narrative placing him opposite the protagonists is so frustrating (in a good narrative way obviously). He and Popclaw made distructive mistakes that stemmed from the fact that their powers are more of a curse for them than blessings. One could argue it goes for everyone in the show (I mean, it’s true), but A-Train and Popclaw’s arc serves the purpose to highlight how much of a curse these powers are rather than a blessing (in their case, a literal drug that leads to her death and almost kills him too). The official story is that supes are chosen by Jesus, the harsh reality is that their powers are really not good for them, and they end up lonely and making bad life choices because of them. I do hope A-Train gets some peace eventually, but I’m not getting my hopes too up.

Speaking of how supes are made - oh, Kimiko’s brother. Interesting arc. Until now, “terrorists” were random extras we didn’t have an attachment to, but now we have an emotional attachment to him through Kimiko. He represents the people who do become “terrorists” because they have a cause for it - they want to destroy America because America destroyed their people first. Kimiko’s brother saw a man clothed with the American flag come down from the sky and slaughter his village. Of course the narrative cannot say he’s “right”, because America is both the Homelanders but also the Hughies and the MMs so wanting to destroy it all is too extreme, but it’s still interesting that, by giving this perspective to a character that we have a kind of attachment to, shows us that it might be a “wrong” perspective but still one that has a validity to it. Our protagonist do want to destroy the toxic capitalistic, militaristic part of America, after all.

Maeve. Now that she’s come clean to her ex about the reason she left her, I am really afraid for the poor woman’s chances of survival. I mean, not because of Maeve, but because of how narratives function. I’m afraid the hospitalization for something minor is foreshadowing for something way more severe.

She’s so cute in civilian clothes. Please put Maeve in more sweaters. Actually put more characters in more sweaters in general. #sweatersupremacy

On a final note, the reason why Homelander kept Butcher alive. He didn’t have to. He could have just pulverized him and get rid of the problem. Butcher would have been imputed for Stillwell’s murder and mysteriously disappeared forever. I suppose it’s because Homelander respects/is impressed by him? How many people, after all, are not afraid of Homelander? Does Homelander not want him out of the picture because he’s a challenge, something he has so little of?

[postmodernmulticoloredcloak]

I just watched The Boys 1x07 and it’s a very intense episode with a lot of things happening, proverbial dark moment before the season finale, but all I can think of is that?? they took a major plot point?? from Stephenie Meyer’s Breaking Dawn???

[postmodernmulticoloredcloak]

Four episodes of The Boys down, whatever episodes are there to go to go. I’m actually liking it, it is well done tv. The fourth episode had a lot of things happening, but somehow managed to not feel too crammed. It’s basically a story about people who need a hug, and Homelander. I can’t wait to see him go through a poor little mew mew arc. It happens right? Homelander going through a poor little mew mew arc? You can’t possibly have a character like Homelander and not put him into some extremely humbling circumstance that make him somewhat worse but in a different way than how he started out.

Poor dolphin.

[postmodernmulticoloredcloak]

Episode 1x02 of The Boys watched tonight. (They’re pretty long episodes and everyone is always walking into my room and talking to me, so I’m going to go through the show pretty slowly...)

Plotty while needing to introduce more characters and further exposition of who we already had, but it did what it had to do. Still in the setting the cards for the story to really begin though. I wonder if episode 3 is the one that makes it click for me like for that one other show...

(Like, I don’t *like* the tone of The Boys, but I didn’t like horror, either. And yet we’re here.)

It’s probably been said by every other human on the planet but the actor who plays Homelander does quite a job uh.

[postmodernmulticoloredcloak]

deletingpoint replied to your post “Well, I’ve watched the first episode of the Boys,...”

i accidentally watched the last episode of season 1 first (couldn't understand it was the last and not first before the very end just thought we were thrown into action) and then i had to watch the rest of season 1 i guess. haven't finished the second season though. stopped binging for a couple of days and didnt feel the need to go back. no idea if i'd watched if not for that first mistake...

i mean it’s very... kripke. reminiscent of the supernatural pilot at times lol. i appreciated the disney shade (yes i’m aware this is made by amazon. we can’t win) but the grittiness is a double bladed knife, it can get to saturation pretty quickly, so i hope for the good of the show that they handle it well. (probably not. eh.)

i’ll try a couple more episodes before giving a definite verdict though.

[postmodernmulticoloredcloak]

ironworked replied to your post “Well, I’ve watched the first episode of the Boys,...”

It took a while for me, because of the style that you need to get used to, and because there's so many characters and so it takes a bit to get to know them. But then you get to the surprisingly soft scenes, and the real struggles of some characters, and that's when it clicked for me. It's definitely not a show for everyone though.

okay, i’m glad to hear that! yeah, the tone and themes are cruder and darker than most shows we’re used to, but i’m pretty okay with that kind of thing. it’s actually kind of freeing in a way... of course i understand people choosing to pass on it, though.

i’m sure the first few episodes will be a little difficult to go through because with so many characters and multiple plotlines you have to make plot happens to interest the viewer but also do characterization and everything to also interest the viewer, and it can get sort of stuffy.

it is funny how supernatural-like it can get despite everything, though XD