Tag: Erin Moriarty

‘The Boys’ Episode 6 – On Being Human (With an Ending Twist)

‘The Boys’ Episode 6 – On Being Human (With an Ending Twist)

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There has been a lot of discourse about this season of The Boys not having enough action or “not enough happening” while I’ve been eating up the deep dive into characterization every week. To the extent that showrunner Eric Kripke had to address it in interviews wondering if people are expecting them to just constantly blow things up – and adding if that’s what the expectation is, you’re watching the wrong show.

I wrote a whole book about the complex characters and deep themes in this show, that’s how much I appreciate its depth, so I am not watching the wrong show. And not surprisingly I liked this episode, “Though The Heavens Fall”.

WARNING – SPOILERS FOR EPISODE 5.06!

Golden Geisha and Kimiko and Hanging Onto Humanity

The Legend is back, hiding out in a movie theater working the concession stand (I love that they have a The Deep popcorn bucket – wasn’t this written long before all those memes about the Dune popcorn bucket and what teenage boys might actually use it for? Is this Kripke prescience again??  It also made me snort that The Deep has his mouth wide open and just waiting for people to shove their hand in there, which was oddly reminiscent of what he did to Starlight way back in Season 1.  Also the recently deceased Firecracker does a spot on parody of Nicole Kidman’s ultra sincere “the movies will save us” advertisements for it.

The Legend is hiding from Vought due to all the intel he has, fondly reminiscing on who he’s fucked and who he’s been fucked by (Marlon Brando…) but when MM tells him Bombsight has the V1 he’s convinced to help (tho he points out that MM sounds like Butcher now, threatening to cut his balls off).  Homelander’s new church crusade messed up his sweet life too.

Hughie is still arguing that they wait longer to try get V1 before they set off the supe killing virus Frenchie completed to kill Homelander (and the rest of the supes, as in Annie and Kimiko). The Legend suggests they can get Bombsight to bring it to them by going after the love of his life, Golden Geisha, who now lives in Vought Villages supe retirement home (because of course it’s The Villages…). They find her but Kimiko is reluctant to hurt her or the others, saying she doesn’t want to hurt a bunch of old people. Butcher insists they’re not people, and MM agrees. The Legend again questions what’s happened to MM, saying it’s like he’s gone crazy. This is a theme of the episode – what does it mean to be human and how do we hang onto that humanity in the face of unspeakable horrors?

They kidnap Goldie, escaping after a fight with some of the old supes who nevertheless still have powers. One guy has giant balls that he can whip around to fight with because of course he does, we need our nod to twelve year old boys. I felt for the guy. Butcher chokes him out with his own balls, but Kimiko stops him from killing the guy.

Golden Geisha claims she doesn’t know where Bombsight is. Butcher wants to torture her but Kimiko is kind to her, helping put her slipper back on and apologizing for what they’re doing.

Kimiko: I watched every episode of Undercover Geisha even though those were racist stereotypes – it meant so much to see someone like me on TV.

A little nod to the importance of representation in media.

Kimiko realizes that Bombsight stole the V1 for Goldie so they could be together forever, but she didn’t take it. For him, watching her get old would be too painful, but for her? To live forever would be torture. Golden Geisha gets the most memorable line in this episode – Summer is only beautiful when you know winter is coming.

Well written, David Reed. (I enjoyed his work on ‘The Magicians’ too).

Frenchie realizes that Kimiko feels that way too. She tells him that she and Annie don’t want to die but they don’t want to be vampires either – but they’ll do it for him and Hughie anyway.

Hughie and Annie and the Rare Good Dads

On the way to the church where they’ll let loose the virus, Annie and Hughie pause to lie on the car hood and cloud watch, like Sam and Dean stargazing on the Impala. Hughie insists she’s not dying, that they’ll have plenty of time to look for filthy things in the clouds, and Annie marvels at his unshakeable hope and asks how he manages it.

Hughie: Whenever I’d get upset as a kid, which was a lot, my dad would say life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react. I spent a year in an internment camp and had no control over anything. So fucking angry, hearing my dad’s voice in my head. I finally understood what he meant — the only thing I had left was hope. And it is really fucking hard to hang onto but I, I’m trying.

Annie: I think you might be lowkey the strongest person I know.

I love Hughie so much, I will really miss him when this series ends. Jack Quaid did such a great job showing him as just quintessentially human, flaws and all. What he learned from his dad reminds me of Viktor Frankl, the psychologist who lived through being in an actual concentration camp, discovering while there exactly what Hughie’s dad did – if you can’t control anything else, you can control how you make sense of it and how you react to it.

Hughie’s dad was a good dad.

(I put together a whole book that tackles the theme of fatherhood, toxic and otherwise, in ‘The Boys’ if you’re interested in exploring more. Hughie, Butcher, Soldier Boy, Homelander… almost all of the complicated characters have daddy issues, and it was fascinating to take a look at them with psychologists, media experts and the actors portraying them. Link at end of article for more info).

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Everyone Goes Darkside in ‘The Boys’ Episode 4 ‘The King of Hell’

Everyone Goes Darkside in ‘The Boys’ Episode 4 ‘The King of Hell’

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Not gonna lie, as a Supernatural fan I was waiting for Mark Sheppard to show up as Crowley after the title of this episode appeared – alas, we didn’t get a Crowley cameo. From the reviews, some people were critical of this episode that “nothing happened to move the story forward” but I 100% disagree. This episode gave us the kind of insights I crave the most – the emotional and psychological ones. It didn’t move the story forward a great deal if the ‘story’ is ‘get the V1’ but to me the fascinating story is that of the characters and their relationships, and we got A LOT of insights about that.

WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THE BOYS EPISODE 5.04!

How to Sell a Lunatic as the New God

Samaritan’s Embrace is bankrupt and Homelander is convinced he’s a God, and those two things work together to make a dark statement about religion and power as The Boys continues to reflect some of our darkest reality in a truly disturbing way. Homelander continues to fascinate me as he uses his hallucination of Madelyn and the delusions of grandeur that followed to move ahead with his plan to be the savior of the world. He’s still very much obsessed with his own family though, the episode opening with him sadly looking at a phone of him and Ryan and then accusing Firecracker of smelling like Soldier Boy (which he’s absolutely correct about).

He tells Firecracker that he was visited by an angel who foretold his destiny.

Firecracker: Well praise be – what is it?

When he answers ‘God’, she thinks he means serving the lord, but he quickly corrects her. He won’t be serving the lord, he’ll BE the lord. The messiah.

Homelander is making sense of his tragic life and all its hardships as the price he’s had to pay for being special and destined to be god, and he’s convinced Firecracker saw it all along and she’s not about to dissuade him. Therefore, he informs her, he’s chosen her to spread the word – since they control the media.

Homelander: Jesus would kill for our marketing.

Firecracker: WTF face

(This is a theme throughout the episode, which is peppered with small humorous moments like WTF faces to break up the too-close-to-reality darkness).

We get a typical The Boys scene intended to make most people say ‘ewww’ with Ashley and Oh Father, who married for PR but have discovered that she loves punishing him and he loves being punished, so they make enough noise to disgust the guards at the door and send his ball gag flying with enough force that it breaks the wall when he screams in ecstasy, ‘Back Ashley’ enjoying the show as voyeur. She reads his mind when he’s unguarded though, and realizes that the church is bankrupt.

Just then Firecracker shows up and gets to deliver a Soldier Boy-worthy gross line – “Dang, smells like a wet shit in a Waffle House in here”.

I admit that got the “ewww” the show was going for.

Some of the Seven minus Homelander and Soldier Boy meet at Vought Tower to brainstorm how they can make Homelander being God palatable to the masses.

Worm: What we need is a good story, who’s read Joseph Campbell?

I like Worm. Bring him some tasty dirt, someone.

The PR lady, on the other hand, does not like Worm, saying no wonder his last film got a low rating on the AV Club (which is a real thing and a nudge at fandom ala what Supernatural used to do in its meta episodes, so it made me smile).

Worm: I had to service fourteen main characters and cross over a bunch of assholes – you try to make a good finale out of that!

(Writers getting meta and putting a writer character into the canon, it’s the series’ last season after all and Kripke has spoken openly about being worried about fan reception of the series finale – he didn’t write the ending to Supernatural, but that finale certainly came with a range of reactions!)

It’s Firecracker who comes up with the idea that they need a church that preaches America and convinces the masses that the real American hero is Homelander, and he’s their savior. The Democratic Church of America. Voila, kill two birds with one stone, rescue her hubby’s failing church and find a way to get people to accept Homelander as god.

I am sincerely shocked that doesn’t exist with exactly that name already, to be honest.

Fathers and Daughters

A variation on the theme of fathers and sons that has so characterized this season and this show, Annie pays her estranged father a visit. I know some people thought this was a needless detour but I loved exploring her backstory more and finally knowing what the real story was with her dad. Turns out he’s remarried and Annie has a half brother, Mason.

Annie: WTF face.

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The Boys Episode 3 Tackles Intergenerational Trauma – with a Punch!

The Boys Episode 3 Tackles Intergenerational Trauma – with a Punch!

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WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THE BOYS SEASON 3 EPISODE 5!!

Also warning for lots of Soldier Boy, since this is originally a Supernatural website and we might enjoy lots and lots of Jensen Ackles characters. You’ve been warned!

“Every One of You Sons of Bitches” was a tough episode to watch. The theme of fathers and sons and how that can go wrong, and the repeated depiction of intergenerational trauma, plays out in vicious fashion. Literally hard to watch at times, but the episode left an impact (yes, figuratively too).

And we got a lot more Soldier Boy, which is always a win in my book.

Soldier Boy Joins the Seven

Soldier Boy officially joins the Seven, going along with Homelander’s plan at least for now, with the propaganda machine working smoothly to get the public to revise their negative view of him. “America’s first hero, defender of liberty, branded a traitor by legacy media, scapegoated by Starlight, Soldier Boy has been reborn.”  Apparently he was working with “our friends in Russia” to rout out traitors in Ukraine, as evidenced by a photo op of him shaking hands with Putin.

The Deep notes that Russia was the first nation to not put up with trans bathrooms, which sounds like it should be a ridiculous thing to say except over the several years since this season was written, it’s unfortunately gotten even more believable as something we might hear on TV.

Ashley presents Soldier Boy with the “democratic medal of patriotic freedom” and he beams, his narcissism well fed. Seriously, how many times am I going to watch a scene in this show and be able to call to mind another REAL one that looked exactly the same??  Some silly made up honor and a big gaudy gold medal placed around some narcissistic leader’s neck while he grins like an idiot.

 

Sorry, Soldier Boy, but oof.

Both Antony Starr and Jensen Ackles say so much with their facial expressions and posture in this scene. Soldier Boy accepts the honor, which Homelander probably played a part in setting up, but as he watches his father soak up all the glory, you can see that it pains him. He can never allow anyone else the limelight without feeling like it should be him (Soldier Boy is the same way, as Black Noir found out the hard way).

Homelander expresses everyone’s gratitude to Soldier Boy and says they hope “he can forgive us as he takes his rightful place in the Seven.”  That’s a bit of a Freudian slip, as Homelander is at the moment worried about Soldier Boy’s more personal forgiveness – he’s afraid that his father has not forgiven him for sending him after Butcher clueless about the supe-killing virus that almost took him out.

Homelander also can’t resist sharing that he’s also very proud to say that “this great hero is my father” – Soldier Boy looks ambivalent about making this public, to say the least.

When they’re out of the public eye, Homelander tries to butter his father up, saying he’s still got it, that social media is blowing up, calling them “America’s sexiest dynasty.”

This show’s intersection with reality is so ridiculous, this could be an actual People cover or a fan-made creation and I would believe either explanation!

Soldier Boy is not amused.

He has been silent this whole time, but the look on his face is chilling. (The chapter I wrote about Soldier Boy in the book on ‘The Boys’,  ‘Supes Ain’t Always Heroes,’ dives into Ackles’ extraordinary ability to convey more information with his face than most people can with a page of dialogue, and he shows that here.)  Homelander insists he would have never sent Soldier Boy in if he knew Butcher had the virus – and reminds him that he said not to engage, so it’s not really his fault anyway – but you can clearly see that none of this is convincing to Soldier Boy.

Homelander is lying about not knowing, but he did apparently tell his father not to engage – the farthest someone like him can go to protect someone he cares about (even if that caring is mostly just selfish).

Soldier Boy never says a word, but looks scary as hell – and pissed. Narcissists do not do well with betrayal and it’s clear he feels like Homelander betrayed him. It’s an Achilles heel for him, people he trusts betraying him, and something that keeps happening – as Soldier Boy doesn’t exactly inspire loyalty. That’s the Catch 22 of being a narcissist, desperate for people’s love and approval but constantly holding them to standards that they’re bound to fall short of and being such a dick that they inevitably betray him. (It’s a pitfall that both father and son are falling into, with Homelander taking it up to a whole other level).

Setting Up Vought Rising: V1

‘The boys’ figure out that Soldier Boy wasn’t killed by the virus because he has V1 in his bloodstream as Frederick Vought’s first iteration of Compound V. Which means, as MM puts it, “this motherfucker is unkillable.”

Sage explains the same to Soldier Boy. It only worked on a handful of supes – Bombsight, Torpedo, Private Angel, him and Stormfront. To Soldier Boy’s questioning look, she explains that’s Dr. Vought’s wife Clara.

Sage: I think you know her as Liberty.

The look that passes over Soldier Boy’s face at learning that speaks volumes, setting up some of the plot for Vought Rising starring Soldier Boy and Stormfront/Liberty. They clearly have a history and I cannot wait to find out what it is!

V1 is why Soldier Boy doesn’t age. Homelander asks hopefully if he too is immune to the virus, but the answer is no. (Back at the boys HQ, Samir clarifies the same thing – and that if Homelander gets his hands on some V1, he’d be immortal too. The boys vow to find some V1 before Homelander can).

Homelander to Sage: Bring me some.

I liked the way these parallel scenes were shot, with both the boys and the supes figuring it out at the same time, and both determined to get some V1 for their own uses.

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‘The Boys’ are Back – Season 5 Kicks Off with the Return of Soldier Boy!

‘The Boys’ are Back – Season 5 Kicks Off with the Return of Soldier Boy!

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The Boys Are Back!

One thing about waiting for literally years between seasons of a show you like is – it builds up A LOT of anticipation! So let’s just say I was really excited to finally watch the season premiere of the fifth and final season of The Boys. I’ve been watching since the very beginning – I’ll give any show a chance that has Eric Kripke’s genius attached to it, and I was captivated by The Boys from the start because of its eerie reflection of what was already happening all around us. The comics began the tradition of calling out things that are wrong with our society, but by the time the series aired, the reflection started to seem less like fiction and more like reality. Season 5 was mostly written well before the last election and there’s no way Kripke and company could have known how disturbingly close to home some of the story lines would hit right now – but I’ve said more than once that the man is eerily prescient. As I watched the first two episodes, I can’t even count the number of times I started swearing out loud “OMG how could they be so spot on?!” or “This is impossible, Kripke how did you anticipate THIS??”   It’s certainly not a good thing that a show meant to be an over-the-top parody of all that’s gone wrong in modern (especially American) society ends up feeling so realistic and relevant, but it makes me feel better that someone else is seeing it too. That’s a first step to maybe stopping it, right? Right??

And yes, that’s a theme in the show too. You see why I love it so much?

Season Five Premiere – Fifteen Inches of Sheer Dynamite

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!!

Prime Video released the first two episodes of the new season on Wednesday, so what follows is a spoilery review of how the new season kicks off and how our favorite (and not favorite) characters are doing. If you haven’t watched yet, you may want to come back when you have – I love this show and I love digging deep into it and its complicated characters, hence the spoiler warning.

Homelander’s Crisis Continues

The season premiere kicks off with spectacle, which is fitting for The Boys. It’s a full on mega church moment as Homelander appears at the Vought shareholders meeting to the religious ecstasy of his followers – I mean, shareholders. Promises of a safer, more God fearing nation…. Does this sound familiar yet? Meanwhile, Starlight disguised as a Firecracker backup dancer is hacking into the system – suddenly the footage of Flight 37 appears onscreen of Homelander callously threatening the doomed passengers as he looks on horrified in the present.

His eyes start to glow ominously, and then Sister Sage shakes her head to calm him down. I immediately thought, they’ll probably just say it’s AI – and sure enough, that’s what they do. Remember, this was written years ago, but they get it right anyway, solidifying people’s willingness to disbelieve what their own eyes see if it’s an inconvenient truth. Memes making fun of the “AI altered footage” hit the internet; Homelander points out that he has seven fingers in the altered footage. How did they know that would be such a thing?

Peter Thiel gets a shout out as calling Sage for advice, the little bits of reality name dropped just making it all more eerie. She’s fine with the ongoing conflict the leak caused. Homelander, predictably, is not. What he cares about is being worshipped – he’s more pressed about the unflattering memes about him than how his ratings are.  In fact, he says, posting those kind of critical memes should be a crime. (Yes, I was yelling about how spot on the show is once again at this point).  Homelander can’t stand being disrespected, his fragile ego too brittle to withstand it.

“I need people to be devoted to me,” he whines.

I can’t help but feel a little bad for him even as I’m horrified by him. He’s so DAMAGED. In the season opener, Homelander continues the psychological crises that plagued him in Season 4, knowing everyone around him has their heart rate skyrocket when they’re near him because they’re all afraid of him. His handy dandy little maternal fixation with Firecracker has dried up too (as did her milk once she stopped taking the drug that was damaging her heart to make her lactate).

Antony Starr is brilliant in making the strongest man in the world look exactly like a petulant toddler who’s been denied his favorite toy.

Homelander isn’t too happy with the other supes who are still loyal to him either. The Deep has a podcast because of course he does, along with Black Noir version 2. He’s all about the “men’s lives matter” and staying away from women because “bitches like Starlight make you weak”, claiming he’s never felt manlier.  Later he spreads his bare legs for an overhead camera to sell his red light for the perineum contraption, which if you recall was a real thing on the internet for a while with guys out there sunning their perineum. Homelander calls in the Deep and Black Noir after the Flight 37 video debacle, demanding to know why they let Starlight get away and haven’t found A Train or Butcher. He wraps his hands around their throats as he hovers over them like a predator, the stage manager who was working the shareholder meeting dead (and decapitated) beside him as a visual warning. Antony Starr is very very good at making Homelander very very scary – the fact that he’s unhinged combined with all that power and the sadistic desperation is a terrifying combination. Apparently the stage manager liked some Starlight posts, and that’s why he’s dead.

(The whole liking social media posts can get you killed thing, btw, is too close to home right now, but spot on once again).

The Deep doesn’t hesitate to offer up his phone to have his social media posts checked, sycophantic to the end (or at least so far).   He’s not pleased with Noir not backing him up, reminding him that he’s not the real Noir, he can talk! Noir remains both silent and mysterious. Ominously so.

Back home, Homelander stands in front of the capsule holding his bare-chested underwear-clad sleeping father, which is in his living room. He sighs. (Yes, that description is relevant, as are the many Soldier Boy photos and gifs that will inevitably grace this review – this is originally a Supernatural website, after all…)

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The Cast of ‘The Boys’ Dishes on Those Complex Characters and What They Hope For in Season 5!

The Cast of ‘The Boys’ Dishes on Those Complex Characters and What They Hope For in Season 5!

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Last month was the first Creation Entertainment convention for Prime Video’s hit streaming series, ‘The Boys’ – which, as I write this, somehow seems more prescient than ever. Filming for Season 5, the final season of the show, begins in a few weeks, with Jensen Ackles’ Soldier Boy returning for hopefully every episode (and maybe being joined by his former Supernatural costar Jared Padalecki for some episodes too!)  As filming draws near, I couldn’t wait to hear what the actors were hoping for and what might be next for their characters.

Lucky for me, the convention was held in Whippany, New Jersey, so I was able to drive up and join the fun. It was the cast’s first Creation convention, which are modeled differently than multi-series Comic Cons or Fan Expos. The entire con was devoted to ‘The Boys’, so they had a great time getting to interact with fans of the hit Prime Video series. The cast is clearly as excited as we are about the upcoming final season of the show, as well as its spinoff Gen V and the prequel starring Jensen Ackles (Soldier Boy) and Aya Cash (Stormfront), Vought Rising. Here are some highlights of the convention and what the actors are hoping for for their characters in the final season.

I brought copies of the new book that takes a deep dive into ‘The Boys’ and all its complicated characters, Supes Ain’t Always Heroes, to give a copy to the actors, most of whom contributed interviews to the book, including in depth exclusive chapters from Jensen Ackles and Aya Cash, the stars of Vought Rising.  There are also chapters devoted to figuring out what makes all the characters tick, written by people who can do that – psychologists, sociologists and media experts. The Boys is such a smart show, I love digging deep and analyzing what makes IT tick too! Turns out, the cast is just as thoughtful about the show.

Colby Minifie, who plays Ashley, was as delightful onstage as she is onscreen. Yes, I know she’s not exactly one of the “good guys” but I love her character and she plays Ashley with such wit, I love watching her. There are several chapters in Supes that analyze her character, and she was excited to get a copy of the book. In fact, she could hardly believe there WAS a book about the show!

Here are some highlights of her panel and the others. She puts a lot of thought into her character, which is clear in her answers to some fan questions.

Colby: The dominatrix scene made sense to me because Ashley needs control somewhere in her life. We had lots and lots of meetings to be sure everyone felt safe.

We had lots and lots of meetings to be sure everyone felt safe. We have an intimacy coordinator on set. For example, I asked Jack if he was okay with it before I licked his feet.

Something you can only say on a show like ‘The Boys’ and just have everyone nod.

Another fan asked, what didn’t happen that she would have loved to see?

Colby: I would have loved to see what would’ve happened if Ashley did go escape with A Train. But I trust the writers.

(I for one was hoping Ashley would take A Train up on it when he suggested that things were about to go to shit and they should just get the hell outta there! I may have been yelling ‘run Ashley run!’)

It’s hard to answer a question about the “most shocking scene” in a show that’s known for its shocking scenes, but Colby weighed in.

Colby: The salad tossing human centipede… and the dick explosion. There are also simple things that are shocking in The Boys. I really do think the commentary on celebrity and the entertainment industry is quite out there and bold in its satire. It’s interesting from the tiniest thing to, you know, dick explosions.

(I told Colby that there’s a chapter that delves into the show’s commentary on celebrity and industry in Supes – I’m guessing she’ll read that one first!)

Some of Colby’s insights at the con were hilarious – and on point for the show. She told a story about how she pitched that Ashley’s super power should be that she has acid pee.

Me: I can’t believe you didn’t go for this, Kripke!

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The Boys Season 4 Wraps Up With a Bang – Can’t Wait for Season 5!

The Boys Season 4 Wraps Up With a Bang – Can’t Wait for Season 5!

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The aptly named season finale, Assassination Run, kicks off (in universe) on January 6 – because of course it does. Honestly this season is hitting almost TOO close to reality right now, as the real world gets more and more terrifying. And yet I still find it validating to know someone else is seeing the chaos going on and reflecting it back to me.

So, here’s all the twists and turns and surprises the season ended with – SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THE SEASON 4 FINALE!

Directed by none other than Eric Kripke himself.

The story lines all converge in the finale, as they should. It’s January 6 and the news about A Train comes out (and the cancellation of that fabulous film Training A Train alas…)   Vought puts out a PSA with supes saying they take responsibility… which is exactly what they don’t. Congress counts the electoral votes as Frenchie works with increasing desperation on extracting the virus.

Torn Between Two Identities

The shapeshifter pretending to be Annie surprised Hughie by asking him to marry her, and he surprises her back by running to get his own ring and asking the same, and….yep, back in bed.

Hughie: Wow, that was great… two fingers was a lot…

Next season I hope Hughie gets to really open up about all the assault he’s endured this season.

The show has been able to say some nuanced things about female sexual assault in its four years, and it’s certainly had plenty to say about the trauma every single male and female character have endured, but Hughie’s sexual assault is an opportunity to say/show more about something not often talked about enough.

In between sleeping with Hughie, the shifter goes back to real Annie to recharge, confiding her own rather sad story. Sure, she’s a sociopath, but what did anyone expect?  She’s the ultimate example of the identity crisis every single character is having this season, literally not knowing who she is.

Shifter Annie: I barely remember what I look like. One minute I was me and the next I was Miss Jamison, my preschool teacher, and I could see every memory she had. She felt justified in doing all those shitty things…you all do. You all think you’re the hero of your own story.

Another major theme of The Boys. Erin Moriarty did an amazing job with this story line – it has to be, always, so difficult to play two versions of yourself!

While Shifter Annie is gone, Hughie calls Butcher, who tells him a story about a steakhouse in Nevada where he was gonna go with Lenny. The kind of memory you bring up when you know you’re running out of time.

Butcher: Funny what you think about when your time’s up.

He asks Hughie to go there, and to tell the Boys he’s sorry. Tears in his eyes, he hangs up.

Hughie and not-Annie and MM take Robert Singer (Supernatural’s Jim Beaver) to a secret bunker where they hope to be able to defend him and that they hope the shifter won’t get in. Oops, too late…

Singer: If you’d killed Neuman like I’d ordered, we wouldn’t be stuck underground playing pocket pool… ya idjit.

Every Supernatural fan everywhere: YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS HE SAID IDJIT!!!

To make it even clearer, he adds: Balls!

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‘The Boys’ Episode 6 Really is Some Dirty Business

‘The Boys’ Episode 6 Really is Some Dirty Business

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This is a pivotal episode, but we don’t know it until the very end. I love a good twist – hey, I’m good friends with M. Night Shyamalan – and this was a good twist. Maybe one we all started to suspect along the way, but that’s part of the fun of it.

WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS FOR EPISODE 6 AHEAD

Butcher: Crisis of Conscience

Butcher ain’t doing well. He coughs more and more as time goes on and he wrestles with his conscience (in the form of Becca) and his opposing desire to just do whatever the fuck it takes to get the job done no matter the collateral damage (as Kessler keeps urging him).  He’s sliding closer and closer to Soldier Boy levels of the-end-justifies-the-means and ignore-the-collateral-damage every day.

Honestly I had a hard time watching what happens with Sameer. Just looking at his hastily and brutally amputated leg makes me queasy, more so every time Butcher tries to convince Sameer to make more virus. Every time Butcher might soften just a tiny bit, Joe is there to push him onward.

Joe: Or we could just send you back in a fucking bucket if you don’t do what we say.

Becca appears and questions what he’s doing, but Joe keeps overruling her.

Becca: Are you even trying to get Ryan out anymore, or is it the same old bloodlust all over again? You’re gonna kill one Homelander and just end up with another.

Butcher claims he’s trying to save the world, and can’t do what needs to be done and “keep you happy,” dismissing Becca’s concerns in an awful parallel to how people really do push the nagging sense of guilt from their conscience aside to allow them to do truly horrific things in the real world.

The next time they meet up, Joe comments that Billy looks like shit. Billy tells him to go fuck himself (which he says he already did today – twice).

Kessler allows that he too has struggled with a dual identity, with opposing parts of ourselves – the theme of this season. How after his last tour, Joe came home and tried to be a family man, help his son, go fucking towel shopping. Be normal.

Kessler: But everywhere I looked I saw the ruined faces of those men that you and me tortured and killed. I couldn’t square up who I was at home with the shit I’ve done. That guy taking out the trash and watching Sports Center, that wasn’t me. The real me likes to hear ‘em scream.  So tell me, Billy, who’s the real you?

It’s the theme of this season. Who, indeed, is the real you? The real any of us?

When Billy tried to be “normal” with Becca, did it all just feel like an act? Like the darkest case of imposter syndrome?

Too Close to Reality Once Again

Another hard-to-watch story line in this episode belongs to Hughie. Fresh from sprinkling his dad’s ashes around the city he loved, Hughie infiltrates Tek Knight’s Federalist Society big money party to get some intel. This is accomplished by MM incapacitating a minor supe named Web Weaver (by shooting something up his butt because this show is fascinated with butt stuff, seriously – and with MM getting squirted in the face with substances, this time some web when he “puts it in the wrong hole”.) You can’t make this stuff up.

MM: There ain’t enough Purell in the fucking world.

(Nor enough mindfulness apps, which MM keeps desperately using).

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‘The Boys’ Delivers a Gut Punch Episode with ‘Wisdom of the Ages’

‘The Boys’ Delivers a Gut Punch Episode with ‘Wisdom of the Ages’

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Before we get into the fourth episode of Season 4 of The Boys, arguably one of the best episodes of the series, there’s other exciting news for the show – Jared Padalecki, who Eric Kripke cast as Sam in Supernatural, has finally said yes to hopefully joining The Boys in Season 5. If, as we suspect, Jensen Ackles’ Soldier Boy will also be back in Season 5, the entire Supernatural fandom will be sat and waiting impatiently (not that many of us aren’t already doing that this season, thoroughly enjoying SPN alums Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Rob Benedict (RIP Splinter) along with the entire stellar cast of The Boys).

I’ve been hoping Jared joined The Boys when his schedule allowed for a long time, so I’m thrilled to hear that might well be happening soon!

(You can catch up on all things ‘The Boys’, including deep dives into the characters and everything that makes the show special – plus exclusive interviews with Jensen Ackles on Soldier Boy and other cast – with that book Jensen’s holding, Supes Ain’t Always Heroes. Links at the end of the article fyi).

So, where are we now in Season 4?  The fourth episode of Season 4 of The Boys takes a dark dark turn – as in, things go very wrong for a lot of people.

It’s been more than a week, so I’m assuming you’ve caught up with all the insanity of the first three episodes (Spoilers for those episodes ahead). To recap:

The Insanity so Far: 4.01 to 4.03 Recap

Homelander and company have a plan for taking out poor Robert Singer and putting in fellow supe Victoria Neuman. On a personal note, Homelander is so obsessed with aging that he’s collecting gray hairs in a jar – gray hairs from anywhere he finds ‘em. He’s also sick of being surrounded by sycophants and imbeciles, proving it by demanding that The Deep give A Train a blow job and having them stand up and start getting to it (much to Ashley’s obvious excitement which was a touch I loved!).

That was a weirdly fitting counterpoint to Season 1 when The Deep forces Starlight to give him a blow job – and actually does go through with it. I love that the show remembers its own history.

Butcher’s having a crisis of conscience as he contemplates how much he’s willing to do to Ryan to “get him on our side”, personified in visions of Becca. Butcher’s new buddy Joe Kessler is not only played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan but has also traumatized the Supernatural fandom by channeling John Winchester (the character he played on that show) by insisting to Butcher that yes, he’d train his son up to be a killer. (Which is just what John Winchester did to both his sons).

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The Wild Ride Continues: Season 4 of ‘The Boys’ Kicks Off and I’m Here For It!

The Wild Ride Continues: Season 4 of ‘The Boys’ Kicks Off and I’m Here For It!

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(Includes events in the first three episodes of The Boys Season 4 but we’ve left some of the biggest spoilers for you to experience yourself…)

The first three episodes of The Boys dropped in the wee hours of the morning yesterday, much to the delight of fans who’ve been waiting for almost two years for more of their favorite show. While we were waiting, Dr. Matt Snyder and I put together a book of essays and interviews from the cast of the show and psychologists and media experts who love it, dissecting the complicated characters and what makes them tick – Supes Ain’t Always Heroes. I was hoping to see some of the themes in the book picked up in the new season – which they were. So let’s dig in! What’s happening with all our favorites?

Neuman & Singer: Winning Ticket

I can’t help but like Victoria Neuman. I know, I know, she’s exploded lots of people’s heads, but she’s been used her whole life and is more focused on protecting her own daughter than anything, which is one of those universally relatable motivations. (Okay, okay, so Zoe is now a tentacle-spewing supe herself, but still).  In the first three episodes of Season 4, we see that while once she was, I think, genuinely friends with Hughie, now they’re at odds. Actually that’s an understatement, but Neuman takes it in stride.

Neuman: You guys are actually getting worse at your jobs!

I love her running mate too, Presidential candidate Robert Singer. He’s a bit less enthusiastic about her, with good reason.

Singer: Everyone told me to pick Buttigieg instead…

(I happen to know how much Beaver relishes this show and that kind of dialogue. You can read all his thoughts on The Boys and his character in his exclusive interview in  Supes Ain’t Always Heroes: Inside The Complex Characters and Twisted Psychology of The Boys)

Homelander: Daddy Issues

I’ve read some reviews that question whether focusing on the same big bad for four seasons will have to get old, but honestly? This season brings a whole new batch of neuroses and Oedipal struggles for Homie to deal with, and I’m here for that. So much of Homelander’s life has been anything but ordinary, but one of the things he confronts in this season is something that’s as universal as breathing – aging. How do you think he’s going to handle that? Yep, you probably guessed right.

And then there’s parenting. It’s tough to put your progeny in the spotlight when your own narcissism is insisting it should be YOU there, even if you really do care (as much as you’re able). Soldier Boy was proof of just how hard it is to break the horrors of intergenerational trauma, and hoo boy, did Homelander ever have a lot of that. Trauma with a capital T. We learn more about John’s early upbringing in the first episodes of this season, as he goes back to visit his first “home”. With a Fudgie the Whale cake.

That’s a real Time Magazine cover, btw, as showrunner Eric Kripke tweeted. He’s right, this show’s marketing team is beyond amazing!

I will forever relish the character of Homelander for a) Antony Starr’s brilliance and b) the opportunities it offers for real life parallels that are so on the nose they’re almost painful. He emerges from his trial calmly telling everyone to “remain calm, you’re all very special people” and I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

The New Supes Drop Some Truth Bombs

New supe Sister Sage energizes Homelander – and the show itself. As Homelander’s supporters square off in a shouting match with Starlight supporters, she comes up with the plan to manipulate public opinion against the Starlighters. And she knows the value of a martyr. Much like Stormfront, Sage is introduced in a way that makes us think we’re going to like her. Her apartment is literally floor to ceiling books and not much else, befitting for the smartest person in the world.

Sage: That person is too smart to give a fuck about Pottery Barn.

She’s also refreshingly and brutally honest with Homelander, commenting on his enlarged prostate and his gray hairs and that he’s “going through some existential midlife stuff.”

Sage also easily manipulates The Deep (and hooks up with him over their mutual love of Outback’s bloomin’ onion, which, valid) and knows how they could pitch Ryan as the newest chosen-by-God hero.

Sage: The chosen one narrative only works if he stands alone. Hollywood trains people to fall in love with the white boy saviors.

Oof, she’s not wrong.

Firecracker, on the other hand, is sort of a mini Stormfront, in that she’s every offensive thing we hear proclaimed on the ‘news’ and in the media every single day. She’s transphobic, anti-vax, you name the thing and she’s saying it – on her “Truth Bomb” youtube channel usually.  Occasionally she says something that really is a truth bomb. “What are you selling?” Sage asks her at the TruthCon convention.

Firecracker: Purpose. These people have nothing, maybe just lost a job or a house. I tell them a story, give them a purpose.

This show hits you in the stomach just when you least expect it.

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Fathers, Sons and The Power of Choice – The Boys Explosive Season 3 Finale

Fathers, Sons and The Power of Choice – The Boys Explosive Season 3 Finale

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The season finale of Season 3 of The Boys has been one of the most anticipated ever. It’s honestly been so much fun watching the excitement ramp up each week for each episode – it was a brilliant decision on Eric Kripke and Prime Video’s part to release the episodes over five weeks instead of all at once, especially with the insane promotion we were treated to each week. I watched the whole season before it streamed in the press screeners, but I still felt entirely swept up in the anticipation and excitement (and, let’s face it, dread!) each week.

The cast traveled to Brazil for four wild days of promotion, which only served to amp up the anticipation even more. We were treated to interviews and red carpets and the cast all having a bloody good time. And Jensen Ackles looking like this.

Now that everyone has had a chance to watch it, this is the spoilery recap and review of the season finale, so SPOILERS ahead. LOTS OF THEM!

I’ve been watching this show since its beginning and have loved it since then, but Season 3 has been a whole different ballgame. As a passionate Supernatural fan, the addition of Jensen Ackles as Soldier Boy meant that I was even more excited about this season, but even I wasn’t prepared for just how much I’d be drawn in by the character or just how complicated my feelings about Soldier Boy would be. He’s an asshole and a bigot and a bully, but Ackles also portrays him with vulnerability and humor and at times he’s almost charming. I feel like I should not have been hoping for any kind of redemption arc for Soldier Boy, and yet I found myself nervous as hell going into the finale, hoping that a) he wouldn’t be killed off and b) he might find at least a little bit of redemption. Help save the day, maybe?

Well… I should know Eric Kripke better than that by now!

I’ve been writing a lot about this season of The Boys being all about choice, and the season finale sees every main character have to make some difficult ones.

Passing It On From Father To Son – Or Not

This season is also about the intergenerational transmission of trauma, and the toxic masculinity messages that are passed down from fathers to sons. One of those messages is about strength and power. All the men whose fathers were abusive, with either physical or verbal violence or both, have a hard time not repeating the cycle.

Butcher’s father was both, and those toxic messages are ever-present in his head, bleeding out of him in eruptions of physical violence and caustic, cruel barbs thrown at enemies and friends alike.

In this episode, he vacillates wildly between giving into those violent impulses, laser focused (heh heh) on taking down Homelander and willing to use anyone as a weapon to do that, and trying to hang onto the caring part of him that wanted to protect Lenny and now wants to protect Hughie.  He never does tell Hughie about the Temp V being fatal, but he unceremoniously knocks him out with a punch and shoves him in a convenience store bathroom to keep him from taking it again. So, a few points at least in his favor?

On the other hand, he’s been fine with using Frenchie and Kimiko and now Soldier Boy to get the revenge he wants, and he’s as manipulative as ever in this episode, as he repeatedly tells Soldier Boy that Homelander is not really his son. We see Soldier Boy’s ambivalence several times, hesitating to kill his own son and emotional about having a child – but Butcher knows to play to the rage he feels at being tossed aside and replaced, focusing that rage on Homelander by telling Soldier Boy that he is his replacement and the reason he was tortured. Well played, Butcher, but chillingly cruel.

Homelander was not just abused but neglected, deprived of not just a father but a mother too. A sensitive boy like Butcher seems to have been, he too had that knocked out of him with cruelty, absorbing the same message that to be “a man” you must not only be strong and powerful but unfeeling too. Showing vulnerability is weakness, unmanly. Both men struggle to have any kind of healthy relationships – even Butcher’s with his wife was doomed once Ryan existed – and both have been increasingly isolated and alone as this season progressed.

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