Tag: Nathan Mitchell

The Boys Season 4’s Penultimate Episode ‘The Insider’

The Boys Season 4’s Penultimate Episode ‘The Insider’

spnfans

Suddenly we’re almost at the end of The Boys season 4 – it seemed to go by very quickly, didn’t it? This season’s reception has been a bit more uneven than the nearly universal kudos for the previous season, especially for the last episode and the treatment of Hughie’s assault. It’s undoubtedly challenging to keep upping the game with a show that started out with such high levels of shock, sex and especially violence right from the jump. That may be the source of some struggle this season, but I’m still thoroughly enjoying what this show does best – hold up a mirror to some of the worst parts of our real life and poke at them. There’s so much that’s over the top in reality right now, sometimes The Boys feels a little too real – but mostly for me it’s validating to see the reflection and be assured that yes, someone else sees the insanity too!

I also enjoy watching the show through the lens of what it’s trying to say, which is slightly different each season. It’s why my colleague Matt and I edited a book on The Boys, examining those themes with input from actors, psychologists and media experts. I was fascinated then, in Season 3, and I’m still fascinated now. (You can find Supes Ain’t Always Heroes at your favorite bookstore or on Amazon)

We have one more episode that will air in the wee hours of Thursday morning this week – and believe me, you do NOT want to miss it!

So, what happened last week in Episode 4.07? A lot!

The Life of Ryan

The theme of this episode – attempting to be your own person and who you really are — is expressed in a biting parody of one of my favorite shows of all time, Avenue Q, which I saw on Broadway with my kids a long time ago – and adored.  Vought Studios presents, of course, Avenue V, complete with puppets of all the supes and poor Ryan looking uncomfortable with every single thing they sing about.  Most of that is encouraging kids to rat out their parents and teachers and neighbors for anything that might be ANTIFA or Christmas hate.  Ryan keeps calling ‘cut’, though the director insists his dad approved the lyrics. Homelander, overwhelmed with issues of his own, leaves Ryan a snippy message to just suck it up and do it, but that doesn’t go over too well.

Ryan eventually stops the filming and addresses the camera, much to Homelander’s anger and disappointment (though he’s taking his father’s previous advice not to let anyone else prevent you from speaking your mind…Be careful what you wish for, Homelander)

(I feel like Cameron Crovetti had a blast filming this…)

Ryan: That song isn’t cool, none of this is cool. Your family isn’t your enemy, your family is all you’ve got. I’ve been thinking about my mom a lot. She died but she loved Christmas…and Terms of Endearment…and her husband Billy. But she wouldn’t love this and she wouldn’t want me doing it. My mom always told me to tell the truth.

Ryan is as torn as everyone else this season – in his case, between two dads.  At Homelander’s place, Ryan sees a package under the Christmas tree and recognizes the return address as “dontbeacunt”. It’s a photo of his mom and Butcher and their dog.

Butcher, watching Ryan’s speech on a TV in a bar, tells Kessler aka himself that’s why he’s got faith in the kid.

And then he collapses on the floor of the bar.

Butcher also reunites with the Boys in this episode, telling them about the virus Sameer is working on and that it would cause global pandemic and a supe genocide. They all notice for the first time that Butcher is sometimes talking to no one (as Kessler calls him an asshole and warns him that he’s pissing away their best shot).  Butcher agrees that they’ll only use the virus on Homelander and Neuman, much to his alter ego’s disgust.

Kessler confronts Butcher, aka Butcher confronts himself. Why does he have such a soft spot for supes? Is it because he fucked Maeve? Cares about Ryan, who’s not even his? Butcher says he gave Becca his word, but Kessler scoffs that if their love was so perfect and pure why did he go around fucking waitresses?

Nobody is better at convincing Butcher that he’s a fuck-up than Butcher himself.

The Boys are starting to pull together again, though. Butcher also got Mallory to pull some strings and free a reluctant and still guilt-stricken Frenchie. MM asks Butcher to be back in charge, saying he’s better off doing research instead of being the skipper – and trying to follow doctor’s orders. Hughie, Butcher and Annie start to figure out the assassination plot for January 6 (of course) and also find a supe shapeshifter that Sister Sage put on the job. Uh oh.

Read more →

‘The Boys’ Episode 6 Really is Some Dirty Business

‘The Boys’ Episode 6 Really is Some Dirty Business

spnfans

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).

Read more →

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

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

spnfans

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).

Read more →

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!

spnfans

(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.

Read more →

New Book on ‘The Boys’!  ‘Supes Ain’t Always Heroes’ Now Available!

New Book on ‘The Boys’!  ‘Supes Ain’t Always Heroes’ Now Available!

spnfans

The long wait is finally over – the new book, ‘Supes Ain’t Always Heroes: Inside the Complex Characters and Twisted Psychology of The Boys’ released on December 5! We delayed the release in solidarity with the writers’ and actors’ strikes, but now the book is ready for reading just in time for us to all lose our collective you know what over the teaser trailer for The Boys Season 4, coming in 2024. And tease us it did…

Showdown between Annie and Homelander?

Robert Singer and Victoria Neuman leading in the polls?

Rob Benedict joining the fun – and feeling really “torn” about it?

Karl Urban and Jeffrey Dean Morgan the duo we never knew we absolutely needed onscreen?

Also, I have missed you JDM!

Oh, and was that Black Noir???

Yesssssssssssssssssssssssssssss!

If you haven’t watched the trailer yet, what are you waiting for?

The Boys S4 Teaser Trailer

And now there’s a book that delves deep into all the amazing characters and provocative story lines that make The Boys universe so incredible – just in time for more! (And for holidays, birthdays, etc. if you or someone you love is a fan of The Boys)

Supes Ain’t Always Heroes is the perfect way to catch up on everything that’s happened so far and gain a deeper understanding of all the complicated characters. There are chapters that take deep dives into all your favorites, from Homelander to Soldier Boy, Butcher to Black Noir, Starlight to Stormfront, Hughie to A Train and many more. What makes your favorite character tick? Let psychologists and sociologists help you explore everything you love about them – or everything you love to hate. If you love the show’s biting social commentary, media experts and journalists take an insightful look at the issues the show tackles – from racism to sexism, toxic masculinity to social media, and how it all fits into Hollywood and corporate America.

The book doesn’t forget the brilliance of the show’s actors or the comics creators. Sometimes it’s the cast who bring these complex characters to life that have some of the most fascinating insights into who they are. There are exclusive in-depth interviews with Jensen Ackles (Soldier Boy), Aya Cash (Stormfront),  Nate Mitchell (Black Noir), Jim Beaver (Robert Singer) as well as co-creator Darick Robertson, and additional comments from many of the other cast on this show we’ve all come to love.

I love what Jensen Ackles has to say about Soldier Boy and the decisions he made in portraying him. That’s a Soldier Boy smirk if I ever saw one! And we’re all counting on him being back, right???

Eric Kripke has said that ultimately he sees ‘The Boys’ as hopeful – and we do too. We put this book together because the show sparked so much thought and discussion with the way it reflects things we might wish we didn’t see in the real world around us. We believe in changing the world just like ‘The Boys’ ultimately does, so every copy of Supes Ain’t Always Heroes purchased benefits the Venice Family Clinic and their life saving work in this real world.

We hope you love Supes as much as we all do – Here are some of our awesome contributors celebrating the book’s release!

courtesy Tina Charles
courtesy Kaela Joseph
courtesy Hansi Oppenheimer
courtesy Tanya Cook

If you love ‘The Boys’, don’t be afraid to go deeper (Deeper?). Just be careful not to sneeze!

All the info and links to order here:

https://smartpopbooks.com/book/supes-aint-always-heroes/

(Special appearance by Soldier Boy supporter Mr. Jared Padalecki, who I think was impressed by that impressive bicep…)

Here’s the link for info and to buy, wherever you prefer to get your books – Supes Ain’t Always Heroes

Happy reading!

– Lynn and Matt

 

 

 

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

spnfans

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.

Read more →

The Boys Episode 3.7 Drops A lot of Bombshells (And A Music Video)

The Boys Episode 3.7 Drops A lot of Bombshells (And A Music Video)

spnfans

Only one more episode of Season 3 of The Boys to go, and I don’t think anyone is ready for this wild ride to be over! This week’s episode, ominously titled “Here Comes A Candle To Light You To Bed” brought one of the biggest revelations of the series, and delivered it in a way that ensured it left a powerful impact. I know some people guessed what was coming, but I wasn’t one of those people, so it left me gobsmacked and repeating WTF more than once. Luckily I love it when this show can surprise me, so this is far from a complaint.

MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD, SO BE SURE YOU’VE WATCHED THE EPISODE FIRST!

It’s been amusing, as a long time Supernatural fan, to watch the rest of the world discover Jensen Ackles’ acting brilliance as they watch this season of The Boys. He gave a tour de force in this episode, once again making me feel a ridiculous range of emotions that shouldn’t be possible for one character – especially one like Soldier Boy. And yet…

Look, even the official accounts can’t help but get a little heart eyed over this character (and the guy who so vividly portrays him).

More than anything, this episode was about agency and choice, as many of the characters confront their own fears and make decisions about their trajectories in life that acknowledge those fears but refuse to be constrained by them.  Homelander and Vought (as now personified by Ashley) continue to hold power by wielding that fear, Ashley utilizing their voicepiece Cameron Coleman to cast doubt on Annie’s accusations. Surely no one can take her seriously when she’s clearly just a woman scorned, and oh by the way, doesn’t she have ties to known terrorists and human traffickers? No wonder she started a home for runaway girls!  Imagine a world where the real bad guys take the moral high ground to silence a voice for change and people just believe it…oh wait.

Maeve is one of the characters who has faced the worst case scenario and decided she’s willing to lose it all to go up against Vought and Homelander. He visits her to see if he can find out where Butcher and Soldier Boy are, trying to scare her by saying that Soldier Boy has already killed seven supes and fried the power out of others – reminding her that could happen to any of them. His fear mongering doesn’t work on her anymore though.

Maeve: That’s the difference between you and me. You need to be a supe; I can’t wait til it’s over.

In one of the many parallels in this episode, Homelander recalls almost fondly that at one time he wanted to have kids with Maeve, just as Soldier Boy recalled the same about Crimson Countess previously. In an eerily prescient theme for what’s going on in the real world right now, Homelander assures her that he’d never force himself on her – but that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t harvest her eggs against her will to make himself some kids. It’s a shocking attempt to control her body and her reproductive decisions and how the hell are Kripke and this show always so good at predicting the dystopian future?

Maeve refuses to give him the upper hand though, saying that the day is still a top three for her, because she saw him scared. Touche.

Later, Homelander speaks at a rally and attacks Starlight once again when he’s supposed to be rallying in support of candidate Robert Singer (Supernatural’s own Jim Beaver). Homelander is losing it a bit though, hallucinating Soldier Boy in the crowd, his eyes glowing for a second before he gets himself under control. Walking it off, he ends up in a nearby barn where a cow is plaintively mooing. As ‘Crimson and Clover’ starts to play, the scene goes surreal, Homelander milking the cow and looking positively orgasmic while doing it and then drinking the milk right out of the bucket.

Only on The Boys, seriously.

Neuman catches him at it and tells him to pull himself together, offering him some information and a working alliance. That should go well.

A Train wakes up in the hospital with a new heart and an Ashley-written fake news story about how he got it that involves Soldier Boy killing Blue Hawk just as he and A Train were getting along again. Nice cover story, tying up all the loose ends. A Train is ambivalent about going along with all this, but you get the feeling he’s going to cave, drawn back in by the fame and fortune – and Ashley knows it.

Black Noir, on the run and hiding from Soldier Boy, also faces his fears – with the help of Buster Beaver and his cast of cartoon characters. Nathan Mitchell somehow manages to convey all kinds of emotions without saying a word, and it’s a brilliant use of cartoons to depict Noir’s backstory (as this show has done before).  Much like Homelander’s heart to heart with his own mirror image, Black Noir’s dream sequence in his head gives voice to his own self doubt and trauma without him having to utter a thing.

Read more →

Non-Spoilery Preview (and Soldier Boy musings) of The Boys Episode 7 – Releasing Friday!

Non-Spoilery Preview (and Soldier Boy musings) of The Boys Episode 7 – Releasing Friday!

spnfans

The penultimate episode of ‘The Boys’ Season 3, ominously titled ‘Here Comes A Candle To Light You To Bed,’ releases this Friday on Prime Video, and the little teasers already have everyone bouncing in anticipation (per usual). This is my non-spoilery teaser review of my own reaction to episode 3.7 – and as a Supernatural fan, this one is especially for everyone who was already a Jensen Ackles admirer or has joined the party recently and jumped on board in appreciation of Soldier Boy.

The last few episodes of Season 3 are going to be a rollercoaster for Ackles fans the likes of which we have never ridden. My advice is you’d better hold on tight, because this one is like that rollercoaster in the dark at Disney World where it’s extra scary because you never know when there’s gonna be a sudden twist or how violent the turn is gonna be. That also makes it extra exhilarating – for a long time that was my favorite ride there. But when I say my heart was pounding out of my chest and I had to jump up and sort of run around my kitchen a few times to calm down, to the accompaniment of colorful exclamations, I am not exaggerating.

Ackles himself weighed in on Instagram about his character’s wee bit of anger issues….

Ya’ think??

From the perspective of someone who has been a Supernatural fan for 17 years, there are all kinds of things that fandom has imagined a character Ackles plays doing – things that a show on the CW could not include, even if it might have made more sense for hardened traumatized hunter Dean Winchester than his PG vocabulary ever did. Most of those things have played out in fanfiction over the years, for sure, but somehow seeing and hearing a character onscreen who is not limited to the CW standards and practices was more shocking than I expected. No, I am very much not complaining.

Seeing Jensen be able to sink his teeth into a role like this, into a character who is raw and fucked up and in many ways the worst of a swatch of humanity in real life – it was awesome. For someone who’s a long-time fan, it was also a mind fuck, in that I could not help but love the character just a little even when I hated him.

cap acklesism
gif arachnidfellow

There’s a reason the fandom calls him Danger Grampa or Sweet Baby Murder Kitten, after all.

We learn about some of the horrible things he’s done in this episode, right alongside more of the things that have been done to him – and right alongside the moments when he lets his guard down a little and says something real and shows some genuine emotion. That is one of the things this show has excelled at from the beginning and why I’ve loved it since Season 1 – it’s always shades of gray, even the worst characters having moments of humanity when I feel for them. But having one of my favorite actors embody that kind of complexity made it so much more difficult for me to negotiate. I kept wanting to sympathize with him – especially when the traumas of his past are laid out – but each time there’s a punch to the gut that reminds me that I can’t get too pulled in. Talk about a mindfuck!

Read more →

“The Boys” At San Diego Comic Con

“The Boys” At San Diego Comic Con

spnfans

One of the first things I did when I got to San Diego Comic Con this year was check out the press preview for the Amazon Prime activation for some of their highly anticipated new shows. I was especially excited to get a taste of the new show, ‘The Boys’, based on the comic by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson. The show flipflops our usual expectations for a superhero show by taking a no-holds-barred look at what happens to superheroes once they succumb to the lure of fame and fortune and power. (And if you think that’s a handy dandy way to look at the very same dynamics in our own real world, you’re absolutely right).

The show seems to be all about the gray, so nothing is black and white, but the good “guys” (who are not all guys) are the mere humans trying to fight back against flawed superheroes and the multi billion dollar organization that essentially manages their social media presence. It’s ‘the boys’ versus ‘the supes’ and it looks like a hell of a lot of fun. I was also intrigued because I fell in love with one of showrunner Eric Kripke’s first “babies”, Supernatural, and have watched all he’s done since. I love the way he isn’t afraid to go meta or to weave in sometimes surprising combinations into one show, from the violent to the irreverent to the heartwarming – and the heartbreaking. So I was excited to experience a little bit of The Boys!

The activation took you inside the world of The Boys and right into a case, as we all teamed up to help some of ‘the boys’ crack a case and figure out what ‘the Supes’ are up to no (no good clearly). One of them had crashed a car right into an electronics shop, so we combed through the rubble for clues while ‘the boys’ used the F word more times than I may have ever heard in the space of fifteen minutes! It was high energy, gritty, dirty and did a great job of portraying the feel of the show. It also threw us all when one of ‘the boys’ suddenly turned on a guy who we thought was a guest just like us and freaked out about him filming on his phone.

The boy: Are you a supe??? Are you??? Why are you filming, huh?

He threw a punch and the guy fell to the floor, obviously bleeding, and a few people in our group actually gasped out loud because they didn’t realize he was part of the activation. Well done, Amazon Prime!

After I attended the press conference for ‘The Boys’ (and was thrilled to be able to ask showrunner and Supernatural creator Eric Kripke a question!) I jogged over to Ballroom 20 to catch the panel. (I seriously do not want to walk for a week once Comic Con is over…)

Read more →

Where To Find It – All Our Books on Supernatural, The Boys and More!

Where To Find It – All Our Books on Supernatural, The Boys and More!

spnfans

Wondering where you can find Supes Ain’t Always Heroes, There’ll Be Peace When You Are Done, Family Don’t End With Blood and our other Supernatural books? Here’s all the information you need and links to order!

Supes Ain’t Always Heroes:

Our latest book is a deep dive into the hit streaming show The Boys, another masterpiece with Eric Kripke’s creative touch.  If you’re fascinated by the complicated heroes and villains (and trying to figure out which is which), dig into insights from psychologists, sociologists, media experts and the actors who bring the characters to life – including exclusive interview chapters with Jensen Ackles (Soldier Boy), Aya Cash (Stormfront), Nate Mitchell (Black Noir) and Jim Beaver (Bob Singer) and commentary from many of the other cast members. Plus a fascinating interview with co-creator of The Boys comic series Darick Robertson!

If you love this show’s twisted sense of humor or its biting social commentary or the way we love to hate (hate to love?) its characters, you’ll find something to fascinate you in Supes Ain’t Always Heroes.

Order here:

Supes Ain’t Always Heroes

There’ll Be Peace When You Are Done:

There’ll Be Peace When You Are Done: Actors and Fans Celebrate the Legacy of Supernatural is an emotional look back at the television show Supernatural as it wraps up its final season after fifteen unprecedented years on air.

Supernatural actors Hugo Ateo, Andrea Drepaul, Adam Fergus, Carrie Genzel, David Haydn-Jones, Chad Lindberg, Lee Majdoub, Julie McNiven, Tahmoh Penikett, Lee Rumohr, Richard Speight Jr., Todd Stashwick, Shoshannah Stern, Brendan Taylor, Gabe Tigerman, Lauren Tom, and Rick Worthy all shared their own experience with the show, the cast and their characters. Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles’ chapters pull together some of the most heartfelt and emotional things they’ve had to say at public events over the past year about the show ending, plus new thoughts on Sam and Dean’s legacy.  Misha Collins contributed a special hopeful message that is short but heartfelt, and is the perfect ending for the book. Eric Kripke himself gave us a brief message about his “little show that could” for the back cover. And over twenty fans wrote about what Supernatural has meant to them and what its legacy will be in the world.

Every purchase benefits Random Acts (Misha’s global charity) and SPNSurvivors (a suicide prevention non-profit), whose work is more important now than ever!

There’ll Be Peace When You Are Done is the ultimate send-off for this iconic show that has touched and changed the lives of so many fans across all walks of life. The book gives us all something to hang onto as the show comes to an end, and to always remember just how special Supernatural is and will always be.

Click here to order!

Family Don’t End With Blood:

Family Don’t End With Blood is an inspiring, emotional book written by the Supernatural actors and fans about what the show has meant to them. Jared, Jensen, Misha, Kim, Briana, Ruth, Rachel, Mark, Matt, Rob, Osric, Jim and Gil and a dozen Supernatural fans all share their very personal stories of how being on Supernatural and part of the SPNFamily has changed their lives. We love hearing that reading this book has inspired others to keep fighting too – and every purchase benefits Random Acts and Attitudes in Reverse to help make a difference!

Click Here to Order!

Read more →