The Boys - Amazon Prime Original - (**Spoilers**) (No Comic Spoilers!)

anglesorangles

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119310757#Comment_119310757

Please please tell me thats the last time you will ever watch it. I fear for your enjoyment of life going forward.

Thecageyone

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119313386#Comment_119313386

Pretty sure Maeve's comment was more metaphorical - she didn't literally mean 'fly' ...

I thought it was a decent end to a sober enough season, I don't get why people are so anti-HL, without him I think the show just dies a horrible death, he remains the more interesting/exciting character to watch - still a scene stealer, still the boss man!

Padre_Pio

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119315582#Comment_119315582

Spoiler Warning

Homelander is a boss. The show wouldn't be half as good without him IMO. He plays well against the Urban's hammy acting.

Just feels like his character went nowhere in this season.

He found his Dad, then lost him.

He lost his son, then found him again.

He's the head of Vought, which doesn't really impact him in any way.

He's still as sociopathic and deluded as ever.

His public image is still the same.

You can say the same for a lot of the Boys too. It's fantastic TV and I binged it in 2 days, but it's just missing that little bit of development.

Thecageyone

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119315603#Comment_119315603

I agree on all points, I live in hope too that they develop the premium characters moreso, but HL still remains the main reason I'm still wathing!

Fred Astaire

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119315181#Comment_119315181

It's the last time I'll watch it with any expectation or hope of a good story anyway.

My immersion is totally broken with the show. It's become the very thing it was originally satirising.

FunLover18

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119315582#Comment_119315582

Lack of development is an issue but also lack of overall progression in the show. I don't know what development people expect from him, he's the antagonist of the show so they either somehow find a way to turn him around into some sort of anti-hero (which I wouldn't want) or he becomes more evil. From the ending of season 2 it looks like he's going to become more open about his evilness but honestly they need to get rid of him imo because when your antagonist is the best character and the show is basically about trying to kill, the show is going to get stale and viewers are gonna get frustrated when that story doesn't progress.

I think the thing that annoyed me most in this episode (and someone mentioned it above) is that almost a scene after Hughie says "we have to save everyone, especially those who don't deserve it" (which is stupid imo) we see Kimiko tear apart a bunch of security guards. I'll watch season 4 but I'm particularly excited for it at this stage, hopefully with Butcher's development we might actually get some progression.

PsychoPete

Surely Homelander becomes even more dangerous now that he knows his fans are perfectly happy to see him popping heads in public

Fred Astaire

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119316669#Comment_119316669

More dangerous than what?

It's absolutely absurd that by this point he hasn't just killed every single one of the Boys. At the end of Season 3 there is absolutely 0 reason for him to allow any of them to live.

PTH2009

Great soundtrack for the whole series but really loved 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road by Elton John' this past week

Mr.Nice Guy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119316947#Comment_119316947

If he did that, then he'd be proving Edgar right that he couldn't handle the pressure. Homelander has no real incentive to kill the others bar Starlight, and he indicated he would go after Hughie if she provoked him rather than her.

Fred Astaire

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119323297#Comment_119323297

That is a really hollow, terrible excuse for him not killing them.

This crew of people who are actively trying to find ways to kill Homelander, and had actually finally done so - only for CW level writing to contrive a way to save Homelander? Then him trying to take care of them would prove he can't handle the pressure? What? How on earth does that make even a lick of sense?

Edgar himself was keen to solidify his power repeatedly so Homelander doing the exact same is hardly him "not handling the pressure".

Homelander has every incentive to kill the others. Butcher and Hughie essentially tried to kill him in Herogasm, Starlight has trying been turning the world against him. The whole crew have been trying to get to him since Season 1. He wouldn't let anybody else live in this scenario but because our characters are the main characters they are still alive. He should 100% want to kill Hughie, Butcher and Starlight as an absolute baseline and then the other three (MM, Kimiko & Frenchie) have done more than enough. He kills people for fun. A slight incentive with this guy is a colossal incentive.

All they had was the plane video to keep them safe. It's basically worthless now - given that he has a huge support base who will buy his narrative on everything, and also that he survived Starlight repeatedly attempting to tell the world how bad he is. He spins a narrative, it's accepted. He brutally murdered Supersonic and he was able to easily explain it away.

Half the nation views Starlight as a villain anyway, she isn't even in the Seven anymore, her powers are worthless. They locked up Soldier Boy, they have no defense against him. He should fly over to their hideout and kill them all. They were a literal second away from having him dead. For him not to do so is just plain absurd at this point.

youcancallmeal

I knew they weren't going to kill off Homelander, he really is such a superb actor/character. I thought they might have had him lose his powers though, then next season would've been some sort of redemption arc where he eventually gets his powers back and helps the Boys kill off Soldier Boy or some other antagonist.

B.A._Baracus

I enjoyed the season however got to say how long can you make the homelander vs butcher story line last?

Mr.Nice Guy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119325033#Comment_119325033

Homelander hasn't tended to killed for fun, though. If that were the case, Butcher would have been torn to shreds at the end of season 1. After he (possibly) killed Noir, he was upset and lamented that the rest weren't as good. Season 4 may change that now that he knows he can kill and won't lose the people's adoration he needs. Generally, Homelander kills when he feels like making a point, which was the case with Supersonic. If he wants to hurt Starlight, it would be more in keeping with his behaviour for him to go after Hughie to do so. Problem with going after The Boys the way you suggest is that they were contracted to Neumann's Bureau, so if he takes them out he draws negative attention on Vought. That's why it wouldn't be handling the pressure well.

As I say, things may change in season 4 if he thinks he can now do what he wants with impunity. But I'm fine with him not doing so up to where we are now in the story. It's consistent with how he's behaved, and where he has seen his role thus far.

Fred Astaire

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119333115#Comment_119333115

Sure, but at the end of Season 1, Butcher and the Boys hadn't identified themselves as anything more than an inconvenience to Homelander. Sure they managed to kill Translucent, which was pretty much enough for Homelander to want them all dead - but the deal with Becca at least took Butcher off the table.

In Season 2 he tried to force Annie to kill Hughie - when Hughie had done far less to Homelander personally at that point. At the end of Season 2 the only thing keeping him from killing at least Butcher, if not the rest of the Boys was the plane video, which was completely believable.

In Season 3, the Boys go further than they ever have before, in finding somebody to kill Homelander. From Homelanders perspective, they possibly turned his father against him and on two occasions they had Homelander effectively dead before he either barely escaped, or the writers wrote him out of the situation with spectacularly **** writing.

So the Boys dramatically escalated the level of nuisance toward Homelander to the point where they found a way of killing him and should have been successful in doing so. A far cry from Season 1 where they were basically just an annoyance to him, which still had him trying to kill Hughie when he saw him next in S2E3.

And with the plane video now essentially worthless, as Homelander has been proven to be able to spin things to suit his own agenda, and has a sizable level of support who don't care what he does, and has successfully painted Annie as a human trafficking terrorist amongst half the nation - there is nothing stopping him. Also consider that Annie has released 2 seperate videos attempting to do catastrophic reputational damage to Homelander, exactly what the plane video was intended to do. So the plane video which protected them in S2E8 and early S3 - a non factor.

Homelander has also escalated what he is willing to do. He kills members of the 7 who he doesn't like. He kills people in public. There are no repercussions for him anymore. He is not afraid of any consequences.

So for me - it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever that he wouldn't kill them all now. They are no longer just a nuisance, they are now a credible threat to his life, two of whom actively tried to kill him. They are no longer just an annoyance like they were in Season 1, and unlike in Season 2 or most of Season 3, they don't have protection anymore - either in the form of the plane video blackmail or Soldier Boy, to keep them safe from him.

This is the problem when you write your whole show around an antagonist who is massively above the protagonists in power level. You need more and more unbelievable reasons for him to allow them to live, while they put together plan after plan to take him down. The writers got so lazy that they didn't even bother to give Homelander a reason to allow them to live. After 3 seasons and a proven plan which was about to work, it's hard to give even the slightest sh*t about any future plans the Boys come up with now.

This season was a point where he should have been either depowered, or defeated. It's just woeful writing that he managed to keep his powers and continue as the big bad into Season 4, with the threat to him dealt with in an embarassingly bad way. I remember Dexter at the end of Season 5 wrote a scene where Dexter should have been revealed but it took spectacular levels of stupidity to stop him from being revealed - and Season 6 essentially brought them to where they should have been at the end of Season 5.

The Boys was originally a show where nobody was safe. They have gotten to a point where the majority of characters now have absurd levels of plot armour, even when it makes no sense - which was the entire thing they were originally satirising.

siblers

Starlight spent the whole season flaring up her eyes without doing anything , she eventually uses her powers after a huge build up and all does is knock Soldier Boy down and then of course she collapses out of exertion.

Homelander is scared. He doesn't know if he can actually take on Butcher and Hughie cleanly.

He's not used to actually having to fight.

CastorTroy

Spinoff called "Gen V"

https://tvline.com/2022/07/15/the-boys-college-spinoff-title-gen-v/

https://twitter.com/TheBoysTV/status/1547959303872491520

Thecageyone

Does everything have to have a 'spin-off' these days??

PTH2009

Is there a reason why there's no 'robotic sups ie an Iron Man/Vision type'

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119345864#Comment_119345864

The powers only come from Compound V and various other experiments of that type. Other than that, general levels of technology are the same as we currently have. Unless Compound V gives someone super-intelligence to create such a suit, they're limited to standard technology, not supersuits or robots.

Fred Astaire

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119334866#Comment_119334866

Why would he be afraid?

You're telling me he wouldn't find out about temp-V's side effects, given they were on a page in a lab for Annie to just happen upon randomly?

As if.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119346616#Comment_119346616

For all his strength and bluster the man is a coward. He's not going to risk it when there is absolutely no need

peteeeed

https://twitter.com/deadline/status/1562824773868339203?s=21&t=8QI8kZExYjOia6dJNc69WQ

https://twitter.com/deadline/status/1562824773868339203?s=21&t=8QI8kZExYjOia6dJNc69WQ

2smiggy

pity he missed Soldier Boy !!

cdgalwegian

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119333927#Comment_119333927

Have to agree with every point here about the writing problems leading into season 4 concerning the dynamics of the threats, and the raison d'être of the satirical show. And yet.. I loved season 4, despite the flaws that I hadn't really considered until these had been pointed out to me. I was enjoying it too much; episode 6, 'Herogasm' was brilliant tv, as it powered on to the finish line. I'd agree though, that the more visceral enjoyment will begin to get stale if the dynamics you point out goes on for much longer. If there's no genuine sense of extreme jeopardy, no amount of pyrotechnics and hyperbolic violence will carry keep it fresh. For the moment though, I'm fine with it, but I get your point - the lack of extreme jeopardy can only keep the show on the road for so long.

Spon Farmer

I might be jumping the gun here as I’m only three episodes into season 3 (no spoilers please) but it feels like Meave has been pushed to the sidelines while a lot of time has been given to a new unnecessary character, Supersonic.

Friction between Homelander and Meave over her blackmail video and her reaction to his meltdown on TV get no screen time. It is odd.

Spon Farmer

Does Compound V the subject random powers or do the scientists design the powers?

How about Temporary V ? Did Maeve know she was stealing vials of Homelander and teleporting powers ? Or did the powers manifest what Butcher and Hughie wanted?

I was disappointed that Butcher was given Homelander powers instead of something less convenient but it was a great fight at Herogasm.

captain dildano

I'm probably half way through Season 2 and I'm really loving it. Really surprised at how much I'm enjoying it as I started watching it last year and couldn't really get into it. It's refreshingly different and it's interesting to see superheros as deeply flawed people. The Deep has me conflicted. I want to hate him, at times I do, but as it's progressed so far he seems to be a very messed up guy who has body dysphoria and who is overwhelmed with the suffering he can hear and see and deals with it by basically being a rapey prick. The scene where he was sexually assaulted was very tough to watch but I think that it worked.

cdgalwegian

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119705055#Comment_119705055

I had wondered about these as well. Pretty sure there was nothing explicitly revealed about them. I assume their manifestations would have been made explicit in the comics, but will be referred to in the next season - it'd be of a dangler if it wasn't.