Season: 2
Genre: Action/
Comedy/ Crime
Number of
episodes: 8
Year: 2020
Starring: Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Anthony Starr, Erin Moriarty, Dominique McElligott,
Jessie T. Usher, Laz Alonso, Chace Crawford, Elisabeth Shue, Tomer Capon, Karen
Fukuhara, Nathan Mitchell, Aya Cash, Shawn Ashmore, Giancarlo Esposito
Description: A group of
vigilantes sets out to take down corrupt superheroes who abuse their superpowers.
Review: Before I started watching this show, I wasn’t very enthusiastic, since we
get so many superheroes in movies and now also TV. I had just finished “The
Umbrella Academy” which I really liked because it had a different take on it.
And the same goes for “Watchmen”, which also took a very different route. But
after reading all the positive reviews, I decided to watch “The Boys” and I
loved the first season. It was a wild rollercoaster filled with blood and gore,
great characters and surprisingly good storylines. I enjoyed the dazzling
combination of conflicting interests, cutting edge action and hopeless
situations.
This second season builds on
the hopeless efforts of an unorthodox group of vigilantes to end the evil
Vought International and The Seven, a team of superheroes that works for Vought
and is mainly allowed to show up for photo sessions and interviews. They barely
fight actual crime, although that’s supposed to be their main task. In reality,
it’s all about making money though smart marketing strategies. Vought’s
leadership is ruthless when the image of these heroes is compromised, because
they earn gold from the merchandise and promotions.
To Vought’s frustration, it’s
been rumbling within The Seven for a while now. After they fell into disfavor
in season one, A-Train and The Deep are eager to rejoin The Seven. The arrival
of the unpredictable and mysterious new hero Stormfront gives the team new dynamic.
However, her plans are not immediately clear. She behaves completely different
from the good and seemingly incorruptible other members and that makes Vought
and Homelander quite nervous.
Besides the fuss within The
Seven and the rebellious behavior of Stormfront, the megalomaniac and physically
invulnerable Homelander is especially busy with the sudden arrival of ‘super-terrorists’.
He considers himself the leader of America, a protector of America. His own hypocritical
interests and manipulative manners drive Homelander to murder all of them. His unstable
behavior gets even worse when at the same time he decides to interfere more
intensively with his son’s upbringing.
The counterbalance in the
series is formed by the undercover fighters of the CIA, the titular Boys. The unstoppable
Butcher has his own reasons for pushing his boys to the limit in their almost
hopeless battle against the powerful, perhaps unbeatable superheroes. This season
it will become more clear where his hatred of The Seven and Homelander in
particular comes from. And Hughie tries to restore his relationship with Annie,
also known as The Seven member Starlight. Something for which he regularly has
a hard time with Butcher.
These and other storylines are
key and interweave into one of the most original series of the year. The viewers
won’t have difficulties in understanding the motivation for the different
characters, although the methods used are doubtful. The main motive is clearly
survival in a world where danger is almost ubiquitous. How do you successfully fight
against demigods, especially when they dismiss murder and innocent victims as
an afterthought without ethical objections? And not unimportantly, how do you
preserve your humanity in this bloody battle?
The start of season 2 is a
bit slow, but eventually the writers manage to deepen the story without
stopping the progress of events. You get to know more about certain characters
and new ones are introduces. MM was probably my favorite this season, since
with Butcher being less present at the start, he unintentionally becomes the
leading figure for the boys. I also loved the dynamic between Frenchie and
Kimiko. I also realized that Queen Maeve is one of the best characters on the
show. She is not pure evil, because she still knows the difference between good
and bad. Maeve probably started out just like Starlight, but she is so deep
into it all now, it’s hard to go back. The addition of two new characters
Stormfront and Lamplighter was very welcome. Stormfront is a really well-written
character and perfectly portrayed by Aya Cash. Lamplighter is only in a few episodes
but Shawn Ashmore really impresses. And I wished he would be around longer. But
the one that really stands out is Anthony Starr as Homelander. He was already a
dick in season one, but he is even a bigger dick here. If that were possible.
Starr really took in that role and he is a really good actor. Because I constantly
want to slap him in the face, when he probably is a really nice guy in real
life.
The only negative for me is
probably the roles of The Deep and A-Train in this season. The Deep’s storyline
isn’t all that interesting and A-Train doesn’t have a lot to do.
I was very pleased with
season 2 of “The Boys” and the ending really looked promising. I’m glad I decided
to watch this show, because it’s so good.