Hi!
The Boys season 2 began airing on Amazon Prime in September of 2020, the show had a change in viewing format with it airing weekly rather than dropping all at once allowing its viewers to binge the show. With some viewers leaving negative reviews of the show once Amazon started with the season not being available to watch in its entirety, as of yet there is no comment / information available for how the 3rd season will be aired. With the 3rd season being ordered already, along with a spin-off series based on a college for superheroes, showing the viewers that Amazon are in this show for the long haul and are planning to turn it into their flagship series. The 2nd season was even better received than season 1, with it getting a higher rating and the reviewers stating that the show comes out swinging in its 2nd season with it going in further in its description of the characters giving the viewers more information about the protagonists and those we spend the most time with. Then for most viewers it is a show that spends little time being concerned with being PC or PG, by creating a show that is not concerned with social commentary and tells the show in a way that engages viewers and gives the fans an enjoyable experience. I think the 2nd season was just as good of a show as the 1st season with it building on what made that season original and something that grabbed my attention. So lets take a look into what separates the show;
Story
Following the events of season 1 which finished off with Butcher coming face to face with his wife who he believed dead, and Homelander murdering his boss at Vought resulting in Butcher having no cards left to play. The 2nd season opens with the immediate aftermath of the murder and with it being pinned on Butcher and his associates The Boys, resulting in all of them needing to go into hiding but without Butcher who is not able to be located. Then over at The Seven, Homelander has set his sights on total control meaning he is continuously wary of Starlight and what her position has been with Hughie. But with the introduction of a new hero in Stormfront who appears capable of using social media to drive up her popularity in a way that removes the need for the PR department to do it for her, is this going to place her on a direct collision course with Homelander who maybe will feel threatened? With the introduction of supervillains in the 1st season and the hope that ‘Supes’ can become part of the US army this continue to play a role in this season with congress holding hearing against Vought and their role in the creation of Compound V and the manner in which it has been utilised to create heroes.
Suits & Visuals
I never mentioned this was looking at season 1 for some unknown reason even though it was at the forefront of my mind throughout the entire time I was watching it, which was the outstanding super suits. The costume designer did an outstanding job in creating the suits, they are all memorable and are just as good if not better than those in the biggest blockbuster films. With Starlights 2 suits, Homelander being well known throughout the world, Queen Maeve having a suit that establishes her in a similar way to Wonder Woman, The Deep resembling an odd Aquaman, and Stormfront ending with a suit that somewhat represents the past that she has endured. All of the suits are in their own right icons and symbols of the world The Boys inhibits, with superheroes going on to be film stars and spend their time getting marketed rather than saving the day, shows what could happen in reality if heroes did exist. It is not the fact of placing them on a pedestal which makes it impossible for them to live up too, but rather through the use of films, and propaganda, creates the atmosphere where people like Homelander are able to thrive. By him being a narcissist but wishing for the validation of others, created a place that gives him the chance to build up a god like persona that he begins to believe in.
The visuals in the show continue to be outstanding, through the use of powers and the blood / gore that the show gives to the viewer demonstrate the ability that the show runners have in creating a show that captures our imagination. There is a scene that gives The Deep some small role back in with The Seven and he utilises a school of fish and a freaking whale to try and take down The Boys. The time spent in the ocean and the insides of the whale all show some great lasting visuals for fans. Kumiko begins to try and have a life of her own and carries out hits on the behalf of Armenians, and she at one point rips of the entire face of a person. The flesh coming off his check and across his lips demonstrated the biology workings of the face and how the attention to detail can set shows apart. There is then time spent inside a sort of asylum where we are introduced to Shawn Ashmore who is playing Lamplighter (Which was a nice parallel to his time spent as Iceman). Within the asylum there are adults whom Vought are woking on with the use of Compound V in an effort to produce and stabilise a legion of superheroes that are capable of fighting off supervillains. When they are in the asylum we are introduced to a range of people with super abilities all of which need to be shown to the viewer efficiently even if it only for a few seconds of screen time. All of this requires the visual effects of the show needed to be top notch with regard to the short term powers and the long term heroes.
Ending
The season gives us an interesting ending that I have to say I was not expecting with Beccas death, which resulted in Ryan being without a mother which is something that the show seemed to be trying to avoid the entire time throughout the season. With a note continually that Homelander turned out how he did due to living without a mother, I thought this would be corrected in Ryans life. With the realisation that Stormfront was a Nazi who was married to the original founder of Vought, her love for Homelander began to make more sense as a blond haired, blue eyed man, he would have been classed as Aryan by the Germans. Getting to have the girls begin to fight Stormfront demonstrated the visual powers of Starlight and Stormfront with the choreography being noted in the close quarters combat between those 2, with Queen Maeve and Kumiko becoming involved. After getting the conclusion to that part of the story, we see Butcher coming across a visual that took 6 hours to be created, which was Stormfront lying on the ground after being zapped by Ryan removing her limbs and a loss of her eye. We have The Boys going their own ways and Hughie coming to understand that in order to survive in the world, he is going to need to crave his own way in it instead of just following people like Butcher. As he goes to the congresswoman who was helping them earlier in the season to ask for a job, we see that maybe more exists than what initially meets the eye.
I am looking forward to season 3 and am hoping that it gets release all at once, it is currently about to begin filming and the story is in a position that could led to an interesting parallel between how the Civil War storyline plays out in the Marvel universe. With the virus, it is impossible to know when the season is expected to be released, but I think 2022 could be a fair guess at this point.
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Until next time 🙂
MattsViews 