If you know you f*cking know, innit?
So, the penultimate episode of The BOYS is out, and as is customary, this is an Episode full of revelations.
Now, the very first Revelation I did not like which is Soldier Boy didn't storm Normandy, he just went there for press after the actual thing was over. And the reason behind this is something I have always disliked about the Boys, something I have mentioned before, and something that kept me from the show for a long time.
That being, taking specific aspects of superheroes we know and then breaking down every aspect of why that is unrealistic or whatever... The earliest example I can remember of this in this show is when Homelander went to save the plane full of people and he gave like a full on logical explanation as to why, he can't save the plane, and how he would just go through it or whatever.
It just felt like your average random pundit coming along and saying, oh see that completely made up and fictional thing! THAT CAN'T HAPPEN IN REAL LIFE! Like, duh! we get it! It's fiction for a reason, now don't get me wrong, one of my favorite YouTube creators is Mat Pat and he has not one, but two channels dedicated to breaking down the scientific side of fiction, but the difference here is, in the case of channels like his, if I click the video that's what I'm there for, that's not why I watch the BOYS, I watch it to see the characters and how they interact with each others and often crazy battles like the one shown in the previous episode, cause as I said, the supe battles in this show are different from other battles of this nature in other media because in most cases both parties are experienced fighters, here they are mostly a blend of celebrities and politicians and when and if a physical threat shows up, they dismiss it with a flick of their hand, so to see two such individuals face each other will be a completely different experience.
Secondly using the example of Mat Pat, he and other channels like his I follow, I follow because mostly their goals are to use pop culture to promote actual science communication which is something I don't just enjoy but also plays a major role in society for various reasons, The BOYS on the other hand is just a form of entertainment, now I'm not saying using other pieces entertainment to boost your own content is wrong, far from it, I mean what is this review? And also, I cannot count the number of fan fiction writers who have now transitioned to actual writing and have huge publishing deals, I cannot fault something like that, but to use something to prop yourself up and then turn around and point out all its flaws, essentially throwing it under the bus, that is something I call being shitty.
And that brings me to the third point, Channels like Mat Pat's Game Theory and Film Theory come from analyzing fictional content from a place of good faith, meaning that pre analysis they either love the media or are neutral towards it, and came at it with genuine curiosity or to add to the enjoyment of the show, the BOYS on the other hand comes from a place of Bad Faith meaning they are coming from a place of "I dislike this show, and I'm going to find and cherry pick reasons to outline why, and try to convince others on my viewpoint, I have said this before, the writer of the BOYS comics, who I believe is also involved heavily with the show, hates superheroes, in facts he has jumped at many opportunities to detail it out.
Now, if this were a scientific study or something, anything other than a neutral stance pre experiment would be mal practice due to cognitive bias, but this is entertainment the point is to enjoy, so coming at it from a point of liking it and to add to its enjoyment, just helps the thing do its job better, and coming at something purely from a bad faith angle is like, "dude just let me enjoy this?"
And not just that take something like harry potter for example in the fourth book, Harry just needed to be at the graveyard so Voldemort can use his blood to gain a new body, why did he then need to touch the tri-wizard cup for that, there are a lot simpler and faster ways to get that done? but the thing is many, myself included treat the fourth book(not the movie, the movie can die) as their favorite, and that is in spite of this little detail invalidating the need for its existence, now if someone comes with a bad faith critique piece on this book and wraps it up in a nice package so they know it'll reach multiple eyes, that is hurting our ability to enjoy the book, and simultaneously, if enough people engage in bad faith criticism, a book starts getting held to an unfair standard, and the thing is creativity is tenuous, it is very difficult to make something be appealing and airtight, there will always be a little small word or line that can ruin an entire book, and if one just focuses on that, its bad for creativity.
Now, I will say, there is something called blind faith Criticism where one just decides they have liked something and doesn't shift from their position no matter what and anything even remotely related to this one thing they like is gods word to them, and cannot be criticized, that is bad for creativity too as in that case the creator looses incentive to work hard as any garbage remotely related to that one thing is sure to get success and anything different is a gamble, there is this whole thing as to how blind faith can lead to Bad faith but, that's a different thing.
Now, as I said, I watch the BOYS for it's characters and their interactions, now while I might not like the criticism soldier boy does on something like captain America, while I'm watching the show, I don't give a shit, cause it is fascinating to see evil captain America go on a killing spree, so what I'm saying after this long winded rant is, I would have preferred to see Soldier Boy skipping the actual storming, and going just for the press and what impact that had in the aftermath but I guess that would have pulled from the show, and in the interest of not repeating the crime I spoke of, I shall move on, but then again, they could have just, not added in that throwaway line, okay enough.
On the Butcher, soldier boy and Hughie side of things, they are still looking for Soldier Boys, old team and this episode they are finding Mindstorm, come to think of it this part of the show has really started to get into the villain of the week format hasn't it, but it doesn't matter, I'm not mad about it.
So this time around, they are looking for a villain who can scramble your brains if you look directly into his eyes, and butcher is the first one to be attacked by this, and only mindstorm can pull him out so now, Hughie and Soldier Boy are at odds, as soldier boy wants to just get to it and end mind storm, while Hughie needs him alive to revive butcher.
And we learn a lot about Soldier Boys ruthlessness now, as he just straight up murders a priest and a nun, which yes would have attacked them because they were brainwashed by Mindstorm, but one, how much harm can two regular people do to a teleporter and supersoldier? and two, when Hughie is attacked, Soldier Boy is super nonchalant about it.
On the starlight side of things, she is obviously being slandered by Vought, and M.M.'s ex-wife's new husband, who is a Homelander stan, believes all of it, and takes Janine(M.M.'s daughter) to a Homelander convention, obviously, M.M. is having none of it and the pair have a fight resulting in M.M. punching the dude flat and Janine seeing it, I see what you are doing Amazon, Janine is a fan of the Heroes who are actually evil, and in the process of Protecting her from them, M.M. is making his daughter think he dislikes her and is going crazy/becoming bad.
Also, Frenchie is a mess, but somehow still finds out what knocked out Soldier Boy just from a video, guess he really is the best at what he does, and Kimiko, realizes the error in her Judgement, i.e. it was wrong to blame all her problems on the compound V, sure that's what started it but the major issue was her choice being taken away, and so she wants her powers back, realizing that this being her choice makes all the difference, and she wants them so she can protect her family, i.e. Frenchie. Vin Diesel would be proud.
While going to get the V starlight learns what Temp V does to you, and that you use it five times, you die. Awesome! Oh and she is interrupted by a large Homelander shaped obstacle, whom she promptly proceeds to record and release live, making threats to her, nice one.
In the mean time, A train is saved by Ashley and co, and a cover story is made, and what's more, they gave him Blue Hawk's heart, so he can run now! And as a part of A trains comeback, Ashley gives him a bunch of movie deals, now, old A train would have loved this, but this is a changed man, and he clearly was ready to die when he ran last episode, let's see where his story goes, I personally am rooting for him to join team the BOYS, and become anti-Vought, you know it's amazing how much character development A train has had in just the last two episodes, in so little screen time. It's one of the reasons to love this show I guess
This picture just looks so goofy and/or wholesome without the context.
So Kimiko gets her powers back, which means this may work for all the other supes that lost their powers too.
Now for two characters this episode was a total throwback episode, them being Noir and Butcher.
So butcher is trapped in a perpetual nightmare by Mindstorm and its a full recap of his time with Lenny, his younger brother, and we learn that Lenny killed himself after Butcher left, so obviously he blames himself, and we also learn what we had kind of figured out, the Butcher sees Hughie as Lenny.
And about Noir? his flashback is much more interesting, Noir goes to a place where he sure has gone before, as he adds food to the bowls, there is already stale food, and why does he pour food on stale food? because post his brain damage done to him by soldier boy, he hallucinates and he treats them as real, we learn so much about his backstory, including why he planned to give Soldier Boy to the Russians, and how he was bullied by the super soldier.
And man, this is some deep stuff, also I wonder if the Hallucinations are a part of his superpower? cause they seem to be able to interact with physical matter sometimes, who knows, maybe that's a hallucination too?
They have really changed Noir from the comics haven't they? Cause in the comics he was a Homelander clone meant to kill him. There is another Homelander related character they have changed, but we will get to that.
Queen Maeve is back, and I wonder if she will ask soldier boy to take her powers away after the conversation her and homelander had.
And deep want's an octopus to suck him, as usual, and for his wife to join which she promptly declines.
There are a lot of parallels being made between Homelander and Soldier boy, like Soldier Boy thought of having kids with his girlfriend Crimson countess, but she hated him, Homelander wanted the same, But Maeve hates him, but he is just going to harvest her eggs, I guess the only thing you can count on in this show is that Homelander will always one up himself in how much of an asshole he can be.
However, this episode nails the parallel down, by revealing that Homelander is Soldier Boy's son, created in a lab from soldier boys semen, this is the second Homelander related change, in the comics, soldier boy was a super cowardly character who f*cked Homelander to gain his favor and was tortured and killed by butcher, after being used by him of course, some of that story is still being followed, Butcher and soldier boy are working together, but man, this is something else, also in the comics, Soldier Boy wasn't the first super soldier, the original Soldier Boy had died and this was a new one, who was claimed by Vought to be the original, and the savior of America which obviously butcher thought was super disrespectful to the actual soldiers.
Man I can't wait for the final episode, where is this going to go? I really can't predict.
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