This is certainly not The Boys' strongest season finale. The plots feel awkwardly resolved and the key plot points they've been developing just ended up as nothing. It feels really underwhelming. Of course there are some positive notes about this finale as well but bear with me, let's go through three most crucial problems for me.
First, Black Noir. What a disappointment. They've been building up Black Noir for at least four out of eight episodes in this season. They even showed him as a person, a real individual with emotion and vivid imagination this season after the previous two he had only been a mute killing machine. And he went down just like that. Sure the conversation between him and Homelander was tense - but that was it. Unfortunately, Black Noir's imaginative flashback, as I've suspected in the previous episodes, serve as nothing more than plot device to move the story forward.
Second, Soldier Boy. The hunt for the ultimate weapon to destroy Homelander ultimately just ended up in vain. Where did it go, the riled up spirit of The Boys in bringing Homelander down? They have the weakest excuses to portray this change of heart. With M.M.'s plot, well, I guess, okay, as he has his own personal vendetta against Soldier Boy, it's still understandable. This is to put aside that they went with the "Soldier Boy kills my family" plot too easily (we didn't get to ever see what actually happened and it's brushed off as nothing more than "racism", which is quite disappointing since there were plenty of rooms for flashback this season).
But then there's Butcher. He ended up beating down Soldier Boy because Soldier Boy hit his kid? I mean, sure it's his kid, but where's the man-with-a-mission-to-kill-Homelander-no-matter-what-it-takes that we've seen for all these three seasons? If Butcher was a little smarter - and he actually is with his cunning tactics and all! - he could've stopped Soldier Boy for a while, let Homelander pats Ryan's back, then when Ryan is out of sight just finish off Homelander by then. Soldier Boy doesn't even seem to hold anything against Ryan (especially after he knows Ryan is Butcher's son). The whole charade about beating up Soldier Boy is a really weak plot point just to let Homelander alive to be the ultimate big bad in next seasons.
Still here? We'll get to Homelander but let's talk about Maeve briefly. What's her end goal? At first she seems to be an ally ready to take down Homelander, but when it comes to actually facing Homelander she can't see the forest for the trees. Rather than staying true to her goal to kill Homelander, she was just absorbed with herself, punching Homelander around only to get herself beaten. Sure, Maeve isn't the most tactical ones, but she's been supplying Butcher with everything so far.
Last, Homelander. As soon as the fight ends, my biggest question is: what would be Homelander's yet another reason to NOT kill Butcher, Hughie, and co? Our Boys have been picking a fight with him since Season 1. It's clear our protagonists are pests to him, but he keeps giving them leeway. At this point isn't it easier to just get rid of them all when Ryan's not looking to prevent our Boys messing up with him again? There's a fan speculation that predicted Homelander is going to be depowered, then he's going to live the whole Season 4 under Vought's protection while our Boys track down the biggest big bad: Compound V. I think I like that better since it's going to show how Homelander will struggle with his weakness and humanity. But I guess the showrunners wanted to keep on getting Homelander more unhinged and even more unhinged and violent, as shown when he lasered a guy in a parade. With this direction, I'm expecting the show to end in a high note with chaos everywhere like perhaps in the comics. I just hope they don't prolong this much further - maybe Season 5 at most.
Then there's some plot devices like Tempo V, powering the army with V, etc that are left unexplored, which feels a bit like nothing more than filler to get the plot moves forward. And the fact that they kind of go with cliffhanger in this finale reminds me of Season 1's rather weak, cliffhanger-ish finale as well (perhaps that's their pattern: the real season finale is in the even-numbered seasons).
That said, this episode is still quite entertaining as it kept me guessing where the plot would go. It's not as frantic and riled up as Herogasm (Eps 6) and the direction is not quite satisfying, but it's fine. The theme of this season is "family", they stay true to that up to the finale. Soldier Boy's dialogue with Homelander is good. Talk about how toxic upbringing would make you become toxic as well, while thinking you can do better than your parents.
I like that they are planning to use the political plot with Neuman in Season 4 (I thought it was going to be wasted after the nice development in Season 2) as The Boys' forte is taking a jab at politics and corporatism. I do hope we will see what Stan Edgar envisioned as Vought "getting out of the supe business in the next five years."
I also like what they did with Ryan, coming together with Homelander, and the way Homelander is normalizing Ryan to violence. This is the consequence of Butcher's acting asshole-ish to everyone and sure hope our Boys will see the consequences of his action, especially with the sweet reunion with everyone at the table in the end (feels like the calm before the storm).
All in all, not a bad finale, but a bit too disappointing in the way they resolve the plots that have been built up all this season.
Compared to previous episodes, this episode is not bad, but still dumbly written.
As usual, a supposedly professional team of mercenaries turns out to be incompetent just-for-laugh bollocks, as shown by one person destroying a droid for fun in a ship they know are extremely guarded by, well, droid's connectivity. And no one seems to be troubled with that. Apparently recklessness and naivety are traits commonly shared by supposedly 'fighters' in this show - we've seen people ranging from bounty hunters, ex-rebel shock trooper, and even the Mando himself, who consistently failed to notice obvious traps (eps 5), wasted their time for overly convoluted plans (eps 4), or simply appeared to took the same marksmanship class as stormtroopers (eps 3 & 5).
Oddly, for a ship supposedly to be extremely secure, barely any droids patrol the ship. Even when the ship was on full emergency alert. The droids conveniently only appear as distraction as the plot needs it; for a heist/rescue episode, this leaves no stake on breaching the ship at all.
Speaking of stake, the characters also consistently make questionable decisions. Despite knowing they are limited on time, they just waste it for squabbling between themselves, hunting for each other down to the last of it, instead of focusing on running away from the ship.
But the worst offender is our titular character.
The Mando turns out to be a Disneyfied, Sunday morning, family-friendly bounty hunter, as he refuses to hurt people from New Republic but oddly has no qualms killing/hurting people who happen to be on the side of other factions (stormtroopers, bandits, fellow professionals, or even just a person who happens to have a huge debt - eps. 1).
It appears that the "hunting" in bounty hunting is only legitimate, as long as it doesn't involve one of the "good guys". Good guys according to who? No in-universe explanation is given except that according to Disney, New Republic must be the good guys. This show seems to be the opposite of Star Wars: The Old Republic (the online game, not the single player RPG): where the game aligns bounty hunter in the "evil" faction just because Boba Fett worked for the Empire, this show aligns bounty hunter in the "good" faction just because Mando is the protagonist.
The Mando also always consistently failed to realize that leaving Baby Yoda alone always means a bad thing. I mean, this is his damn third time doing that.
That being said, the action is quite well-done. The Twi'lek girl is choreographed nicely. The Mando has some cool action with his gears. The ending has some tense, though the last order from Ran feels a bit cheap. Unfortunately, those still can't save the episode from its below-average screen writing.
The Boys does its job best when they jab at mockery of how the show biz operates. The first thing Vought does then they know that Queen Maeve is bi is to capitalize it: make her sexuality as a performance in their newest movie. But not only that; they need to make Maeve not just a bi, but a lesbian, and her partner - Elena - has to be made to wear men's fashion. Because "lesbian is a bit more easy to sell" and "Americans are more accepting of gay when they are in clear-cut gender role relationship". Companies like Vought, like its real-life counterpart (Disney), cares much more about how something sells than the nuance behind it. This parody is even funnier considering that they have a Jon Favreau look-a-like and a guy named Joss (Whedon?) who handle the Dawn of Seven movie production.
Aside from that, the episode continues the tense relationship between Starlight and Stormfront, and we start to see how Stormfront attempts to pull strings to maintain her position in The Seven.
Two things I notice though: the part where Homelander murdered a bunch of civilian in the public, that turns out to be an imagination feels a bit like cop-out, however it is interesting that it parallels Hughie's frustration when he lost Robin back in the first eps. of Season 1. The way Noir and Butcher confrontation is handled also feels a bit too easy, especially after the big build up about them being Vought most wanted in earlier episode.
If The Boys is usually chock full of superhero films parody, then this episode feels like a love letter to Logan (2017) and (the trailer version of) The New Mutants (2020). This is even more so with the casting of Shawn Ashmore, who played Iceman on X-Men, as Lamplighter.
It opens up with Homelander being sexually aroused by Stormfront while crushing the head of a thief in an alley. It recalls the scene back in Season 1 when Homelander casually rips through a gunman's chest for a show, but this time it's even more vulgar. As Homelander gets more aroused, his grip on the thief's head gets firmer, until it eventually crushes him into pieces. Then, fast forward to the end of the episode, we see Homelander confronting Stormfront, and her opening up to Homelander about her past, while she preaches of the importance of purity of their "race". They then continued to make out. There is something to be said here about indulgence in sexual and power fantasy.
This episode also starts to recenter the orientation. If in the first season we get to see the story progresses from the eyes of Hughie - the only seemingly sane person among the ragtag group of rebels - this episode shows how others see Hughie. Butcher, always an efficient, ruthless killer he is, is contrasted to Annie/Starlight who believes she retains her compassion even though she's a supe. Annie relentlessly tries to stop Butcher from senseless killing; though for Butcher she still inhibits the one thing he hate the most. "What you can't stand is in my blood, I'm a subhuman to you," Annie confronts Butcher. Yet when situation forced her to take extra measures, Annie sees herself doing something that only Butcher would do. "I'm not like you," she insists. However they then find what really makes them similar, but different at the same time: their attraction to Hughie.
Last, The Boys never stops to take a jab to corporatization of superhero. '"'A-Train' is a trademark. You're just another nobody from the South Side of Chicago" reminds me of the very early episodes in S1, when Homelander thought they were still bound by corporate rules (something that he seems to try to break free in this season).
James Gunn really liked the idea of shoving stuff into people's mouth huh. He did it in The Suicide Squad, he did it again here.
They've been drawing parallels between Payback and Seven every now and then, but this episode shows the clearest. The sad thing is, if Soldier Boy is Payback's Homelander, and the team both hated their lead and tried to redeem themselves like Maeve do. then what a writing to show that Butcher is not a main character you should sympathize with. He is pragmatic, calculative, cold-blooded murderer sacrificing the redeemed Crimson Countess and Gunpowder who never liked Soldier Boy.
I find it interesting that there are parallels with Season 1 here. Butcher is back to his cold-blooded self and the compromise they're making with Soldier Boy reminds me a bit of similar ones they made with Starlight when they first discovered her. However Hughie, besides his power, seem to have not progressed much as a character, as he resorted to his confused, worst decision maker habit like we've seen in Season 1.
Other than that, the episode feels a bit lighter compared to the first three, not as packed but still better paced than the previous episode. Only 3 episodes left. Curious where they will take us. Hope this pays off.
The pace gets a bit slower in the first half, like with Mesmer's reunion and Billy's conversation. But it quickly catches up in the second half. The tense was well built and it is interesting to see how much grudge and narrow-sighted Billy could be and what have made him that way. As a professional group, they seem to make some stupid amateurish mistake (letting them be seen in cameras) but since this was not the first them they did that I am getting the impression that they are not much a professional assassin, just hired killers. Regardless, this episode is a nice driving plot to see what is going to come up forward--with clues and hints spread out well through out--but as it stands by itself, it is not the greatest.
I usually always have many good things to say about The Expanse, and it saddens me that I don't have lots of good to say about this episode. It feels almost like filler episode. Like in the first episode, the scene with the girl and the animals took way too much time (more than 5 minutes) - it almost feels like a Walking Dead filler episode.
The action scene is nice, but the scene with Clarissa/Peaches on steroid have been very weirdly directed in the last 2 seasons. What happened to the fast-paced tiger brawl like when she was first introduced? The effect is really poorly done - they could've learned a thing or two from how Dennis Villeneuve directed Bene Gesserit's The Voice to evoke something that is visually strong.
The only redeeming point here is Drummer's crew interaction with the old guy, which makes a good dynamic and illustrate what's been going on since Marco's uprising. This is particularly important considering the world building has been very lackluster since Season 5, which is a disappointment. Considering in this final season they only have 6 episodes. I was expecting it to be more dense given the limited episode. Alas, this is what we got.
Not exactly sure what's wrong with the episode.
But I feel like the dream sequence has become an easy exposition dump for the writers. They did something similar in The Boys Season 3 when they had to explain Black Noir's flashback and everything that happened back then. Mixing up everyone's memory and conveniently have everything panned out like that is not a great storytelling.
The Sam x Emma moment was fine, but how everything was resolved quickly when the group came into a conflict is quite too convenient. The ending was quite interesting, but everything feels like a filler only that the writers can get into the point to drop that ending and get the characters to band together and speak against power. It's quite a weak setup - and a too easy one at that, especially given most, if not all, characters there were ambitious students who want to rise to the top, now they were willing to easily abandon all that?
Also, where did Dusty go? The 28 year-old that looks like a boy. They just kinda forget him.
The beginning of the episode left me wishing we could've seen more of this side of Star Wars: regular stormtroopers doing their job, getting into action, and all the unseen dynamics rarely mentioned in the mainstream film trilogies. We did have something in that vein: Republic Commando explored the lives of elite Republic clone troopers; Jedi Academy had us follow the lives of youngling under tutelage of Luke's academy; the original Battlefront showed us the transitioning of a republic to an empire through the eyes of the soldiers.
It's the lives of the mundane, the less than extraordinary, yet still gripping and intriguing. They let us dive deeper to the world of Star Wars beyond the flashy buzzing of lightsabers and spectacles of the magical force.
The Mandalorian wished it could be one of those. Unfortunately, it failed terribly.
In episode 5, @ShrimpBoatSteve has said that the series has became too predictable, and I agree - the finale shows how predictable the whole season is. https://trakt.tv/comments/264475
After the long flashback which most parts we've already seen in previous episodes - seemingly making the scenes feels almost like a filler - The Mandalorian episode 8 seems reluctant to set their foot to the ground with its notable world-building as previously seen in Eps 7 and Eps 1 to 3. As I have previously said, after everyone gangs on The Mando (Eps 7), Baby Yoda/Little One's background (who Baby Yoda is, why is he wanted, what the Imperial remnants wanted to do with him, etc) remains unresolved. As the episode shows us Moff Gideon rising with a darksaber in hand, yet another reference moment: every substance the show can possibly offer will be dealt only in Season 2 (or, worse, more).
Stormtroopers in Star Wars have been infamous for their terribly inaccurate shots, but in this episode it feels like their incompetency is amplified to the point of parody and, of course, plot armors. Scout troopers - which is supposed to be snipers - can't shoot droid right in front of their eyes. Instead of coming in squads, troopers only come individually (incinerators burning the building, a few troopers slaughtered by the blacksmith, a few others guarding the tunnel, and the most stupid of all, Moff Gideon waiting for nightfall just for no reason) which makes for a convenient plot armors for our heroes to trek on their way.
Of course, there are casualties - what is a story without something seemingly at a stake? - but it is nothing more than devices to delay the heroes from their trek. Taking cues from Eowyn's "I am no man" of Lord of the Rings fame, in less than moment-defining fashion IG-11, which himself came as a sort of droid ex machina, said that it is no "living being" while resurrecting The Mando from fatal injuries, remedied every possible threat with its healing devices.
Antagonists can be dumb, but there is a limit to dumbness that can suspend audience's disbelief. This episode has antagonist almost feels like they are intentionally dumb and there is nothing really at a stake when everything can be easily remedied.
This episode is not the worst, certainly, as the action sequence is flashy and satisfying. The one near ending where The Mando utilizes a neat jet jump is clever and actually can show the extent Star Wars can be when the director wanted to think creatively beyond the force. Knights of the Old Republic and the aptly named Star Wars Bounty Hunter played with clever tricks similar to this once a while, and the trick doesn't feel cheap as they stand on a very good storytelling.
The Mandalorian's flashy action, regardless, seems to serve only as explicit fanservice - a style over substance.
There are plenty of action, which, by itself, is quite well-done. The consistently hardly imposing threats, unfortunately, dull down the possible thrill those scenes can offer - in a typical corny action heroes such as Gerard Butler's character in Has Fallen trilogy. The scene, for example, with The Blacksmith let us peek into the martial arts capability a Mandalorian can exhibit. But the rather plot armor of incompetent stormtroopers leave no stake at hand; the martial arts dexterity looks more like a cheap imitation of main trilogies of Jedi's acrobatic feats.
Redemption ultimately ends with nothing to be redeemed about, as the people in this show seems to be forever clumsy. From start to finish, everyone made questionable decisions. Nobody blasted the Mando's group with that large amount of stormtroopers. Nobody checked whether Moff Gideon is dead when the fighter was down (Gideon also miraculously survive the crash), with Carga, a supposedly veteran bounty hunter, lightheartedly saying they are already free of the Empire's grasp.
Everything people said in this episode, just like many episodes prior, are not crafted as if the actors were having human conversation. They were rushed by time - they seemingly appear to be set in motion by the plot's demands, to say X so Y happens; to say A when B moment happened.
This episode almost feels like a filler to conclude the dragging episodes this season has been. Screenwriting-wise, this whole season is nothing but bait-and-switch to justify next season(s).
There is much to be said about this kind of terrible business model, where series is written with nothing exactly in mind but to find reasons to continue producing the franchise - the same business model Disney has been using on their MCU franchise and Star Wars films/spinoffs - but the crowds of gladly willing moms awing for Baby Yoda and nerd dads geeking over Star Wars reference doesn't leave enough rooms for those commentaries.
Finally something actually happened after they dragged the season for absolutely nothing.
After four mediocre episodes in a row with three of them being filler, this episode is decent enough. Those previous episodes serve no actual purpose other than waiting for the plot to trigger itself by that call.
The dialogues in this episode could be better and so could the way the scenes are cut, especially for the first half. People seem too eager to join The Mando in his quest for the sake of moving the story. However the last 5-10 the minutes is quite watchable with enough tense. The brute killing in the last scene seems to suggest they're going with the "evil Empire" cliche, but I wish they could do better than that next episode.
It seems like the story just started to be set in motion and we will be left with more questions as Season 1 ends, which unfortunately seems to be Disney+ business model: just make cute Baby Yoda stuff for moms and Star Wars reference for dads, figure things out later in Season 2.
On positive notes, it's nice that they attempt to do more world-building like shocktroopers having signature tattoo, each Imperial province having their own insignia, and the Imperial warlord trying to convince people that the world is better with colonialism.
This actually is an overall decent finale. The tense in Camina's fleet is good. The Rocinante battle is good. Naomi's rescue is good. The reveal on the end was also good. However there's one reason that makes the episode feels like a jumble of choppily edited scenes: everything involving Alex's death.
I don't take issue with it being sudden and abrupt, as many deaths are. But everyone feels really disconnected from that one incident that should have affected at least all the main casts. Alex just died, but Holden and Naomi spent their time to listen to Naomi's supposed farewell (and spent minutes on it). Amos was more eager to bring Peaches instead of mourning his close friend; even worse he was only informed about Alex's death off screen. For a fellow Martian and somebody who has spent quite a time with Alex, Bobbie seems largely unaffected at all. And Alex, well... The only tribute they gave to this incident is a plaque, which makes for some emotional moment, but that's it. Heck, that part where Holden talked to Naomi to rekindle the events almost feels like Holden breaking the fourth wall to explain to viewers due to how abrupt it is handled.
It almost feels like the event is not supposed to happen, and the showrunners edited in last minutes.
This season has been nothing but a Naomi season that leads to a reunion of Rocinante crew. That incident stuck like a sore thumb, making the supposedly joyful event with all crews gathering feels really emotionally detached. Not to mention that, barring the reveal at the end, most events still happen off screen. Just like most things that happened this season. We don't get to see the impact of something big happening.
So despite being an overall decent episode, this finale closes the relatively most mediocre season The Expanse has produced. I'd even say that the quality is even lower than Season 4. The first four episodes were nice, but it went downhill and stagnated really fast.
Others might say that this is not as intense as previous episode, which might be true in terms of action and moving the plot forward. But I find this episode is still intense in a different way: more emotional investment.
"Family" and its unfortunately related cousin "abuse" seem to be the the theme that knits together different story arcs of the episode: the obvious Butcher flashback, Kimiko and Frenchie, MM with his family, Soldier Boy, and Homelander.
The episode kind of speeds up the pace in showing Soldier Boy's villainy through a recreation/imagination of Black Noir's flashback; although I'm not too comfortable that they present Noir's flashback at face value (instead of being an unreliable narrator), I think it still kinda works.
It is shown that Soldier Boy is an abusive, selfish bully with anger issues you would typically see among band leads or celebrity groups. While some have defended Soldier Boy's action by comparing him to Homelander ("at least Soldier Boy is not psychotic, emotionally unstable narcissist! He is a normal person not grown in lab!"), I think they missed the point of the show: the biggest issue here is exactly what would happen if people with power (influence) have additional power (literal superpower) while being protected by multi-billion dollar company. They possess all the impunity to wreak havoc. Like MM said, "no one should have the right to wield such power."
This theme of abuse is explicated with Butcher's flashback. No one is inherently "good" or "evil" - you are shaped by your upbringing. As the scenes between his memories, his reflection, and his projection in current time are cut seamlessly back and forth, Butcher slowly realizes that he mirrors the man he hated the most. Yet he fully accepts his succumbing to that darkness while bringing Hughie with him through his personal vendetta against the supes - not caring about the risk towards others who he claimed he loved. Even with parents, one may grow to be a contemptuous person if they live in an abusive family, and it's a cycle that is very difficult to break. Butcher's flashback is certainly the spotlight of the episode for me.
Even with Kimiko's story in the background (her saying that V only explicates what kind of person you are), considering that we've been shown how the character's social lives shaped them into what they are now - Kimiko with her abducted kid background, Hughie's insecurity with his zero to hero job, etc - the message stays strong, countering the superhero cliche of inherently morally good and evil person.
I'm hoping this dynamic could be further explored in the next episode (or season) with the Soldier Boy and Homelander encounter when it's revealed that Soldier Boy is Homelander's father, at least he feels so. An abusive father meets a narcissist kid-who'd-wanna-be-a-father. The ending of this episode becomes revealing when tied up to the earlier convesation between Homelander and Maeve: with Homelander echoing Soldier Boy's words that he "used to dream of having kids" with Maeve, it becomes apparent in this episode that the relationship between Homelander and Maeve (and Soldier Boy and Crimson Countess) it is not something exactly out of pure love.
"Having kids" is not a romantic statement: it's a purely masculine, self-centered ego of having someone of your blood - of your similarity - that you can be proud of. Who the partner is doesn't matter; they are only means to that end. And in that Soldier Boy shares something in common with Homelander as shown through his delight of accepting Homelander readily as his son, albeit lab-grown. He only wants to see a better version of him.
Last but not least, I love the jab at corporate this episode still throws. Ashley spinning breaking news about Starlight in a similar way Disney would spin stories about their abuse and mismanagement; and that A-Train being zombified, again, with the heart of Blue Hawk embedded in his body, serving only as Vought's puppet. I'm not sure if that's the most satisfying end to A-Train's arc, but seeing his disappointed, grim look, his lack of agency, I guess the character suffers a lot. I just hope this will be the last of his arc and the show doesn't squeeze him further.
That said, with the reveal at the ending, I am not sure I am 100% satisfied as I was expecting Soldier Boy bringing down Homelander, or rendering him powerless by the end of the season. Looks like Homelander will continue to be the main villain. I just hope they don't prolong the "mentally unstable" trope too much and find ways to keep the show interesting. Looking forward to the finale.
"They're just people. But they snap their fingers and we jump."
Interesting episode showing the clutch of corporation in the lives of the superheroes. Heroes have to obey metrics--viewership, social media likes--they have to perform, to play the role of heroes to satisfy the demands of the markets.
The life threatening crime of robberies are made mundane, as shown when Homelander and Maeve have a casual chit-chat about their employers while performing cool action stunts of "saving the world". Which, in actuality, is a no-mercy beatdown of a guy who surrendered as soon as they appear. But they have to play their part: "the bad guy shot first", that's why it's legal to murder him. In the same vein, Starlight has to upgrade her costume, to show a "transformation" from a country girl to a metropolis supe. She doesn't like showing off her body, but once she signed the contract, her body is no longer hers--it's of the corporation. The supes may have physical power, but the billionaires have political and cultural power.
We have watched this mundanity before in the form of other entertainment--Marvel Cinematic Universe. Life-threatening actions were played out as jokes and mundane routines. And us the viewers enjoyed it, because it gives us "cozy feelings". But, like most performers, heroes hide secrets. And that's where the Compound V plot kicks in.
This episode attempts to show what sci-fi usually does: a commentary not of the future, but of the present. The subplots are knitted neatly to each other, marking a distinct theme. We tread carefully as plans and ploys unfold--and failed--but as they go, more possibilities were opened up. We watch our Hughie becoming more convinced of his place in The Boys. We see his conscience in opposition to the other veteran members of professional killers.
The great thing about this show so far is how everything is not portrayed as merely black and white. Superheroes may do bad, but they are all still humans who submit to corporate governance. While our boys may seem to have clear motives of taking down corrupt heroes, but they too are vested with their own interest. Hughie acts as our moral compass--the only ordinary guy, who happens to be trapped inside this clusterfuck.
Most solid episode of the season so far. Nothing extraordinarily amazing, but it's just The Boys at its best like in the first half of Season 1.
What I like the most is that everything that happens leading to the climax in the Herogasm is just frantic, chaotic, a lot of stuff happening at once, unplanned, unpredictable, and consequently, tragic. Just a lot of things coming out together at the same time, including the tying up of loose ends of plot points (e.g. with A-Train's demise and his conflict with Hughie).
The episode keeps the comedy and jab at corporate speak intact, but does not overdo it so we get straight to the crux of the matter. From Homelander, Starlight, Kimiko/Frenchie, Hughie, A-Train, even Ashley - the plot revolving around those characters are about what makes them really them. They all have struggled with the question whether power (be it through V or executive position) made them into a terrible person they do not like, but it is all actually on them. Power only explicate their attitude. Like Butcher in the previous episode said, "With great power comes the absolute certainty, that you will turn into a right cunt."
It was interesting to see how each characters react: Hughie portrayed as an insecure man, A-Train tasting his own bitter medicine, Starlight getting tired of the play-pretend and politicking she has played all over the years, and of course, Homelander being Homelander. I find it especially best with Hughie and A-Train. Hughie, when in S1 he acted as our moral compass, here we see him as someone fragile, a man unable to keep up with the pace of the world he's living in and feeling defeated by his girlfriend for not being a breadwinner. A-Train, a great end to his arc, as he realizes that he has caused so many harms to others due to his toxicity, he realizes that he can only bring a little bit of justice for his own brother. He can't run away from his past like Frenchie said, I think it's very poetic.
Also it's refreshing to get a brief character development with Soldier Boy. Hoping that there is more to this character in the next seasons to come.
Last but not least, the fight with Homelander was intense. The unexpected Butcher x Hughie x Soldier Boy tag-team is great, especially with the confused, defeated look Homelander gave to them. I'm expecting this will drive Homelander even uncontrollable, especially now with his inner monologue and everyone either against him (Starlight, Maeve, if she is still there) or leaving him (Noir and possibly A-Train). The show seems to be planting the seed of conflict between our Boys in the future to come. Hopefully this will pay off.
Everything just went so abrupt and rushed in this episode.
This episode shows up the determination of two most weak (combat abilities speaking) characters in Walking Dead, trying to prove themselves that they are able fighters like their comrades are. As the usual cliche, this went into disaster. I usually would "pardon" such attempt on cliche plot (weak people trying to prove themselves), but this episode is really difficult to find excuse for. Especially in the case with the person Daryl and Rosita is guarding: Denise. They know Denise is far from an able combatant--so why do they seem so reluctant to, in Rosita's words, "babysit" her? Not to mention how Denise is such an important asset to Alexandria for her actual skill: medic and surgery.
Another one, the very rushed and abrupt decision of Carol to leave Alexandria. We've seen her psychological dilemma of killing people in previous episode, questioning if her ruthlessness and pragmatism is right. We've seen the dilemma through her action, her emotion. It was one of a great episode. But in this episode? We see almost nothing of Carol and suddenly she left Alexandria! We only get to see her kissing Tobin for a few seconds, sitting on a bench lamenting of something, regretting something after Denise was killed, and then BAM! "Sorry guys I can't kill people anymore, I'm leaving Alexandria." This makes the usual calm, calculating Carol look like a teenager in emotional mood-swing. Even worse, we don't even get to see her mood-swing.
Credits where its due though: the part where Eugene bites the Survivor's dick is so unexpectedly hilarious. Eugene really got into the next level with that move. Still--that doesn't save this episode of its clumsiness.
After last week's great episode, this episode is really a disappointment.
Nothing makes sense in this episode.
Dialogues feel forced. Like the previous episode, everything is shoved just to make the plot moves. Especially terrible every time the rookie has a conversation.
This episode and the previous feel like series of unrelated events. Nothing literally happened in these two episodes. There are some cool throwbacks and references (cantina scene, dune sea, Amy Sedaris blurping Star Wars jargons, etc) but it's all fanservice. It appears the show is directed by people familiar with Star Wars universe but has zero sense of screen writing.
This finale feels like not just a finale for Season 2, but Season 1 as well. It wraps up the plot that has been worked on since Season 1, and in some ways turning it to full circle, e.g. Butcher's quest for Becca, A-Train subplot, Hughie's self-discovery, and the rest of The Boys's relationship with each other.
As usual, The Boys does the best job when they take a jab on current corporatist-political climate.
“People love what I have to say. They believe in it," Stormfront confidently said. "They just don’t like the word Nazi." A racist superhero is Vought's darling - one that casually screams lingos like "white genocide" to young boys. Seemingly contradictory considering Stan Edgar, who would be target of racism, is Vought's CEO. But Edgar insisted that it is not about him. "I can’t lash out like some raging, entitled maniac," Stan Edgar responded as he smiled when confronted on what he did, "That’s a white man’s luxury." Anger drives demands for securitization. Demands for securitization drives demands for Compound V. Vought just "play with the cards we're dealt." Like Maeve's bisexuality that Vought plays, racism is just another card to eventually drive profit. Be it racism or empowerment, they are all smoke and mirrors.
But of course the thickest smoke and mirror is not a mere woke capitalism - something we can already obviously see. The thickest smoke is one that makes us think that within this war of attrition, another hero existed, and they would fight for our cause. We follow them as they march - our symbol of hope. This episode reveals something that has been foreshadowed very early in this season: "it's a fucking coup from the inside," said Raynor, before her head got blown into bits. Neuman, an obvious parody of Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, raised into the spotlight as an opposition toward Vought and Homelander. But as it is revealed that it was her who was blowing people's head, and she has blown the church leader's head too as soon as she knew he has files on supes, it is revealed that she is actually a controlled opposition by Vought. Like the politicians who hail from Democratic Party, a part of ruling oligarchy, The Boys takes another jab that we should really never trust heroes, be it in the form of supe or another.
This reveal is also a very nice setup as it closes the arcs on Season 1 and 2, and prepares for another arc coming in Season 3. It gets interesting as I had myself asking, "can Homelander end up being our hope now?" This sort of dilemma is what piqued my interest in The Boys; we can't really easily label one as evil and another as good, as - like in real life - today's enemy can be tomorrow's ally, and vice versa.
That being said, I do not think this episode is a perfect ten. Butcher's quest for his wife, for example, was quite unsatisfying. Becca, despite having a lot of screen time, does not possess actual agency, and more like a side character who happens to be involved in Butcher's bigger story. Despite revolving around his infatuation with his supposedly long-dead wife, the way the subplot climaxes leaves much to be desired as Butcher seemingly sidesteps Becca's death. How would Butcher reconcile with such heavily emotional feeling, after years of losing her, finding her, and now he is losing her again? How would Ryan, her son, react to the loss of the only guardian he ever knew in all his life? Those questions remain unresolved. We get to see more time of Hughie and Starlight bonding - while it resolves the tension in their relationship, there is not much resolution or development going on in that aspect.
In addition to that, while watching girls trio beating up Nazi is fun to watch (though it seems to lean more on the cathartic side too much) - and especially funny since it is another parody at Marvel, the forced "girl power" scene in Endgame - Maeve's appearance seems a bit too convenient, deus ex machina that resolves not just the issue with Stormfront, but also Homelander. The Boys has been sort of weak in the last three episodes in employing deus ex machina, something I wish could be worked on more on the next season.
All in all though, this is a much better finale than Season 1's.
Every single thing that had been building up is paid off really well in the ending. Excellent pacing, enough tense with gripping moments, and perfect reveal of every character's perspective, knitting the red line that seems dispersed at first.
Pretty decent episode. Emphasizes a lot on the drama so it may disappoint those who expect action, but still good nonetheless. We get the bonding between Daryl and Aaron, Sasha's stress, Rick and the barber Jesse, and that "W" letter hint again. And Carol! From an "invisible" lady to a threatening killer in an instant. That scene is priceless.
A number of things are still going on here. Still a decent episode.
At first this episode might seem like a filler, but it serves as a good episode for the characters to breathe and immerse in the moment they just experienced.
One thing I liked from the episode is contrast.
On the cold Earth we get to see Amos and Clarissa walk through a forest the kids planted on field trip. Clarissa spoke of field trips, saying that her dad was one that donated his money to plant that much trees, and throwing references like "Schroedinger's parents", unaware of her upper class upbringing. Amos never went to field trip and didn't catch her reference. He asked instead, what does her dad get in return for planting those many trees? For Amos who grew up in the streets of Baltimore, the idea of charity field trips where people give something (plant a tree) for free is unimaginable. Clarissa then talked of her time with her distant father, and how a caretaker should be a good person. Amos rejected this idea: “There are ways that you can live a good life without being a good person.”
Other character arcs that weave the threads the plots in this episode similarly have that contrast. Avasarala struggles with uncertainty and seemingly loss of husband, as the acting secretary-general calls her for other duty. We get to see Holden aboard Rocinante, a place he would call home, but his home is manned by strangers, none of his families. In a way, Holden is alone in his home. Similarly, Filip asked Naomi how could she betray her family and if she doesn't think them as her family anymore. Naomi retorted shortly, "I guess I don't." He "family" is no longer them - but one of Rocinante crew.
Speaking of Naomi, her relatively sluggish plot line in previous episodes pays off decently in this episode. Drummer's coming to terms to temporarily ally with Marco, the one who killed two of her friends knits nicely with Naomi's story.
And there is of course Filip's story. All he has ever known in his life is the (delusional) grandeur of his dad: the swashbuckling rebel of OPA who fights for his people. Marco portrays himself a determined, righteous hero of the Belt, and his son knew no better. He never saw Marco as someone would do wrong, until Cyn - Marco's own crew - confronted him, trying to assert his duty as a supposedly foster father Naomi believed him to be. "I've never seen the two of you like that before," Filip, shaken, told Cyn. "Wouldn't be the first time," Cyn replied. And then there was the line when Filip was told that Naomi "saved everyone" during her time in Behemoth.
Filip was (is?) still a naive young boy, seeing the world only through the lens of his self-proclaimed hero of a father. He sees his father's quest as nothing but a struggle of one man to do things right where others failed. A firebrand agitator, Marco blamed everyone else as wrong, and he as right. It was the first time Filip sees the possibility that Marco himself might be as wrong. As Filip desired to know further, Marco snooped on Filip's conversation with Naomi in disgust, but unable to intervene as doing so would prove that Naomi does hold a grain of truth. And that seems to be why Filip might still worth saving - after previous episodes showing him as no better than a hard-headed boy - free from the clutch of his ambitious father.
All these are achieved with very good acting of every cast members. There were some minor slopes and disappointments, such as Clarissa's modded fight that was choreographed very poorly (they did it better in Season 3), and Bobbie and Alex's minor, relatively swiftly resolved win. But this is still a pretty decent episode, and one that has nice character development.
The most obvious best part in the episode is of course Stormfront. The show doesn't pull punches. Stormfront makes a really good portrayal of today libertarianism: social media savvy, all about women empowerment a la Sophia Amoruso's "Girlboss", but does not care with the have nots, and is extremely prejudiced towards marginalized groups (e.g. ethnic minorities). Casting a female Stormfront (instead of a male one like in the comics) is a good touch as it highlights the point that without class or racial sensitivities, you'd get people that talk of empowerment as long as it only benefits them.
However there is another part, a slightly minor scene in the big move that drives the plot forward. When it is revealed that Starlight successfully leaks Compound V to the media, A-Train confronts her. She justifies her action: "there is much more than having good cars, houses, etc" (the things possible when the supes rose into stardom). Disappointed, A-Train cut her short, "the only people who say that are the people who grew up with money."
This short conversation shows what The Boys can do best: nuance. A-Train might be a jerk, but he too is a victim of the system. Like the blacks Stormfront murdered later in the episode, A-Train came from lower class background. His supe power helped him to climb the socioeconomic ladder, being an athlete in place of his brother and of course being a part of The Seven. This is in contrast to Starlight, who was raised by relatively affluent mother - who was obsessed with getting her child into stardom herself - always in spotlight and sufficient wealth since a young age. Starlight yearns for a meaningful life; A-Train desires a luxurious life he never got before his rise to supehero status.
A-Train was introduced as a jerk, no-good drug abuser; but after the anticlimactic conclusion in S1, with limited screen time he's been having in S2, we are shown more layers to A-Train's perspective. The show does this sort of nuance well with Maeve too.
The only obviously antagonist in the last episode is Homelander - as he went into more a narcissitic, mentally unstable character that may explode at any given time. But I hope even with his unpredictable deranged action we can still see the way he handles conflicting expectations he will face in the following episodes, esp. with the appearance of Stormfront, like when we saw him juggling between his individuality and personal branding in S1.
I guess this episode has little bit of everything. There is a bit of suspense of the barn invasion. There is a bit of action in the final showdown, of course. There is a bit of Justice League cameo. There is a bit of character development during the mission preparation. There is a bit of wrapping up the story (each characters' fate, tying up loose ends, and Peacemaker making peace with himself). And there is also some stereotypical eco-message slipped in (I guess since this is the anthropocene and Thanos' ecofascism seems to be popular...).
It's not a gripping finale, but it does what it does well for an action comedy that doesn't take itself too seriously.
Highlight would be: I like that they keep Goff alive because Peacemaker's personal connection and Judomaster also alive with his chips-eating habit. I also liked that they're setting this up for future DCEU but not too blatantly obvious that they had to throw away the standalone-ness of the show like MCU/Marvel Studios usually do.
Not the greatest The Boys episode, esp. not Season 2's good. They have come this far to plan and strategize against Vought, yet they don't seem to have any backup plan... not with Lamplighter, who they leave only with Hughie to babysit, and especially not with Dr. Vogelbaum, the man behind all these, the most important man who should have acted as key witness? With Lamplighter, okay, they missed their chance, but Butcher and Mallory could have at least made Vogelbaum recorded his confession or some sort since they should have known that sending him off means an extremely high risk of failure. And they freaking knew there's someone out there who can pop head out of nowhere. Why don't they take any precaution?
The one scene with Hughie and Lamplighter is kind of dumb too, only showing him as ever petulant bystander who can't prioritize - which is a step down of character development since he blew Transluscent's ass. Butcher family drama seems to give a hint of character development but the pacing is too convenient as a cop out for stuff to fall apart.
Got plenty of fight scenes and mostly that, but it don't pack the same punch as the fight scenes did in the first season. I don't know if it's Anthony Mackie, the choreography, or just the cinematography, but it looks weak especially during the fight with Quell.
Excellent parallel between Kovacs' torture and Ortega's family reunion. Both show how technology is utilized in the staples of our lives (an interrogation in Kovacs' case and a holiday celebration in Ortega's). Both also has similar theme of treading between life and death.
Kovacs' torture sequence can be done a bit better (especially the "going to next screen" moment, as it seems to be a bit rushed) but it does the job well enough. The most interesting part in this episode for me is Ortega's family reunion, tackling back the question asked since the first episode, "if you can prolong life by simply changing your bodies, would you still do it?" Also, grandma resleeving in a muscular white punk is just too funny. Props to the actor.
It's surprising, to say the least. There's been an obvious dead flag throughout the episode, but this person has escaped from such dead flag again and again. This time though - this person doesn't survive.
Lots of people die in this episode, so the death is a bit unexpected and and the same time... seems a bit less dramatical. We had a whole episode for Tyrone, a climactic end for Beth, even moments of atonement for Merle. But this person seems to be one of the crowds. Which, actually, makes sense in a post-apocalyptic world such as in Walking Dead's - it's unforgiving and death is just a statistic. But for a person who's been with the audience for a long time to be gone, just like that, seems a bit unsettling for me. I guess there's still more to come.
Not the most engaging pilot. So many setups and characters introduced at once. Mystery seems to be fleeting, lingering around the corner but there's no clear direction yet where it would lead the viewers. Feels like the episode is setting up a lot of things for the whole season at once.
A bit too on the nose in their attempts to poke the issue on darkly designed terms of service and deepfake, especially in light of the Hollywood actor and screenwriter protest (perhaps even inspired by it). The episode leans heavily toward being a meta humor, but it doesn't really work well. Annie Murphy does her best, and I believe Salma Hayek too, but they were given a rather one-dimensional, uninspiring script. As the episode ended I realized Charlie Brooker is the writer. That kinda explains the weak episode.
Good pilot with good world-building. Portrays the oppressiveness of poverty and the ads-drenched life in a cyberpunk city much better than the game. Plot is a bit cliche though but the episode spreads enough clue for build up in future episodes. Really like the visual cues they use to evoke character's emotion, such as the shot on David's shaking legs when he's anxious.
