Short and simple, not much to be contemplated about, but an enjoyable experience nonetheless. The visual is beautiful, love the glimmering neon "ghosts".
Not the most satisfying finale, but still a well-done one. It gets the tense evenly spread across: despite properly knowing who the major characters are by this point, The Expanse manages to convince me that any of them can be at a stake at any point. Well, perhaps except the main Roci crew.
The shootouts were well made: other series should follow what The Expanse does with their shootouts: doors and corners. People take covers and shots are taken carefully. I think I'm used to watch movies/shows where character's death happen for the shock value, that I expected something to happen when Amos, Alex, Dr. Volovodov, and Reporter Monica were doing their job.
However the writing on supporting characters could've been... more on par with previous seasons. Ashford came off as... a bit more reckless, and the way Amos justifies it ("He's a pirate") seems to be not the strongest plot device to make the story moves along with the tense, as everything that leads to the climax of this episode ultimately rests on his decision alone. We were introduced two new captains but they act as nothing but stocks to show that Ashford appears not to be the single commander (he seems to be though). There is something that feels a bit... artificial, after a very humane and rational Ashford we've seen in previous episodes. I feel like the episode attempts to replicate the Ganymede crisis on previous half-season, but in a more downsized scale.
I am not too sure with the resolution of Melba's arc either, with her having a change of heart then suddenly coming to the rescue, not to mention she is aboard Rocinante now, where she should've been a war criminal, murdering people in Seung-Eun? It seems to be too convenient. As is with Holden's and Rocinante crewss fate, who appears to get out of the trouble without having to face the criminal prosecution accused to them earlier.
That being said, this finale is a fitting end for The Expanse's run in Syfy. As it moves to Amazon Prime, a brand new channel, so does humanity move to new systems opened by the Ring. The three season that has occurred in The Expanse so far seems to be about how humanity discovers interstellar travel.
After the last, this was a great episode. The power politics during UN-MCR meeting was tense and Aghdashloo's Avasarala appears bold and masterful.
But the kick was the whole scene on Rocinante's attempt sneaking into Ganymede. "I know your type. Go save the world, if you think you can." That line and what happens after shows that we might like to play hero, but things may not go as well as we thought. Might seem wrong to let wrong-doings slip on our watch, but intervening it with our moral high ground on the top don't make things necessarily better. There's a wide gap between taking harsh life as granted and idealizing how that life should be.
It portrays perfectly how Holden and the crew has gone from your average ice haulers to someone who games on politics like Avasarala and the other. And yet, like the other commenter has said, "We aren't expected to take sides because each of the three groups [four if you count Holden] are simply humans trying to do what's best for their respective populations."
All of them are spun in this game of power, each with their own take on it - it is not too far off if some people may call The Expanse as sci-fi Game of Thrones.
Great pilot to set up the season. Tension between Earth and Mars thicken. The show plays the factions as rational actors with tactical decisions rather than forcing a moral dichotomy. Holden's crew opens the mystery box that had been the mystery in the first season. There's more character sharing stories and banters with each other. The crew starts to feel like a crew. There is one rather sped-up dialogue between Jim Holden and Naomi, and Mao's monologue about sacrifice also feels a bit too simplistic, but overall it's good.
Even if the plot is predictable, the performances of Bryan Cranston (Silas) and Essie Davis (Vera) were stunning that they're able to make up this whole episode, especially with the delivery on the last line. The rather unique brutalist-futurist blend architecture makes the set much more convincing; the tight apartment rooms, linear corridors, and stone walls make for an oppressive environment in a tense Earth where the drama blooms.
It takes a while, but the show starts to tack on the story on this third episode, and it pays off. The interrogation scene was great, but it mostly stands out thanks to amazing performance by Greg Bryk as the interrogator/Lopaz. The way he talks so confidently is almost oppressive, and the doubt he cast to the team members makes me question the real motives behind the characters. Shohreh Aghdashloo as the United Nations officer Chrisjen Avasarala is also a highlight of this episode, depicting a strong yet doubtful at times woman leader and displaying the ambiguity of system-wide politics.
As we get to explore Martian warship with its own dark red, brooding aura, and traverse through Ceres Station, it is clear that the show has a high production value, almost nearing the level of theatrical film.
It's far from perfect, especially for a pilot, but this sets the Star Wars tone far better than any Disney Star Wars movie could.
Having Dave Filoni on board as the director may have helped setting this as a Star Wars cinema that actually takes place in a Star Wars universe: recognizable alien species and creatures (rodians, ugnaughts, blurrgs), languages other than English ("Basics" in universe terms), in-universe lore consistency (Beskar steel, Mandalorian culture), settings, and practical effects that makes a lot of sense for Star Wars. Those important aspects that make Star Wars universe convincing can hardly be seen in the new Star Wars trilogy or its spinoff nowadays.
That said, the pacing is a bit awkward. There is not much hook, story-wise, to make the pilot intriguing - unless you're a Star Wars fan with familiarity with the gimmicks. The action leaves more to be desired. Cinematography is quite well-done however. The ending also picks up some interesting turn, in the hopes that it will develop to a story that delves into character's motivation and personal goals (something that Solo tried but failed), just like Lucas' Star Wars that we know.
This episode gives Homelander a lot of spaces, and considering how volatile he is. it makes the episode running in high tension. However this pretty good tense seems to disappear into thin air once you finished the episode. I'm not saying that it lost its tense, it's just the bits of pieces presented seem to be saved for the finale--or, for the next season. Many things are left hanging in the episode, following prior episode. Which can be good if the finale is great, but it gambles heavily on that chance. Not to mention the promotional text, "the Boys learn this lesson the hard way" turns out to be only promotional. Some dialogues between characters seem to be forced and sped up to move the plot forward (ie. Hughie and Starlight) and it seems less convincing considering they had a great start. However credit is due to Karl Urban as he excellently portrayed the filled-with-grudge Billy Butcher really well.
Fantastic visual. Immersive world-building. The two quickly establish Altered Carbon as the classic cyberpunk series. However, as in seem to be common among cyberpunk TV/movie adaptation, the season pilot could've worked better on the narrative. The world building is impressive (e.g. in dialogues showing corporation looming over public facility) but the story itself isn't quite engaging. The episode hooks me up instantly to the world but I feel some kind of disconnection in the characters - there seems to be something troubling Takeshi but there's not enough reason to care about his struggle. Action is nice tough, especially the bar scene.
Ground to earth, humane episode. It's interesting to watch this after 15 Million Merits as 15MM attempted to take it in macro scale with the issue of infinite distraction, The Entire History of You takes it very grounded with the issue of privacy/surveillance. It's really an interesting inversion between the two theme. Usually it's the reverse.
Technology is intertwined with daily life, people interact with them convincingly through, and I like the bits of airport/government surveillance shown up briefly. Characters aren't as nuanced as the The National Anthem, however it progresses necessarily and believable "just enough' to the issue it tries to bring up: trust, memory, and relationship. The ending resonate a lot with me and left me pondering of the circumstances. It gets it "just right", however there's room for improvement. This is a science fiction drama and a very worthy theme to revisit some time later.
Pretty decent animation. Captures a lot from the manga (Mozgus' expression, Guts x Casca, Puck Spark) though not flawless yet. Things like character's movement could be better, also the scenes can be a bit longer (Guts x Casca hug, Mozgus' last moments, Isidro's act, Farnese being horrified) to give more impact, but it's good enough I guess. Mozgus' rock form animation is pretty solid. Music fits nicely.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Decent episode. Shows Negan as the boss here, the submission of Rick and people of Alexandria. To the point Rick no longer has this tough guy stance and opts to submit to Negan to survive another day, while still bearing a huge grudge to him. I think @andrewbloom sums it well in this line,
"when Rick confesses that he knows Judith belongs to Shane, there’s power in it because it’s one of those few plot threads from the beginning of the show that haven’t been tied off yet. And the thematic resonance of it, that sometimes we have to accept hard truths, things that tear us up, in order to do what we need to do to protect the people we care about, is solid. Negan’s actions make Rick’s knuckles tighten up on Lucille when Negan’s back is turned, but his desire to keep the Alexandrians safe loosens his grip, allows him to make all these compromises and admission in the hopes that they’ll stay alive and healthy even under such harsh conditions."
Read his review, a very thoughtful one of this episode. https://trakt.tv/comments/103012
Nothing much is going on, as usual it's the "build-up episode" which gives clues and prepares build-up for future episodes. TWD always has episodes like this (Wolves, Terminus). So don't get so fed up, I guess.
The only thing that bothers me is: why the heck don't they kill those walkers one by one like they did back in Prison?
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.
It's tense and gory in the usual The Boys fashion, although I feel like they just sped up everything in the beginning and previous episode so that they can have this "wreak havoc" all out in this episode.
As a season finale though... it feels like this IP is starting to show a similar symptoms to MCU: each ending has to be a setup for another season/series/film. It's a huge cliffhanger. It doesn't really settle the story with Marie and co, albeit they did close the arc and begin a new one. What happened to the school? What happened after the laser? Why the Guardians of Godolkin twist at the end - and how is it possible, with everyone there clearly witnessing who the villains were? It just raises more questions and feels like not making sense.
Additionally, some of the characters made some really terrible decisions with their hero syndrome, but I guess I can suspend the disbelief because they're still teenagers after all.
Up until this episode The Boys Season 3 has been solid with only a few dents, but this episode the dents are getting bigger and they're kinda showing.
First of all, everything doesn't seem to be too well-paced here.
Butcher and Hughie just had a convo in previous episode about not showing him taking Tempo V, but then in the lab he just outright stormed the bullets and showing off to the others about his newfound power. And same with Hughie, who somehow got a dose too. Worse thing the lab situation doesn't seem to be even that bad. They don't seem to be outnumbered nor outgunned, and they've seen worse before. Facing Gunpowder, it's understandable why they'd need a V; but this? Seems kinda forced to me as if the writers need to just waste those Vs already.
Still on the lab: The Soldier Boy reveal seems to be a bit hurried. Butcher suddenly randomly opening up stuff while in fact they realize they're onto something dangerous which may or may not have Soldier Boy in the lab is not just reckless (we know Butcher is) but dumb. Aren't they there to find a superweapon? When Soldier Boy escaped, they just ended up stopping the search and went back home. Granted there's the situation with the team, but the whole thing about this supposedly mysterious Soldier Boy and the search for superweapon just feels really anticlimactic.
Then, the thing with Vicky and Stan Edgar. The way she outted Edgar is a surprising twist, and I kinda like that Homelander Magneto-esque speech about choosing their own kind. But it seemed to be paced oddly interspersed between fillers and actions going on with The Boys.
There are a few death flags as well (though hopefully it's just false ones): either KImiko or Frenchie or both with their "one last run" convo; MM with the "you're natural-born leader" convo; and of course Alex/Supersonic with the "I'm gonna help you cause it's the right thing to do." That's just a straight death flag and it's proven true by the end of the episode - which again, is kinda odd paced, seemingly coming out of nowhere.
To note that this isn't a bad episode at all, but it feels like things are kinda jumbled here and there, making watching especially the second half a bit tedious. Not to mention that the first half isn't as packed and well-structured as prev episodes (it's the moment they started playing the "3 seconds still shot" too much that I felt that it's a bit too filler-y). The A-Train Pepsi parody is well done though - The Boys is always the best at parody but I hope they can do more than that.
Hopefully it will get better.
This could've been Episode 2 as this is where things finally start to get going. Pace has been much better - if in the first two episodes I felt the need of fast-forwarding, at least in this episode I didn't feel any of that.
Show has been relying banters, irony, and sex jokes for its comedy but this episode shows some physical humor as well. Action is there but not as fleshed. Don't seem like the Peacemaker we saw in The Suicide Squad, but I guess it's supposed to be a character development.
This is practically an episode 1 after the midseason finale. It establishes new characters, some serve to drive plot points forward, some others to show how things have since changed since the last finale. My favorite part is on the racer's personal quest: the part where he is shown bored as hell and just want to make a name for himself amidst the development of the Ring that fascinated many people and moved the factions to one singular direction. It makes The Expanse feels grounded: for ordinary men, this is just another thing that passed in their daily lives. The part with Roci's crew documentary is also great, showing how they deal with life after their heroic chapter.
Not the strongest episode. Starlight's speeches had all the opportunity to play out as culmination of the things Starlight had been through, especially with the backdrop of religious event that she grew up with. But it focused too much on the contrast between Homelander and Starlight, that it ended up a bit dull. I mean, the contrast was drawn in prior episode(s), but it would have been more engaging if they focused only on Starlight. Perhaps I also lacked the context of growing up in religious America.
There is enough tense and revelation, and surely the dynamics between Frenchie and the Female is interesting. Really liked the part towards the end where "Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone" plays stylistically, like most scenes in The Boys have been so far. But we've seen the other stuff before (in prior episodes), so it kinda feels like a bit repetitive, if not a filler.
Outlandish episode especially for a pilot. I like that the premise rests on a real life event, the so-called Piggate of David Cameron, which is a rumor of him getting intimate with a dead pig. The tense is well made. The way the reveal is done is also surprisingly nice. There's a few noticeable plot hole but nothing too distracting.
My only complain about this episode is the message it's trying to come across: a rather tired cliche of government surrendering to the demands of social media. It overestimates the so-called "power of social media". The dynamics as the story goes on is interesting - there is constant ping pongs between the government and the people (social media), the play between the media and the government, and the government getting live feedback through a soldier camera during the raid.
However the notion that government can submit to social media is a tired cliche that have been proven wrong for quite some time after Arab Spring. As we can see from Russia, China, Indonesia, Philippine, heck even USA, government always has the most deployable resource to influence information in social media. From political influencers and bots, to memes. I don't think the "slow, bureaucratic government" trope still fits well in this information age. As we adjust to the speed of information, so does the government.
So while the technical aspect is nice, the message is a tired cliche, which strikes me as the weakest.
Not bad. A light-hearted drama episode with enough tense near the end. More character development of Carl, Rick, and Michonne. Deanna's son overcoming his ineptitude. And the unusually funny introduction of Jesus.
Last two episodes have been good, kinda shows the dynamics between characters (Clay being so petty with the new guy and Gemma keep trying to maintain her matriarch role). The only downside here is the a bit poorly executed gunfight.
I quite liked this first episode, kinda sets up the tone quite nicely, but the degradation in quality (due to budget, executive meddling, or whatever) is showing. The initial scene with the girl and the animals took almost 5 minutes of its own, with many still shots of the girl's expression and surrounding that don't actually contribute to something meaningful in the episode as a whole - the kind of directing you see in Walking Dead's filler episodes.
But I kinda liked how they tried to make up the shortcomings of Season 5. They tried to visually show the impact of the catastrophe caused by the asteroid shots on Earth. They tried to show how Rocinante crew tries to deal with Alex's departure/loss, something that was horribly executed in Season 5. I also quite liked how they tried to portray Marco more as a bullshitter, but it could've been done better than some abrupt speech about the people of Ceres out of nowhere. Speaking of Ceres, the decision to make Dawes' death off-screen is such a big disappointment, though understandable due to the actor having conflicting schedule. Still, disappointing.
Downside here is Filip's arc. I get it that they're trying to show him as wanting to get the recognition he wanted, but we haven't seen more what he is capable to do. So far we only sees him kill and nothing much. No leadership qualities, no camraderie qualities. So him bursting out in anger just came off some sort of angsty teen worse than Anakin in Star Wars.
