Review: The Boys Season 3
/Nadya Martinez
*Extremely Mature content & language, blood, gore, profanity, nudity and sex
The Boys Season 3 serves up the perfect platter of satire, violence, comedy, absurdity and downright holy shit moments.
Courtesy of Prime Video/Copyright: Amazon Studios
Antony Starr (Homelander)
“Whatever it takes” .. The Boys team up once again as they embark on a mission to take down Vought and the uncontrollable self-absorbed super-maniac Homelander (Antony Starr). If you're worried about the season not living up to its predecessors, do not panic. The show's shock value has in no way diminished with its “Ant-man” -esque supe blowing up a penis in the first 15 minutes of the premiere.
The Boys known for its excessive gore, nudity and profanity always finds a way to be even more outlandish. However, this season isn’t just a bloodbath full of carnage and wild antics, it's full of heart, and covers much heavier subject matter with even more stabs of irony. This season is a frighteningly close reflection of the times we’re living in, touching on everything from Black Lives Matter, workplace sexism, cancel culture and gun culture to extremist patriotism. While it has its usual hilarious, ultra-violent moments, this season is more about forgiveness and deepening its characters, giving us much more insight into their individual temperaments.
““With great power comes the absolute certainty you’ll turn into a right cunt.” - ”
It’s been a year since the shocking events of disclosing the truth about compound v, and the exposing of Stormfront as a Nazi, and things seem to be surprisingly calm. Homelander is momentarily subdued, Butcher (Karl Urban) is refraining from alcohol and supe-killing while working with the government, and Hughie (Jack Quaid) and Annie (Erin Moriarty) are in relationship bliss. Hughie is working for the Federal Bureau of Superhuman Affairs (FBSA) alongside Congresswoman Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit) to keep Supe’s accountable and collateral damage low, aloof that she is the Head Popper.
We see a conscience- stricken Mother’s Milk (Laz Alonzo) who is taking a break away from the crew to spend time with his daughter, while Kamiko (Karen Fukuhara) and Frenchie (Tomer Capon) are trying to find some normalcy and planning to leave this grueling life of vigilantism behind them.
Our favorite group of informal and extremely dangerous vigilantes who love to hunt down corrupt superheroes
Courtesy of Prime Video/ Amazon Studios
Jack Quaid (Hughie Campbell), Karl Urban (Billy Butcher), Tomer Capone (Frenchie), Karen Fukuhara (Kimiko), Laz Alonso (Mother's Milk)
That is until the gang learns of sensitive secrets, classified threats, and the possibility of a mysterious Anti-Supe weapon, sending them on an international hunt, starting a war, and the discovery of the first Superhero: Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles), who may be the key to finally taking down Homelander for good.
This season puts much more emphasis on character relationships, the consequences of having powers and how it affects the people around you. There are serious repercussions this season, and it highlights the importance of not forgetting what you’re actually fighting for in the first place. This season is full of so many references to real life events that it’s hard to not point out every similarity and laugh and maybe even cry a little inside.
The premiere starts of with the in-film universe controversy with the reshoots for “Dawn of The Seven” after Stormfront was outed as a Nazi, which is clearly a humorus riff on the Snyder Cut. The Stormgate controversy ends up being just another typical Vought cover up to get Homelander off the hook, and to make millions off of. This season really gave us a shock with how easily it can recreate real life events, poking fun at all the things wrong with society; capitalism, our obsession with celebrity culture, facism, mega corporations, manipulative media and the power of good PR.
This season covers everything from “fake news”, to insincere cringe celebrities, poor judgment in leadership (“it's safe to go outside”), The unqualified Homelander aka Trump’s unprofessional and ill advised antics, the abusive nature of child beauty pageants, and performative stances on racism, to a hilarious parody of Kendall Jenner’s infamous crude pepsi ad. Yet, somehow Vought always bounces back.
Supe-collateral damage is down 60% thanks to Victoria Neuman (slightly based on Vice President Vick aka Victor K. Neuman, Vic The Veep from the comics), who was revealed to be the Head Popper last season. The show definitely adds so much more depth to this character, making her more of a mainstay. She works closely with Hughie at the FBSA where they regulate Supe activity and help Vought recover its reputation. She uses her powers to manipulate her way to the top, using anyone around her as collateral. Meanwhile, Hughie and Starlight are flourishing in their careers, giving Hughie a newfound confidence that is until he meets Nadia. Everything he has been working towards for the last year has been a lie, maybe Butcher was right, there is only one way to handle Supes.
"The Last Time To Look On This World Of Lies"
Credit: Courtesy of Prime Video/ Amazon Studios
Karl Urban (Billy Butcher), Jack Quaid (Hughie Campbell)
Even Butcher tried the non-violent way in an effort to become a better role model for Ryan, his late wife’s son. However, he would jump at any opportunity if he knew that it could bring down Homelander and Supers for good.. No matter the cost. This season Butcher is excessively controlling, obsessive, manipulative and pushes literally everyone away. He has such a strong arc this season that he is on the verge of becoming the very thing he hates the most. Full of such hatred and anger he will stop at nothing, and we begin to see a much darker side of Billy played to perfection by Urban. Throughout the season we see he is a product of his environment and because of “Mindreaders” manipulation tactics we see why Butcher is the way he is and his traumatic past which leads to an ongoing cycle of violence. This season featured phenomenal character development not only for Butcher but for pretty much all of the cast.
This season explored Huey’s feelings of inadequacy dating a superhero. His insecurities and resentment really put a strain on his relationship with Starlight. Starlight also has so much more depth this season, and she really shines both literally and metaphorically. She is tired of being told what to do and who to be. This season Both Starlight and Kamiko who have been pretty much sidelined most of the show are both brought into the spotlight. They don’t just show off their fighting abilities but they have storylines that progress their individuality, and push them to examine internally how they feel about having superpowers and how that affects their relationships with people around them.
Frenchie and Kamiko both come from a very dark past that continuously haunts them. Kamiko not only embraces herself as a maniac but she gets in touch with her humanity. We also delve deeper into MM’s traumatic past and explore why he has OCD tendencies. The show does such a good job giving each of THE BOYS and THE FEMALE the proper chops to make us fall more in love with each individual character.
Credit: Courtesy of Prime Video/ Amazon Studios
Tomer Capone (Frenchie), Karen Fukuhara (Kimiko)
Even The Seven gets some proper disposition. Maeve (Dominique McElligott) has more prominence later in the season showing us what it means to be a selfless SuperHero, maybe not all of them are selfish pricks and can have some remorse. The Deep (Chace Crawford) and A-Train (Jessie Usher) continue to show their true selfish nature as they constantly kiss Homelanders ass and only care about one thing - being in The Seven.
We see more of A-train’s strained relationship with his brother and his struggle to feel relevant after no longer being the fastest man alive. The Deep and his wife continue to sweet-talk and bullshit their way to being in power. We see some hilarious and strange interactions with these two, always being the parody of jokes.
While it completely strays away from the comics, I like how the series handled Homelander, Soldier Boy, and Black Noir. This season we learn more about Black Noir and his tragic past, which is a completely different iteration from the book. (For those not familiar with the comics) Black Noir has a completely unique backstory, instead of being a Homelander clone the show lets him be his own entity and this way it lets both characters live up to their potential, also adding to Homelanders indestructibility and ruthlessness. Homelander is the perfect unstoppable, and unpredictable villain that really sets this show apart from other modern superhero content.
This season we are introduced to Soldier Boy, the new big bad Supe-terror who was once revered as the greatest and most powerful superhero in the world. Stronger than Homelander, could it be coincidence? Herogasm was a perfect set up and distraction for one of the best fight scenes and team-ups we’ve seen in this series. With some major plot twists, and new alliances along the way, with The Boys you are always in for a treat and a WTF moment. Just remember every action has consequences that could be detrimental to the future.
Credit: Courtesy of Prime Video/ Amazon Studios
Jensen Ackles (Soldier Boy)
Aside from its sex cults, and diabolical carnage this season delves into trauma, ptsd, and loss. The series hasn’t lost its wow factor, and will continue to always outdo itself. With a twisted finale the show reminds us that there’s always something worth fighting for. The Boys renowned for its explicit violence, sex, and dark gritty humor is the perfect spin on the super-hero genre and is currently one of the best shows on television right now.
Amazon taking chances on content like Invincible, The Boys, and the upcoming Paper Girls is the perfect way to introduce these comic series to new audiences, giving viewers a refreshing departure from marvel fatigue. Though we don’t live in a world where super-heroes actually exist, we do live in one with shitty people in positions of power and wealth and this series isn’t afraid to demonstrate that while pushing the limits.
9/10: Amazon’s “The Boys” is JLA on Compound V
and continues to be a bloody masterpiece
The Boys is an American comic book series, written by Garth Ennis and co-created, designed and illustrated by Darick Robertson. It was originally published by Wildstorm before moving to Dynamite Entertainment.
