The Boys is Here to Stay

Every once in a while, there comes a show within a genre that just turns everything upside down and remains consistently good from beginning to end. Unfortunately, most of the shows that have this level of quality are prematurely cancelled, and there’s always an unclear reason as to why that ended up happening. Some shows are cancelled with enough precedence to come up with a decent conclusion (Alias, Avatar: The Legend of Korra), while others are just not renewed even after the production of the season, or a lot of episodes, has been complete (Sym-Bionic Titan, Megas XLR, Constantine). The Boys is a genre-redefining show that lives up to all the hype behind it, with a clearly very expensive production, solid acting and a brilliant storyline to tie it all up. Even the most criticized things from other movies and shows, when done in this show, are done very well. This show continues to impress, and even three seasons down the line, it does wonders with the storyline. When we think that they just can’t get any better, they find a way of proving us wrong. This article will explore the multiple facets of The Boys, season 3, and just talk about the season itself.

The third season starts off in the aftermath of the tremendous closing sequence of the second season. Things really ended in a very weird, dream-like state. It looked like The Boys were finally getting something done with all their sacrifice, but then again, there was still a lot left to be done, and dozens of people were killed, definitely by a super, in a situation which would have exposed Vought as the frauds that they really were. Hughie starts off the season working in a company that keeps watch over supers, while also developing his relationship with Starlight, while Mother’s Milk lives a quiet life, taking care of his daughter, along with his ex-wife and her current husband, Frenchie and Kimiko are trying to get away from everything, and Billy Butcher is still out there fighting the way he always has been, unable to stop until Homelander is dead. The people at Vought are all over the place, and Homelander seems to be losing his mind more and more in every scene his is in. The show starts off introducing too many story threads and it seems a bit disjointed because there is just so much going on, and with the limited episode count, it doesn’t seem that everything could possibly be covered, but as the show goes on, it manages to deliver on everything. There are some truly fantastic things the show manages to do. Even with the limited time it has to showcase the world, we still learn a lot about the main characters even though there is just so much going on at the same time. The show manages to deliver on human drama as well as spectacular action.

Speaking of human drama, that is the best part of the show. Yes, the show also has a lot of action, being a superhero show and all, but the best part of it all is that it deals with humanity as it is. Sure, there are a few exaggerations, like how almost every super we’re supposed to hate or is about to die due to an interrogation by the Boys going wrong (or right, when it comes to Butcher doing it by himself) does drugs. It’s a grim world. The only thing that really protects the main characters is anonymity and legal proceedings. The supers could very easily wipe them out in a few minutes, but they get away with it because everything they do is clandestine, and they have help from a super, in the form of Starlight. Even Queen Maeve ends up helping them out…and doing much more than just helping out…with Butcher. The conflict of interest divides the world’s premiere superhero team…and also divides The Boys. The Seven are divided because each one of them is starting to realize just how deep their trouble is, being under Homelander’s heel all the time, being afraid of him and not being able to hold him accountable for the wrongdoings he commits and the like. Although there are still some that are still too scared even by the end of the season (looking at you, The Deep and A-Train), the others have full on gone against him. The ones who are just doing their own thing, like Black Noir, get killed by him. Homelander becomes far more unhinged in this show, and the only one who can stop him is someone called Soldier Boy, played very well by the extremely talented Jensen Ackles. He embodied the role so well, one could easily say that he was born to play it. He alone held the power to destroy Homelander, but then there was an issue there: Homelander is his son. Did it hold him back? It sure didn’t. And that was something of a weakness that Homelander had with his own son. His other weakness, other than his father, was his son, whom he loved dearly. That brings him into contention with Billy Butcher, who has a vendetta against all supers except the child of Homelander. He even goes as far as attacking Soldier Boy for hurting the boy. As one can see, there is a lot of conflict of interest there.

Billy Butcher then comes into the scene and has become far more layered than ever before. From being an annoying, self-centered, self-righteous psychopath on a quest for personal vengeance, disguised as justice, he is finally, visually revealed to come from an abusive household growing up, having abandoned his younger brother to his fate with his father. Of course he comes from an abusive household. Don’t all unfeeling characters come from that? Anyway, we have seen what he is capable of, but now we see it turned up a notch because this time he has the Vought serum which gives people superhuman powers for roughly 24 hours. The powers are random, and he is lucky enough to get powers similar to Homelander’s…but at a cost. The serum rapidly messes with the user’s health and reduces their lifespan, which we only find out towards the end of the season, and Billy is given a deadline for his life by a doctor. The serum is used as an analogy for drugs, in that it feels good to use and helps you achieve your objectives, but it comes at the cost of your life. We thought that it would be alright and that Billy would be able to just take care of Homelander, but the situation, as always, isn’t so straightforward.

While Billy does it so that he can get some payback and call it justice, Hughie starts using it too, and he uses it simply because he wants to feel powerful. He doesn’t want to keep getting rescued by his girlfriend and be the damsel in distress of the relationship, and he even verbally expresses that. Unfortunately for him, his girlfriend doesn’t even see it like that and only wants him to be safe. Their relationship takes a dive when they even engage in a small fight, and it is left unclear where they stand after that, but it is still established that they care deeply for one another. Starlight has declared her rebellion against Homelander and that is left to be resolved. Another issue to be resolved is how Billy has repeatedly told Hughie that all supers must die and that he will make sure of that, and that includes Starlight. We will have to see just how that storyline ends. The show may be setting up a showdown between Hughie and Butcher, or Butcher and the rest of the gang, as more and more of them are becoming tired of Butcher’s antics.

The actors do not disappoint in their performances. The showrunners cast the best people possible for all their roles and it that has elevated the expectations of what it takes to make a good superhero show. Sure, the show seems a bit too edgy a times, and those who think so are absolutely art, but the show justifies its edginess and gives it a point.

The whole “herogasm” thing works so perfectly well in the world that The Boys has created, and it is a very interesting thing to watch on television. This show really makes unfilmable aspects become the best things about it. With three seasons under its belt, and each season better than the last, The Boys has cemented itself as a force to be reckoned with. Here’s to hoping that its herogasm spinoff is going to be just as good.

Did you like our points? Do you agree with what we had to say? Leave your comments below: