TV REVIEW: Amazon's The Boys
(Rain King - Counting Crows)
Marvel Studios started something back in 2008 when they released the original Iron Man. Super Hero fever swept over the world in a way that it had never known before, and there's been very little looking back since then.
Whenever this kind of phenomena takes over, there's always a cautionary tale to be had alongside it. Said tale is frequently swept aside in favor if hedonism, but that doesn't change the fact that it's there for those that look.
The wisest man I know once told me that the key to life was moderation, and that all things had their place in this world there. The Boys is an example of what happens when that moderation is utterly, blatantly ignored in favor of excess. It is the cautionary tale. Actually, if I'm being honest, it's several cautionary tales.
Are any of them worth listening to?
THE SHORT VERSION:
Yes, though you may not like what you hear.
THE LONG VERSION:
There are a few things about The Boys that you should know up front before you watch your first episode:
- It's not a particularly original story -- what is these days? -- but it -is- well-told. In this case, it's very much about the journey.
- If, for some reason, you haven't seen any trailers or read anything about it online, this show is absolutely NOT for children. This show is eight hour-long episodes of Deadpool-level adult content.
Having gotten all of that out of the way, let's talk about The Boys a bit more in-depth.
The Boys is a show about a nation's obsession with literal Hero worship. Superheroes are a reality in the world of The Boys, and everyone is madly in love with them. This is where things start to get really predictable if you're even remotely aware of how things work in the USA today:
- As is typically the case when something is insanely popular, corporate America gets involved in the form of Vought, a company that has made a business out of marketing heroes, or Supes as they're called.
- Vought is pretty much an all-powerful God company as the show starts. They're led by bad people willing to do bad things in the name of making a buck.
- Ala Justice League, there is a collection of the most prominent super heroes called The Seven, and they're pretty much owned by Vought. You can read as far into this as you want, and you probably won't be wrong.
- There's a Superman clone.
- There's a Wonder Woman clone.
- There's an Aqua Man clone.
- There's a Flash clone.
- They're pretty much all horrible people in some way.
- There's a new hero who is bright, shiny, and pure of heart in all ways. They don't fit in with the other heroes.
As is the case with such things, where there are bad men, there are also good men working against them. Alas, here we also find a lot of really predictable story writing:
- There's a team of rag-tag misfits that are under-funded and yet somehow have enough money to have cool tech and multiple bolt-holes available for their use.
- They all have some kind of an axe to grind against Supes.
- One of them is overzealous and unbending in their hatred of Supes.
- One is a good guy trying to do the right thing in the name of the greater good.
- One is a naive younger person being lead around by the nose, and is clearly the odd man out.
- One is a savant with a heart of gold and the heart of a rogue.
I'll spare you any further details about the story. As I said, it's not very original, but it is quite well-told. The actors each turn in performances ranging from sufficient to frighteningly accurate. One of them is very French, so you may want to turn on subtitles. You've been warned.
The production values for The Boys are actually outstanding. There's nothing about this show that feels 'Made For TV'. It lends to the overall ambiance of the show, especially when the Supes are doing their thing.
This show is a terrifyingly realistic lens into many things that most people never really think about on a daily basis. It covers capitalism, corporate greed, humanity's willingness to sacrifice rights on the altar of convenience, death, loss, getting on with life afterwards, the dangers of meeting your gods, and the importance of personal integrity. Again, it's not original, but it shapes these examples in ways that are all too relevant in today's world. If you can stomach the blood, gore, adult themes, adult language, and occasional nudity, it's a pretty good, if pretty dark, watch. You'll know if you like the show after the first episode.
One thing: If you -do- decide to start watching the first season, do yourself a huge favor and watch it until the end.
HERE THERE BE SPOILERS!!!!
Some additional thoughts on The Boys:
- The vast majority of the show is very On Point with how it handles its characters. Because of this, when there are inconsistencies, they really stick out.
- There's just a wash of pointless gore in this show. Some of it is in service to the story. Most of it isn't. This is doubly frustrating because the story is, for the most part, plenty good enough to carry itself on its own.
- Hughie is exhibiting all of the classic signs of PTSD, which no one would blame him for. What they might blame him for is going from zero to sixty with Starlight. From what I can tell, around a month passes after the death of Hughie's love, Robin, in the first episode. In spite of the fact that Hughie is still very MUCH having PTSD issues, including seeing his dead girlfriend everywhere, he still manages to fall in love with Starlight. I think not.
- Billy Butcher is clearly insane. Kind of cool, very British, but absolutely insane. How he's in charge of anything is beyond me. How he's not in prison or dead is beyond me.
- So much of The Boys' storytelling is really refined, which is one of the reasons why the show is so watchable. That said, the developing story arc between Hughie and Starlight is telegraphed so badly that you just want it to get to its conclusion and get over with. If the writers wanted to do something courageous, they would have simply had Hughie tell Starlight the truth of things in a way that wouldn't have resulted in disaster.
- Every single thing about the airplane disaster with Homelander and Queen Maeve was uncreative bullshit. You're telling me he couldn't have saved the plane? You're telling me Maeve couldn't have survived the crash? That he was stupid enough to shoot the pilot rather than simply eating the bullet or sacrificing the pilot to save the plane, or.... It wouldn't have been so awkward if it weren't for the fact that the rest of the show is pretty sharp.
- The storyline with Hughie and Starlight is so utterly predictable that it makes my soul hurt.
- As predictable as Homelander is, he's absolutely my favorite part of the show. Anthony Starr is just nailing it here. He's a fantastic bad guy.
- Episodes one through five are really good. Episodes 6 and 7 make you sort of shake your head and wonder what the hell the writers were even thinking. Episode 8...makes up for that. Hugely. Episode 8 is -THE- payoff.
Marvel Studios started something back in 2008 when they released the original Iron Man. Super Hero fever swept over the world in a way that it had never known before, and there's been very little looking back since then.
Whenever this kind of phenomena takes over, there's always a cautionary tale to be had alongside it. Said tale is frequently swept aside in favor if hedonism, but that doesn't change the fact that it's there for those that look.
The wisest man I know once told me that the key to life was moderation, and that all things had their place in this world there. The Boys is an example of what happens when that moderation is utterly, blatantly ignored in favor of excess. It is the cautionary tale. Actually, if I'm being honest, it's several cautionary tales.
Are any of them worth listening to?
THE SHORT VERSION:
Yes, though you may not like what you hear.
THE LONG VERSION:
There are a few things about The Boys that you should know up front before you watch your first episode:
- It's not a particularly original story -- what is these days? -- but it -is- well-told. In this case, it's very much about the journey.
- If, for some reason, you haven't seen any trailers or read anything about it online, this show is absolutely NOT for children. This show is eight hour-long episodes of Deadpool-level adult content.
Having gotten all of that out of the way, let's talk about The Boys a bit more in-depth.
The Boys is a show about a nation's obsession with literal Hero worship. Superheroes are a reality in the world of The Boys, and everyone is madly in love with them. This is where things start to get really predictable if you're even remotely aware of how things work in the USA today:
- As is typically the case when something is insanely popular, corporate America gets involved in the form of Vought, a company that has made a business out of marketing heroes, or Supes as they're called.
- Vought is pretty much an all-powerful God company as the show starts. They're led by bad people willing to do bad things in the name of making a buck.
- Ala Justice League, there is a collection of the most prominent super heroes called The Seven, and they're pretty much owned by Vought. You can read as far into this as you want, and you probably won't be wrong.
- There's a Superman clone.
- There's a Wonder Woman clone.
- There's an Aqua Man clone.
- There's a Flash clone.
- They're pretty much all horrible people in some way.
- There's a new hero who is bright, shiny, and pure of heart in all ways. They don't fit in with the other heroes.
As is the case with such things, where there are bad men, there are also good men working against them. Alas, here we also find a lot of really predictable story writing:
- There's a team of rag-tag misfits that are under-funded and yet somehow have enough money to have cool tech and multiple bolt-holes available for their use.
- They all have some kind of an axe to grind against Supes.
- One of them is overzealous and unbending in their hatred of Supes.
- One is a good guy trying to do the right thing in the name of the greater good.
- One is a naive younger person being lead around by the nose, and is clearly the odd man out.
- One is a savant with a heart of gold and the heart of a rogue.
I'll spare you any further details about the story. As I said, it's not very original, but it is quite well-told. The actors each turn in performances ranging from sufficient to frighteningly accurate. One of them is very French, so you may want to turn on subtitles. You've been warned.
The production values for The Boys are actually outstanding. There's nothing about this show that feels 'Made For TV'. It lends to the overall ambiance of the show, especially when the Supes are doing their thing.
This show is a terrifyingly realistic lens into many things that most people never really think about on a daily basis. It covers capitalism, corporate greed, humanity's willingness to sacrifice rights on the altar of convenience, death, loss, getting on with life afterwards, the dangers of meeting your gods, and the importance of personal integrity. Again, it's not original, but it shapes these examples in ways that are all too relevant in today's world. If you can stomach the blood, gore, adult themes, adult language, and occasional nudity, it's a pretty good, if pretty dark, watch. You'll know if you like the show after the first episode.
One thing: If you -do- decide to start watching the first season, do yourself a huge favor and watch it until the end.
HERE THERE BE SPOILERS!!!!
Some additional thoughts on The Boys:
- The vast majority of the show is very On Point with how it handles its characters. Because of this, when there are inconsistencies, they really stick out.
- There's just a wash of pointless gore in this show. Some of it is in service to the story. Most of it isn't. This is doubly frustrating because the story is, for the most part, plenty good enough to carry itself on its own.
- Hughie is exhibiting all of the classic signs of PTSD, which no one would blame him for. What they might blame him for is going from zero to sixty with Starlight. From what I can tell, around a month passes after the death of Hughie's love, Robin, in the first episode. In spite of the fact that Hughie is still very MUCH having PTSD issues, including seeing his dead girlfriend everywhere, he still manages to fall in love with Starlight. I think not.
- Billy Butcher is clearly insane. Kind of cool, very British, but absolutely insane. How he's in charge of anything is beyond me. How he's not in prison or dead is beyond me.
- So much of The Boys' storytelling is really refined, which is one of the reasons why the show is so watchable. That said, the developing story arc between Hughie and Starlight is telegraphed so badly that you just want it to get to its conclusion and get over with. If the writers wanted to do something courageous, they would have simply had Hughie tell Starlight the truth of things in a way that wouldn't have resulted in disaster.
- Every single thing about the airplane disaster with Homelander and Queen Maeve was uncreative bullshit. You're telling me he couldn't have saved the plane? You're telling me Maeve couldn't have survived the crash? That he was stupid enough to shoot the pilot rather than simply eating the bullet or sacrificing the pilot to save the plane, or.... It wouldn't have been so awkward if it weren't for the fact that the rest of the show is pretty sharp.
- The storyline with Hughie and Starlight is so utterly predictable that it makes my soul hurt.
- As predictable as Homelander is, he's absolutely my favorite part of the show. Anthony Starr is just nailing it here. He's a fantastic bad guy.
- Episodes one through five are really good. Episodes 6 and 7 make you sort of shake your head and wonder what the hell the writers were even thinking. Episode 8...makes up for that. Hugely. Episode 8 is -THE- payoff.
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