What TV show did you last watch a season of on DVD/Blu-ray?
Jan 20, 2022 9:07:27 GMT
theravenking and HirundoRustica like this
Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Jan 20, 2022 9:07:27 GMT
Finished Season 2 of The Boys on Blu-ray.
I bought this ages ago, but only just recently decided to finally watch it. It'd been quite a while since I watched Season 1, so some stuff from that had faded from my memory, but I remembered the gist of what happened. Still, it was helpful having the 'Previously on' at the start of this season, since I'd forgotten some things - and what an extensive 'Previously on' it was. I think it lasted at least over two minutes. I'd originally avoided seeing the guy whose head got crushed underneath the woman sitting atop of it in Season 1 (knowing it was coming), but this time around when it was shown in the 'Previously on', it caught me unawares. Bleh! Speaking of the violence/gore in this show, I knew about the whole bit with someone's head getting ripped open from the mouth ahead of watching, so at least I was prepared for that. I know others enjoy the OTT violence/gore in this show, and for some it might even be one of the main reasons they watch the series...but for me, I watch this series because I like some of the characters and the actors who portray them, plus the 'dark' sense of humour that the show has...but when it comes to the violence, I watch this show in spite of it and not because of it. One thing I *did* really like was the montage of what Hughie and Annie/Starlight were doing set to Billy Joel's 'Pressure'. One thing this show excels at is its music choices, and this was no exception, as it really set the tone and fit what we were seeing onscreen perfectly. Also good - but for a different reason - was Translucent's funeral, which was amusing since there was nothing in the see-through coffin and then Starlight's song that she sang was also pretty funny (though I'm not sure how nobody saw through Homelander's BS 'heartfelt' speech, since it really came across as fake to me...but then that might be because I'm 'in the know' about what sort of person Homelander really is, and that's why everyone else can view it as him being sincere?). The fact that there's actually an 'official music video' for the song makes it even funnier (apart from being a really good actress, Erin Moriarty can really sing/has an excellent singing voice).
The Deep, meanwhile, is quite a pathetic character. His 'woe is me' attitude, after what he did to Starlight in Season 1, wasn't garnering any sympathy from me. I'll admit he can occasionally be kind of funny in a 'dumb' sort of way, but I felt like most of his scenes this season were more or less a waste of time that took away from characters I would've much rather spent time with. His gills are indeed gross, and that whole scene with with Patton Oswalt voicing them and then singing 'You Are So Beautiful To Me' went on a bit too long. Like, I get it, it was funny for a little while...but way to drag it out until it became unfunny, show! I really couldn't get into The Deep's whole storyline with joining the Church of the Collective. I mean, Eagle the Archer seemed like a decent enough bloke (though did we even get to see him display his expert archery skills? I can't recall. I guess he was as memorable as Hawkeye, who he was obviously a parallel to), and I know there was supposed to be some 'character development' with The Deep learning to love himself/his ugly-arse gills and whatnot, but none of it interested me really. And then there was the whole worn-out 'joke' of The Deep's animal buddies dying in horrible ways. They played that out last season, I didn't really need more of it this season with that poor Sperm Whale (apparently named Lucy) being ridden by The Deep onto the beach in an effort to stop the Boys from escaping in a boat...only for them to ram straight into the poor animal's guts, with it moaning and slowly flapping its tail as it died - that was just plain mean-spirited. I'm sure there are some who get off on animal violence...but I'm certainly not one of them. Quit it, show! The joke's gotten stale. The one 'good' thing to come out of that scene was seeing all seven of, y'know, The Seven actually together (as it feels like they hardly ever are, since one or more always seem to be on the outs with the rest).
Another character I wasn't fond of last season, and who didn't do anything to change my mind this season, was A-Train. He was more like an A-Hole right from the very first time we met him (when he ran through Hughie's g/f, exploding her - did he even ever feel any guilt/remorse about that? I'm thinking no) and he's never actually endeared himself to me *once*. What really pissed me off about him this season was him being an ungrateful dick towards Starlight, when she reminded him that she saved his life in last season's final and his response to that was basically "Well, bitch...your mistake then." - like, WHAT A BASTARD. She really should have let him cark it, if that's what he was going to be like towards her. I hated the way he talked to/treated her and I was glad to see her blackmail him with the fact that he framed his g/f's death as a suicide even though he murdered her. Some seemed to find it hard to believe that this blackmail would work or they complained that there seems to be an 'overreliance' on blackmail being used by various characters against other characters in the show, but I think that when you have beings that can kill you within a split second out of nowhere...blackmail's really your only 'friend' that can help you to survive (I'd also hope Starlight would've had backups and a 'If anything happens to me, send this to everyone/the public' contingency plan in place). About the *only* worthwhile thing A-Train did this season was supplying Hughie and Starlight with material on Stormfront that would ruin her in the public's eye/help take her down, but even that was just a self-serving action, as he just wanted to get back in The Seven - added bonus, it got rid of a Nazi.
Speaking of Stormfront, who was the new addition to this season, I was overjoyed when I'd heard Aya Cash would be joining the cast of this show. I was just getting to know what a comedic talent she was thanks to watching her in the series You're the Worst when I first heard the news of her casting. I knew she was brilliant at comedy/drama, so I expected she'd be an excellent addition to this show. While I saw some similarities to the character she played in You're the Worst, she made Stormfront very different at the same time. Her snarkiness/one-liners were, of course, golden (there's just too many great ones to list hear, and I'm sure I missed a few since Aya Cash delivered them at rapid speed). Plus, I liked that she called out various other characters on their BS - whether it was the movie-maker and how his script wrote its female characters, or talk show hosts...or just generally anyone who needed to have some truth bombs dropped on them. I also liked that she was a 'mentor' of sorts to Starlight in the first couple of episodes, with her lessons in not having to 'tow the company line' and feeling bad about 'being a bitch'/how she should embrace it, and this helped Starlight when she hid the Compound V from A-Train when he nearly caught her with it. Lastly, the fact that Stormfront could stand up to Homelander (who just about everyone else was afraid of) was pretty awesome. Yes, at times it seemed like she immediately regretted saying certain things to him and thought maybe he'd kill her, but when she demanded he zap her in the boobs with his heat vision during their rough kinky supersex, we saw that she appeared to be relatively invulnerable to his attacks.
It's too bad that she ended up being revealed as a Nazi. She could've been one of the BEST characters in the show if not for that rather significant 'downside' to her character. This show did social and political commentary in Season 1, but I felt it was a bit more 'obvious' and sledgehammer-y this season, hitting us over the heads with who it was calling out and the parallels to certain real life people. Like, WE GET IT! Subtlety, thy name is *not* The Boys (at least not this season, anyway). One thing I didn't have a problem with believing was everyone who'd loved Stormfront suddenly turning on her as soon as the stuff about her was released. After all, nowadays you can just call somebody a 'racist' and everyone will immediately turn on them, evidence or no evidence. So, people immediately hating Stormfront after the reveal (since there was actual evidence in this instance), was something I could totally buy. It was neat how the whole 'Girls Get It Done' thing, which was obviously aimed at mocking the all-female shot from Avengers: Endgame and other such things, came back around to be relevant in the season final when the girls did actually get it done (which Frenchie noted) as far as kicking Stormfront's arse was concerned. I know that the character of Stormfront is male in the comics this series is adapted from, but I had no problem with the 'gender-flip' here, as I felt it worked well and wasn't just for the sake of it. Actually, it allowed for more/different stories to be told and moments to happen that we wouldn't have gotten had it been a guy (and guys who beat him up) like in the comic.
I knew what Stormfront's fate would be well in advance of watching this season, since I looked it up as soon as the episode originally aired in America, wanting to know if she got killed off or just horribly maimed. Turns out...it was the latter. I typically hate seeing actresses I find attractive get FUBAR'd in shows/movies, but I guess since she was such a terrible person, it didn't really bother me here to see Stormfront become Darth Stormfront (or should that be Stormstump?). I think the fact that at least part of her face remained also helped with that (whereas if she'd been totally unrecogniseable, I might've felt differently). The reveal of her being 'Liberty' turned out not to be as big a thing as I'd expected it to be (I thought it'd be drawn-out over several episodes, but by episode 4 we learned who she really was). I was curious what she said in German during the season final after she got zapped. Apparently what Homelander heard her saying, after he floated down to find her lying there all burned/without limbs, was the following (which I had to look up): "It was so beautiful. How the three of us sat there, in the shade of an apple tree. Do you remember the day Frederick? Chloe's arms out of the car window. We found the perfect spot by the river, in the shade of an apple tree. It was the first time Chloe ate fresh apples." and then there was some more that she said when Homelander was talking to his son: "...was so happy. It was wonderful. I wanted it to never end." - apparently having to speak German in the season final was sprung on Aya Cash and was the thing she dreaded most about the role (so I learned from watching interviews with her about the show on YouTube). I have to say, I think Aya Cash deserves major kudos for taking on this character. I think a lot of actresses would've probably let their personal feelings prevent them from tackling this difficult role, or they might've been too worried about how they'd be perceived in real life for accepting this part (anyone who judges Aya Cash or thinks she's anything like Stormfront has *got* to be an IDIOT who can't tell the difference between a TV show character and a real life person - simple as that). She made the most of this character and brought a lot to the role.
I guess Stormfront showed that there *could* be someone 'worse' than Homelander...but not by much. He's still a raging psychopath who rules by fear/intimidation and is basically just a man-child with super powers. Him drinking Stillwell's breast milk from a bottle that he warmed up with his heat vision (particularly the licking part) was SO gross, and even going so far as to force another Supe by the name of Doppelganger to assume Stillwell's form and pretend to be her whilst stroking him and his ego shows just how infantile he is. For all his threats of maiming or murder, he's actually just a coward and super-insecure...yet, sadly, I know there are some out there who watch this character and find him 'badass', thinking his attitude towards other people (especially women) is something they should emulate (he thinks of women as being there just to serve him, smacks them around or threatens to kill them if they get out of line - what a guy! ). I also know there are those who like that he's the most powerful character in the show and they would've hated seeing Stormfront be just as powerful/standing up to him (the fact that she healed from his heat vision - I wonder if that means she'll also heal from her injuries inflicted upon her by Homelander's son? I guess re-growing limbs is a bit different to healing skin one boobs. It may take some time, but I don't see why Stormfront can't make a future appearance at some point). I will admit I found some of the things Homelander did/said somewhat amusing in a morbid sort of way (like his meeting that blind Supe and what he said after illustrating how easily he could be neutralised or when he was teaching his son flying lessons by shoving him off the roof and his total non-reaction immediately following that - those were two instances where I probably shouldn't have laughed...but I did. I have a twisted sense of humour, I admit it). About the only thing Homelander did that I actually liked was him losing it at those protesters and mowing them all down with his heat vision...but then that turned out to not even be real, which was disappointing (damn protesters). I was surprised to see the season final include a scene with Homelander near the end that I'd heard was the one thing the show wasn't allowed to do during Season 1 involving him jerking off over the city whilst ranting about how he can do whatever he wants. I guess the show's been getting enough viewers for the network/is popular enough now that *it* can do whatever it wants too. I will admit that when Homelander's not throwing a tanty and is instead giving off a dangerous threatening vibe, Antony Starr excels at playing quiet menace. The way that he can switch from being all smiles and seemingly charming to cold-blooded killer is quite the talent.
I hated seeing Homelander threaten Starlight's life in the elevator, and I'm not sure how long she's going to be able to avoid his wrath, but thankfully Queen Maeve came to the rescue in the season final. I recently watched the first two seasons of the TV series Hell on Wheels because Dominique McElligott was in it, and once she was written out, I went straight onto this show so I could see more of her (albeit in a different role), and I was rather disappointed by how little she seemed to get to do this season as Maeve. I mean, she was stuck doing that Batman v Superman/Justice League parody of a film, was stressing out over keeping her g/f safe from Homelander, and then he 'outed' her on live TV with the added insult of her being told how she should present her sexuality/relationship to the public. I know others feel sorry for Ashley, who handles all the PR stuff and whatnot, but I personally CAN'T STAND the actress who plays her and her face just bugs the crap out of me (WHY couldn't you crush her head, Homelander??), and so I was cheering Maeve on when she told Ashley to act like an actual human being for a change after she'd just had her g/f basically dump her because she equal parts feared for her life and couldn't stand being around Maeve after learning about her and Homelander leaving that plane full of people to die last season. If the worst Ashley suffers is a loss of hair...then she's still doing pretty good for herself. Unfortunately, I'm afraid the writers are so in love with her character and find her so 'funny' that she'll stick around FOREVER/I'll never be rid of her. I wish her screentime could've gone to Maeve instead, as it felt like we barely spent any time with her (other than the stuff I already mentioned). I was mildly amused by her pissy reaction to meeting Hughie, even if she was rather mean...but I could understand her having-no-shits-left-to-give attitude by that point. Thankfully, she came through in a BIG way in the second half of the season final when she not only helped out Starlight and Kimiko with kicking Stormfront's arse, but then also saved Butcher and his kid with good ol' blackmail material. Unfortunately, I think her days are numbered at this point since she's made at least a few enemies (including Black Noir, who she saved Starlight from by taking advantage of his tree nut allergy and stuffing an Almond Joy into his mouth), the main one being Homelander. I dread to think what's going to eventually happen to her, but I hope the show uses her better/gives her some worthwhile material before her time's eventually up.
In regards to Black Noir, we got to see a little bit of his humanity once the news got out that Supes weren't grown, they were made (parents of Supes having dosed them with Compound V without their knowledge), and his bit with the bunny in the montage at the start of the first episode this season was amusing...but then he beat up Starlight and was likely going to kill her, so I officially grew to hate the guy. I read what his identity is in the comics, but when we got a glimpse of what he looks like this season, it became apparent the show's going in a different direction with his character (which is a shame, as the comics reveal of who he is would've made for one HELL of a reveal in the show for those who have no knowledge of it. Seems like a waste to throw that big twist away). I worry that he may get revenge on either Maeve or Starlight...or both. Speaking of Annie/Starlight, she seems to be one of the characters who's gone through the biggest change/most character development in the show. She started off in Season 1 as sweet and in-over-her-head, while this season there was still some of that trying-to-stay-alive factor, but she seemed to also get a bit more ruthless. She threatened an old friend of hers, who could regrow his arms (and was pimping himself out to fetishists who got off by chopping off his arm - I was amused when he offered his dick up on the chopping block next and the pervert asked where the nearest ATM was. Also amusing was Annie's reaction to watching it whilst she filmed it), with releasing the video of him if he didn't get her the Compound V, she threatened other Supes, she was at least possibly considering going through with taking out Hughie when Homelander threatened to off them if she didn't, and then she accidentally offed a passing motorist who she stopped so she and Butcher could get a seriously-injured Hughie to the hospital. I have to say, I did enjoy the new dynamic of Annie/Butcher. It wasn't a pairing we'd really seen before, and I was kind of getting sick of his attitude towards her since she was helping him and the other Boys out, but it became clear that he admired her at least a little bit as she sunk more down to his level (which she called him out on and didn't want any of). I enjoyed Annie and Hughie getting to have a brief moment of carefree happiness together when they sung along to Billy Joel in the car, and I actually really appreciated their talk in the car during the season final (whereas I'm sure others probably found it 'boring'). I do hope she manages to survive the series...but I'm not so sure how likely that'll be. She's one of the few characters in the show who I actually really like/care about.
As for Hughie....during Season 1, I found him the most BORING character. He was fine, but not particularly interesting. This season I guess I may have liked him slightly more, but that was probably mainly due to the fact that he got put through so much shit - including being covered in blood, guts and brain matter on a semi-regular basis. I was amused that he just reached a point where he was BEYOND reacting (like when he was stuck inside the stomach of the whale). I guess you can only take so much. I was also amused when Lamplighter set himself on fire and Hughie was at first shocked, then just annoyed and all 'eff you, dude' to his burned corpse as he was forced to pull off one of Lamplighter's hands to use for bypassing locks (btw, it had to have been an intentional bit of casting to get Shawn Ashmore - Iceman from the X-Men films - playing a Supe with fire powers here). At this stage I'm just amused by Hughie's reactions to all the crap that keeps happening to him/around him, which keeps me entertained, so I guess that's why I didn't find him quite so boring this season - as at least I could get a laugh out of the situations he found himself in. I'm glad Annie called him out on how he was using her last season and I hope they can stay together...though I'm fully aware this isn't the sort of show where anyone's going to be allowed to stay in a 'happy' relationship for very long. As for the other members of the Boys - I can't say I'm really that into any of them much. Mother's Milk (which is *still* the most ridiculous name EVER in the history of character names) had some good scenes with Annie, which I appreciated, and I was amused that he watches Outlander, but it feels as though his one goal is getting back with his family...which he has, as of the season final, so what's left for him to do now? I don't want to have to keep hearing about him wanting to get back with his family yet again after he's finally achieved that. I had trouble understanding Frenchie half the time/missed certain lines of dialogue from him. His trying to 'comfort' Kimiko by going in for a snog was an obviously bad move. I actually liked his friend with benefits, Cherie, and her advice to him regarding Kimiko (it was weird how, in a deleted scene featuring the three of them, she seemed jealous of Kimiko when all the scenes with her included in the episodes made it seem like she was on Kimiko's side). As for the strong silent one, the actress who plays Kimiko does a lot with her facial expressions, and it was good that she got some development this season involving her brother, etc. The violence that she unleashes was something I didn't really need to see, though (thank goodness I'd been forewarned).
And then there's Butcher, the 'leader' of the Boys who only turned up at the end of the first episode and then we saw at the start of the second episode what had become of him following last season's final via flashbacks (and an extra on my Blu-rays titled Butcher: A Short Film, which filled in the gaps of what he did prior to returning to the Boys). Butcher was certainly dropping C-bombs aplenty this season (I think I counted no less than six instances of it being used just in a single scene), Karl Urban sounded like he was doing a Captain Jack Sparrow impersonation in the early episodes, and he's certainly a major jerk to everyone...except his wife, Becca, who he was trying to make amends with for having been a jerk to her previously. It's too bad they weren't allowed to get away from things and live happily ever after, despite Butcher's best efforts to do so - it's that damn kid! I was pissed at him for turning on his mother so easily just because Homelander and Stormfront were whispering things in his ear, but then in the season final he got so mad at Stormfront for trying to kill his mum that he took her out...with the unintended consequence of also killing his mum. I really did wonder if Butcher would've done anything to him with that crowbar (since he knows he's probably invulnerable to such attacks), but then Homelander turned up, told it like it is in regards to the little shit offing his mum, and that was finally enough for the kid to realise all that 'playing nice' with him was an act and so he sided with Butcher. I did like Butcher softening in regards to his attitude towards Annie, and the fact that we saw he's actually quite fond of Hughie despite all evidence to the contrary. We got to meet his parents this season, with his dad played by John Noble (giving us an Éomer/Denethor LotR reunion of sorts), and it's no wonder Butcher's favourite word is what it is considering how they both use it themselves. I was amused by Hughie holding onto a stuffed pig which Butcher's mum described as a 'fuck pig' that Butcher's bulldog, Terror, made his bitch on a regular basis. Also now his bitch? The Homelander doll Butcher bought for him and told him to screw). I do hope the writers don't have Butcher's character 'backslide' and return to being a dick to Annie and/or Hughie again, since he actually showed some progress/growth this season. I liked that he didn't suddenly want to spend time with Ryan, since he'd always made clear he wasn't interested in the kid and just wanted to be with his wife alone (too bad that can't happen now).
The whole head-exploding thing was something I think I've almost become desensitised to seeing at this point, since it seems like in recent years a LOT of shows/movies have featured exploding heads/whole bodies, so the massacre in the second-to-last episode surprisingly didn't really gross me out. It was fun to see the actress Claudia Doumit guest-starring as Congresswoman Victoria Neuman, since I knew her from the TV show Timeless (a very different role to her one here). I do wonder if she could easily take out Homelander if she wanted to, since if she can just make heads explode by thinking it, then she doesn't need to be near him and could do it from afar. I hope they explain how her power works exactly or if there are any limitations to it, otherwise I'd say she's actually the most powerful Supe. While there was a lot to enjoy this season, I think I liked the first season a bit more (then again, I haven't watched it in so long that my memory of how I felt when watching it is a bit hazy). They certainly ramped up the violence/gore this season (I read Season 3's supposed to be even 'darker'...though I can't imagine how that's even possible, since this show's already pretty dark). It's mainly the characters who I like that are keeping me watching, along with some of the twisted humour and occasional surprises (most of which I was spoiled for this season). It's a different sort of show, but I hope it doesn't just keep trying to outdo itself in regards to the violence just for the sake of it. Being like Homelander and doing whatever you want isn't always the best option. Some restraint *can* be a good thing. I also hope that Jensen Ackles as Soldier Boy doesn't swallow the show next season. I know his rabid fanbase would be totally fine with that, but I personally think he should just be a single-season character (like Stormfront was this season - assuming she doesn't return). I've noticed with other shows that when a popular actor is brought into an already established series, the original 'main' cast seem to get the shaft a lot of the time, and the last thing I want to see is characters like Maeve getting even less screentime than she already did this season on account of the 'bright new shiny thing' the writers have to play with in the form of this new character (who I was surprised to hear referenced in the first episode of this season, suggesting they'd planned to include him in Season 3 all along). There are some really good elements to this show, but I don't want them to squander those for the sake of pushing boundaries until there's nowhere left to push them. See you in roughly a year's time, The Boys!
The Deep, meanwhile, is quite a pathetic character. His 'woe is me' attitude, after what he did to Starlight in Season 1, wasn't garnering any sympathy from me. I'll admit he can occasionally be kind of funny in a 'dumb' sort of way, but I felt like most of his scenes this season were more or less a waste of time that took away from characters I would've much rather spent time with. His gills are indeed gross, and that whole scene with with Patton Oswalt voicing them and then singing 'You Are So Beautiful To Me' went on a bit too long. Like, I get it, it was funny for a little while...but way to drag it out until it became unfunny, show! I really couldn't get into The Deep's whole storyline with joining the Church of the Collective. I mean, Eagle the Archer seemed like a decent enough bloke (though did we even get to see him display his expert archery skills? I can't recall. I guess he was as memorable as Hawkeye, who he was obviously a parallel to), and I know there was supposed to be some 'character development' with The Deep learning to love himself/his ugly-arse gills and whatnot, but none of it interested me really. And then there was the whole worn-out 'joke' of The Deep's animal buddies dying in horrible ways. They played that out last season, I didn't really need more of it this season with that poor Sperm Whale (apparently named Lucy) being ridden by The Deep onto the beach in an effort to stop the Boys from escaping in a boat...only for them to ram straight into the poor animal's guts, with it moaning and slowly flapping its tail as it died - that was just plain mean-spirited. I'm sure there are some who get off on animal violence...but I'm certainly not one of them. Quit it, show! The joke's gotten stale. The one 'good' thing to come out of that scene was seeing all seven of, y'know, The Seven actually together (as it feels like they hardly ever are, since one or more always seem to be on the outs with the rest).
Another character I wasn't fond of last season, and who didn't do anything to change my mind this season, was A-Train. He was more like an A-Hole right from the very first time we met him (when he ran through Hughie's g/f, exploding her - did he even ever feel any guilt/remorse about that? I'm thinking no) and he's never actually endeared himself to me *once*. What really pissed me off about him this season was him being an ungrateful dick towards Starlight, when she reminded him that she saved his life in last season's final and his response to that was basically "Well, bitch...your mistake then." - like, WHAT A BASTARD. She really should have let him cark it, if that's what he was going to be like towards her. I hated the way he talked to/treated her and I was glad to see her blackmail him with the fact that he framed his g/f's death as a suicide even though he murdered her. Some seemed to find it hard to believe that this blackmail would work or they complained that there seems to be an 'overreliance' on blackmail being used by various characters against other characters in the show, but I think that when you have beings that can kill you within a split second out of nowhere...blackmail's really your only 'friend' that can help you to survive (I'd also hope Starlight would've had backups and a 'If anything happens to me, send this to everyone/the public' contingency plan in place). About the *only* worthwhile thing A-Train did this season was supplying Hughie and Starlight with material on Stormfront that would ruin her in the public's eye/help take her down, but even that was just a self-serving action, as he just wanted to get back in The Seven - added bonus, it got rid of a Nazi.
Speaking of Stormfront, who was the new addition to this season, I was overjoyed when I'd heard Aya Cash would be joining the cast of this show. I was just getting to know what a comedic talent she was thanks to watching her in the series You're the Worst when I first heard the news of her casting. I knew she was brilliant at comedy/drama, so I expected she'd be an excellent addition to this show. While I saw some similarities to the character she played in You're the Worst, she made Stormfront very different at the same time. Her snarkiness/one-liners were, of course, golden (there's just too many great ones to list hear, and I'm sure I missed a few since Aya Cash delivered them at rapid speed). Plus, I liked that she called out various other characters on their BS - whether it was the movie-maker and how his script wrote its female characters, or talk show hosts...or just generally anyone who needed to have some truth bombs dropped on them. I also liked that she was a 'mentor' of sorts to Starlight in the first couple of episodes, with her lessons in not having to 'tow the company line' and feeling bad about 'being a bitch'/how she should embrace it, and this helped Starlight when she hid the Compound V from A-Train when he nearly caught her with it. Lastly, the fact that Stormfront could stand up to Homelander (who just about everyone else was afraid of) was pretty awesome. Yes, at times it seemed like she immediately regretted saying certain things to him and thought maybe he'd kill her, but when she demanded he zap her in the boobs with his heat vision during their rough kinky supersex, we saw that she appeared to be relatively invulnerable to his attacks.
It's too bad that she ended up being revealed as a Nazi. She could've been one of the BEST characters in the show if not for that rather significant 'downside' to her character. This show did social and political commentary in Season 1, but I felt it was a bit more 'obvious' and sledgehammer-y this season, hitting us over the heads with who it was calling out and the parallels to certain real life people. Like, WE GET IT! Subtlety, thy name is *not* The Boys (at least not this season, anyway). One thing I didn't have a problem with believing was everyone who'd loved Stormfront suddenly turning on her as soon as the stuff about her was released. After all, nowadays you can just call somebody a 'racist' and everyone will immediately turn on them, evidence or no evidence. So, people immediately hating Stormfront after the reveal (since there was actual evidence in this instance), was something I could totally buy. It was neat how the whole 'Girls Get It Done' thing, which was obviously aimed at mocking the all-female shot from Avengers: Endgame and other such things, came back around to be relevant in the season final when the girls did actually get it done (which Frenchie noted) as far as kicking Stormfront's arse was concerned. I know that the character of Stormfront is male in the comics this series is adapted from, but I had no problem with the 'gender-flip' here, as I felt it worked well and wasn't just for the sake of it. Actually, it allowed for more/different stories to be told and moments to happen that we wouldn't have gotten had it been a guy (and guys who beat him up) like in the comic.
I knew what Stormfront's fate would be well in advance of watching this season, since I looked it up as soon as the episode originally aired in America, wanting to know if she got killed off or just horribly maimed. Turns out...it was the latter. I typically hate seeing actresses I find attractive get FUBAR'd in shows/movies, but I guess since she was such a terrible person, it didn't really bother me here to see Stormfront become Darth Stormfront (or should that be Stormstump?). I think the fact that at least part of her face remained also helped with that (whereas if she'd been totally unrecogniseable, I might've felt differently). The reveal of her being 'Liberty' turned out not to be as big a thing as I'd expected it to be (I thought it'd be drawn-out over several episodes, but by episode 4 we learned who she really was). I was curious what she said in German during the season final after she got zapped. Apparently what Homelander heard her saying, after he floated down to find her lying there all burned/without limbs, was the following (which I had to look up): "It was so beautiful. How the three of us sat there, in the shade of an apple tree. Do you remember the day Frederick? Chloe's arms out of the car window. We found the perfect spot by the river, in the shade of an apple tree. It was the first time Chloe ate fresh apples." and then there was some more that she said when Homelander was talking to his son: "...was so happy. It was wonderful. I wanted it to never end." - apparently having to speak German in the season final was sprung on Aya Cash and was the thing she dreaded most about the role (so I learned from watching interviews with her about the show on YouTube). I have to say, I think Aya Cash deserves major kudos for taking on this character. I think a lot of actresses would've probably let their personal feelings prevent them from tackling this difficult role, or they might've been too worried about how they'd be perceived in real life for accepting this part (anyone who judges Aya Cash or thinks she's anything like Stormfront has *got* to be an IDIOT who can't tell the difference between a TV show character and a real life person - simple as that). She made the most of this character and brought a lot to the role.
I guess Stormfront showed that there *could* be someone 'worse' than Homelander...but not by much. He's still a raging psychopath who rules by fear/intimidation and is basically just a man-child with super powers. Him drinking Stillwell's breast milk from a bottle that he warmed up with his heat vision (particularly the licking part) was SO gross, and even going so far as to force another Supe by the name of Doppelganger to assume Stillwell's form and pretend to be her whilst stroking him and his ego shows just how infantile he is. For all his threats of maiming or murder, he's actually just a coward and super-insecure...yet, sadly, I know there are some out there who watch this character and find him 'badass', thinking his attitude towards other people (especially women) is something they should emulate (he thinks of women as being there just to serve him, smacks them around or threatens to kill them if they get out of line - what a guy! ). I also know there are those who like that he's the most powerful character in the show and they would've hated seeing Stormfront be just as powerful/standing up to him (the fact that she healed from his heat vision - I wonder if that means she'll also heal from her injuries inflicted upon her by Homelander's son? I guess re-growing limbs is a bit different to healing skin one boobs. It may take some time, but I don't see why Stormfront can't make a future appearance at some point). I will admit I found some of the things Homelander did/said somewhat amusing in a morbid sort of way (like his meeting that blind Supe and what he said after illustrating how easily he could be neutralised or when he was teaching his son flying lessons by shoving him off the roof and his total non-reaction immediately following that - those were two instances where I probably shouldn't have laughed...but I did. I have a twisted sense of humour, I admit it). About the only thing Homelander did that I actually liked was him losing it at those protesters and mowing them all down with his heat vision...but then that turned out to not even be real, which was disappointing (damn protesters). I was surprised to see the season final include a scene with Homelander near the end that I'd heard was the one thing the show wasn't allowed to do during Season 1 involving him jerking off over the city whilst ranting about how he can do whatever he wants. I guess the show's been getting enough viewers for the network/is popular enough now that *it* can do whatever it wants too. I will admit that when Homelander's not throwing a tanty and is instead giving off a dangerous threatening vibe, Antony Starr excels at playing quiet menace. The way that he can switch from being all smiles and seemingly charming to cold-blooded killer is quite the talent.
I hated seeing Homelander threaten Starlight's life in the elevator, and I'm not sure how long she's going to be able to avoid his wrath, but thankfully Queen Maeve came to the rescue in the season final. I recently watched the first two seasons of the TV series Hell on Wheels because Dominique McElligott was in it, and once she was written out, I went straight onto this show so I could see more of her (albeit in a different role), and I was rather disappointed by how little she seemed to get to do this season as Maeve. I mean, she was stuck doing that Batman v Superman/Justice League parody of a film, was stressing out over keeping her g/f safe from Homelander, and then he 'outed' her on live TV with the added insult of her being told how she should present her sexuality/relationship to the public. I know others feel sorry for Ashley, who handles all the PR stuff and whatnot, but I personally CAN'T STAND the actress who plays her and her face just bugs the crap out of me (WHY couldn't you crush her head, Homelander??), and so I was cheering Maeve on when she told Ashley to act like an actual human being for a change after she'd just had her g/f basically dump her because she equal parts feared for her life and couldn't stand being around Maeve after learning about her and Homelander leaving that plane full of people to die last season. If the worst Ashley suffers is a loss of hair...then she's still doing pretty good for herself. Unfortunately, I'm afraid the writers are so in love with her character and find her so 'funny' that she'll stick around FOREVER/I'll never be rid of her. I wish her screentime could've gone to Maeve instead, as it felt like we barely spent any time with her (other than the stuff I already mentioned). I was mildly amused by her pissy reaction to meeting Hughie, even if she was rather mean...but I could understand her having-no-shits-left-to-give attitude by that point. Thankfully, she came through in a BIG way in the second half of the season final when she not only helped out Starlight and Kimiko with kicking Stormfront's arse, but then also saved Butcher and his kid with good ol' blackmail material. Unfortunately, I think her days are numbered at this point since she's made at least a few enemies (including Black Noir, who she saved Starlight from by taking advantage of his tree nut allergy and stuffing an Almond Joy into his mouth), the main one being Homelander. I dread to think what's going to eventually happen to her, but I hope the show uses her better/gives her some worthwhile material before her time's eventually up.
In regards to Black Noir, we got to see a little bit of his humanity once the news got out that Supes weren't grown, they were made (parents of Supes having dosed them with Compound V without their knowledge), and his bit with the bunny in the montage at the start of the first episode this season was amusing...but then he beat up Starlight and was likely going to kill her, so I officially grew to hate the guy. I read what his identity is in the comics, but when we got a glimpse of what he looks like this season, it became apparent the show's going in a different direction with his character (which is a shame, as the comics reveal of who he is would've made for one HELL of a reveal in the show for those who have no knowledge of it. Seems like a waste to throw that big twist away). I worry that he may get revenge on either Maeve or Starlight...or both. Speaking of Annie/Starlight, she seems to be one of the characters who's gone through the biggest change/most character development in the show. She started off in Season 1 as sweet and in-over-her-head, while this season there was still some of that trying-to-stay-alive factor, but she seemed to also get a bit more ruthless. She threatened an old friend of hers, who could regrow his arms (and was pimping himself out to fetishists who got off by chopping off his arm - I was amused when he offered his dick up on the chopping block next and the pervert asked where the nearest ATM was. Also amusing was Annie's reaction to watching it whilst she filmed it), with releasing the video of him if he didn't get her the Compound V, she threatened other Supes, she was at least possibly considering going through with taking out Hughie when Homelander threatened to off them if she didn't, and then she accidentally offed a passing motorist who she stopped so she and Butcher could get a seriously-injured Hughie to the hospital. I have to say, I did enjoy the new dynamic of Annie/Butcher. It wasn't a pairing we'd really seen before, and I was kind of getting sick of his attitude towards her since she was helping him and the other Boys out, but it became clear that he admired her at least a little bit as she sunk more down to his level (which she called him out on and didn't want any of). I enjoyed Annie and Hughie getting to have a brief moment of carefree happiness together when they sung along to Billy Joel in the car, and I actually really appreciated their talk in the car during the season final (whereas I'm sure others probably found it 'boring'). I do hope she manages to survive the series...but I'm not so sure how likely that'll be. She's one of the few characters in the show who I actually really like/care about.
As for Hughie....during Season 1, I found him the most BORING character. He was fine, but not particularly interesting. This season I guess I may have liked him slightly more, but that was probably mainly due to the fact that he got put through so much shit - including being covered in blood, guts and brain matter on a semi-regular basis. I was amused that he just reached a point where he was BEYOND reacting (like when he was stuck inside the stomach of the whale). I guess you can only take so much. I was also amused when Lamplighter set himself on fire and Hughie was at first shocked, then just annoyed and all 'eff you, dude' to his burned corpse as he was forced to pull off one of Lamplighter's hands to use for bypassing locks (btw, it had to have been an intentional bit of casting to get Shawn Ashmore - Iceman from the X-Men films - playing a Supe with fire powers here). At this stage I'm just amused by Hughie's reactions to all the crap that keeps happening to him/around him, which keeps me entertained, so I guess that's why I didn't find him quite so boring this season - as at least I could get a laugh out of the situations he found himself in. I'm glad Annie called him out on how he was using her last season and I hope they can stay together...though I'm fully aware this isn't the sort of show where anyone's going to be allowed to stay in a 'happy' relationship for very long. As for the other members of the Boys - I can't say I'm really that into any of them much. Mother's Milk (which is *still* the most ridiculous name EVER in the history of character names) had some good scenes with Annie, which I appreciated, and I was amused that he watches Outlander, but it feels as though his one goal is getting back with his family...which he has, as of the season final, so what's left for him to do now? I don't want to have to keep hearing about him wanting to get back with his family yet again after he's finally achieved that. I had trouble understanding Frenchie half the time/missed certain lines of dialogue from him. His trying to 'comfort' Kimiko by going in for a snog was an obviously bad move. I actually liked his friend with benefits, Cherie, and her advice to him regarding Kimiko (it was weird how, in a deleted scene featuring the three of them, she seemed jealous of Kimiko when all the scenes with her included in the episodes made it seem like she was on Kimiko's side). As for the strong silent one, the actress who plays Kimiko does a lot with her facial expressions, and it was good that she got some development this season involving her brother, etc. The violence that she unleashes was something I didn't really need to see, though (thank goodness I'd been forewarned).
And then there's Butcher, the 'leader' of the Boys who only turned up at the end of the first episode and then we saw at the start of the second episode what had become of him following last season's final via flashbacks (and an extra on my Blu-rays titled Butcher: A Short Film, which filled in the gaps of what he did prior to returning to the Boys). Butcher was certainly dropping C-bombs aplenty this season (I think I counted no less than six instances of it being used just in a single scene), Karl Urban sounded like he was doing a Captain Jack Sparrow impersonation in the early episodes, and he's certainly a major jerk to everyone...except his wife, Becca, who he was trying to make amends with for having been a jerk to her previously. It's too bad they weren't allowed to get away from things and live happily ever after, despite Butcher's best efforts to do so - it's that damn kid! I was pissed at him for turning on his mother so easily just because Homelander and Stormfront were whispering things in his ear, but then in the season final he got so mad at Stormfront for trying to kill his mum that he took her out...with the unintended consequence of also killing his mum. I really did wonder if Butcher would've done anything to him with that crowbar (since he knows he's probably invulnerable to such attacks), but then Homelander turned up, told it like it is in regards to the little shit offing his mum, and that was finally enough for the kid to realise all that 'playing nice' with him was an act and so he sided with Butcher. I did like Butcher softening in regards to his attitude towards Annie, and the fact that we saw he's actually quite fond of Hughie despite all evidence to the contrary. We got to meet his parents this season, with his dad played by John Noble (giving us an Éomer/Denethor LotR reunion of sorts), and it's no wonder Butcher's favourite word is what it is considering how they both use it themselves. I was amused by Hughie holding onto a stuffed pig which Butcher's mum described as a 'fuck pig' that Butcher's bulldog, Terror, made his bitch on a regular basis. Also now his bitch? The Homelander doll Butcher bought for him and told him to screw). I do hope the writers don't have Butcher's character 'backslide' and return to being a dick to Annie and/or Hughie again, since he actually showed some progress/growth this season. I liked that he didn't suddenly want to spend time with Ryan, since he'd always made clear he wasn't interested in the kid and just wanted to be with his wife alone (too bad that can't happen now).
The whole head-exploding thing was something I think I've almost become desensitised to seeing at this point, since it seems like in recent years a LOT of shows/movies have featured exploding heads/whole bodies, so the massacre in the second-to-last episode surprisingly didn't really gross me out. It was fun to see the actress Claudia Doumit guest-starring as Congresswoman Victoria Neuman, since I knew her from the TV show Timeless (a very different role to her one here). I do wonder if she could easily take out Homelander if she wanted to, since if she can just make heads explode by thinking it, then she doesn't need to be near him and could do it from afar. I hope they explain how her power works exactly or if there are any limitations to it, otherwise I'd say she's actually the most powerful Supe. While there was a lot to enjoy this season, I think I liked the first season a bit more (then again, I haven't watched it in so long that my memory of how I felt when watching it is a bit hazy). They certainly ramped up the violence/gore this season (I read Season 3's supposed to be even 'darker'...though I can't imagine how that's even possible, since this show's already pretty dark). It's mainly the characters who I like that are keeping me watching, along with some of the twisted humour and occasional surprises (most of which I was spoiled for this season). It's a different sort of show, but I hope it doesn't just keep trying to outdo itself in regards to the violence just for the sake of it. Being like Homelander and doing whatever you want isn't always the best option. Some restraint *can* be a good thing. I also hope that Jensen Ackles as Soldier Boy doesn't swallow the show next season. I know his rabid fanbase would be totally fine with that, but I personally think he should just be a single-season character (like Stormfront was this season - assuming she doesn't return). I've noticed with other shows that when a popular actor is brought into an already established series, the original 'main' cast seem to get the shaft a lot of the time, and the last thing I want to see is characters like Maeve getting even less screentime than she already did this season on account of the 'bright new shiny thing' the writers have to play with in the form of this new character (who I was surprised to hear referenced in the first episode of this season, suggesting they'd planned to include him in Season 3 all along). There are some really good elements to this show, but I don't want them to squander those for the sake of pushing boundaries until there's nowhere left to push them. See you in roughly a year's time, The Boys!