In The Boys’ sharply satirical “We Gotta Go Now,” shifting alliances threaten the stability of the Seven
TV Reviews Recap
This post discusses major plot points of The Boys episode “We Gotta Go Now.”
Perhaps you remember that in my recap for last week’s episode, “Nothing Like It In The World,” I wondered how fun it must be for The Boys writers to come up with the various memes Stormfront uses to boost her reputation and amass more followers. Yes, they’re terribly bigoted and hateful—but they’re such excellent satire! And the same goes, on a broader scale, for the entirety of this week’s episode, “We Gotta Go Now.” Writer Ellie Monahan takes direct aim at the overlapping worlds of celebrity here: calling out Joss Whedon by name, mocking the Marvel and DC cinematic universes, highlighting the empty promises of Scientology, and underscoring the vapidity of corporate attempts at representation and inclusion. This episode was zippy, mean, and tense, diving into the vast capitalist enterprise that employs and controls the Seven, the entertainment industry buoyed by them, and how helpless they are in the crafting of their own images. The show has always alluded to this stuff, but this episode took the narrative opportunities provided by the Dawn of the Seven blockbuster and ran with them. The Boys has always been very successful at imagining what a world with supes would look like, and “We Gotta Go Now” clicked quite well because of how precisely it pinpointed what this would look like in our world.
The Dawn Of The Seven filming furthers the fissures growing among the group’s members: between Homelander and Maeve, A-Train and Stormfront, and Stormfront and Annie. Let’s start with Maeve: Homelander’s outing of his ex to Maria Menounos results in a coming-out storyline for her in the film, plus an accompanying media rollout that is all about making Vought look tolerant. For cynical, disaffected Maeve, all of this rah-rah marketing is irritating (the #BraveMaeve hashtag, the rainbow-flag-cape artwork), and it flattens Maeve’s bisexual identity into a version of lesbianism that Vought expects both Maeve and girlfriend Elena to perform. “I am not for sale,” Elena says, and her indignation—plus Maeve’s understandable fear of Homelander—inspire Maeve to reach out to an unlikely ally. Could the Deep help Maeve bring Homelander down? Or is he too far indebted to the Church of the Collective to be of assistance to anyone else?
Also sparring with Vought is A-Train, who is still struggling to stay on the Seven despite Homelander’s rejection. He tries to lean on the scriptwriter; he fails. He tries to lean on Ashley; he fails. Vought can threaten him with a morality clause, and they can withhold his severance package, and it is all so mundane, and yet what other choice does A-Train have? He folds, delivering the dialogue that effectively serves as his resignation at the end of Dawn Of The Seven: “This is sunset on A-Train.” And it’s insult added to injury that he doesn’t even give the speech to Homelander, but to a stand-in. When Vought is done with you, they’re really, really done.
But, uh, speaking of Homelander: He has definitely fully turned the corner at this point, no? I guess in contemporary terms, my man has gone from right to alt-right! He drank Stormfront’s Kool-Aid, and I assume will only get more detestable from here. After smirking at the outrage caused by a leaked video of him slicing an African villager in half with his laser eyes (“So what, they’re all starving, but one of them has a fucking cellphone?”) and then getting offended by the American people’s lack of gratitude (his fantasizing of mowing down groups of protesters was extremely fucked up!), Homelander realizes he might not be suited for the world changing around him. His empty platitudes, the “You guys are the real heroes!” and “God bless you!” lines, aren’t working anymore. And so when he turns to Stormfront for her help in changing the conversation, this was a staggering moment of weakness that I’m not sure we’ve ever seen from Homelander before. Yes, he yearned for Madelyn’s approval, and yes, he let his guard down with her sexually. But remember that he spread the Compound-V to terrorists around the world first, without her permission—he’s used to others bending to his will, and to accommodating his decisions. Homelander admitting that he needs Stormfront feels like a definitive shift—and Stormfront plays it excellently, too, instigating a wild night of S&M-tinged sex to help Homelander feel like he’s back in control. Sometimes you gotta let a guy “laser [your] fucking tits” to help him feel better about his day, apparently!
But Stormfront is working on her own thing, right? Whatever is going on at Sage Grove is giving her a level of confidence that makes her comfortable enough to bombard A-Train with racist microaggressions on the Dawn Of The Seven set, and to try to blackmail Annie by threatening her mother. She doesn’t care that Annie knows she was Liberty (recall that Vought has been “moving her around like a fucking Catholic priest,” so I’m going to continue assuming that Mr. Edgar knows exactly what Stormfront stands for, and just doesn’t care given how much money is on the line) and instead continues her supe-unity agenda by using the language of white nationalism. She’s barely hiding who she is at this point, and honestly, that tracks. Stormfront and Homelander together seems like an unbeatable duo, and whatever is going down at Sage Grove, given Stormfront’s pleased reaction to it, is probably only going to help them.
Be honest: Do we think the Boys could take either of them on? I’m not really sure! Kimiko is still off working out her rage and grief over her brother’s murder, doing hits for Cherie and fighting with Frenchie. When she basically tore off that Hamilton-criticizing-gangster’s face? Brutal! How much longer can she continue on this path? Will she ever be able to communicate with the rest of the team what she knows about who Stormfront is? Yes, they know Stormfront was Liberty, but Kimiko is aware of what she’s doing now, and I’m not sure how much longer she can carry that secret. (An issue Frenchie seems to recognize, too, although his “Fuck this, fuck you, go be a monster” isn’t particularly helpful.)
Meanwhile, Butcher reunites with Hughie and MM in a subplot that primarily allowed Butcher to explore his self-destruction and disgust with himself after the failed attempt to save Becca. Who doesn’t want to snuggle with their dog after their whole world collapses around them? Terror is an excellent dog! Aunt Judy is a real one! And I appreciated the slower pace of this storyline for how it shaded in the backstory to Butcher and MM’s camaraderie, and provided additional context for why Butcher treats Hughie as he does. Note how Butcher acknowledges Hughie’s importance to him by repeating MM’s words (“You were always like my canary, I suppose”), and how MM immediately knows that Butcher is going to see Terror and Aunt Judy when Hughie mentions hearing the squeaking of a dog toy during their phone call. Butcher is an asshole, but he inspires deep loyalty, and how the group mobilized to protect each other from Black Noir drove that home.
1`This was one of the better-staged action scenes so far this season: The series of explosions tracking where Black Noir was in the house, Butcher and MM each attempting to take on Black Noir and failing, and how abruptly it all came to an end when Mr. Edgar called Black Noir and waved him off. Is Butcher threatening to expose Ryan to bring down Vought a betrayal of Becca? Perhaps, but Ryan’s existence doesn’t do anything to change that his mother was raped by his father, or that America’s greatest hero is actually a monstrous sexual predator and murderer. I don’t think Butcher can play this card again, but as you lovely commenters have reiterated: You don’t introduce Ryan and then do nothing with him. The kid is going to matter. We’ll just have to wait and see how.
Stray observations
- Good for Hughie for standing up to Butcher in making clear that they’ve all lost people: “Your wife is alive, but she doesn’t want you. That’s all. So you don’t have shit. Welcome to the club.” That’s not to diminish the pain and anger that Butcher has lived with for years in his quest to find Becca, but man, it’s not all about you!
- The Deep did end up marrying Cassandra, and she’s an anthropology professor at Vassar College. Cue me saying “That’s nice” in Community Shirley’s very fake pleasant voice.
- Excellent: The reveal that Aunt Judy is working to fill in the sizable gaps left behind by privatized health care with her basement pharmacy, and Butcher’s sarcastic little “What are you gonna do!” shrug when her dealer status was revealed to the aghast Hughie.
- How politely MM asked Aunt Judy for materials to build a bomb! He really appreciates it! I love this man.
- Stormfront’s explanation of right-wing-meme efficacy was horrifying for its accuracy: “When see it on your uncle’s Facebook page, then you know it’s working.”
- I love Annie’s mom saying of Stormfront, “She’s not a stranger, she’s your teammate”; it’s so effective in communicating the wide gaps that exist between the Seven. They barely tolerate each other! When was the last time they worked as a team, except for staged PR opportunities?
- WHAT HAPPENED TO LENNY?
- Black Noir’s “Hallelujah” ringtone is definitely the Leonard Cohen original, right? I do not mind the Jeff Buckley cover, but that doesn’t seem like his style.
- Monahan, who also wrote the season one episode “The Self-Preservation Society,” also worked as a writers’ assistant for Mr. Robot. That seems right; there is definitely a similar vibe between these two shows.
- Oh, and Monahan is Katie Couric’s daughter, in case you’re wondering how that cameo got set up.
- What was your favorite bad movie dialogue from “Joss’ rewrite” of Dawn of the Seven? I’m torn between “I’m a hell of a hacker, but I’m no hero” and “I’m a lot like you. I’m gay.” Both of them made me do that grimacing emoji, but in real life, with my face!
- If you noticed how much that “Girls get it done” scene mocked a similar one from Avengers: Endgame, you should read contributor Caroline Siede’s essay about the latter.
- A Vietnamese crepe truck sounds absolutely delicious. I have nothing else to add, except that I am hungry, and I would like a Vietnamese crepe.
- MM watching Outlander and being defensive about it is very charming!
- I am so glad both that the show finally incorporated Terror, who plays a bigger role in Garth Ennis’ comic books, and his endless humping! TERROR IS A GOOD BOY.
- I don’t mind Senator Neuman, the AOC stand-in character, but her “We are going to hold hearings!” in response to the leaked Homelander video—good luck with thinking anything would be accomplished by that.
- Hello to Goran Višnjić as Alistair Adana, leader of the Church of the Collective! I guess the cancellation of Santa Clarita Diet opened up his schedule, and I am still very distraught about that.
There were no images from this particular episode available at the time of this writing, but we’ll update soon.ETA: Photos have been updated!
226 Comments
So much going on!1. Did any Timeless fans notice we had 3 —3! of our stars in this episode? And we’re sure to see more of Goran and Claudia as we go on, and Malcom as Dawn of the 7 work continues. It also makes me realize what an awesome Stormfront Abigail Spencer would have made. Don’t get me wrong — Aya Cash is definitely “The Worst” (the best, and pitch perfect) — but Abigail could have nailed this too.2. Chace Crawford is absolutely cracking me up. This part was a good move for the Gossip Boy.3. More Terror!4. If everyone knows Annie leaked … why is she not being punished? You would think Edgar has to know, right?5. Does anyone else (and I wasn’t a reader of the comics, so I don’t know) that Stormfront/Liberty is, in fact, Dr. Vought, the Nazi? It would explain the racism and his likely ability to have changed his identity to femail and made him ageless. 6. At SOME point … a nice, public win for The Boys would be nice. Can we have nice things?
I also noticed and loved the Timeless reunion, although I think of Malcolm Barrett as Lem first and foremost. It looks like he has a good relationship with Rogen and Co., seeing as he was in Preacher too.And yes, I would never have guessed from Gossip Girl that Chace Crawford had comedy chops.
..I’m choosing to take the fact that Malcolm Barrett’s character mentioned Portia De Rossi as a slight nod to Better Off Ted.
Didn’t even think of that!
Eric Kripke, who developed The Boys for television, co-created Timeless. I don’t know The Boys comic verse, but there’s got to be a character for Abigail Spencer to play.
I hadn’t made that connection, thanks!
She may probably play the comics version of Scarlett Witch (called the Crimson Countess) or their She Hulk.
Oh, is that right? I didn’t watch Preacher, which is a surprise to most of my friends who know I would like it. It was just a “too many shows” issue.
Barrett was recurring S2 and main cast S3. Preacher’s very uneven but I found enough to like and stick with it all the way through. A lot of it was how much I loved the cast.
I’m guessing that she is Vought’s daughter.
COMIC SPOILERS.
..
In the comics, I believe Stormfront (who is male in the comics) was a Nazi supe during WWII. He wasn’t Dr. Vought tho’.
In the comics, Stormfront was created by the Nazis and that version of Dr. Vought. When he defected to the US, he brought Stormfront with him who the corporation rebranded as a hero (in the comics he’s supposed to be Thor) and is used as a template to create Homelander and the other supes, but they didn’t care to wipe out all of the Nazi thoughts from his head, so he’s still a fanatical Nazi and white supremacist by the 2000s that Vought covers up. Compound V is basically Cap America’s super soldier serum with the same properties of slowing down aging, only that it was invented by the Nazis instead in this universe. Which is why in both comic and show, he/she looks young but is really old.It looks like they’re sticking to that origin story for Stormfront and Compound V in the show, but with somethings changed/tweaked around obviously.
I’m not familiar with the comics but did they ever address why, in spite of the Nazis having created Stormfront/Liberty, they still lost the war?Considering when we see her powers are on par if not greater than Homelander’s.
They didn’t have Stormfront. Dr. Voglebaum/Vought left with Stormfront and all the Compound V before they could use it.
5. Does anyone else (and I wasn’t a reader of the comics, so I don’t know) that Stormfront/Liberty is, in fact, Dr. Vought, the Nazi? It would explain the racism and his likely ability to have changed his identity to femail and made him ageless. I have a terrible track record in predicting plot twists, but my guess at the Stormfront/Liberty plot twist is that she’s going to be revealed to be a (self-hating, obviously) Jew.This isn’t inconsistent with Stormfront/Liberty being Dr. Vought during the Third Reich and hiding his Jewishness, but this is my guess.
I have the exact same thought and I bet that means it won’t actually happen if only because Aya Cash is so (problematic phrase alert) “Jewish looking”
I also noticed the Timeless folks in this episode. The thing about Timeless is that they captured lightning in a bottle with their cast, the show was way better than it deserved to be because of the quality of the performances. If I was a producer I would be working to find a way to put all of them back together in some new project.
So what exactly are storm fronts powers? If she was Liberty 40 yrs ago she hasn’t aged and she took multiple heat vision blasts and shrugged it off. Who is she exactly
She’s the worst.
She can shoot electricity, has super-strength, appears nearly invincible, and can fly. And oh, yeah, she doesn’t age.
The “real-life” counterpart that’s normally used to describe her is Thor.
Good. It’s important to keep it grounded in the real world like that hahahahaha
My guess? She’s homelander’s biological mother. She’s very committed to producing another of him and starting a reich of blond supermen. This would fit with homelander’s mommy fixation as well.
Yikes, then what happened at the end of this episode was deeply disturbing!
I see two possibilities with Ryan. 1. Butcher’s threatening to expose Ryan will have unintended consequences and Vought/Edgar will want to cut their losses to eliminate the threat of black mail. Who will they send to kill Ryan? Black Noir! But I think this season’s two big Black Noir moments (him trying to calm the kid with the toy in ep 1 and then him crying over the reveal the dangerous effects Compound V has on children) show that he really cares for children and will defy Vought to do it. 2. Or how about this for crazy? Because this season is all about Homelander doubling down on the “It’s all about me, I don’t need anyone” thing, after he’s inevitably betrayed by Stormfront and pushed out of the Seven, he’ll find out that Vought is grooming Ryan to be the next Homelander. So in really twisted fashion, Homelander will try to kill Ryan, forcing Black Noir to step up (because again, I think in the show, he really cares about children), and protect him. That would be a fun twist on Black Noir’s comic origins, which I won’t spoil here.
I think you misread the Whedon reference:https://ew.com/tv/the-boys-season-2-terror-episode-dawn-of-the-7/There’s one specific line where Homelander says, “The new Joss rewrite really sings” [as a reference to Joss Whedon rewriting Justice League]. Was that Ellie’s work?I think that came out of the room and I don’t
remember who came up with that line. At the time, though, it might’ve
been before even that movie came out. It wasn’t the Joss Whedon backlash
that there seems to be today about that movie. At the time, we were
like, “It’s a good rewrite from the guy who wrote Avengers.” That’s what that script needs. It was all done with respect and love.
I mean, that doesn’t sound true at all considering the Joss Whedon revisions were announced in May 2017, while The Boys first season would have still been in the early stages of production.
Did yo work on the show? Is it true the first two seasons were shot at once?
Okay im in love with Cherie. This lady is all about her commission. Love that she has Kimiko doing assassination jobs as a side hustle. How much hustles does she have up and running. and the eyes.Didn’ t think there would be another POS character like Homelander that I would love but enter Stormfront. The woman is straight trash and I love it. The hookup with Homelander was hilarious and i hated myself because for a moment I was really shipping them and I found myself empathising with both. It got played for laughs but the bit where Homelander was able to lazer her tits and she was able to feel pain was actually quite sad for a moment. As powerful as they are that feeling of having an equal must have been extremely satisfying. Even Homelander the greatest narcissist i have seen on screen was just happy to have a playmate. But it wont last long. All im thinking now is how crazy and destructive a heartbroken Homelander could become. That scene where he lazered the crowd wass insane and i wish they went through with it but then again it menas his eventual meltdown will be even bigger that that, Also now that Vought knows Homelander can produce heirs I think Stormfront seized the oppurtunity to see if she could create her ‘perfect’ clone.A train and Queen Maeve have been background players so far but they seemed to be headed to The Boys side of things. The Dawn of the 7 movie just as the 7 is becoming more fractured by the episode. With the characters that are coming on board next season it sounds like there will be deaths but i would love if they could keep everyone alive and splinter into two opposing teams.
Noir’s ringtone was from Handel’s “Messiah,” so classical music, not related to Cohen. Strange character note. His usual tone or personalized for Edgar?
Billy’s aunt is Batgirl, LOL.Did they really think those bombs were going to hurt Noir? They fucked up her house for no reason. Did it seem like he was setting them off intentionally just to mess with them? And what kind of car does she drive? Looked fancy. Guess the taffy business must pay well.
Drug dealing can be very lucrative.
Pretty sure it was a Fiat 124 Spider. Basically a Miata with some Italian bits (and a louder engine). It’s a great car, although not terribly fancy
They don’t necessarily know Black Noir’s powers. A couple of nail bombs would be enough to finish off a good chunk of the supes we’ve seen. They know he would kill all of them in a fight, that’s about it. Depending on whether they follow particular story threads from the comics, it might be that even the rest of the Seven don’t know what the extent of his powers are.
Well, on that TV interview last episode, it seemed like Homelander was realising for the first time ever that he had no idea about what Black Noir looks like under the suit (presumably having never even thought about it before).
Indeed. The power levels between the supes vary wildly. Translucent didn’t appear to be much stronger than an ordinary person, for instance.
I don’t know if they thought the bombs would hurt Noir, but we’ve seen him injured by an explosion in the first episode. Though that was clearly a much more powerful explosion than the bombs that didn’t even blow through the subfloor in this episode.Billy’s aunt’s car looked like a C5 Corvette to me.
My take on that whole scene was that Black Noir needs to talk to his agent because he was stuck trying to kill everyone while everyone else was filming a movie
He’s not involved in the movie because he doesn’t say his lines.He doesn’t talk to his agent because that would also require talking.
Hilariously in the next episode you have Homelander blowing off Stormfront by saying “I need to do some line reading with Black Noir”
It was a Corvette, you can see the double flag emblem on the steering wheel. Round taillights in the leaving shot indicate a C6 probably.
I think they were trying to use the bombs to track him in the house. They knew they had no chance against him but they may be able to trick him into thinking they somehow got away and set the traps for him.
He drank Stormfront’s Kool-Aid
He sure did!
He was lapping it up.
That was one of the least sexy sex scenes I’ve ever watched. Very fitting for such repulsive characters.
This is wild speculation, but considering how off the books the series has gone, I’m guessing that there has got to be some reason Stormfront did such an easy play on Homelander.
It’s almost as if there is something she needs from him, and it’s not the terrible sadomasochist affair.
Ahh, maybe his allegiance? Homelander is probably the only one powerful enough to physically stop her from her Nazi agenda.
Well first, it is obvious Homlander’s kid is the one that is going to
have to kill him. Second, I think Stromfront and Homelander’s S&M
sex is probably more to do with the fact that neither of them have probably experienced physical pain for most of their lives, with them being superheroes. Finally, who ever is at Sage Grove is going to be Stormfront’s weakness. And Kimoko is guaranteed to use that to take her out.
Interesting. There could be something she needs from him beyond just more power over the Seven.By the way, the Dr Emilio Lizardo that replied to you is actually the fake troll Lizardo. Best to dismiss.
I look at this and wonder why Fake Lizardo wouldn’t just come up with their own unique handle for comments, rather than the weird stalking that they do. This was a regular comment, without any kind of trolling racism that they seem to love! Just do that, as yourself, rather than pretend to be someone else for the purpose of extra assholery.
You’d have to ask whatever inner demons are driving their sad, pathetic life.
I mean… Stormfront is probably the result of that Nazi scientist’s work, and a Homelander is a genetically engineered blonde-haired blue-eyed Aryan.
I absolutely agree that she’s using that team-up for her advantage, but they are kind of a matching pair of assholes.
That’s what I love about the show over the comic where Homelander and Stormfronts interactions were minimal at best…but that’s *spoiler*, so why the hell wouldn’t they have more time to be around one another?
Show is going off the rails but with great structure, love it.
Super Dick for Super Child.Assuming she has some infiltration of Vought, she knows that Homelander is fertile (which is apparently some rarity for superheroes). Having a blond hair, blue eyed superman father a/her child seems to track.
And yet, a pretty good representation of superhero sex, not something you see in Marvel movies.
That was one of the least sexy sex scenes I’ve ever watched.I agree, as someone who has watched Toast of London AND played Bioware games.
Reminded me of Buffy’s and Spike’s first go-round. Although theirs was sexier.
So this definitely seems like it’s heading with a split of the team into twos, with one team of less powerful supes joining Butcher and the gang underground. Also, I’m obsessed with Black Noir, especially after last episode. Looks like I was wrong about why he was out for Butcher. Things we know about him now: He’s Edgar’s lap dog, he’s invincible, and he’s obviously got some heightened senses. I have a theory now that might also fit Stormfront but I don’t think I should say it as it’s 1) a bit whacko, and 2) I think could actually be true in which case I’m spoiling things.And uh, that face rip. Holy crap, Kimiko.
If it’s just a theory, it can’t spoil anything. I mean, if it turns out to be correct, that only means you guessed well.
So this definitely seems like it’s heading with a split of the team into twos, with one team of less powerful supes joining Butcher and the gang underground.Also, I’m obsessed with Black Noir, especially after last episode. Looks like I was wrong about why he was out for Butcher. Things we know about him now: He’s Edgar’s lap dog, he’s invincible, and he’s obviously got some heightened senses. I have a theory now that might also fit Stormfront but I don’t think I should say it as it’s 1) a bit whacko, and 2) I think could actually be true in which case I’m spoiling things.And uh, that face rip. Holy crap, Kimiko.
A deeply underrated scene was A trains fairwell. Nobody was actually present and the disrespect he had to do the lines to a stuntdouble..That was some cold shit.
It also had my favorite trite movie dialog. “I’ve been running my whole life. It’s time I stayed put for a while”
I’m not an MCU hater or anything but that totally captured the feel of the bad parts of those movies to me
To be fair, Dawn of the Seven is still way better written than The Flash…
“STOP BEING A PUSSY AND LASER MY FUCKING TITS!” made me die, come back to life, and die again.
Whaaat? I’m sorry, but that wasn’t either Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” or Jeff Buckley’s or any other cover of that song – it was a generic church song with the word “Hallelujah” and organs playing in the background.
“it was a generic church song with the word “Hallelujah””
It was the single least “generic church song with the word Hallelujah” that there has ever been.
Handel was such a hack, right?
Spoilers for the comic allowed here?
The reason for that question is that if the Stormfront – Homelander relationship from the comics has any input into the show, then… eeewwww!
“I’m a hell of a hacker, but I’m no hero” made me laugh more, since it reminded me of fake Johnny Depp in “The Web” (from Nathan for You), when he has the line “I’m a hacker, not a slacker, Mel.”
Greg Grunberg in a Hollywood blockbuster but it’s NOT directed by J.J. Abrams!?
There’s something about that guy, but I laugh whenever he pops up
I always think he’s Jon Favreau.
His credit at the end “as Self As Agent Bill Pearson” made me lose it.
So I just ran the show and caught up, only a few quick points:
1) Colby Minifie was a showblocker on Jessica Jones, I am really glad that they have found her the perfect part to redeem herself. The “fuck you get out of here!” cracked me up.
2) I am impressed with how the show has good pace and plotting, the showrunner clearly knows how to juggle. However, I am not always a fan of them throwing in things people would never say or do just to be gross or edgelordy. Butcher can find a synonym for “C*nt” because it’s getting boring, like all laddish and loutish behavior quickly gets boring, I’m not here to watch fucking Santacon.
3) they need to fire the person who puts everybody but especially MM and Hughie in those stupid Hot Topic T-Shirts. Hughie’s don’t even make any sense, who would be a Billy Joel stan but own Nirvana and Van Halen t-shirts?
4) It was fucked up how they offed Doppelganger but at least I hope it means Elizabeth Shue can move on, bringing her back for those tiny scenes was weird
Butcher constantly saying “cunt” is a direct callback to the comics, so I doubt that’s going away.
I’m sure there have been other nips and tucks, it’s repetitive and tiresome
Does all of the American slang and insults get repetitive and tiresome to you? I’m guessing not.
And it’s how certain folks talk. The word “cunt” ain’t as edgy a word in several other countries, and doesn’t carry the same connotation. That particular string was egregious though. Butcher IS a lout, and a laddie. I’m impressed that they let him be that character. None of the rest of the books have anything to do with the show.
“However, I am not always a fan of them throwing in things people would never say or do just to be gross or edgelordy. Butcher can find a synonym for “C*nt” because it’s getting boring”I get the impression you haven’t spent much time in the UK or Australia (see also NZ and Ireland)
Yeah the American squeamishness about the word cunt is pretty funny to see sometimes. He was clearly overusing it in this episode towards the end but it was intentional. He was backed into a corner and running out of ideas, his tough facade was crumbling a little and he was trying to look hard in the face of worsening odds, so he was effing and jeffing more than usual.
I wouldn’t even say he was overusing it. He’s probably quite restrained compared to the lads on some of the jobs I’ve worked on over the years. Interestingly though, I used to work alongside a lot of American crew on drilling rigs. They all tended to be from Texas and Louisiana and were all typically very blue-collar/
edneck. They too would often act shocked at how many C-bombs the Brits and Aussies were dropping but never questioned the amount of times they themselves were using ‘cock-sucker’ in the same variety of contexts. Like ‘c*nt’, it was very rarely used in a literal sense but instead almost as punctuation which always stuck me as bizarre as there are so many more syllables to contend with.
Because it rightfully continues to be an offensive word to women in America. You wouldn’t think to use the term “coloured people” (I hope). Let’s resist taking that step backward.
Hey, they only let them say “cunt” 4 times…5 times max before they raise an eyebrow, in the UK.
Butcher and his aunt (and presumably his mom) are brits and the word ‘cunt’ over there just means asshole. As we learned from his aunt, Butcher isn’t the type to conform to polite society’s expectations
If you changed the word to “asshole” it would still be repetitive and boring to hear him call Black Noir or Edgar it three times in three consecutive sentences.
If that detail bothers you so much maybe this isn’t the show for you?
Boring is one of the kinder things that Butcher has been called. Yes, to the reader it’s boring but Butcher is the only one with this particular affliction in this series, so put it down as deliberate and apparently, effective. He’s an asshole with a limited vocab.
Dude. “Cunt” is normal every day use in AU, NZ, UK. No one even bats an eye at its usage. Its really only North American and their puritan ways that care about it at all. So them staying true to his NZ background is fine.
Firstly, it’s sexist and stupid, like the word “bitch”secondly I never objected to him ever having said it, it’s that he says it over and over and over and over and over and over
Have a Snickers.
Words have different meanings. Slang for male and female genitalia are all used as insults that have nothing to do with said genitalia.It’s also weird to me how I was see people objecting to “cunt” saying it is sexist and offensive towards women, but never see the same complaint when someone calls someone else a “wanker” “cock” or “dick” about it being sexist to men. Just relax and stop bein such a bitchy wanker.
Outside the US it’s not sexist though , yeah the word is a slang term for vagina , but its used more in the same context as asshole (or a stronger version of dick) , and used as much (if not more) referring to men than women.
IT’S STILL SEXIST, DUMMYand also, which was my problem: repetitive
It isn’t though. Bastard, by the way, ain’t either.
It’s a character trait. Get over it/used to it.
Just shut up
Not a big fan of Deadwood I take it.He lets out a string of them here, trying to get under Fring’s skin. It was legitimate in context.Never had a friend or work aquaintance who couldn’t get through a story without 57 “fucks” used as every part of speech? That’s other places and “cunt”.
“fuck” and “cunt” are just different things, “fuck” is a modifier.
Deadwood’s broad panoply of curses is the opposite of using the same goddamn word 57 time in a row. Also, the time and setting and characters were more proper for the “c” word, it wasn’t just a bunch of bros claiming that the most derogatory word one can use to reduce a human being to one part of the female anatomy that you are NOT describing complimentarily is somehow not at all sexist. yeesh.
So you wouldn’t, then, call someone a “dick”? No “assholes”? No one is “ballsy”? I assume those have ever come up for you. Yeesh, indeed.
It’s a literary device: stream of cuntiousness.
I see you’re just posting through it huh?
As everyone has been telling you over and over and over, people saying cunt over and over and over and over is a normal thing in Queens English. If you don’t like it, stop watching the show and dont go to Australia, the UK, or New Zealand.
I’m not sure where people get the impression that it’s an “everyday” word outside the US. Speaking as a real life UK person, it’s a horrible word that carries much more force than most swear words in essentially every context I’ve ever lived or worked in.
Varies region to region / group to group. It’s just you’ll find more people here in the UK (and more more people in Oz) who’ll use it in an off hand fasion.I’d certainly not use the word off hand, but it’s also not an off limits work. It’s just in the stronger end of the spectrum of curses. However there’s also an “average” of offense taken across an area. I notice in America the word is basically verboten, Comedians and the like will talk about avoiding using it. Here I’d blink one eyelid if a friend dropped it but not for using a terrible word, just an acknowledgement that whatever they said required severe punctiation.
Once you get to Scotland though it’s use as an endearment crops up more and that further skews the average.
We can’t even call a fucking toilet a toilet over here. Restroom (nobody goes there to rest), Bathroom (never seen a public toilet with a bath option available), Washroom (well, yes – but that’s not the primary purpose). Doesn’t matter how nonsensical the name is, just don’t be un-ambivalent that you’re going somewhere to use a toilet like everybody else does multiple times a day.
So there’s absolutely zero overlap between people who like Billy Joel and people who like Van Halen? Um……And you really shouldn’t worry about Elisabeth Shue “moving on.” She would have been well-paid for her appearance here, she wasn’t under contract anymore so she did it of her own free will. I’m sure she’s fine with it and the creepy-ass scene in question was one of the best scenes this season.
I said it above and I’ll repeat it here. This means she’s now freed up for Cobra Kai.
MM’s tees are awesome
MM’s tees are for awesome musical groups, but they are also sold on the rack next to the Ts where Hughie’s come from and where Kimiko’s brother’s spuds mckenzie comes from. They’re seriously just ordering “band t-shirt” on redbubble and if it’s a black group putting it on MM. Gee whiz does MM like Run DMC? I bet he does!
I take your point, but I’m just looking at it like they’re real life cartoon characters – they just have to look cool
Also, want to say, thank you for being my friend…… traveled down the road and back again.
When you go to a store like Hot Topic (I haven’t been in one for a million years but they have these at other stores) there are literally racks and racks of fake vintage Ts. One rack has Aerosmith, Van Halen, etc. (nobody really interesting like Cream) and the other has Run DMC…they just bought both racks.
So was Hughie’s Van Halen shirt. I really wanted that one.
Commenters are the real heroes.
Cunt.
I genuinely feel shame for not posting this earlier given that my username is inspired by these chaps but better late than never:
If you hate the word cunt I recommend you check out some of Jim Jeffries’ comedy specials. He hates that word too.
I feel like everybody’s already addressed the fact that being precious about using “cunt” as punctuation is very common in the original material and also the background of where the character is from. So don’t be a cunt, mate.Also, the costume designer on this show is a very lovely lady who’s probably more than happy to discuss artistic decisions regarding dressing characters on the run / hiding out / grabbing whatever they can get their hands on / relating to original material. Perhaps learn about the art of designing for screen before typing stupid shit like “hope x get’s fired”.See ya cunt xx
I like MM’s shirts. There’s a consistent theme to them, all referencing golden age hip-hop etc.
“Cunt” is basically just a normal word in the UK
Run-on sentences get boring real fucking quick, but I don’t see you fixing that ever.
Well it frees her up for Cobra Kai.
Solid write-up except for this one observation:“Black Noir’s “Hallelujah” ringtone is definitely the Leonard Cohen original, right? I do not mind the Jeff Buckley cover, but that doesn’t seem like his style.”Well, it IS the “original” Hallelujah, AKA the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s Messiah. Predates Leonard Cohen’s 1984 classic by a mere 240 years.
I assumed this was just a joke, but you sounded…. serious??
The “original” Hallelujah. It’s pretty good!
Considering they showed Black Noir playing classical piano in Season 1….
I just watched Season 1 over the weekend, and that moment of Black Noir sitting next to the piano player and just staring at him until he left made me LOVE Black Noir.
Just double checked, because I thought the same thing. And I remembered laughing at him having such a ridiculous ringtone. Benefit of the doubt, though- maybe Roxana was watching on a screener that used Cohen’s Hallelujah, as an extra Zach Snyder shot, but had to switch it back before air b/c of rights or something?
That confused me so much I wondered if they’d changed the music in my region due to rights or something.
It’s also funny because the episode ended with an extended superhero sex scene similar to the much maligned “Hallelujah” scene in Zack Snider’s Watchmen
I thought the Hallelujah ringtone was a jab at Zack Snyder using it in his snydercut trailer.
I did like the hilarious shrug of resignation the homeless lady had when she found there was no food at The Deep’s book giveaway. He didn’t seem to give a shit either, so he is either indoctrinated fully or faking it well.
He didn’t seem to give a shit either, so he is either indoctrinated fully or faking it well.Or, more likely, just a garbage person.
I think the implication is that he is fully indoctrinated. I think it sort of glossed over in the series a lot, because no viewer really wanted to spend that much time on what is a quasi-redemption arc for a serial sexual abuser.
I think they will subvert the comic book “Black Noir” twist and introduce Lenny as Black Noir. Given Lenny is mentioned around the time BN shows up, it seems like foreshadowing.
But Nathan Mitchell who plays Noir is African-American. Unless the Butchahs are a blended family à la Fant4stic’s Storms.
He also has spoken exactly zero times and never been seen without the suit, there’s no reason it couldn’t be a different person without the suit.
I still don’t understand this website’s beef with Endgame, it’s almost as if it wasn’t the most incredible movie going experience of the last decade simply for featuring Disney super heroes.
But I guess Green Book is a better choice for accolades and prizes over that silly film called Black Panther, huh?
SPARKLE SURPRISEFOR REAL
Okay, having read who Stormfront is in the comics, and that show Stormfront. .okay, I will just be quietly grossed out even more than we all were with that ending scene.It was fun seeing so much of the Timeless cast around. It made me wonder though that Matt wasn’t available to play Lanplighter? And that whole story seems concerning.
Hell of an episode. All these plates spinning in the air, all these dangling plot threads, and I want to follow them all. Aya Cash is scary good at being the Worst.
That was a table setting episode but fun. Good to see Hoover from the OTHER Rogan/Goldberg show. It’s clear Black Noir is going in an entirely different direction, and that’s too bad, but the show resembles the books in no way. A funny visual joke that Stormfront’s coffee truck smoothie is labelled “Storefront” They just never get it right.Cohen’s Hallelujah? I mean, come on. It’s clearly the Handel piece.
*spoiler*I thought Noir being sent by corporate was consistent with the comic. It shows he’s in their pocket.
I agree – he literally and instantly does whatever Edgar tells him.
I was expecting a darker turn for Homefront after last week’s episode. He seemed to have extinguished the part of himself that needed to be loved, but here he is again this week desperate for the pubic’s approval. I hope at some point he goes completely megalomaniacal and declares himself absolute ruler of the United States.
Homelander! Argh…
Homefront can be their celebrity couple name.
Homefront is their couple portmanteau.
That’s a good point, actually
I think that is what they are setting up. Hence the fantasy of laser eyeing everyone. It is only a matter of time before he does it for real. The problem Homelander has right now is he has “no base” like Stormfront pointed out. She is amassing soldiers. Yes, they are indestructible, but it is just him, so without minions (or soldiers) he really has no way to enforce him being anything other than what he is now. I think that is where this is heading is with Stormfront and her followers, he will have an army of brownshirts to enforce his (and stormfront, so she hopes) will.
C’mon, it’s obvious. Man-child with superpowers. It’s Super-45.
Stormfront is the alt-right that gets Homelander elected.
If they really go down that route then they really didnt deviate from the comics after all.
President for Life Trum…err Homelander!Well first, it is obvious Homlander’s kid is the one that is going to
have to kill him. Second, I think Stromfront and Homelander’s S&M
sex is probably more to do with the fact that neither of them have probably experienced physical pain for most of their lives, with them being superheroes. Finally, who ever is at Sage Grove is going to be Stormfront’s weakness. And Kimoko is guaranteed to use that to take her out.
A megalomaniacal yet insecure ruler of the United States that would wipe his critics out if he weren’t worried about being loved? Man, this show is outlandish!
But yeah — I was expecting more fallout from him killing… well, himself, even if it was Doppelganger. The metaphor of self loathing by itself was fascinating. The gay panic that particular transformation by forcing him to acknowledge he had been having sex with a man the whole time instead of Madeline feels like something he’s going to sublimate and overcompensate for.
And Stormfront know exactly how to use his internal conflict against him.
Homefront can be their shipper name.
As I say in another comment I really thought that he’d laser massacred those protesters
Doing my 3rd or so read-through of the comics right now (at Believe), and I’m digging some of the changes, ambivalent to some of the others. Honestly, I think the only thing I flat DON’T like is the Frenchie/Kimiko dynamic. Him going for the kiss last week, and ditching her this week, just kinda ruins their perfect platonic love/friendship from the comics.I totally forgot Kripke did Timeless too. Can’t wait to see who else from Timeless or Supernatural shows up for cameos. And the credit reading “Greg Grunberg as himself as Agent Pearson” made me laugh way harder than it probably should have…
Can’t unsee the face ripping
This show has way too much face damage for me to ever actually watch it. The clips I’ve seen were bad enough.
Between this and me seeing Bone Tomahawk this year, I’m scarred permanently
My boyfriend hates gore and does not cope very well with violence onscreen (I watch horror films usually on my headphones) and one day he arrived just at the moment of that scene in Bone Tommahawk. Let’s say that it took several moments for him to recover from that.
Here’s hoping you never watch “The Flap” extended scene in Nurse Betty together.
Im still recovering. I heard it had a good gore scene. I’m re-evaluating my horror preferences after that
Sit him down for a 1-2 of that and BRAWL IN CELL 99 for a real doozy.
It’s a credit to the actress for how vile and thoroughly unpleasant Stormfront is. Every word that comes out of her mouth and every smirk make me want to see her being murdered in the most brutal way possible.Also, Anthony Starr continues to be the highlight of the show.
I really like how they set her up as a the cool girl type with a popular instagram feed and a snarky sense of humor (there’s elements of Gretchen from You’re the Worst to her) but now she’s been made out to be terrifying. There’s so many ways that role could have been played as the fun villain type, the kind who you root for despite them being a white nationalist with super powers, but she’s not fun in that way anymore.
So what’s Maeve’s play to take down Homelander? Testify about the plane incident from last season? Don’t see that working out for her.
It would be her word against Homelander’s about the plane. With the Deep possibly coming forward with the rape of Butcher’s wife and the sexual predator stuff on Homelander?
The plane incident would certainly explain why she’d be want the Deep specifically — it was called out last season that he could find / retrieve the black box.
I’ve always assumed that The Deep would recover an intact phone from the plane crash Homelander caused and ruin/blackmail him with video from it. Maybe Maeve will give him a push in that direction.
Really hitting it out the park this year !
Halfway thru and A-? WOW does it get way better? cause so far woof
owh wow… well fuck them for that fake-out shit
That’s some cliche hack shit
The only real problem with this show is that the bad guys are so OP, the actions of the protagonists seem almost pointless.
Nobody can stand against Homelander and it seems that Stormfront is roughly on his level. Black Noir is indestructible as well.
The amount of plot armor necessary to keep the Boys, and even Starlight, alive is becoming cumbersome. They need to give the “good” guys some more leverage, because as it stands, the only real reason they’re still around is that the villains are dumb, apathetic, or not wholly evil, all of which are bad ideas.I don’t really buy the blackmail Butcher used in this episode. Compared to the revelation of compound V it barely registers. I’ll allow it, but they need to come up with something else quick.
Well first, it is obvious Homlander’s kid is the one that is going to
have to kill him. Second, I think Stromfront and Homelander’s S&M
sex is probably more to do with the fact that neither of them have probably experienced physical pain for most of their lives, with them being superheroes. Finally, who ever is at Sage Grove is going to be Stormfront’s weakness. And Kimoko is guaranteed to use that to take her out.
It’s never made sense on the show how Butcher at least is still alive. Considering the Boys are up against a bunch of superheroes owned by a super corporation, it’s a little hard to believe that nobody’s found them yet
I know, right? I’m thinking there’s going to be another depressing reveal that Vought keeps them alive as an easy go-to scapegoat, because they know they can never Truly be a threatUgh, and I was really hoping they would take Compound V once they were going with the expose-Vought efforts – then, it would make at least Some possible sense that they wouldn’t instantly die at any confrontation with supes (and point out how pointless their crusade is by making them low-level super powered hypocrites like in the comics, blah blah blah)
It has a small suspension of disbelief that makes the show. Also, like, they aren’t really much of a threat right? The only thing they had was the compound V exposing, but that is gone. They have had no real plan for a while. The “bad guy” who is most knowledgeable about their threat is I guess Homelander, but he seems to be playing close to the chest at the moment.
How does this Dawn of the *Seven* movie even work? There’s only six of them right now?Homelander, Maeve, Black Noir, Stormfront, Starlight and A-Train?
I thought they said in an earlier episode they were going to have a guy in a green suit for Translucent and then digitally make him invisible.
Underratred.
I mean, within the context of the show, Dawn of the Seven isn’t a documentary, so it doesn’t actually have to feature the current Seven roster, does it?
Regarding the Hallelujah ringtone, respectively, what the hell are you smoking? It’s Handel’s original Hallelujah Chorus, not Cohen’s garbage ballad of the same name. I weep for this generation.
This episode was pretty jammed packed. The best was all the Seven stuff and the obvious Avengers take down. It was even peppered with small jokes, like how everyone was raving about the “Vietnamese crepes” throughout the episode. I am pretty sure what happened was Stormfront’s “play” all along..she wanted to hook up with Homelander to aid her own agenda. I do wonder if there will be a change in Homelander though now that he is getting laid and have it not be all motherly and weird like with Madelyn. (Also darkly funny was poor A-Trains I know this is the dawn of the seven..bye scene). he is being poochied.I was less impressed with the Boys stuff. I guess a “Butcher getting his groove back” episode was inevitable, but overall they seem to be spinning their wheels as they really seem to have no idea how to take down any of the other seven. Last season they killed a super which really drove the whole season and they have not really made any headway on that front at all five episodes in. The bombs set for Noir was cool though and it was a great choice to just hear them going off instead of seeing them. They are doing a great job fleshing all the “good guys” out so far this season, but I would like to see an actual plan on what they are going to do next.
You are right in that the Boys really aren’t doing much right now. The only one is Hughie but nobody likes what he’s doing which doesn’t make much sense as he’s the only one doing anything. Not much forward momentum with that group yet
and provided additional context for why Butcher treats Hughie as he does.I would argue we didn’t need additional context for this. That backstory to me was an example of over-explaining, and it wasn’t necessary. When it comes to Butcher and Hughie’s relationship, we get it. Did we really need exposition dedicated to spelling it out? I love The Boys, but it can be a very blunt show sometimes.So, I thought this was a weaker episode, actually. A lot of funny satire, sure, but there were main plot beats that didn’t work for me. Like a powerful company like Vought suddenly not knowing how to do damage control (as if the Seven hasn’t accidentally killed a bystander before), so Homelander’s PR disaster is saved by cheap memes? Okay? Or how Frenchie won’t give up on Kimiko so easily…Until she knocks him down, and he gives up on her easily.
On the plus side, I really liked the A-Train stuff, and Annie’s scenes with her mom. Getting to those moments felt earned because both of them were facing things they had been avoiding since S1. And even though we didn’t actually see Black Noir fight (disappointed), the gas leak threat was a clever ruse because the insurance will need that now to cover Aunt Judy’s blown up house, lol. I’m also excited that Maeve might finally actually get something to do.
Agree. Saying that Hughie resembles Butcher’s kid is a hacky idea that this show ideally should be above.
Butcher’s brother.
Yeah, my bad. That’s what I meant. Still not much better!
It IS much better. If they’re brothers, it means their mums have the same name !
I agree with you with your criticism. This show is a little supergirl-ish “on the nose” this year. Stormfront basically being able to turn public opinion with cheap memes works as political commentary…but would that really work? Meh, I doubt it. Yeah, and they pretty much established already that Butcher likes Hughie despite him being a hard guy, and they already did the “he is your canary” thing last episode, so it is a little redundant.
It works in real life, why wouldn’t it work in a show
Memes are working for QAnon just fine.
I do not know if “some people do them” (of course) equals they are working.
Well, a year ago, these QAnon morons were edgelords on 4Chan that we could all laugh at, and after a year or so of non-stop memeing, they have actual QAnon people running for public office, and winning. So yeah, that shit works.
I mean, Trump was elected on memes, QAnon is spread almost exclusively using memes, and the alt-right weaponized memes like 5-6 years ago.
So what happened was Vought was going to do the normal corporate damage control thing but Homelander, because of what a narcissist he is, thought he could do better by just showing up to the protest and turning on the “charm”. This created a second crisis while Vought PR was probably still dealing with the fallout from the original video. The corporate PR response was caught flat footed which is why he turned to Stormfront’s 4chan posters or whatever. At this point Stormfront is pretty anti-Vought so it makes sense that he’d be looking for an alternate channel of communication and image management,
It doesn’t make perfect sense but I think it makes more sense than you’re giving it credit for
1) Black Noir is not a very good ninja.2) Cassandra is not a very good anthropologist.3) Karl Urban is a very good actor.Still can’t watch this Butcher and keep in mind this is also Dredd and Bones.
Felt a bit contrived that for such a huge and powerful company as Vought is, that they don’t, or can’t, do spin for Homelander’s bad press, and he has to go to Stormfront for it, unless that was their plan, but that sort of doesn’t seem intentional (the scenes with Ashley kinda make it seem like they don’t know what they’re doing, unless she’s just a foil, but they had a lot of trouble spinning the leak from last episode or two ago and other issues).
Maybe because Homelander has scared Ashley so much she’s afraid to do anything? Or more likely, like you point out, sloppy writing.
Well first, it is obvious Homelander’s kid is the one that is going to have to kill him. Second, I think Stromfront and Homelander’s S&M sex is probably more to do with the fact that neither of them have probably experienced physical pain for most of their lives, with them being superheroes. Finally, who ever is at Sage Grove is going to be Stormfront’s weakness. And Kimoko is guaranteed to use that to take her out.
I get a chuckle every time I watch this episode and see Homelander say “Girls get it *on*”
Really not sure how this was an A in any way shape or form. This was two episodes in a row of wheel spinning. We quite literally learned nothing about any character that we didn’t already know, and anyone who isn’t Homelander or Stormfront isn’t compelling at all. It’s watchable because Starr is fantastic and Cash is getting there as well, but every other subplot is incredibly boring. The scene of Homelander finally cutting loose, something actually interesting, was a cheap fake-out. You think they’re finally going to reveal that Noir is a Homelander clone, but nope. Not that either. They keep dragging out Butcher, who isn’t interesting until he goes full-on Compound V bad guy. Just do fucking something. There’s no clever satire here. The satire in The Boys is it’s abject absurdity and it just hasn’t gotten there in the last two episodes.
I was shocked to see that there are only 3 episodes left this season. Absolutely nothing has happened so far. I mean, compound V leaked, but that seems to have had no effect on the world at all. Beyond that, everyone is still exactly where they were at the beginning of the season.All of the stuff with the Boys drags this season because they have nothing to do. They are too weak to take on the superheroes, so the show has to keep contriving reasons to not have them fight, and they are still running from the law, so they can’t really do anything out in the open. I don’t even understand what their motivation is anymore.
Also, what does it take to get your account approved? I have been “pending” for 3 years now.
So here I am, finally watching this episode and texting my friend about it, and say to them “I hope all the places I read reviews from don’t give too much away about Black Noir, so far people have bounced back and forth between whether his actions are consistent with what the comics reveal him to be” I look back up and the next comment I read was yours
This season definitely feels much gorier, way more true to the source material.
Comic Spoilers;I’m up to the third episode of the season and I’ve got something on my mind;
Do you think that Black Noir won’t be revealed to be the clone of Homelander as he was in the comic? I get this feeling that he’s just gonna be his own guy in this show since there’s been no foreshadowing so far of it.
It’s certainly open to debate, but there has been plenty of foreshadowing of it to this point. They may not ultimately go the same direction, but:
1. BN seems nigh-invulnerable,
2. He remains utterly silent,
3. He does exactly, instantly, whatever Edgar tells him to do,
4. He’s deeply weird (the teddy bear, the ringtone, forgetting that he’s got to keep his mask on so he can’t grab an appetizer),
5. Nobody else ever sees his face either,
6. He doesn’t seem the least bit afraid or wary of Homelander, unlike everyone other than Stormfront, possibly because
7. He’s the only one of the Seven that Homelander actually likes.
I’m sure there’s been more, but if they ultimately do the same reveal, there have been more than enough seeds planted already.
My favorite bit of acting from this was Homelander’s sarcastic “Ooooo, oh no, I’m so scared” expression he did before lasering Minor Wind Manipulation Man to death.
At this point of the series I am beginning to think that the real villains are the in series producers/scriptwriters/pr people. They show even less moral compass than Stormfront.
I’m still waiting for the reveal of whomever makes peoples’ heads ‘splode.
Malcolm Barrett, Claudia Doumit and now Goran visnic. Timeless Reunion!
Soooo….nobody gonna talk about Lamplighter showing up (Shawn Ashmore/Iceman!!!!)
Having read all of the comics- does the show deviate pretty well for them? Is this original material? I’m hoping so!
50/50 so far. They changed around a lot of things and toned down a lot of the sex and violence, but it kind of is sticking to the comics for the most part.
Caught up with this a few days late. This was an excellent episode, maybe the best in the run of the series. Great stuff from end to end. Great satire of overblown corporate superhero movies with on the nose references to “Joss rewrite” and that stupid “girl power” scene from Avengers: Endgame that still worked. Homelander’s fantasy of lasering all the protesters was done perfectly and this show (and Homelander) are both so fucked up that I really believed it was happening. All the stuff about how Vought is incorporating lame identity politics was great. Stormfront continues to be terrifying and this showed what she’s really about and also what the dynamic between her and Homelander will be about increasingly terrifying ways. The standoff between the Boys and Black Noir was genuinely tense and scary. The dog stuff was great. A bit of depth was added to Butcher. A Train’s story was really interesting which I usually don’t say. The show was firing on all cylinders with this one
Interesting what you say about “Mr. Robot” and this show sharing “a similar vibe” because I’m a huge fan of both shows. I kind of know what you mean but I don’t agree entirely. Definitely both shows deal with our corporate capitalist dystopia in a more direct way than most, take place in New York, involve a war against an all powerful corporation etc. but “Mr. Robot” is definitely way more emotionally and psychologically complex than the Boys, has way more complex characters etc. Like I don’t think there’s a single Boys character as complex as Elliot or even Darlene or Whiterose or Price or any of the prominent characters
One more interesting connection between “the Boys” and “Mr. Robot” is that the AVC recapper for “Mr. Robot,” Alex McLevy kind of turned me on to the Boys as well. And, truth be told, I was kind of hoping that he would be the recapper for this show as well. This is no slight against you Roxana. I think you’re doing a good job. It just would’ve been nice continuity between the shows
“Butcher is an asshole, but he inspires deep loyalty,”
But I’m not sure why. He’s became a complete asshole this season. I guess this this the episode where he starts coming back to more wise-ass than asshole, but he’s become my least favorite character to watch on the show. At this point I’d rather he die and MM take over the crew (whose objective is what these days? Just survive?) Hopefully he starts being cooler and more fun to root for next episode!
Aya Cash is such a great actress (I’ve been a fan since “Traffic Light”, and especially of her work on “You’re the Worst”) but she reads so Ashkenazi Jewish to me that I’m struggling to buy her in the role of a Nazi white supremacist. I’m an Ashkenazi Jew myself, and she looks very much like many of the Jewish girls I grew up with in my very Jewish-American hometown (well, prettier than most!) Of course Ashkenazi Jewish women can look many different ways physically, but there are some physical features that from my experience some seem to share, and Aya Cash does as well. (Apparently Cash is half Jewish and half Italian Catholic and identifies as Jewish.) As my account name notes, I’m trying to make the point without being offensive in any way. And that point is that this specific casting choice has made my ability to have a suspension of disbelief when watching a show about superheroes even more of a challenge!She does do the badass, kind of mean girl type, so so well though!
Excellent episode, but I am really confused now about what country Butcher is supposed to be from. He has a very thick Australian (or New Zealandian, can’t keep those apart) accent, but then the show gives his Aunt Judy a sort of middle class English accent with some Ye Olde English working class slang thrown in.
I think that Vought let Liberty come back to public eye because she promised them she can keep Homelander in check. It’s not that the company is particularly racist – at least not in Stormfront or Vought the man way. They just reflect American public biases – both in their picks of who gets the Compound V (6% black 1% Asian) and in their PR targeting – nowadays diversity sells so they go the simplest ways of tokenism like with women on the 7 (even standardized to blonde, redhead, brunette). Or the way Queen Maeve relationship is set to be sold not about her feelings or real representation (she still can’t be herself because bisexuals are too confusing).
They only care about superheroes because they can sell them. And that means controlling the image of their product. But Homelander started to slip from their grasp. Stillwell lost the hold on him (and her life) and Ashleigh clearly has no say (he put her in this position not Vought). They needed someone who could control him and couldn’t be as easily disposed of as a normal human. I bet Stormfront promised she’ll behave. Maybe she told them the same lie she told Annie (but we know from the way she behaved towards A-Train that she doesn’t consider all supes to be her people). It would make her more like Homelander and be more appealing to him that way.
It’s pretty clear she is building this on Vought’s profile of Homelander. I’m sure they know very well he only cares about his image, he has a thing about sex with powerful woman (a mommy figure) and he only respects people who are close to his level (he still hasn’t threatened Maeve despite her lies just one she loves). Stormfront plays all three aspects perfectly.
She destroys the first so he’ll lose his footing and be more receptive to her “help” and then build him up again but now relaying on her. And she shows herself to be strong enough to fit the other two roles for him.Of course, this being The Boys and Stormfront’s age, I now suspect that the whole “mommy” thing may not be just a roleplay. She’s the right age and even if she didn’t give birth to him she might be the donor of genetic material. Their powers seem similar enough. This kind of incest is something I totally see this show going for.
I loved all the references and jabs this episode made. Like how the movie used the color desaturation just like DCEU. It almost gave me whiplash when the normal colors returned.I loved even more the “girl power” scene reference. With Starlight and Stormfront suddenly there to help Maeve carry a MacGuffin even though she clearly doesn’t need this help. I didn’t hate that scene in Endgame but this was deserved.I also liked seeing Shawn Ashmore playing with that lighter. Like a certain X-Men costar. I wonder about Terror. I mean bulldog mean life span is a bit over 6 years. And can he even be called Billy’s dog if he lived most of his life with Aunt Judy?But I loved that Aunt Judy swore as much as Billy. It runs in the family.The best part was Hughie fianally telling Billy to stop making Becca’s life all about himself. His self-pity was getting annoying.Everyone was using up the secrets they know for leverage pretty fast. It’s a sure sign that those leverages won’t work for long.
You mean you can’t tell the difference between Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus and Leonard Cohen? They were only written 200 years apart.
Shirley’s fake sweet voice? You mean Shirley’s sexy voice: