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The Boys season 4 trailer
- Thread starter DeafTourette
- Start date
DeafTourette
Perpetually Offended
I don't think Hughie was ready either... He was part of the decision. It wasn't all Annie. Plus they're actively fighting super murderers.
JBat
Member
I can get that but just feels a little too on the nose. A lot of the show is social commentary and to me it completely ignored the other side. Kind of a missed opportunity for character depth that could have tied into Hughie's very emotional dad stuff. Plus just wrap it up for God's sake. Condoms aren't expensive and these people are supposed to be smart.
BadBurger
Many “Whelps”! Handle It!
Just watched ep 5. What's going on with Hughies father is disturbing. He has the powers to kill Homelander I guess.
Edit: I spoke too soon, I had to pause the episode when the show was almost over, but then I just saw the final ten or so minutes.
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Mossybrew
Member
Uhhh not anymore. Did you finish the episode?
March Climber
Gold Member
Episode 6 could have easily been condensed into the last 15 minutes of the episode.
The sexual stuff and shock factor content was being used as a crutch/filler this episode a bit too much. I know that they have done this before, but this was the first time it felt like they were truly using it to fill for time, rather than being a complimentary piece to the fucked up world of The Boys.
This felt like one of those Supernatural episodes where not much happens, except that show had over 20, one hour episodes, per year for weekly TV purposes. The Boys doesn't, and this episode confirmed for me that they probably wanted to stretch this series out for 8 or 10 seasons at minimum.
The next (and final) season is probably going to move at breakneck speeds due to this issue.
The sexual stuff and shock factor content was being used as a crutch/filler this episode a bit too much. I know that they have done this before, but this was the first time it felt like they were truly using it to fill for time, rather than being a complimentary piece to the fucked up world of The Boys.
This felt like one of those Supernatural episodes where not much happens, except that show had over 20, one hour episodes, per year for weekly TV purposes. The Boys doesn't, and this episode confirmed for me that they probably wanted to stretch this series out for 8 or 10 seasons at minimum.
The next (and final) season is probably going to move at breakneck speeds due to this issue.
BadBurger
Many “Whelps”! Handle It!
Episode 6 could have easily been condensed into the last 15 minutes of the episode.
The sexual stuff and shock factor content was being used as a crutch/filler this episode a bit too much. I know that they have done this before, but this was the first time it felt like they were truly using it to fill for time, rather than being a complimentary piece to the fucked up world of The Boys.
This felt like one of those Supernatural episodes where not much happens, except that show had over 20, one hour episodes, per year for weekly TV purposes. The Boys doesn't, and this episode confirmed for me that they probably wanted to stretch this series out for 8 or 10 seasons at minimum.
The next (and final) season is probably going to move at breakneck speeds due to this issue.
You're right, but at the same time this an adaptation of Ennis's least nuanced and most purposefully dumb and crass work.
Compared to just the first three issues of the comic this show is tame. Downright button-downed old fashioned.
March Climber
Gold Member
The thing is I don't mind the dumbness and crassness of it all and that's not my complaint. I've been on the internet too long for that to even matter to me at this point, which is why I can see through it and notice that it's being used as filler content.
I just need that type of content to contain more meaning and point me in the right direction, rather than feeling a bit aimless.
To give examples of gross/crass scenes that had meaning: The Homelander trial scene episode in season 2 where the headpopping massacre happened so that he would not be found guilty, and the episode in Gen V where one of Emma's fans tricks her into a relationship and sex just so that he can experience sex with someone who can grow and shrink, burying her self-esteem even further into the ground.
BadBurger
Many “Whelps”! Handle It!
Again, this is not nuanced. It's really straight forward and naked in intent. And that's the point. Love it or leave it.
I would say that it's not trying to shock. Rather, like the comic, it's using raw imagery and directness in curt speech to make points. There's really no preaching or anything like that here (not a pun regarding Ennis's other adapted work Preacher).
The comic was basically a drunken (according to associates) Irishman's take on America turned up the extreme if superheroes existed, with outsiders stepping in to do what he thought needed to be done in the most unrestricted TV way possible. That's all.
March Climber
Gold Member
I feel like we are discussing two different things, or maybe you are misreading my issue with this episode because you keep defending the lack of nuance and shock factor, which was never my point.
So in an attempt to make my point as clear as possible, I'll simply state this: This episode was filler content and that's not a good thing for an 8 episode season.
BadBurger
Many “Whelps”! Handle It!
Ok, I concede. Also it's the 4th here in the US so I am frosty baby. Obviously missed your points.
March Climber
Gold Member
Lol no worries and no hard feelings, I wasn't trying to debate. I genuinely think we were talking past each other for a minute there. It happens
NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt
Gold Member
Even though I enjoyed this episode, that did feel like filler. There's two more episodes left..
xpresstuning
Member
Seems like a very weak storyline.
It is. And it is boring .. as fuck. This entire season is boring as fuck and feels like filler. Homelander's been neutered and cucked - slowly and painfully - as the show progressed since the end of Season 1. In Season 4 there's very little screentime of Homelander compared to whatever. Starlight is ugly as sin and her screen presence is nowhere near as memorable as previous seasons. Butcher is a parody of himself - what the fuck did the writers do to him? MM has some funny lines here and there.
Either they're saving up something good for Season 5 and stretching it thin until then, or they're Hell bent on driving this show to Hell. A shame.
SidViscous
Member
Well that last episode was shit, what a waste of Tek-Knight, then that overly done reveal everyone saw coming since Episode 1. What a weirdly hit and miss season.
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DeafTourette
Perpetually Offended
The reveal wasn't totally obvious. I've seen so many fanboys of the comics swear up and down that Kessler was real and not the figurative devil on Butcher's shoulder... They're all quiet now tho.
I liked the little hints at Sage's motivations (and her superior intellect not being taken seriously because she was a kid and the docs not wanting to save a former Black Panther), wanting to manipulate the system from the inside and even though she's scared, Victoria handled herself well talking to the senators and billionaires. She hates being there but knows Homelander will kill her and her daughter if she goes against him. And A-Train trying to find redemption and finally seeing how it feels to be a genuine hero... He's had the best arc over the last 2 seasons!
The subtle digs at A-Train (because he's black) from Tek-Knight about how his family got their money from slavery and now he's making even more money from prisons. The obvious parodies of Batman and Spider-Man (Tek-Knight and Web Weaver).
Annie is a joke of a character this season. She isn't genuine about her apologies and holding herself accountable for the crappy way she was to those other little girls. She just runs away from it because she's running away from being a Supe.
BadBurger
Many “Whelps”! Handle It!
I also like how they're revealing, for those in the crowd who weren't already clued in, that Billy Butcher is a villain.
Only Annie and Hughie are good guys in all of this IMO. Just show wise.
Only Annie and Hughie are good guys in all of this IMO. Just show wise.
Regarding this episode:
Oh. M. Gee. at that Mother's Milk scene.
Just because you can read doesn't mean you can comprehend. If I gave my daughter my statistics book to read, she would be crying within minutes. If you have the ability to comprehend everything you read and apply the knowledge immediately then that is a super power.
If she gets brain damage, I can see that affecting her photographic memory.
FingerBang
Member
Worst fucking episode of the show so far.
The political jokes are now reaching level of retard that make no sense for a show that did it so fucking well before. I don't mind the politics, but goddamn, the subtlety has completely gone. The 0.01% is all white supremacists and racists and slave owners and let me name-drop AOC since we're here. This is fucking Watchmen all over again.
The characters act in a way that makes no fucking sense. People say A-Train is the only one having a good arc and I think that is only true because everybody else makes no fucking sense. I don't even know where to start.
MM is fucking useless as a leader and there seem to be absolutely no plan.
Tek Knight, a slave-owner billionaire can't fuckin buy a decent security system
The sex-dungeon stuff was funny, won't lie, but went on for too long
Annie is useless and her own subplot makes no fucking sense. The "I was a meanie in the past" feels like a ridiculous retcon. The whole abortion plot is out of place and also stupid in the way it's handled. Her reaction to it is out of character.
Kimiko's subplot is useless.
Frenchie's subplot is so bad and badly executed it's indefensible
Butcher's reveal was interesting but it also feels like going nowhere
The Boys go from working for the government to a bunch of lone wolves based on convenience.
There's no meat to the story, all we get is characters acting out of character just so that the plot can happen. And the plot makes no fucking sense.
Also, I don't fucking get HOW Sister Sage is considered a good character. It feels like I'm living in a psy-op. She does not look or act in any way like a super-smart hero, and I'm saying that ignoring the casting choice for political points. Even the writing around her is meaningless. You could easily remove her and make Homelander take those decisions. The only reason her character makes sense is if she reveals herself to have another plan to destroy Homelander or Vought or whatever but she obviously can't succeed. So she'll either die, making everything pointless and bringing the show back to its status quo as we saw it countless times before, or she'll join the boys and have an Arya Stark moment, probably beating Game of Thrones in stupidity.
Ok, rant over, I'll keep watching, but even my girlfriend is wondering what the fuck is going on with the show, and she has no political opinion whatsoever.
Gen V is a much better show than this season so far.
The political jokes are now reaching level of retard that make no sense for a show that did it so fucking well before. I don't mind the politics, but goddamn, the subtlety has completely gone. The 0.01% is all white supremacists and racists and slave owners and let me name-drop AOC since we're here. This is fucking Watchmen all over again.
The characters act in a way that makes no fucking sense. People say A-Train is the only one having a good arc and I think that is only true because everybody else makes no fucking sense. I don't even know where to start.
MM is fucking useless as a leader and there seem to be absolutely no plan.
Tek Knight, a slave-owner billionaire can't fuckin buy a decent security system
The sex-dungeon stuff was funny, won't lie, but went on for too long
Annie is useless and her own subplot makes no fucking sense. The "I was a meanie in the past" feels like a ridiculous retcon. The whole abortion plot is out of place and also stupid in the way it's handled. Her reaction to it is out of character.
Kimiko's subplot is useless.
Frenchie's subplot is so bad and badly executed it's indefensible
Butcher's reveal was interesting but it also feels like going nowhere
The Boys go from working for the government to a bunch of lone wolves based on convenience.
There's no meat to the story, all we get is characters acting out of character just so that the plot can happen. And the plot makes no fucking sense.
Also, I don't fucking get HOW Sister Sage is considered a good character. It feels like I'm living in a psy-op. She does not look or act in any way like a super-smart hero, and I'm saying that ignoring the casting choice for political points. Even the writing around her is meaningless. You could easily remove her and make Homelander take those decisions. The only reason her character makes sense is if she reveals herself to have another plan to destroy Homelander or Vought or whatever but she obviously can't succeed. So she'll either die, making everything pointless and bringing the show back to its status quo as we saw it countless times before, or she'll join the boys and have an Arya Stark moment, probably beating Game of Thrones in stupidity.
Ok, rant over, I'll keep watching, but even my girlfriend is wondering what the fuck is going on with the show, and she has no political opinion whatsoever.
Gen V is a much better show than this season so far.
Sure, but only for the our or so until she heals. Thats the point, she had to literally make herself a moron (at least from her perspective, she may just be as smart as the rest of us for that period of time) in order to indulge her baser impulses like wanting to knock boots with a true idiot like The Deep.
My issue with her character is that if they didn't TELL US, over and over, how smart she is supposed to be, NO ONE could guess it by the way she acts. If everyone told us she could fly, but we never see it and she takes a car or plane to go everywhere, can she actually fly?
Putonahappyface
Gold Member
Pretty weak season so far compared to the previous seasons to be honest. It's almost like they've lost a lead writer or something.
IntentionalPun
Ask me about my wife's perfect butthole
The show just turned into political references instead of jokes. “Hey that guy is supposed to be like Mike Pence!” “Oh hey pizzagate!”
Homelander keeps me watching but “The Boys” themselves are all lame. They even made Butcher kind of boring.
Homelander keeps me watching but “The Boys” themselves are all lame. They even made Butcher kind of boring.
Denton
Member
you're joking right. If this season is one thing, it it painfully, obviously unsubtle, about anything
March Climber
Gold Member
I’m going to wait until all is revealed before jumping to this conclusion, as this would be like judging a calculating villain in another show or comic on their first few appearances.
The showrunners can easily screw up her arc but we have to actually see what happens first.
Little Mac
Member
Still watching but this is easily the worse season thus far. Hoping there is a big payoff in the final two episodes. Only one season left after that.
Also I, and I’m sure others here, saw the Jeffery Dean Morgan twist coming the second he was introduced.
Also I, and I’m sure others here, saw the Jeffery Dean Morgan twist coming the second he was introduced.
Geomancer86
Neo Member
Completely agree with the sex-dungeon scene being used as a filler, I see them thinking they are smart for "changing the formula" because I was truly expecting a fight scene there with Kimiko, as every episode has usually at least one.
On the positive notes, they had me rooting for A-Train, I hope he dies a hero.
On the positive notes, they had me rooting for A-Train, I hope he dies a hero.
She can heal but I am not sure that would include her memory. Think of it as a person who receives brain damage and gets amnesia. Their memories may return or not. Same thing goes for issues such as dementia or alzheimers only in the latter two, you may get memories that come and go, get jumbled up, or are lost forever.
LordOfChaos
Member
This was written an episode before Hughie's non-consensual sexual assault episode 
www.ign.com
Kind of feeling the same about this season as I did for the last one, maybe the last few. It's been a lot of meandering and filling time and almost going there but then walking back, even Homelander skinning a bunch of people an episode ago in a step towards going fully bad was walked back again when he was tearing up having found he wasn't enough for his takeover scheme. It feels like it's stretching it out, there were a few good laughs, and some stretching to find even more shock value than even last season. I can't really disagree with this either, while Hughie had a 3 second scene saying he wasn't ok the creators clearly thought all that sex torture was comedic, one would only have to imagine the reaction to a female character in that scenario to understand how differently society treats male victims.
www.forbes.com
I still like the show, but it's felt like it needs to get going somewhere for a while.
It's Time for The Boys To Stop Torturing Hughie Campbell - IGN
The Boys has a longstanding history of torturing Hughie Campbell in both the comics and the small screen. "Beware the Jabberwock, My Son" takes it to a new level, and that level is too far.
Kind of feeling the same about this season as I did for the last one, maybe the last few. It's been a lot of meandering and filling time and almost going there but then walking back, even Homelander skinning a bunch of people an episode ago in a step towards going fully bad was walked back again when he was tearing up having found he wasn't enough for his takeover scheme. It feels like it's stretching it out, there were a few good laughs, and some stretching to find even more shock value than even last season. I can't really disagree with this either, while Hughie had a 3 second scene saying he wasn't ok the creators clearly thought all that sex torture was comedic, one would only have to imagine the reaction to a female character in that scenario to understand how differently society treats male victims.
‘The Boys’ Crossed A Line, And It Wasn’t ‘Hilarious’ At All
'The Boys' doesn't even bother to grapple with male victims of sexual assault as showrunner Eric Kripke writes it off as 'hilarious'.
www.forbes.com
I still like the show, but it's felt like it needs to get going somewhere for a while.
Dr. Claus
Vincit qui se vincit
Spyxos
Member
analog_future
Resident Crybaby
Indeed. It’s awful, Family Guy esque “humor”. That whole Jewish Space Lasers “joke” wasn’t even a joke. It was literally just reiterating what MTG said in real life, with no further twist or punch line. It’s like… okay? Yeah, a real life idiot said that. Am I supposed to be laughing?
DragoonKain
Neighbours from Hell
This season is very obviously a bridge season to the final season. The final season is going to be about defeating Homelander once and for all so they kind of had to figure out what they were going to do this season and it seems like they're focusing on the political races and Homelander's relationship with his son. It became obvious when they introduced Hughie's dad, which was totally pointless since it only lasted a couple episodes, so when you ask yourself why they'd do that you realize "Oh ok, they're just trying to kill time with stuff this final season since they really have nothing else to put it in so they'll fill it with Hughie's dad and Frenchie's guilt and whatnot." Then something big will happen in the finale that will lead right into the final season and that's when they'll finally take off the kid gloves and make it about the final showdown with Homelander. Which I'm guessing will be concocting a plan to infect him with this virus.
bitbydeath
Gold Member
Every Supe having healing powers is wearing a bit thin. I get Sage can lobotomies herself but coming back from actually dying is a stretch too far for her character.
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wondermega
Member
I'm enjoying the show but I'll parrot what others are saying, which is that this is devolving into filler this season. There's enough to keep me tuning in, but if they are gonna do a half-baked season, I'd rather wait longer for a better show than have more eps/seasons where the creative staff is twiddling their thumbs and trying to eke it out. Doesn't give me much hope for things like Cobra Kai either (premiering soon, will basically have the last season be split into 2 parts).
It's hard to single anyone out for being at fault with this stuff, clearly this is the way these shows are run.. spend the early seasons building up and winning the audience over, then spend the later seasons chilling out and throwing the rabid audience the occasional bone to keep them tuning in with quantity VS quality.
Anyway I'll further echo what everyone else says, at this point the true joy of this show is watching Homelander, a character I never expected to give much of a shit about in general when he first showed up way back in the beginning. At this point, the character has basically unseated ACTUAL Superman in popularity in real life, and so much of that is between the concept & wonderful execution on the part of the writers and the actor. I wouldn't lie if it wouldn't be kind of a guilty pleasure to see him just completely come unglued in the final season and absolutely roast the entire planet leaving nothing but smoldering ash. Never happen but it would be an incredibly AWESOME way to end this fucking show.
It's hard to single anyone out for being at fault with this stuff, clearly this is the way these shows are run.. spend the early seasons building up and winning the audience over, then spend the later seasons chilling out and throwing the rabid audience the occasional bone to keep them tuning in with quantity VS quality.
Anyway I'll further echo what everyone else says, at this point the true joy of this show is watching Homelander, a character I never expected to give much of a shit about in general when he first showed up way back in the beginning. At this point, the character has basically unseated ACTUAL Superman in popularity in real life, and so much of that is between the concept & wonderful execution on the part of the writers and the actor. I wouldn't lie if it wouldn't be kind of a guilty pleasure to see him just completely come unglued in the final season and absolutely roast the entire planet leaving nothing but smoldering ash. Never happen but it would be an incredibly AWESOME way to end this fucking show.
BadBurger
Many “Whelps”! Handle It!
Tek Knight is a really goofy Ennis like take on Batman, and all of the political stuff surrounding him are being repeated from the 2000's. These are literally like twenty year old jokes. So if they're not landing for ya, whatever, but realize that none of this is new. You're only just now getting the point.
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BouncyFrag
Member
That poor chocolate cake.
FingerBang
Member
Yes, that is possible, but so far, the impression is that she's doing very little to justify her existence, and making it suddenly different in the last episode, in which she reveals herself to be a mastermind all along, doesn't suddenly improve the writing of the previous episodes.
Who knows? Hopefully, I'm wrong. I also dislike Firecracker, the way she suddenly joined the 7, barely having any power. Actually, it's so stupid both of them joined the 7 like it was nothing, whereas, in the previous seasons, it was a big deal to be part of them, with a long selection and so many contractual obligations on top of the actual superhero work.
Guileless
Temp Banned for Remedial Purposes
The producers ruined the show to signal their disapproval at a handful of too online erstwhile punk types who delighted in unironically celebrating Homelander.
March Climber
Gold Member
I understand what you mean but like it was stated previously in the thread, Sage has no ability to 100% predict a random element. She was probably in that room in a moment of curiosity because she probably wanted to know where Tek’s lair was, not because she predicted exactly where The Boys would show up or even if they would show in the first place.
Firecracker only joined because of Sage’s recommendation to Homelander. Up until the end of this episode Homelander stated multiple times he didn’t care about Firecracker nor was he even remotely interested in her. He looked at her like a useful tool to push heroes being involved more in political affairs.
The hero stuff was always rocky but eventually changed once Stan Edgar left. Too many supers going rogue or doing worse, as evidenced in ‘The Boys: Diabolical’ and Soldier Boy’s flashbacks. The core was always rotted so it’s not like this came out of nowhere.
See, that's not the case AT ALL. He isn't an idiot (like The Deep), he is just emotionally stunted and a sociopath. They have written him worse and worse each season, but recall in s1 when he knew he couldn't save the crashing plane, could calculate the risks, and decided to save NO ONE just so he could say he was never there in the first place.
That's a level of analysis and cunning that is well above idiot level. Homelander is supposed to represent a human that is so removed from consequences that normal feelings don't intrude. He's also been horribly abused and neglected as a kid.
FeralEcho
Member
I'm sorry but no,poor writting can not be defended just like that.
You can't have it both ways...
You can't both have updated political comentary of the year 2024 but when something is badly written just scoff it as "lol it's just jokes from when the comic was written, it's just you don't understand it cuz you're not in the 2000 anymore"
It doesn't work like that.If it was a timeframe issue they would've made the jokes contemporary just like the politics.
The show has just had terrible writting this season...Characters acting out of character,plotlines going nowhere,just circle jerk after circle jerk...
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ProtoByte
Gold Member
This type of thing has been a comedic trope in a lot of fiction. Especially male comedic relief characters/characters whom the writers use to make the audience laugh at instead of with. And Hughie has been made a joke out of throughout the entire show's run.‘The Boys’ Crossed A Line, And It Wasn’t ‘Hilarious’ At All
'The Boys' doesn't even bother to grapple with male victims of sexual assault as showrunner Eric Kripke writes it off as 'hilarious'.
I'm not saying this in defense of the show; I'm actually enjoying watching people shit on this season - but it's treated many awful things with a comedic spin before. Kripke's problem is that he's framed the series as some kind of philosophical treatise and cautionary tale for the real world, and emboldened an element of the audience that thinks fiction should be "on the right side of history" and be sensitive to everyone's triggers all the time and all that.
Season 1 was good for what it was, but I always saw it getting to this point. Not just with the politics (which ill-suit the show being set in the modern day since a lot of the social context around the source material is rooted in an Irish man's perspective on American culture in the 90s), but with actual story and characters progression. This is where the "deconstructionist"/parody/contrarian take leads to.
Game of Thrones and (kinda) Walking Dead also had the same long term issue. If all you're doing is flipping and parodying tropes in genre and/or things in real life, you won't build much that stands on its own that can last more than a few seasons at best.
brock sexy lesnar
Neo Member
Hughie's mom is cuter than starlight.
IDKFA
I am Become Bilbo Baggins
This was written an episode before Hughie's non-consensual sexual assault episode
It's Time for The Boys To Stop Torturing Hughie Campbell - IGN
The Boys has a longstanding history of torturing Hughie Campbell in both the comics and the small screen. "Beware the Jabberwock, My Son" takes it to a new level, and that level is too far.
Kind of feeling the same about this season as I did for the last one, maybe the last few. It's been a lot of meandering and filling time and almost going there but then walking back, even Homelander skinning a bunch of people an episode ago in a step towards going fully bad was walked back again when he was tearing up having found he wasn't enough for his takeover scheme. It feels like it's stretching it out, there were a few good laughs, and some stretching to find even more shock value than even last season. I can't really disagree with this either, while Hughie had a 3 second scene saying he wasn't ok the creators clearly thought all that sex torture was comedic, one would only have to imagine the reaction to a female character in that scenario to understand how differently society treats male victims.
‘The Boys’ Crossed A Line, And It Wasn’t ‘Hilarious’ At All
'The Boys' doesn't even bother to grapple with male victims of sexual assault as showrunner Eric Kripke writes it off as 'hilarious'.
I still like the show, but it's felt like it needs to get going somewhere for a while.
Well, that’s a dark way to look at it! We view it as hilarious. Obviously, Tek Knight is our version of Batman, and we wanted to really play around with that trope: Batman’s fascist underpinnings as a really wealthy dude who hunts poor people, and then profits of the incarceration.
Batman is a fascist? Not heard that one before.
Ulysses 31
Gold Member
And he hunts poor people?