The Boys is a superhero series that is an Amazon Prime Original. The first season is comprised of eight episodes, each roughly an hour long. The show takes place in a world where superpowers are somewhat common. This has caused a whole industry where yes, superheroes save the world, but there is also a multimedia empire behind them. They have merchandising, movies, games and everything else that spotlights them. The odd thing is that there is a clear monopoly, where the one single company pretty much controls everything superhero related.
The twist in The Boys is how the superheroes have a brand image to uphold. In public, they are the caring, heroic and generous people that uphold justice. However, we see the darker side behind them. When they’re not in front of cameras, they are spoiled, arrogant, sleezy and are some of the worst human filth that you can think of. Of course, there are exceptions but the show paints a depressive and negative view of them. The first episode has very good pacing, and there are plenty of moments where it subverts your expectations to shock you. It likes to lull you into a false sense of security, making you comfortable by showing off the good things about superheroes before it dashes that image. There are some gory events with plenty of violence. There are some scenes that may be more than a bit uncomfortable, especially some of the deaths. Barring that, it kicks off into some very thought provoking exploration about how a society like this works.
The show primarily follows Hughie, an average normal guy. He works as a sales assistant, has a steady relationship with a girlfriend and while his life isn’t amazing, it’s solid. It all upends one day and that’s how it kickstarts his mistrust and anger towards superheroes. He witnesses and experiences the “collateral damage” being swept under the rug, and outright lying in order to keep up the positivity of the superheroes.
While Hughie is normally a good and average guy, he gets caught up with Butcher, someone who is out to get the superheroes to be responsible for their actions. Butcher is somewhat unhinged, and is a proven murderer. The show is good in that it slowly changes Hughie, and just when you think he couldn’t pull through to do what he must, he will subvert your expectations and will.
The other focus is on a superhero, Starlight. She is one of the actually good superheroes, believing in justice and righteousness. Thus she gets a shock when she makes it into the big league and sees how the ones who supposedly stand at the top, actually acts. The show depicts Starlight’s struggle, as one of “them”. She cannot cope with the lies and deceit, and has her own identity crisis. It dives into some politics, and how having a private corporation, Vought, in control of the superheroes, is not a good thing. They seek to continually expand their influence, and they do not keep their hands clean. There are some truly horrible scenes. Horrible in the sense of what these so called “superheroes” are doing, turning their backs, making situations worse. They can nonchalantly screw things up and then have it all covered up so that they can keep their clean image.
Another common theme is that it explores the impacts of living with superheroes. These may just been fleeting comments here and there, but it adds another layer of how a world with superheroes who have amazing powers, would work when they interact with normal people. The pacing is very good, and it keeps up the suspense in every episode but it does slow down a just a notch during the middle. It’s only a temporary hiccup since it never gets boring where you’re wondering when the good bits are going to happen though.
As the season marches towards the end, there’s a significant revelation about the superheroes on top of what was already being uncovered by the characters. It is like a chain of conspiracies that manages to pile on top of each other, each bigger and more intoxicating than the last. With no end in sight by the time the season finale comes around, you don’t know whether it would be able to satisfy, or most likely disappoint. This gets even more pronounced in the last 15 mins or so, where Butcher and Hughie encounter such a huge problem that surely the remaining time is not enough. Yet again, the show manages to surpass those expectations and it leads to a mindblowing finale that is a really good ending to the biggest objective of the season.
Overall, The Boys is an excellent show. It is one of those rare shows that does not waste any second or minute of each episode. It manages to keep up its pacing throughout the whole season, with compelling motivations for each character and developments that twist each time it is fleshed out.
-----------------------------------------------
For other TV reviews, have a look at this page.