The Boys Season 5 Episodes 1 and 2: What was I so Afraid of?

The Boys Season 5 has been anticipated for so long, that when A-Train showed up in Gen V as a part of the resistance, I audibly gasped.

Now, I do not want to give anyone the wrong Idea, ever since the Boys has become a popular show, it has gone through, what I like to call, the popular uglification process.

Basically, on the whole it seems that the internet has come to this unanimous conclusion that any amount of creative liberty given to a creative will always lead to an overall better product for everyone involved.

And when you hear every single thing that had happened with movies like Blade Runner, Justice League(Whedon cut) and Fant4stic and then you see the Final cut of Blade Runner and Zack Snyder's Justice League, you begin to see why the internet would think that.

But the thing is, on the counterpoint of D.C., Marvel is a studio that does quite a lot more studio interference, and for at least ten years it worked perfectly, then Covid happened, and in defense of post covid Marvel, they did course correct, and Daredevil Born again is certainly a good example of that.

Especially when you realize, them firing the old team and bringing on the new one is the biggest example of studio interference ever.

And it paid off.

All this to emphasize that there are instances when studio interference is the way to go, and I say that not to be a contrarian but because the assumption baked into the conclusion most internet people come to naturally is that because the creative knows the field, they will know implicitly when and where to limit themselves and what Ideas to go through with and what to discard.

Because creative types can be eccentric, I should know, I am one.

And while usually it is highly unlikely that any studio would care or have the awareness enough to place the right restrictions, the thing is sometimes they do just by chance, and as they are removed, very few creators(*cough* Robert Kirkman) can keep themselves in check.

Many creators let their intrusive thoughts win and then as a result we get.

1.This is superman but he eats babies.(yes Homelander ate babies in the comics)

2. Captain America but he's a f*cking coward who got his entire team killed... also he wet his pants.(man this person reminds me of Jenson Ackles so much).

3.We have Iron man, but he is a pervert.(that better not be foreshadowing.)

you go king!

4. These are the X-men but professor X is that uncle your mom warns you about.

Goddammit Garth Ennis, I get that you are bitter but seriously dude.

As you can see the whole thing is the most Juvenile immature attempt to throw shade at superheroes, except actual Juvenile immature people can't read it thanks to all the blood and guts.

And this was the part of the Boys that I was the most apprehensive of them getting into because all things considered the original Boys comic was essentially just a hit piece on fictional people.

And as the show became less and less subtle with its metaphors and real world parallels, a different fear started to grow.

Was this now a thinly veiled hit piece on real people?

Oh god its happening isn't it.

I mean okay we knew Homelander is a metaphor for Trump, but then... isn't kingpin also? In Daredevil?

Point is the Boys seems like the writers writing out their revenge fantasy and Daredevil feels like its showing the very real dangers of someone like that being in power.

And while I get that the point is that behind it all he is an immature child, but do you have to emphasize it that much?

Cause it takes away from the story.

But then again, for what it is, I can appreciate is, Trump in real life is already such an idiot that this doesn't even feel like that much of a parody.

Remember that time he threatened Norway because they hurt his feelings by not giving him a Nobel prize or something?

Yeah well, it is what it is, also the Deep is running an alpha male podcast where he argues wanting to cuddle or having sex with women or kissing them is all beta male shit bro to Black Noir who still has to pretend to be mute when his voice is perfectly fine in reality.

All that aside, I do also have another thing to say, and that is that this universe sort of has a tendency to return things to their status quo, like for example Gen V season one ended with the main team locked in a place with no doors, and while it would have been very interesting to see how they would escape from there, the next season just puts them outside the prison anyways...

And like... they are college students again...

And I mean sure that played into the plot well and I think over all its a positive with the way the show handles these things, but... at the same time... it is very clear what they are doing right?

People want this group goin against this group, so we will give them that.

Its cool I guess.

Overall though I am happy that they addressed the Godolkin virus early because it is too strong of a chip on the good guy's side innit?

And on top of that it just shows, exactly how powerful Homelander is, all things considered.

That something like the Flight 37 video could be revealed to the entire public and they can just handwave them away.

And man, that was a moment.

And this is reflective of things like the Epstein Files being released and then everyone on them is just hunky dory.

The plan itself is genius yet confusing when Starlight decides to disguise herself as one of the Firecrackers beside Homelander.

Speaking of her, her heart is giving in the medications that allowed her to produce Milk for Homelander have taken their toll and Homelander just brushes away his greatest supporter.

It will be shit like this that leads to his downfall no cap.

The more major part of Episode one is when Homelander decides to leak it out there that Hughie, Frenchie and Marvin are going to be executed.

An obvious ploy to lure Starlight and team out.

And like I said the show wants to keep the Status Quo, and so Butcher, Starlight and Kimiko are brought together in order to save the Boys.

But in order to give the show the credit it deserves, it is very clear that it plays this to its strength.

Because just like in the real world, there are very few who have both the mental fortitude and the power to stand up against the overarching big brother government, which speaking of, there is a reference to big brother in these two episodes itself.

But the point is, because there are so few of them anyways, and they can't go up against this huge enemy all on their own, what choice do they have but to stick together?

Also Kimiko can speak now like shown in the last episode of season 4, but chooses not to speak to Butcher.

I am not sure how I feel about this, on the one hand since she has been mute for quite a long time, in fact the entirety of the previous four seasons and we are used to seeing her that way, and while seeing her finally break her psychological mutism and scream no for Frenchie being taken away was really a satisfying pay off.

But the thing is, we have been used to her as a mute, and while I am all for seeing her slowly become comfortable to speak, there has been a lot of time off screen, but on the whole it would be strange if there was no development, but at the same time, it is frustrating that this important part of it happened entirely off screen.

At the same time, one year may be long time it is still not long enough for her to be absolutely like everyone else in society, and her main source of learning was Tik Tok, so it is meant to feel off when she speaks.

But the point is that it feels off, and one can't put their finger on whether its because they are used to her being mute or because what she is speaking is from Tik Tok.

Or a bit of both.

Hmm...

This reminds me of someone.

Wait a minute, what is he doing here? There was no Tik Tok in the eighties!!!

But speaking of Dicks, Butcher has been battling his cancer for over a year and a half at this point, although battling may not be the correct word, because currently he is using the full potential of the Cancer to go and kill his father, just like he used it to kill Victoria by the end of the previous season.

Sure the dad is already fighting Ass cancer and it probably hurts to sit on the pot, and as such he hasn't got long to go anyways, but it seems Butcher stayed his hand only because of his mother, and now that she is gone, there is no reason for him to stop.

His father beat the shit out of him, and that has made him into the person he is today, and he wants to pay his dad back for that, and in his current state there is only one thing he cares about.

Butcher uses a digging supe to build a tunnel under the internment oh sorry Freedom Camp that Hughie and the boys are kept at and there Homelander is finally able to see ho the Cancer has evolved.

And makes an interesting point.

Oh no no no, not that one.

I SAID NO!

STOP IT HOMIE!!!

But okay, everything Butcher did to himself, shoot himself up with Temp V, even when he knew that would give him cancer.

Revive Soldier boy, attack him and Ryan.

And then further take V in order to survive is basically just because he wants to fight Homelander.

All of this is for him.

And it seems once again like in season 3, Butcher is the only one who understands Homelander.

Hmm, this also reminds me of someone.

Oh no wait, that's a spoiler for the Manga, oops.

Starlight has been doing a lot since her escape post Hughies capture at the end of season 4.

Looking up Project Odessa, saving Marie Moureau. attacking the Dog fucker, running the fucking resistance with A-Train, but one thing she hasn't been doing is saving Hughie from the bloody freedom camp.

Because Hughie will tell her that she doesn't deserve to die, she wants Campbell to stay in the camp in a long form of avoidance.

And while this has been going on, Hughie has been trying his best to keep the spirits up for everyone including Ivy, who if you remember worked at the Federal Bureau of Superhuman Affairs or the FBSA alongside Hughie under Vicky.

Too sad she dies.

I guess it was a less brutal death because Homelander got her and not Cindy, who if you remember is the Eleven Parody from Season 2 who was falsely thought of as the head popper before we knew who Victoria was, and then escaped the Sage Grove center.

Unlike Jane however this Eleven is on the side of Homelander and explodes an earlier camper who tried to escape in a probable Hail Mary/Suicide attempt.

She doesn't miss them however, she is just grabbed by Butcher's(as Starlight calls it) Bag of Murder dicks that is his super cancer.

But speaking of Dicks, the running joke from season 2, 3 and 4 is back again, as we see Love Sausage beating the shit out of some inhabitants of the internment camp with his massive cock.

Man, I guess the women must love him huh?

Mother's Milk is also unfortunately always caught in that joke, and this time he decides enough is enough and chokes the dick with his dick.

Yes, that is an actual sentence I just wrote.

And of course since this is the Boys and there is an exposed dick, it has to get stabbed right in the Glans.

So thanks for that show.

But that is not all that happens this time around.

Starlight Butcher and Kimiko are not enough to save Hughie from Homelander, specially because he has a fixed target on the back of Starlight's boyfriend.

A-Train or Regie was heavily implied to play a huge role in Season 5 with the ending of Gen V season 2 and with all the promotional material, and he did, technically.

We see how him and his entire family is on the run due to him taking a stand against Homelander.

And even as the Deep catches up to him, we see a different side to both of them, the side that is not bogged down by endless PR and marketing, the side that cares more about the setting an example for those who look up to them than their own self image.

Reggie has a family to look after, and he doesn't want to put them at risk and that is why he declines to help initially.

But it seems that because of them he chooses otherwise...

and he saves Hughie...

But at what cost?

And not just that, my man comes full circle, we see as he rushes through the streets away from Homelander, there is a woman who is actually on the middle of the streets, just minding her own business, and he side steps her.

From hitting Robin while she was half a step off the curb, to now saving her boyfriend and making sure he hits no one, and as we see the environment around him slow down, we realize that back then he really was high off his mind, because otherwise he could have easily avoided Robin.

But he didn't and now he has reached the place where he must face Homelander's wrath.

And it is in this moment he sees Homie for who he is, a scared manchild who is nothing without his powers.

And I gotta say as A-Train gets martyred he dropped one of the coldest fucking speeches on Homelander.

And I just love how much of a departure this is from the comics.

Because in the comics he showed no remorse for killing Robin, nor was he high, possibly did it on purpose being the spoiled brat he was, and then he forced himself on Starlight alongside Homelander and Black Noir.

Um yeah, did I mention that the boys comics were fucking weird?

What about the Deep you ask?

Well Comic the Deep is a lot less interesting, his defining feature is that he stands around looking like he is dealing with some serious constipation or trying to be extra emo and doesn't say much.

Oh and also he wears a fucking Diving helmet on his head because of course he does, how else will you know he is lord of the seven fucking seas???

Also thank go the butt frame is gone now, I would have a seriously hard time explaining that shit to the people behind me in the Library.

Yes I write in a library, moving on.

Speaking of Improvements from the comics, may I mention that a form of the Godolkien Virus is present in the Comics except it is a very specific frequency that can make the V in everyone's blood explode.

Also the Military has Anti-Supe Missles for some reason.

By the end butcher had primed a machine to cause a mass genocide of every supe on the planet, including the boys, because in the comics, all of them are super abled.

But right now, this is a dilemma, but before that, all the couples on the side of the boys are together, so we must sex.

And I mean Starlight has definitely come a long way since the end of season 4, she vapes, she clearly wants to die and while at the end of the last season she was offended that Hughie wanted a version of her that was always down for sex, now she has become that version.

I believe this is yet another way of avoidance for her, because she became a symbol of the resistance and hence in her mind she lead everyone to their deaths or imprisonment in the internment camps...

She wants to die, and doesn't want to hear Hughie praise her again.

And right beside this scene Kimiko makes me question yet again if I like her better with or without a voice.

Oh my god, this is going to be a hard blog post to write isn't it?

Whatever, the Virus is ready because of course Butcher lied to Sameer about who killed Vicky and of course he thinks its Homelander.

And so now all they need is a test run.

And who better to do it on than someone who calls himself Rock Hard....

And yes it is what you think it is.

The Boys must Drill through Solidified rock Cum in order to get to his skin and give him the fucking Virus, or they can make sure he breathes it in.

But knowing this, and after a sham of a condolence gathering held for A-Train at the Behest of Ashley's new husband Oh-Father who has replaced Ezekiel at the head of Believe expo, Homelandr has another one of his Manchild breakdowns and realizes he needs someone on his level.

And who other than Soldier Boy to take that role?

Damn, Dean Winchester really let himself go huh?

Come on, everyone's gonna be making Supernatural Jokes, even those who never saw the show, like me.

Homie does this because he wants Daddy and lies to Sage that it is because it is better if he take the fall of the virus than anyone else.

But you know what, their interactions are... kinda wholesome???

Is that Strange?

But sister sage is clearly at her wits end trying to keep this whole operation together, especially after Godolkien was killed by Marie.

And like Homie asks her if her 'break up' with the former head of God U is affecting her judgement, she points it out to him back that Soldier Boy might die, and if that happens, will Homie Spiral?

Apparently yes.

It doesn't happen though.

But all that aside, poor Ashley man, she took V at the end of the last season in order to finally escape Homelander's reign of Terror and here she is back again in his grasp, in a marriage she can probably do without and with a mind reader's power and an inner voice that just won't stop because it is quite literally on the back of her head.

But one thing that I think will definitely come back later in the season, is Mother's Milk letting the Countess of Crows go instead of trapping her in with the Supe killer Virus.

And knowing the trailers, it would seem that V1 not only grants someone immortality and immunity to aging, but also Immunity from the Virus.

And that is why Soldier boy Survives a direct attack when Rock Hard and Jet(Fix yout tits Sheeline)Streak don't.