BY NIKLAS MÜLLER
(PHOTO CREDIT: PRIME VIDEO)
GRADE: B+
After a hiatus of almost 2 years, Amazon Prime Video's mega hit, The Boys returns in all its glory, although it is bloodier, gorier and more realistic than ever before. Some of the stuff might even be too real and not otherworldly enough for some people, but then again those people have to be reminded that this show always has been more realistic than other superhero projects (obviously as realistic as you can be with superheroes). If superheroes would in fact be real it is actually very likely that only a small number of them would use their abilities for the good. The other (bigger) number would be as corrupt, violent and narcissistic as possible, as seen in The Boys. This show perfectly captures the realism of the "What if superheroes were real" questions in the most absurd, hilarious and WTF moments imaginable. And it does so with great artistry.
Season 3 doesn't exactly begin were we left off in October 2020, but there actually is a 1 year time jump. Hugie (Jack Quaid) works in an office and his boss is actually the supe-terrorist from season 2. Mothers Milk (Laz Alonso) finally got his family life. Starlight (Erin Moriarty) is the biggest supe (or probably star) of the planet. The rest of the Boys, led by Butcher (a great Karl Urban), continue to hunt supes, though they try to do it through bureaucracy (at first anyways). And Homelander (the terrific and in this role utterly terrifying, Antony Starr) is about to go absolutely insane.
The first episode opens with the most disturbing moment of the series so far (all I'm gonna say is, Bless You). Which probably confirms what Eric Kripke (show-runner) said about this season, that the first and second were only preparation for the third. "Payback" also shows us the most realistic prosthetics of the show (THAT scene looks super gross). One of the things that this show does so well is mixing the dramatic elements with a lot of dark humor. This particular mixture works just as brilliantly as always, immediately delivering us some memorable one-liners: "He's trying to get into my ass", is just one of many and probably sounds really weird without any given context.
I'm sure some people will be annoyed by its very realistic portrait of current (as well as past) american politics. For instance there are some references towards police brutally (in this case its supe brutality) or the Black Lives Matter movement in the first three episodes. But it's exactly these kinds of up to dateness that make this show really stand out from our crowded TV landscape. Current problems are mostly being referenced or satirically reflected. And speaking of the satirical elements, the satire is also better than ever, one of the highlights so far is The Boy's very own Captain America, presenting himself in the form of Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles, working together with Eric Kripke once again after Supernatural).
The superheroes are generally really well developed (even the littlest of them, no pun intended) and thought through. The costumes are really one of the best elements of the entire show, and even the everyday clothes can somehow hold up. Really everything about this show is extraordinary, ranging from Antony Starr's terrifying performance as Homelander (still no weakness to be found), who's even sometimes menacingly charming, the incredibly gory prosthetics (there are at least some organs or body parts flying around in every episode), all the way to the intense, yet funny, yet thought provoking writing.
Amazon really has to be given props to for releasing the episodes weekly (after the first three) instead of all at once. Sure it'd be awesome to binge all eight episodes in one sitting, but where's the fun in doing so. The excitement one feels for each new episode is the real highlight. And The Boys honestly is the best marketed show out there right now.
While I'd love to write more about the first three episodes, I don't really wanna go into spoilers just yet and even I still have to process those first three hours. Starting with episode 4 next week I'm gonna do a weekly review/recap of the series. I think we can all be pretty excited for the 5 episodes that are still to come (Herogasm is probably gonna give us all some PTSD).
DEVELOPED BY: Eric Kripke
CAST: Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Antony Starr, Erin Moriarty, Dominique McElligott, Jessie T. Usher, Laz Alonso, Chace Crawford, Tomer Capone, Karen Fukuhara, Nathan Mitchell, Colby Minifie, Claudia Doumit, Jensen Ackles
RELEASE: June 2021
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