The Boys Season 3: Still Gritty and Witty, But Even Darker Than Before
Source: Amazon Studios
The Boys are back with an all-new season! Taking place a year after Season Two, Season Three picks up with more of the show’s signature, caricatured gore and in your face, allegorical storytelling, with a brand new adventure and a whole new mess of problems.
A New Start?
After last season’s revelation of Stormfront’s (Aya Cash) association with Nazism, Vought Corporation scrambles to change the face of its business to the public. Strongly condemning Stormfront’s actions, Stan Edgar (Giancarlo Esposito) takes control of everyone and everything. In order to save face, Edgar uses Starlight’s (Erin Moriarity) high approval rating and makes her co-captain of the Supes.
Homelander (Antony Starr) is forced to put his tail between his legs and make amends with the public for loving Stormfront and suck up to Edgar in order to keep his status with Vought. Hughie (Jack Quaid) is working for the newly set up government task force set to oversee the actions of the Supes, which is ironically lead by the head popping Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit).
Meanwhile, Frenchie (Tomer Capone), Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) and Mother’s Milk (Laz Alonso) mull over their place within the boys as Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) becomes ever more obsessed with taking out Homelander, treating the group more like minions than a team.
Source: Amazon Studios
When Art Mirrors Life
Butcher gets some pivotal information regarding an older supe called Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles) who was apparently killed in the 1980’s by a weapon created by the Russians. He was a fierce and uber patriotic (bigoted) presence in World War Two through the war in Nicaragua.
Soldier Boy supposedly had all of the strength of Homelander, so Butcher sets his sights on getting that weapon as a means to possibly end Homelander. We then learn that Mother’s Milk has been obsessed with Soldier Boy historically because Soldier Boy was responsible for killing members of his family.
Mother’s Milk has spent the last year trying to reconnect with his daughter that he lost touch with while part of the Boys and is attempting to find some semblance of normalcy in his life. Given this new information though, will normalcy be possible?
In the meantime, Homelander exposes his true, malignant narcissist nature in a press conference and finds that it actually appeals to a larger, mostly white male population, and his numbers improve. With this power behind him, he can now take back the power he has lost and press forward with his pernicious agenda. Clearly pulling on the real-life story of Trump and his MAGAs, Homelander inundates the press with lies and “fake news”, vilifying Vought and the media for everyone’s problems and sets himself up as the only hero who can save everyone.
Source: Amazon Studios
In All Honesty…
The Boys Season Three is PACKED. There are way too many subplots involved to detail in one review and I won’t spoil all that does happen, but if you were a fan of the other two seasons it’s definitely worth a watch.
I personally didn’t think it was AS good as the first two seasons, and that may be because of all they do try to pack in. However, there is MUCH to enjoy and something for every fan. I liked that they expanded on each of the Boys characters and that we finally get to see some of each of their back stories. It adds more dimension to each character and definitely answers a lot of unanswered questions, but you really have to pay attention to everything happening in order to understand the whole season.
The relationship between Frenchie and Kimiko is my favorite subplot. There is so much development with, not only the characters separately, but also with their relationship together. It gets a little cheesy with the addition of the musical piece, but love all of the rest. There are also a couple of other subplots that aren’t so interesting. The Deep (Chace Crawford) returns in a pathetic attempt to be part of the Seven again, but it turns out to be more exposing of his disgusting character and proving just how truly lost he is.
Hughie and Starlight’s subplot also fizzles to pitiful in a slant that I thought really wasn’t necessary to explore. Hughie’s character shouldn’t have had the struggle in his relationship with Starlight that he does. It seems pathetic and uncharacteristic. He’s too wonderful a character to succumb to what the writers made him.
Also disappointing is the subplot with Ryan (Cameron Crovetti), Homelander’s son. It makes no sense given what has happened between them in past seasons. Again, I wish the writers/show runners would’ve made it something different.
But even with its flaws, this season still packs a lot of punches and sets us up for the impending war that we all know is coming.
Source: Amazon Studios
The Boys Season Three gives us yet another crucial representation of current American society and its struggle to become whole amidst all of the blatant untruths and bigotry that has permeated it since its origin. It forces us to look at what we have become and what we will be if we allow hatred, reckless revenge, greed and intolerance to continue to be the reigning power here. Homelander and his followers mirror the horrifying racism and white power ideals that hide behind the guise of “patriotism” in America.
Very real issues are smacked in our faces at levels some might find uncomfortable, but humans never grow and advance without pain and discomfort. Hopefully more will see themselves and others represented by these characters and wake up to the sad truth that is steeped in America’s rotten culture.
How could it not be rotten when only a handful of people control the majority of the power, and when those people would rather fuel their unrelenting gluttonous self-centered needs than be of service to the greater good. And yet a vast amount of people worship them, while abusing themselves daily, contributing to the never-ending cycle of poverty for the majority, created by the wealthy, all in an attempt to live the unattainable lie that is the “American Dream”.
The Boys shows us that our own lack of awareness will be our downfall and the folly of putting our faith and admiration into narcissistic billionaires, greedy corporations and empty, hollow, undeserving celebrity. Ultimately, we are the heroes we need to save us.
The White, Straight, Cis-male, Ableist, Colonialist Narrative must be razed to ashes and never allowed to return. It is old; it is racist; it is sexist; it is appalling, and it no longer has a place on this beautifully diverse planet. It never did. It was seized with brute force, rendering horrifying consequences, and we must not hesitate to wrench it out of our society by its gnarled, poisonous roots once and for all.
Let us rebuild our societies on the basis of love, true equality and equity. Let’s build a society where no one is excluded. Let’s make sure stories like The Boys, as fun as they may be to watch, are a reflection of our past and not our future.