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I could have sworn both Mike and Taylor have spoken about this ad nauseum, along with a few others. Because of that, I might as well give it a go. Amazon Prime’s The Boys, is last year’s smash hit super-anti-hero series with themes darker than the joke I could put here, that my editor would swiftly remove. I put off watching it for long enough. I hate my lack of attention for TV, I hate superhero media, and I hate the dark themes TV tries to pull off; just about everything The Boys happens to be. An American drama/thriller about superheroes with an American sense of dark comedy. The only thing worse for me to go into would be Harry Potter.

Now, on the other side of the first season, I can see why so many were excited about it. That is not to say it is all the flavors of wonderful that is has been praised with. It is, as I’ve thought for the last few days, American TV learning to come to grips with the shades of grey. No, not the ones your mum reads about with bitter resentment for your dad. I mean the shades between morality we so often see. Good Vs. Evil, Red Vs. Blue, Black Vs. White, and more, the moral quandary of what is right and how to achieve “justice” for being wronged.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06rueu_fh30

I have no shame in spoiling this, as it is in the trailer. The season revolves around Hughie Campbell. Hughie (played by Jack Quaid) is the run of the mill 20-something with Simon Pegg as his dad and Jess Salgueiro playing his girlfriend, Robin. Soon enough, one of the superheroes runs through Robin, and I do mean through her. To say that she becomes red-mist would be an understatement; When A-Train, the fastest man on the planet, runs through you, there is a good chance you’ll end up Bordeaux wine. The show pulls no punches, sometimes to its detriment.

Though Hughie is the main protagonist, as it were, the anti-hero themes kick in with the full ensemble joining the chorus of grey questions being posed. Brilliantly done, it still holds an understanding of someone to cheer on and someone to boo and resent. So often, with the subject matter or general approaches by American TV and film, there is still the question of “why should I like/dislike this character or group over the others.” Sometimes it is a little more saccharine than that, as often seen with Aaron Sorkin, Ronald D Moore, whoever was the executive producer (showrunner) on Arrow and its ilk for the last several years, and so on. The Boys more or less succeeds in its aims.

However, it is hard to get away from its more cartoonish elements. Most notably, there was a moment towards the end of the first season with a lot of blood, almost True Blood levels of comedically overused gore, liquid viscera, and bits of Robin. Though it does try to humanize a rather unpleasant and over-the-top moment of grit, the unfettered and unadulterated emotional horror and visual gore of it all is undercut by its lack of pinning down a tone at that moment. It attempts to keep spinning a plate for each of its themes all at once.

The second you have two kiwis, one playing an American superhero and the other a Spice Girls fan, as two of your leads, there are going to be a few strong words used. Collectively unfiltered and nonchalantly taking every moment to use every swear word beginning with F, S, T, and even quite a few Cs, it wears the streaming-TV badge with honor. Much like its gory, sexual, and dark themed relatives in the show, it goes hell for leather when swearing. It sometimes feels like an attempt at shock value for how generously every one of them arrives.

As genuine as those beliefs are of the overuse of gore, language, and themes sometimes including sexual harassment as little more than a mechanism of adult-themed shock-horror porn, The Boys isn’t awful. One of its greatest assets is its cast. Karen Fukuhara who is probably best known for her role in Suicide Squad, Erin Moriarty notably from season 1 of Jessica Jones, Laz Alonso, and Karl Urban are standouts. Meanwhile, in supporting roles you have, Colby Minifie, Haley Joel Osment, and Giancarlo Esposito. Of them all, I’ve found myself quite enjoying Fukuhara’s work as a very energetic and captivating mute character.

For all the nice character work, for all the very dark humorous moments, and all of the good and bad, it is interesting. Watching season 2, I don’t know how much longer it could go on for without wearing thin, as I’ve already seen the usual issues I have with attempts to ramp things up. That said, I don’t think that’s the biggest problem the show has; instead, I think that’s the initial appeal of it in the first place. Speaking with our editor-in-chief Alexx, there are some who would normally enjoy the over-the-top nature of The Boys, though are sick of everything being grim, dark, and horrible. I’m right there with season 2, how long can the coin of interest stay up-right before spiraling and falling.

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The Boys - Season 1

7.5

Score

7.5/10

Pros

• No-holds-barred on tough subjects.
• Great casting and chemistry.
• Brilliantly showing a true villian in a sea of moral questions.

Cons

• Often an over reliance on being over-the-top.