THE BOYS - SEASON 2
The Boys Season 2 premiered on Amazon Prime September 4th 2020 Created by Eric Kripke Starring Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Antony Starr, Erin Moriarty, Dominique McElligott, Tomer Capon, Karen Fukuhara, Aya Cash, Laz Alonso, Giancarlo Esposito
“The even more intense, more insane Season 2 finds The Boys on the run from the law, hunted by the Supes, and desperately trying to regroup and fight back against Vought. In hiding, Hughie (Jack Quaid), Mother’s Milk (Laz Alonso), Frenchie (Tomer Capon) and Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) try to adjust to a new normal, with Butcher (Karl Urban) nowhere to be found. Meanwhile, Starlight (Erin Moriarty) must navigate her place in The Seven as Homelander (Antony Starr) sets his sights on taking complete control. His power is threatened with the addition of Stormfront (Aya Cash), a social media-savvy new Supe, who has an agenda of her own. On top of that, the Supervillain threat takes center stage and makes waves as Vought seeks to capitalize on the nation’s paranoia.”
This review contains spoilers.
The Boys returns with a even wilder, darker and shocking sophomore season: it ups the action and bloodlust whilst taking an even stronger political stance, with a genius script full of social commentary that seamlessly weaves together and criticises both the oversaturated Superhero genre and our Capitalist society. Satirical as ever, season 2 increases in scale in terms of world-building as it introduces new individuals, various social and political groups and establishments - yet its main focus firmly remains on its characters. Despite a slow start, S2 soon sets a thrilling pace through its unpredictable (often bloody) and provocative turns.
The Boys isn’t afraid of embracing the darker and more sinister repercussions of Superheroes and the blind worshipping we have for them.
Performative Allyship
The Boys manages to convey its social commentary in such an effortless way: this season it focused on performative allyship and ‘wokeness’, exploring these themes through multiple narratives, one of which was the arrival of a new member to the Seven. Played by Aya Cash, Stormfront’s power doesn’t only rival that of Homelander but she proves herself to be far more social-media savvy, easily winning the hearts of the general public; one scene shows Stormfront’s draft collection of memes that she uses as a tool to sway the public’s opinion on social media. It was such an accurate representation of the shared Facebook posts we see every single day on our timelines that I’m sure it was an awakening to some viewers about how manipulative these platforms can be. What’s more is that Stormfront stands up for herself, is outspoken and isn’t afraid of ruffling people’s feathers (whether it be members of the Seven, Vault or interviewers). However it is soon revealed that her cool girl persona is merely a front, her wokeness and allyship performative as it enables her to increase her popularity and hide a more sinister core - something we see all too often in the world of celebrity or politics.
But Stormfront isn’t the only person responsible for this fake and empty allyship: Vought exploits Queen Maeve when she is outed by a fellow member of the Seven on Live TV. Now that Vought knows she is part of the LGBTQ+ community, they waste no time in using her sexual orientation as a selling point as it offers them more marketing opportunities and a chance to show that the Seven is now more diverse and inclusive. With 3 female members on the team, Vought also uses feminism and girl power as a marketing tool (“Girls Get It Done!”), turning it in to a commodity in order to increase their revenue. This is something we see all too often in media and The Boys perfectly illustrated this with a clever and provocative satirical script.
As season 2 continues to depict our fascination with celebrity and superheroes, it also shows the damaging social and political repercussions they have on our society: pharmaceutical companies aiming to manufacture more Supes for financial gain, international security concerns - the list of potential future disasters is endless. One of the reasons why The Boys works so well is because it so accurately reflects the issues we are facing today, even though Supes are front and center.
Balancing CGI and character driven stories
The Boys knows when to use CGI and how often. Yes, there is a lot of blood and gore in every episode, but when Full God Mode is activated it is scary and very effective, as it is only used sparingly. Super powers are merely a by-product as the season continues to focus on the flawed characters. We get to see a more tender side to some, such as Mother’s Milk and even Butcher. Each character, with the exception of Black Noir who retains an aura of mystery, has an arc this season (Supes very much included) as the series continues to focus on them instead of action-driven scenes.