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Vote to threadban Bioshuffle
This poll is closed.
Yes (Goku) 146 85.38%
No (also Goku) 25 14.62%
Total: 171 votes
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jabby
Oct 27, 2010

I assume he works on the principle of actual lie detectors - measure a bunch of physiological responses and tell people you know when they're lying. And just like in real life it's totally unreliable (perhaps even more since he's not a literal computer), but it's still useful because people are more likely to tell the truth if they think you can detect a lie.

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DeNomolos
Jan 10, 2013

mild mannered meatspin historian
I feel like such an absolutely baby that this show's second season of all things is making me have to slow down my watch through based on the violence. i loved the comics and I really loved the first season, but i'm having trouble sleeping at night from a television show about aquaman's gills having patton oswalt's voice, lmao

Bust Rodd
Oct 21, 2008

by VideoGames
The violence in S2 is an order of magnitude more uncomfortable than in S1. Storefront is such a piece of dogshit

etalian
Mar 20, 2006

ChuckDeNomolos posted:

I feel like such an absolutely baby that this show's second season of all things is making me have to slow down my watch through based on the violence. i loved the comics and I really loved the first season, but i'm having trouble sleeping at night from a television show about aquaman's gills having patton oswalt's voice, lmao

Also singing gills you are so beautiful to me...

DeNomolos
Jan 10, 2013

mild mannered meatspin historian

Bust Rodd posted:

The violence in S2 is an order of magnitude more uncomfortable than in S1. Storefront is such a piece of dogshit

Oh it's even dumber than that, I just have the hardest time coming down from shows with graphic deaths that are akin to landmines, so fake AOC's powers being present in the story is the biggest thing that keeps me from progressing forward.

I totally forgot the tainted v frequency from the comics, but it's employed with lead-up. Eventually I have to press forward to the giant dick factory, but it's going to take some time!

Bust Rodd
Oct 21, 2008

by VideoGames
I’ll just go ahead and warn you now, it gets so much worse

Shageletic
Jul 25, 2007

After a lot of thought, I've settled on the finale being a disappointment. Too much happened too quickly, Stormwatch ended up getting defeated three times to march her along the necessary plot points the creators wanted to hit (end of her as a threat in the public eye, girls can do it better beatdown, Ryan as a threat and disentagling from Homelander).

The thing that sits the worst is that, yes, they fridged Becca. The definition of fridging afaik is the death of a woman whose only worth is the sorrow and anger her death would cause for the actually important male protaganists.

That's exactly what happened here! That was her role! The 1st season, along with elegantly taking Butchers arc to a natural conclusion, strapped as suicide bomber to attack HL, also upended a hacky regurgitated plot point of a revenge spree predicated on a dead wife. That was cool!

What was the thematic point of this season? Dunno, feels muddled.

DeNomolos
Jan 10, 2013

mild mannered meatspin historian

Bust Rodd posted:

I’ll just go ahead and warn you now, it gets so much worse

welp the boys may just have to remain the greatest 1 season show i've seen since tremors the series and blade the series.

Another Bill
Sep 27, 2018

Born on the bayou
died in a cave
bbq and posting
is all I crave

Shageletic posted:


What was the thematic point of this season? Dunno, feels muddled.

The thematic point is that righteous vengeance is panacea to nihilism, I think.

Rinkles
Oct 24, 2010

What I'm getting at is...
Do you feel the same way?
It was actually the first episode that put me off the most.

Season two was actually easier to swallow (gently caress, pun unintended), except some of the up close gore.

Bust Rodd
Oct 21, 2008

by VideoGames

Shageletic posted:

The thing that sits the worst is that, yes, they fridged Becca. The definition of fridging afaik is the death of a woman whose only worth is the sorrow and anger her death would cause for the actually important male protaganists.

I’ll pushback on this a little bit. Isn’t fridging more of a reduction than an entire season of character development and exploration? Becca is a real person, shown to be intelligent and brave and resourceful, and she impresses everyone she comes across.

Fridging, to me, has always seemed like a Princess Peach thing, where the character is dead/trapped/frozen before we ever meet them, and the character itself is an unknown entity, like the daughter from taken, with no characterization, which is why it’s offensive. The woman exists exclusively as a plot device.

Becca isn’t just a plot device, she’s a character and gets to have major scenes with Butcher and Homelander and Stormfront.

If what you’re saying is Fridging, then isn’t every female character who has ever been killed also a fridging?

Edit: actually it’s deeper than that, Becca was “unfridged” at the end of Season 1! She was totally “in the fridge” and then it turns out she was alive the whole time and given the entire 2nd season to become an important character to us, the viewers. This feels more like a deconstruction of the trope than an example.

Bust Rodd fucked around with this message at 16:04 on Oct 17, 2020

Thundercracker
Jun 25, 2004

Proudly serving the Ruinous Powers since as a veteran of the long war.
College Slice
I'd argue it's even an opposite of fridging. Butcher basically loses his primary motivation going forward. It's clear at the end of the episode he's ambivalent on Mallory's offer because what's the point at this point

If you want to see an example of dumb fridging watch dragon's dogma on Netflix. It's literally built into the plot in the most eye rolling way possible.

Thundercracker fucked around with this message at 17:16 on Oct 17, 2020

Solice Kirsk
Jun 1, 2004

.
They made a show about that video game?

Professor Beetus
Apr 12, 2007

They can fight us
But they'll never Beetus

Solice Kirsk posted:

They made a show about that video game?

From what I have read it misses the point about everything good about the video game, which isn't surprising given the best stuff about Dragon's Dogma would make a terrible tv show.

Mat Cauthon
Jan 2, 2006

The more tragic things get,
the more I feel like laughing.



Shageletic posted:

After a lot of thought, I've settled on the finale being a disappointment. Too much happened too quickly, Stormwatch ended up getting defeated three times to march her along the necessary plot points the creators wanted to hit (end of her as a threat in the public eye, girls can do it better beatdown, Ryan as a threat and disentagling from Homelander).

The thing that sits the worst is that, yes, they fridged Becca. The definition of fridging afaik is the death of a woman whose only worth is the sorrow and anger her death would cause for the actually important male protaganists.

That's exactly what happened here! That was her role! The 1st season, along with elegantly taking Butchers arc to a natural conclusion, strapped as suicide bomber to attack HL, also upended a hacky regurgitated plot point of a revenge spree predicated on a dead wife. That was cool!

What was the thematic point of this season? Dunno, feels muddled.

I don't think it was full on fridging but it felt akin to that. Becca is (was) one of the most interesting characters in the show and I really wanted to see more of how she navigated raising Ryan while also fending off the various powers that want to use him for their own ends. The escape scene we saw at the start of the finale shows that she's very capable as well - which would've made for an interesting dynamic. She's like Sarah Connor, except her kid could very well be the thing that destroys the world unless she raises him right. Lots of missed opportunity.

Seems like the theme of this season is interrupted closure. We see a lot of characters seemingly come full circle in their arcs but we know that many of those "happy" endings are predicted on lies, blackmail, or false comfort brought on by ignorance. HL and Butcher in particular got what they wanted taken away from them (literally) and are probably more driftless/unstable than anyone realizes. You could argue that they lost their prizes because of how each of them approaches the world - and they both probably know it. However, trying to be better men - Butcher going back on his deal with Vought, HL attempting to be an attentive empathetic father - blew up in their faces. So where does that leave either of them?

The season felt strong enough to me but I think they have a pretty lofty target to hit in S3.

Mat Cauthon fucked around with this message at 19:40 on Oct 17, 2020

jabby
Oct 27, 2010

Shageletic posted:

The thing that sits the worst is that, yes, they fridged Becca. The definition of fridging afaik is the death of a woman whose only worth is the sorrow and anger her death would cause for the actually important male protaganists.

The whole "fridging" thing has to be looked at in context. Becca is a complex character in her own right with her own character arc. Her death makes Butcher and Ryan sad, but I wouldn't say that's why she was killed. Her death moves the whole plot forwards. She's not being used as a plot device any more than Stormfront is.

Which is not to say The Boys is doing great. If you want a better example of someone being fridged, try Robin. Or Popclaw.

Groovelord Neato
Dec 6, 2014


It's certainly a less bad "fridging" than she got in the comic but I also was disappointed with the finale. Probably didn't help that I disliked what they did with the Lamplighter story so I was already a bit soured going into it.

Neurolimal
Nov 3, 2012
Nearly every significant non-superhero (save Starlight and to some extent Homelander) character in The Boys comic is motivated by tragedy, which is a problem when most The Boys are guys.

The show actually makes this less stark by motivating The Female via her brother getting murdered. In the comics her motivation is purely being a violent feral child + her mother being stupid.

Neurolimal fucked around with this message at 19:14 on Oct 17, 2020

jabby
Oct 27, 2010

Neurolimal posted:

Nearly every significant non-superhero (save Starlight and to some extent Homelander) character in The Boys comic is motivated by tragedy, which is a problem when most the The Boys are guys.

The show actually makes this less stark by motivating The Female via her brother getting murdered. In the comics her motivation is purely being a violent feral child + her mother being stupid.

Does Frenchie's motivation of his Dad being killed by a thrown croissant in the middle of a baguette-joust count as "tragic"?

Neurolimal
Nov 3, 2012

jabby posted:

Does Frenchie's motivation of his Dad being killed by a thrown croissant in the middle of a baguette-joust count as "tragic"?

Look, if your dad was killed by a fat frenchman playing dirty in a baguette joust for your honor, you'd have a chip on your shoulder

Rinkles
Oct 24, 2010

What I'm getting at is...
Do you feel the same way?

Groovelord Neato posted:

It's certainly a less bad "fridging" than she got in the comic but I also was disappointed with the finale. Probably didn't help that I disliked what they did with the Lamplighter story so I was already a bit soured going into it.

How'd it differ?

Bust Rodd
Oct 21, 2008

by VideoGames

Rinkles posted:

How'd it differ?

She has literally zero character development and then is murdered in her sleep by her own baby

Rinkles
Oct 24, 2010

What I'm getting at is...
Do you feel the same way?
Meant lamplighter

Neurolimal
Nov 3, 2012
Instead of burning himself out of penance, The Seven hand him over to Mallory to be killed in a truce. Vought then bring him back in their failed resurrection process, leaving him a nearly braindead zombie in their basement

Bust Rodd
Oct 21, 2008

by VideoGames
https://twitter.com/_flowerguardian/status/1317401691076124673?s=21

Neurolimal
Nov 3, 2012
There are far more loathsome people on twitter, but MovieBob might be the dumbest

jabby
Oct 27, 2010

Neurolimal posted:

Instead of burning himself out of penance, The Seven hand him over to Mallory to be killed in a truce. Vought then bring him back in their failed resurrection process, leaving him a nearly braindead zombie in their basement

He also intentionally kills Mallory's grandchildren, rather than doing it accidentally while trying to kill Mallory.

IMO both storylines fit their respective plots. In the comic supes are meant to be almost entirely amoral bastards who think nothing of killing kids. The whole idea is that having powers automatically corrupts them to the point they don't care about non-supes at all. The lamplighter arc does a good job of putting that across.

The TV show is definitely going for more of a "supes are people too" vibe. Most supes we see are jerks, but they all have human reasons for being jerks. So the changes to Lamplighter make sense.

Sarcastro
Dec 28, 2000
Elite member of the Grammar Nazi Squad that

Groovelord Neato posted:

There's no evidence of it and in the comic the baby comes out of the womb with flight and eye lasers.

And super-strength, don't forget! Fortunately not nigh-invincibility, though.

ThatBasqueGuy
Feb 14, 2013

someone introduce jojo to lazyb


do u think queen mayve has to smoke extra weed to get high?

Another Bill
Sep 27, 2018

Born on the bayou
died in a cave
bbq and posting
is all I crave

She laces it with Compound V obviously

Rando
Mar 11, 2004

by Fluffdaddy
no that's what the powdered vaginal secretions are for.

Bussamove
Feb 25, 2006

ThatBasqueGuy posted:

do u think queen mayve has to smoke extra weed to get high?

Not when she’s smoking Brave Maeve Rainbow Strain Mary Jane! Available at your local Vought Dispensary now.

Rando
Mar 11, 2004

by Fluffdaddy
Noir sold her oregeno. She doesn't even know

Mameluke
Aug 2, 2013

by Fluffdaddy
I loved that she had a bong for each seat in her living room

Professor Beetus
Apr 12, 2007

They can fight us
But they'll never Beetus

Mameluke posted:

I loved that she had a bong for each seat in her living room

The implication of shared bongs in today's climate would be unconscionable, really.

boo_radley
Dec 30, 2005

Politeness costs nothing
Brave Maeve's Compound V-Very Dank

Orange Carlisle
Jul 14, 2007

BIG HEADLINE posted:

Oh holy poo poo.

I just rewatched the Ryan eyebeams Stormfront scene and I just came to a really stark realization. Stormfront didn't kill Becca. It's clear she was *going* to, but didn't.

*Butcher* killed her accidentally. If you look at the overhead shot, the crowbar he was wailing on Stormfront with is laying at Becca's feet. He was baseball-batting Stormfront with the curved end of the crowbar. My thought is that Ryan blasted Stormfront out of the way just long enough for Butcher to get in one last swing that connected...with Becca's neck.

Oh drat if true

This show is something else and I hope it has a really satisfying conclusion no matter how many seasons they make of it because I feel like it's had two amazing seasons already and I don't want it ruined

Lord Frankenstyle
Dec 3, 2005

Mmmm,
You smell like Lysol Wipes.

jabby posted:

Most supes we see are jerks, but they all have human reasons for being jerks. So the changes to Lamplighter make sense.

I dunno, Lamplighter was another kinda weak link this season. He willingly(?) goes from being a super rock star to working as an orderly / cremation murder machine who has been spiraling toward suicide out of guilt while willingly killing people for money. And all that when Vought could have just quietly disappeared him and built an actual crematorium for the lab where the cell doors are only super power proof from the inside somehow. "I'm bad. I'm reluctantly bad. I'm too sad to live" is a weird character arc for ten minutes of screen time. It just felt like they found a plot line and awkwardly jammed him in to without much thought and I don't see why they didn't just cut the character from the show because nothing about his bits are necessary or even make sense.

I mean the show is fun as a kooky experiment into what it'd be like if they redid the old 67 Batman show in the same campy style, and then every episode ended with a hard R battle against GWAR. I see where it's almost well written, but then it trips over it's own feet, and it bugs the poo poo out of me that it tosses out the one interesting thing from the comics that should have been the reason for selling the show to the network in the first place.

Turning the most likeable side character into a 3rd graders first dick joke was a pretty weird choice too.

Open Source Idiom
Jan 4, 2013

Frankenstyle posted:

I dunno, Lamplighter was another kinda weak link this season. He willingly(?) goes from being a super rock star to working as an orderly / cremation murder machine who has been spiraling toward suicide out of guilt while willingly killing people for money. And all that when Vought could have just quietly disappeared him and built an actual crematorium for the lab where the cell doors are only super power proof from the inside somehow. "I'm bad. I'm reluctantly bad. I'm too sad to live" is a weird character arc for ten minutes of screen time. It just felt like they found a plot line and awkwardly jammed him in to without much thought and I don't see why they didn't just cut the character from the show because nothing about his bits are necessary or even make sense. .

He's also in some of the season's worst scenes. The scene where he burns the guy in the Sanitarium is cliched as gently caress, and the "I'm the cuck" stuff left a bad taste in my mouth.

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As Nero Danced
Sep 3, 2009

Alright, let's do this

ChuckDeNomolos posted:

I feel like such an absolutely baby that this show's second season of all things is making me have to slow down my watch through based on the violence. i loved the comics and I really loved the first season, but i'm having trouble sleeping at night from a television show about aquaman's gills having patton oswalt's voice, lmao

It's definitely on purpose that whenever someone uses their superpowers on someone else (except Starlight) it's horrifying. Compare using super powers in The Boys to the Marvel or DC movies: in those it's just fun action, you don't see blood, gore, or hear people screaming in pain. In this show, the closest comparison I can think of is Jason Vorhees.

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