The Boys / GEN V Discussion

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Mat Cauthon: Jan 2, 2006; The more tragic things get,
the more I feel like laughing.

So, regarding the big confrontation in the final episode: Homelander totally let Stillwell's baby die, didn't he?

I ended up liking this way more than I expected. All the actors were very good, Homelander was perfectly done, the gore and weirdness was suitable for the tone of the show without being egregious, and it was funny without being cheesy. Looking forward to season 2.

# ¿ Aug 8, 2019 16:26

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# ¿ Apr 25, 2024 17:34

Mat Cauthon: Jan 2, 2006; The more tragic things get,
the more I feel like laughing.

Yeah I'm really curious what the twist is going to be, because Homelander seems dangerously crazy and completely out of the league of every super powered person we've been introduced to so far. In the books Maeve is supposed to be about on his level at least strength wise. I guess there's some possibility that a new one or one of the terrorists will be able to go toe to toe with him but at the moment there's not much stopping him from just grinding every person who gets in his way to dust besides the sheer boredom of it.

# ¿ Aug 8, 2019 18:01

Mat Cauthon: Jan 2, 2006; The more tragic things get,
the more I feel like laughing.

CAPTAIN CAPSLOCK posted:

Then I guess The Deep since he can swim down to 2 miles and not get crushed by the pressure and Starlight(taking .50 cal shots, getting punched by A-Train and not ending up like Robin).

Is it a .50 cal that she gets hit with? It seems like rubber bullets or some other kind of non-lethal round.

# ¿ Aug 9, 2019 01:45

Mat Cauthon: Jan 2, 2006; The more tragic things get,
the more I feel like laughing.

Yeah I went back and watched the scene again, you're right it's a legit .50 cal. Butcher really wasn't messing around.

# ¿ Aug 9, 2019 02:26

Mat Cauthon: Jan 2, 2006; The more tragic things get,
the more I feel like laughing.

Is it established before then that all the Supes are bulletproof? We know Homelander, Maeve, and Translucent are, and Starlight is strong, but it's left vague for the rest. I guess I just figured that he wouldn't risk hitting Hughie or killing Hughie's girlfriend right in front of him but obvious it ain't that kind of show.

# ¿ Aug 9, 2019 02:50

Mat Cauthon: Jan 2, 2006; The more tragic things get,
the more I feel like laughing.

Zwabu posted:

My impression was that Homelander was jealous of Stillwell's baby and hated it because he envied and coveted its position.

They definitely play this up in all of his interactions with Stillwell or anytime Homelander has to pretend that he had a normal home life, albeit in a very subtle way that relies on you paying attention to seemingly passive emoting by Homelander (seriously if the guy who played him doesn't get an Emmy nod I will be astounded) but there's also a deleted scene in Episode 8 where we see a flashback of adolescent Homelander growing up in the lab and killing a tutor/surrogate mother figure who is apparently the latest in a long line of unfortunate, deceased people shoved into that role. I can see why they cut it, it would've telegraphed the ending pretty obviously but yeah he hated the gently caress out of that baby and probably relished letting it get vaporized.

# ¿ Aug 9, 2019 03:57

Mat Cauthon: Jan 2, 2006; The more tragic things get,
the more I feel like laughing.

I think A-train being Black is fine? And maybe even an improvement on the comic version? His angst and struggles with no longer being the fastest man alive (IIRC the other speedsters we see are all white) and therefore taking advantage of his role as a coerced Compound V mule to dope himself up despite what it costs him in terms of his health and relationships was well done and I think it draws a nice corollary with how Black professional athletes are perceived and treated in the real world without being too hamfisted.

Frenchie looks and sounds Algerian or Tunisian to me, no sure what the issue is.

Kimiko (the Female) is probably where there's the most ~*problematic*~ stuff. She's not exactly a Dragon Lady trope but mute Asian killing machine is not something you can really get away with in 2019 without some blowback, which makes me think they will continue to humanize her beyond what we got in S1, although doubtful that she'll ever be anything resembling normal in the show.

IDK, they seem to be doing an okay job with cutting the worst parts of the comic, updating it to feel more relevant, and adapting what works in an engaging manner. There's definitely room for criticism but what we got certainly could've been much much worse.

# ¿ Aug 14, 2019 04:24

Mat Cauthon: Jan 2, 2006; The more tragic things get,
the more I feel like laughing.

jabby posted:

Great show.

Homelander's body language is perfect, especially during the plane scene. He just looks so disinterested, like he's casually looking around even while Maeve scrambles to do something. The fact that he almost always relies on his laser eyes rather than mixing it up just reinforces it. He's not interested in showing off or testing his powers, so why even move if he doesn't have to?

For what it's worth I think Homelander having sex with Butcher's wife will turn out to either be consensual or not actually him. Using the rape of a partner as a cheap motivational tool for the protagonist and way to make the villain more reprehensible has been done to death, and it's pretty misogynistic too. Given how the show is trying to separate itself from the comics I'd be surprised if they went down that route.

Honestly the idea that Homelander now views Becka, Butcher, his kid and himself as one big hosed-up family could be really interesting. And what does show Homelander actually have to fear from this Butcher? He has no incriminating leverage like in the comics, and he's not even on Compound V. Why would he see him as a threat?

Butcher finding out he had his entire backstory wrong and then getting treated like a brother by his nemesis would certainly be a twist on the comic version.

Homelander obviously doesn't see baseline humans as actual living things and his actions 100% reflect that. Non-supes are just meat in the way of whatever he wants in that moment, which is usually violence, and barely worthy of getting to see him use his abilities. On a first watch he's obviously weird and kind of funny but going back and watching his interactions he comes off as terrifying. There's no check on him beyond what he decides he wants, they can't just knock him out and put a bomb up his butt like Translucent .

I think the change to the status quo between Homelander and Butcher is drat near genius. Homelander now has a vulnerability - his son. And the only thing scarier than what Butcher will do to that kid is what Homelander will do if someone harms him. You also have the question of: is Becca special somehow (maybe dosed with Compound V as a kid), or is she just 1 in a million, or does Homelander have other kids out there? Either way, Homelander knows now that he's not alone and he doesn't have to settle for mudpeople inhabiting the world that he protects. He can breed them out.

I think the encounter between Becca and Homelander was 100% consensual, which will drive Butcher even more motivated to take out the supes - his life was upended because of the temptation of a figurative god that no one could resist, a god that he knows is flawed and psychotic and dangerous. He might be willing to play along with the "happy family" thing but there's no way season 2 doesn't establish the status quo of the Boys dosed up with Compound V and some sort of detente between them and the Seven because the alternative is mutually assured destruction.

# ¿ Aug 15, 2019 02:58

Mat Cauthon: Jan 2, 2006; The more tragic things get,
the more I feel like laughing.

Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:

Her come to Jesus meeting with starlight was a good moment though.

Where can one view the extras?

If you're watching it in the Prime viewer there's a little overlay thing (I think the toggle for it is in one of the upper corners) that shows deleted scenes, extras, etc.

# ¿ Aug 18, 2019 15:01

Mat Cauthon: Jan 2, 2006; The more tragic things get,
the more I feel like laughing.

Yeah the Deep is being set up to do a face turn and then promptly get turned into fish sticks by the Homelander after whatever half-assed heroic endeavor he tries to do to redeem himself fails horribly.

Homelander Jr as the only being able to take down his father makes too much sense for them not to do, but I fully expect Homelander to prevail in that situation, should it ever occur, and then really be full on crazy bonkers.

# ¿ Aug 23, 2019 14:22

Mat Cauthon: Jan 2, 2006; The more tragic things get,
the more I feel like laughing.

Zaphod42 posted:

Legitimately great merch.

# ¿ Sep 4, 2019 04:44

Mat Cauthon: Jan 2, 2006; The more tragic things get,
the more I feel like laughing.

FilthyImp posted:

Aerisolized Compound-V mixed with hallucinogens to make him lose control and either burn himself out or tunnel through a volcano/fly into deep space.

Maybe they'll have Starlight cap him, tho.

He did seem pretty wary of Starlight (or at least considered her a threat enough to not take chances) but there's no guarantee that he isn't invulnerable enough to take a hit from her and keep going or just crater her before she can act. If Black Noir can take a full blast from the terrorist guy and walk away then presumably Homelander is tougher than that.

I don't know how they resolve it, especially if they don't introduce the idea of the Boys taking compound-v themselves. Probably something to do with Kid Homelander and turning him or using him to get Homelander to stand down.

# ¿ Jul 10, 2020 18:39

Mat Cauthon: Jan 2, 2006; The more tragic things get,
the more I feel like laughing.

Bust Rodd posted:

Or maybe the Homelander we know is the beta-lame-o version with an obvious Death Star kill switch and You-Know-Who is the real one

The teaser thing they did with him and the terrorist supe seems to point to that but I feel like it's a fake out. More than likely they've come up with some twist/variation to set the series apart from the comic.

# ¿ Jul 10, 2020 20:00

Mat Cauthon: Jan 2, 2006; The more tragic things get,
the more I feel like laughing.

Supreme Allah posted:

New clip -- this one has what may be considered some spoilers about the 7s group 'dynamic' but nothing major. Still still if you like to GO IN FRESH!! you may want to avoid

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ye8I1-CmRF8

I am very very surprised that Homelander let Deep hug him. Even if they're in public and he has to uphold his goody two shoes act.

Phobophilia posted:

The guy who plays Black Noir has some of the best physical performances in the show, it's almost like a pantomime. Every motion is just slightly exaggerated for dramatic effect, he turns his muscles a little too fast, he pauses for just a little too long.

The Female feels almost staid in comparison. It's a shame, from watching the ComicCon@Home panel, Fukuhara's talents are wasted. Heck, looking at her filmography, Hollywood isn't giving her enough roles.

And on the note of that CC@Home panel, I may have to re-evaluate my opinion of A-Train. Usher plays such an selfish little poo poo that I completely failed to appreciate the craft that went into such a character: I had to have it explained to my dumb rear end.

Black Noir is so so good.

What did they say about A-train in the CC panel?

# ¿ Aug 7, 2020 16:04

Mat Cauthon: Jan 2, 2006; The more tragic things get,
the more I feel like laughing.

I'm glad Amazon has the overlay with trivia because I definitely thought the bartender in the S2 episode one was a skinny Haley Joel Osment.

# ¿ Sep 5, 2020 03:50

Mat Cauthon: Jan 2, 2006; The more tragic things get,
the more I feel like laughing.

Terror Sweat posted:

Honelander feels weaker this season, they all do. I'm not getting the feeling of power from the characters, that they're superhuman.

No one has taken a .50 cal to the chest just yet but I think they've shown how all the different supes can be pretty threatening in their own way.

Stormfront is the obvious standout but Kimiko's brother being able to temporarily incapacitate Homelander was pretty impressive as well.

# ¿ Sep 5, 2020 06:45

Mat Cauthon: Jan 2, 2006; The more tragic things get,
the more I feel like laughing.

quantumfoam posted:

Wait a second. Didn't Butcher shoot Starlight/Annie in the chest with a .50 cal in episode 7, season 1?

Yeah that's what I was referring to.

SardonicTyrant posted:

I don't think Stormfront is Liberty. Stormfront is way too modern and flippant for someone at least 80 years old. I wouldn't be surprised if SF is a daughter or granddaughter of Liberty though.
Ok, fair.

I'd bet the same - she's Liberty's descendent, raised in a "normal" (racist) family and yet came out just as hosed up as Homelander.

Would that stop HL from killing her though? Doubtful. She'd just be a reminder of what he was denied and the inherent corruption of what he sees as his (manufactured) godhood.

# ¿ Sep 5, 2020 14:49

Mat Cauthon: Jan 2, 2006; The more tragic things get,
the more I feel like laughing.

PostNouveau posted:

Fukuhara did not really get much to do in Season 1, and then went from like 0 to 100 when Kenji showed up. All of a sudden, just so loving good. The guy playing Kenji was great as well. Those two really crushed what was kinda meh material.

I was actually touched by the performances there, they elevated what was by all standards a pretty cliche storyline and characterization. Even the contrived sibling conflict felt organic.

# ¿ Sep 5, 2020 17:58

Mat Cauthon: Jan 2, 2006; The more tragic things get,
the more I feel like laughing.

Automatic Slim posted:

What I liked about comic Stillwell was while was an evil corporate shill he was exceedingly polite to waiters and underlings. He was evil but not an rear end in a top hat- in public.

Giancarlo Esposito has gotten much deserved recognition at this stage of his career if only to hit a pocket of menacing villains. He was great in Homicide and Bakersfield P.D.

Being caught flat footed at the episode 3 meeting of The Seven where Homelander gets the upper hand is a fun turn.

Looks like he's at peace with it.

https://twitter.com/quiethandfilms/status/1302277685847224322?s=19

Dude seems like a nice enough guy and I'm never mad to see him pop up in anything. Hopefully his run lasts as long as he wants it to.

# ¿ Sep 5, 2020 19:07

Mat Cauthon: Jan 2, 2006; The more tragic things get,
the more I feel like laughing.

Small White Dragon posted:

What was the deal in ep 1 where the Deep gets up and there was some weird goop under him? Considering there's a momentary focus on it I assume it's important.

I think it's just gum and meant to be representative of the fact that the Deep wallows in his own self-pity so much that he overlooks basic things (like looking at your seat before you take it) that could spare him more public embarrassment.

Same thing where the 7 all meet up on the beach after the whale dies. He's so wrapped up in his new religious bullshit and self-redemption that he can't even bother to be more careful in how he speaks to Starlight - thus making an already bad situation worse.

Bust Rodd posted:

I also feel like we�re getting more out of MM from the first 3 episodes than we really got all last season. MM has this obviously loving, paternal energy that seems to have power over all the other men in the team. Everyone LOVES MM!

It's nice that they balance him stepping up to hold the group together with him still being an obvious bullshitter at times.

# ¿ Sep 6, 2020 15:44

Mat Cauthon: Jan 2, 2006; The more tragic things get,
the more I feel like laughing.

sliami posted:

like 40% of comments about sf are "what do you mean she's a nazi all she did was murder a whole building of black people with a sneer of utter contempt on her face. and the slur she spat into an asian man's face while she reveled in his suffering wasn't even that bad"

why is everyone so god drat bad at spotting racists

That's the American way.

# ¿ Sep 8, 2020 21:27

Mat Cauthon: Jan 2, 2006; The more tragic things get,
the more I feel like laughing.

BurritoJustice posted:

I don't think it could get more explicit than the actress saying it outright and hoping more people get it into their heads from the obvious poo poo they're throwing lol

This was definitely set up to be some sort of woke "gotcha" moment but good on the actress for having an understanding of the point of the character and the problems with why people may be identifying with her.

Bust Rodd posted:

I agree that the show is a doing a better job than the comic book at communicating the same message.

I am deeply saddened that people are harassing Stormfront's actress. I genuinely don't remember this sort of "The actor who plays a villain is a bad person IRL" thing that seems to have evolved as an extremely weird zoomer-based reactionary woke-ism that just sucks insanely bad. I think maybe it's teens who grew up watching leftists on Twitter, and are mimicking the sounds they make without understand why we were making them? I dunno, but it's the first thing that pops into my head whenever I see a "the kids are all right" take, is this wall of 18-21 year olds being like "Fight Club is PRO-FASCISM because the fascists, who are depicted as mentally ill loser incels who live in a shack and worship a crazy person, are tough and organized!". I know we didn't have social media in high school, but if you opened your mouth to be like "Edward Norton is a racist because he played a Neo-Nazi in American History X" you would get dunked on into oblivion.

It seems like zoomers have internalized a lot of the online culture war stuff from the mid-10s, where marginalized people raising a ruckus on social media was seen as the way to agitate for positive change within harmful institutions. However that strategy has metastasized into something weirdly gross and completely devoid of any sort of analysis of power, material conditions, etc. where now it's mostly used to hash out interpersonal grievances or build your social media brand.

If she's really getting harassed then that's terrible and hopefully Amazon or the showrunners will say something about it.

# ¿ Sep 9, 2020 14:29

Mat Cauthon: Jan 2, 2006; The more tragic things get,
the more I feel like laughing.

Starks posted:

Homelander is an American Supremacist and he absolutely has an ideology. See: the opening scene of the season

Edit: or his reaction to his son learning Spanish lol

Yeah you can see in the breakfast scene that the Spanish sets Homelander off and provokes him to take the kid outside to try and indoctrinate him into Homelander's idea of what he should be becoming. That it backfires is no surprise at all.

I think kid Homelander is a fine performer? The bar is low for kid actors but it's believeable that this kid is confused about the situation, nervous, distrustful of his "dad", and also when he gets pissed off you can see exactly how similar it is to when Homelander lashes out - the kid just doesn't have the fine tuned emotional control yet.

Starks posted:

Lol wait what part of Japan is Kimiko from that they have AK wielding terrorists

It could be that her parents were Japanese people working in [insert SE Asian nation here], or one parent was Japanese and the other one wasn't, etc. Lots of explanations for the idea that they could try to find their Japanese grandparents. It's pretty obvious that their parents got killed by the Shining Light Army or whatever it's called when they were abducted though.

Wild T posted:

Calling it now, Kimiko will speak while killing Stormfront.

I honestly didn't pick up that she was mute, I just assumed she was unable to speak English despite understanding a little until she started signing to her brother. He mentioned that she stopped speaking when their parents were murdered due to the trauma, so I'm expecting her to break that when she gets revenge for his death. With the look she was giving at the end of the episode I was really expecting her to say something right then.

It's also sort of a sad irony that her brother died trying to rescue her. Without knowing the limits of her abilities it's entirely plausible that Stormfront could have snapped her neck and left her for dead only for her to regenerate. She is basically the Wolverine character of the show and Black Noir gutted her something good last time with no longterm results.

Oh most definitely.

Also that last part is probably what Kimiko was going for - take the hit and then get back up once the coast was clear (although with Homelander and the other 7 on the scene that could have very well ended in her getting taken by Vought since BN at least would know that he's killed her before and therefore she probably has powers). But her brother didn't know that and did the logical thing. Poor guy just never had a chance though, despite his ability to get the drop on Homelander.

# ¿ Sep 10, 2020 14:40

Mat Cauthon: Jan 2, 2006; The more tragic things get,
the more I feel like laughing.

Well episode 4 was definitely a return to the form of S1 where every episode would elicit a dozen "what the gently caress" from me.

Couple of thoughts:

- Homelander and Doppelganger :staredog:

- Hughie and Starlight's reconciliation was really nice. They got to have a somewhat normal weekend together, as much as they could with MM glowering in the background and the sinister revelations about Stormfront. Starlight realizing that they can't live in that sort of bubble all the time and have to part ways because there are too many people out to get them was exactly the right move. Hughie is so shell-shocked and desperate for normalcy still that he wants to believe they can make it work but he's not stuck in the tower with loving Homelander.

- MM was great here, nice to see him elevated as the leader and doing things differently than Butcher but still very sharp and cognizant of what's at risk.

- Homelander cleaning house and bringing everybody into line was disturbing. It seems like he got played by Stormfront in their meeting but also that it set him off thinking about how to subvert her and take himself to a new level. She was very obviously talking him up as the poster boy for Aryan Super Nazis with the whole "everything we should be" bit. Vought obviously knows who she is and who she was so if she's not just there to throw Homelander off balance then why the hell did they bring her in?

- On that note, I think what happens is Homelander will go along with Stormfront's 'populist' heel turn (leading to him lasering some poor civilian), position her up as the mastermind, provoke a fight where she appears to kill him (pretty handy having a identical dead body), and then he comes back as the "real" Homelander who was betrayed by Vought. He kills Stormfront, making him the big hero and also frees himself from Vought. This could also be how they re-introduce Lamplighter, another hero who got sidelined and gets to have a redemption moment.

- Stormfront is definitely Liberty, so the question is where did she her new improved electricity powers from? Maybe the first gen Compound V heroes can switch up their powers by getting continually dosed, and that also increases their longevity?

- Deep's storyline is getting a bit tedious but I'm guessing that next episode is where we see him and A-train having their drink, which maybe leads to the Deep trying to set up his own version of the Seven (at the religious cult's suggestion/prodding) and that blowing up in his face.

- Butcher and Becca getting some time together was nice but her insight into his real motivations and who he really is was just aces. I didn't see that coming at all. She loves him enough to realize that he's not the savior she needs (or any savior at all really) and she's also grown beyond what he could've expected during her captivity. Interesting development and this will definitely get Butcher closer to his "gently caress it all, burn it all" down persona like in the comics. Becca was only ever a cover for his crusade and now he doesn't even have that.

- Black Noir the only reliable member of the 7, as always. I don't see him switching sides but be interesting if he does. Either way going to be a hell of a rematch with Kimiko.

Mat Cauthon fucked around with this message at 01:16 on Sep 12, 2020

# ¿ Sep 11, 2020 19:39

Mat Cauthon: Jan 2, 2006; The more tragic things get,
the more I feel like laughing.

Bust Rodd posted:

Stormfront has been a Nazi phrase for basically as long as Nazis have had iconography. Ennis had this poo poo pegged 10-15 years ago.

I don�t understand why so many people are like �drat that was really unintentionally funny or smart coming from a room of high payed genre savvy Hollywood writers!�

The website itself was established in 1996, was the subject of a widely watched documentary in 2000, and regularly reported on in the early 2000s for various controversies. Seems like it's not beyond the pale for Ennis to have heard of it and used the name.

moist turtleneck posted:

https://i.imgur.com/LiE635X.gifv

Looking at this gif Maeve isn't really selling being terrified IMO. Maybe she assumes that HL isn't going to just belt her one in a TV studio or she's just so inured to his threats that she's over doing the performance for him but whatever subtlety they were going for isn't really showing up.

boo_radley posted:

I'm pretty sure the backstory is Homelander once again going rogue, kidnapping him to Vought Acres and threatening to murder him if he declines

What was to stop him from shapeshifting and just walking off in between HL's visits?

# ¿ Sep 11, 2020 22:59

Mat Cauthon: Jan 2, 2006; The more tragic things get,
the more I feel like laughing.

Baudolino posted:

Was HL really being truthful when he said he no longer needs people to love him? You don`t break the habit of a lifetime by a one time epihany, at least it`s very rare.

He can't do it all at once but he's starting himself on the path and that should be very worrying for everybody. I think the scene at the end is HL using Doppelganger to reject his own insecurities - specifically need for outer validation and the value he places in having his public image be of an upright, virtuous superhero. If you go back and watch his confrontation with Stormfront versus the ending with Doppelganger he repeats the same words back.

HL: I score higher with every demographic! They all love me!
SF: This constant need to be loved by everyone is kind of pathetic.
HL *laser eyes*

She even points out that he spends so much time and effort and money trying to stage manage the adoration and attention she gets with basically nothing. It crack pings him but he's not dumb. HL recognizes that he has to discard the weaknesses that he holds on to in order to beat Stormfront and maintain his dominance, because in the end she's right - his way of playing the game is obsolete.

Edit: Nice touch at the end with Black Noir and the tech - there are like half a dozen Red Bull cans on her desk. He basically kept her there running scans for...days?...until they found Butcher. That's dedication.

Mat Cauthon fucked around with this message at 05:26 on Sep 12, 2020

# ¿ Sep 12, 2020 02:29

Mat Cauthon: Jan 2, 2006; The more tragic things get,
the more I feel like laughing.

How Wonderful! posted:

Maybe a silly question, but is there some kind of site that indexes peoples' outfits on shows? I loved the tech woman's bug shirt and I would wear it.

Probably? There are sites that exist just to catalogue the music in trailers so I'm sure someone out there is tracking fashion in TV shows and movies.

If you find it let me know, I want that sweater Frenchie had on when he finds Kimiko at the rally.

# ¿ Sep 12, 2020 03:43

Mat Cauthon: Jan 2, 2006; The more tragic things get,
the more I feel like laughing.

Hughmoris posted:

Homelander brings a crazy amount of tension to every scene he is in (and some he isn't). His weight in a scene reminds me a lot of Tuco in Breaking Bad.

Homelander is more Lalo in BCS than Tuco in BB but yeah good analogue.

# ¿ Sep 12, 2020 03:49

Mat Cauthon: Jan 2, 2006; The more tragic things get,
the more I feel like laughing.

BrotherJayne posted:

Lol, the confederate cape mural...

When that popped up, both me and the wifey physically recoiled and said "oh gently caress!"

What episode is the mural in? I must've blinked and missed it.

# ¿ Sep 12, 2020 19:00

Mat Cauthon: Jan 2, 2006; The more tragic things get,
the more I feel like laughing.

zoux posted:

It's the end of the scene that starts with the eerily accurate country anti-abortion billboard

drat I completely missed this but it's an extremely nice touch.

Plan Z posted:

The show also really hasn't given her a reason to be part of the story, yet. In the comics, she was basically the only thing keeping Starlight alive and The Boys informed.

Seems like they've made Starlight more proactive (so she isn't as reliant on Maeve's protection) and she's also been given Maeve's informant role (although there might be something more there for her to do once the Boys are in outright open war with the 7).

The actress who plays Maeve isn't bad, she just doesn't have a lot to do and going up against Starr in half her scenes isn't helping her stand out.

PostNouveau posted:

"Honestly Maeve, I am really, really happy for you."

He cycles through like half a dozen facial expressions at the end there in a matter of seconds and every single one of them bodes extremely ill. It's been said over and over but Starr's performance is really blowing everyone else away.

# ¿ Sep 13, 2020 23:29

Mat Cauthon: Jan 2, 2006; The more tragic things get,
the more I feel like laughing.

moist turtleneck posted:

https://i.imgur.com/P9QrIB3.gifv

Give this man an Emmy just based on being able to sell visceral hatred of an infant in a look alone.

But in the end he did spare the kid, so maybe there's some humanity inside HL after all.

Starks posted:

Lol imagine defending amazon

There�s literally no reason for the company to release them week to week except that they can get more money that way

Money? I think you mean "engagement".

# ¿ Sep 14, 2020 01:33

Mat Cauthon: Jan 2, 2006; The more tragic things get,
the more I feel like laughing.

veni veni veni posted:

Honestly I think streaming services doling out episodes one week at a time is going to become more prevalent in the near future. 2020 must have halted production on an immeasurable amount of projects, so I wouldn't be surprised if new content releases slowed to a crawl for a good part of next year. A traditional weekly trickle of content will basically serve as a way to make it feel like "new" things are coming out.

That's just a guess on my part, but I wouldn't be surprised if this was the first in a lot of weekly releases and the reasons they've done it this way are probably not entirely unrelated to Covid. I wouldn't even surprised if netflix eventually started going that route.

I'm sure others have done it but Mandalorian is the one that got the most attention for doing it nearest to the time frame of the pandemic.

Whatever outfit inside Disney that runs the social media must've shown that the gradual release resulted in slightly higher numbers and everyone else is following suit. Like others have said, it'll be strategic and cyclical - guaranteed hits will probably be staggered, shows that are untested bets will still get full release at least for the first season or two.

The real litmus test will be when Netflix staggers something like Stranger Things, and the audience reaction to that.

# ¿ Sep 14, 2020 02:06

Mat Cauthon: Jan 2, 2006; The more tragic things get,
the more I feel like laughing.

QuoProQuid posted:

Do we know Homelander saved the baby or is it a super, explosion-proof baby?

I'm willing to entertain the possibility that the baby has some latent teleportation powers. Let's see where they go with it.

# ¿ Sep 14, 2020 03:57

Mat Cauthon: Jan 2, 2006; The more tragic things get,
the more I feel like laughing.

thrawn527 posted:

So, on a different topic, dude who could regenerate his body parts, he had an eye patch? Said something about an experiment they were doing? I thought he regenerated nearly instantly? At least, that's what happened with his arm. Could Vought be experimenting with something that suppresses powers?

Also, I missed why Mallory sent them to look into Liberty in the first place. Does she have some inkling that she's resurfaced?

A regenerating Supe would be very useful for a lot of practical applications, I can't imagine that dude's worklife is pleasant. Plot reasons aside I don't even understand why Vought lets him wander around freely outside of work hours. In real life he'd be in as many literal pieces as they could keep viable in a lab somewhere.

Mallory seems to been on the Supe hater angle for a while, maybe she just had an inkling when Stormfront showed up. It seems like Liberty just disappeared in the 70's, so it might be that she's a cold case that got reopened.

As Nero Danced posted:

I remember watching the movie they made in 1988 so it isn't a stretch for her new persona to supposedly grow up watching it too.

For whatever reason they used to run this movie constantly on HBO, I think I've seen it like 100 times.

Edit: Promo for episode 5 is making the rounds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVF-cgKP52M

Mat Cauthon fucked around with this message at 15:00 on Sep 14, 2020

# ¿ Sep 14, 2020 14:52

Mat Cauthon: Jan 2, 2006; The more tragic things get,
the more I feel like laughing.

Wild T posted:

Regarding Butcher in the most recent episode: was I the only one half-expecting Butcher to murder Becca? They lingered on his crowbar very deliberately when he was packing his gear. Having his decade-long crusade fall apart in front of him and getting rejected by Becca -- for a SUPE kid -- would be enough to snap him. After all, he's just as obsessive and drat near as volatile as Homelander except without powers and the lack of accountability that came with them.

He's going to beat someone to death with that crowbar.

Nah. Becca knows Butcher better than he knows himself and if she thought for a second he was capable of that she would've triggered the Vought alarm.

If the showrunners are smart we'll get to see more of her independent of Butcher and Homelander, because she's probably the most interesting character on the show. She has been thrown into a completely hosed up, nigh unwinnable situation and still risen to the occasion when everyone else involved is just spiraling into their own agendas, insecurities, and neuroses. No doubt that she has a plan for her and Kid HL that doesn't result in him being just another superpowered Vought pawn with mental issues and I hope the show lets us see that, as well as giving more insight into her struggle and perspective.

# ¿ Sep 14, 2020 16:59

Mat Cauthon: Jan 2, 2006; The more tragic things get,
the more I feel like laughing.

davidspackage posted:

Really liked this shot of Homelander. Not only did he look evil as hell with the black eyesockets (looked more dramatic on my TV than on my laptop here), but it also struck me as very comic booky, like something from Mignola.

That's some great shot composition.

# ¿ Sep 14, 2020 22:43

Mat Cauthon: Jan 2, 2006; The more tragic things get,
the more I feel like laughing.

Collateral posted:

What is Becca basing her assertion that Billy is a violent man on? The only history we have been given of him is as a pretty normal dude who goes off the rails (or rather is taken off the rails, turned into a bullet and fired at Homelander) after she is attacked and disappears. Otherwise they are normal happy people, just childless. Mallory and Butcher both agree that she turned him into what he is, something she regrets. Did Vought keep her updated on his fall? This history seems taken wholesale from the comics and grafted onto season 2, and ignores practically all the history we are given from season 1.

I could understand her rejecting him for his now supehating rageman persona to protect her son, but that he has always been like this? wtf

Also I am perhaps detecting that Stormfront may have some problematic beliefs but I think we should wait for more evidence that she is a bad person....

From the wiki article:

"Billy Butcher, the leader of the Boys and a former SAS operative who distrusts all individuals with superpowers."

Presumably his wife knows that he is ex-military and even in the flashbacks we've seen he's kind of a gruff guy, doesn't seem like it would be hard for Becca to assess that he's got some violent tendencies. He wasn't recruited by Mallory just because he had a grudge - he also has useful training, skills, and the sort of issues that would make go after supes even though doing so is basically a suicide mission.

# ¿ Sep 15, 2020 21:40

Mat Cauthon: Jan 2, 2006; The more tragic things get,
the more I feel like laughing.

moist turtleneck posted:

https://i.imgur.com/q91g7si.gifv

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cR9lLzhy4g

# ¿ Sep 17, 2020 23:21

Mat Cauthon: Jan 2, 2006; The more tragic things get,
the more I feel like laughing.

BurritoJustice posted:

Starlight needed to use his cars electricity to cauterize Hughies wound. This would have immediately blown her cover. Additionally, the dude could've recognised Butcher during the car ride.

Taking the lift wasn't an option. Hughie probably would've died on the trip.

Also while the whole situation was hosed I found the irony of one concealed carry owner would jump to conclusions about another. Sorta feeds into the feeling America gives where every gun owner thinks they're the one good one, at least from a foreigners perspective

Yeah it was definitely a riff on American gun culture and the assumption that "the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun", the hosed nature of SYG laws, etc. But it also demonstrated that Starlight is on a slippery slope as much as anyone else in Butcher's orbit - not only because of him provoking their proclivity towards violence to save those they care about (obviously an running theme in his interactions with the Boys and something that got inverted on him when he tried to spring Becca and Kid HL) but also how charming and congenial he can be when he wants to (the nice little bonding moment between him and Starlight in the hospital). The latter didn't read as romantic to me at all, it was obviously Butcher's big brother like affection for Hughie coming through and Starlight needing to connect to someone in a human way to recenter herself after murking a dude.

Speaking of, Starlight is super strong right? She manhandled Hughie in S1 like it was nothing when he confessed to her in Central Park and she can obviously take a bullet, so I was expecting her to just grab the guy and stuff him in the trunk or something, not go full lite brite on him. Heat of the moment I suppose.

Good episode overall. I loved the moment between Butcher and Kimiko watching the Stormfront & Homelander promo thing, really dug the background on Frenchie as well as his interactions with Kimiko, Homelander acting like a latent incel who falls bass ackwards into a relationship (with the attendant high school shooter-esque breakdown), Iceman was great in his supporting stuff, just great stuff all around. I didn't really buy A-train getting duped into the cult - feels like he's smart enough to see where that goes and even if he is broke it's better to be broke and free than beholden to loonies. Curious to see how that plays out. Maeve's storyline felt very rushed, probably could've used another episode or two to establish her and Elena navigating their sudden public relationship before dropping the bomb like that.

If Stormfront and Homelander are going along with their supe army plan, then it makes sense that Edgar would let the Boys run around and also let Starlight help them - there's no way he doesn't know about what both sides are up to and setting up the Boys as terrorists who are good at either killing or flipping supes could give Vought more leverage to ramp up supe production. Speaking of which, there are supposed to be supe terrorists all over the world, what happened with that plotline? We've seen 3 (the Middle Eastern exploding guy, Kimiko's brother, and the African guy that HL lasered) but I imagine there would be more than just Maeve and Black Noir can clean up alone.

Mat Cauthon fucked around with this message at 02:37 on Sep 27, 2020

# ¿ Sep 27, 2020 02:34

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# ¿ Apr 25, 2024 17:34

Mat Cauthon: Jan 2, 2006; The more tragic things get,
the more I feel like laughing.

GoGoGadgetChris posted:

Who are Serge and Kimmy?

Frenchie and Kimiko.

# ¿ Sep 27, 2020 04:35

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > TV IV > The Boys / GEN V Discussion

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