Review (not short) of Amazon's "The Boys"
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Steve Timko
Aug 25, 2019, 5:24:13 PM8/25/19
to TV or Not TV
“The Boys” is another take on the dark side of superheroes. I wasn’t sure I would like the Amazon series, but I can say the series seems especially relevant in the Trump era. The comic on which it is based first came out in the George W. Bush era and I don’t know how true the series is to the original. But the image of deeply flawed people in position of power especially resonated with me.
The story is essentially built around Hughie, who loses his girlfriend to a superhero, and Starlight, a corn-fed Midwest blonde who becomes the Newest Member of The Seven, a crime-fight group of vigilantes for hire from a corporation called Vaught.
Billy Butcher is a mysterious man who recruits Hughie to help take down the Seven, who are managed by Madelyn Stilwell. The top superhero is Homelander, who has an odd relationship with Stilwell.
Starlight is sexually harassed by another superhero, which helps introduce viewers to the dark side of superheroes. In fact, being a full blown perv is common among men and women superheroes, as one faded superhero’s climax turns fatal for her partner.
Amazon’s “The Tick” dealt a little bit with this issue of the dark side of heroes as a villain successfully poses as a hero. Here’s one advantage “The Tick” has over “The Boys.” Griffin Newman’s nebbish Arthur Everest was likable. You rooted for him to do well. Despite “The Boys” half dozen episodes, I never warmed to Jack Quaid’s Hughie. Just a whiner. Not sympathetic.
Most of the other performances were excellent. Both Anthony Starr as Homelander and Elisabeth Shue as Stilwell knocked it out of the park. For Starr, a gimmick they use several times is him being vain and angry when he’s out of the public eye and then instantly switches on the superhero charm when the camera turns on or he steps into the limelight. Shue is an interesting mix of hot MILF and savvy executive. She delivers the business jargon like she’s spent decades crawling up a corporate ladder.
Karl Urban plays Butcher. This is my own flaw, but when he gets mean or tough I think, “Dr. McCoy wouldn’t do that! That’s not Bones!” I think most people would like his performance.
The series is a mix of action and humor, both dark and laugh-out-loud funny. And it has lots of surprises.
As a journalist, I’ve seen politicians up close and very few are truly good guys. But even villains are capable of doing good. I grew up in rural Nevada and sort of keep my ear to the ground on rural Nevada politicians. There was a state legislator representing rural Nevada who was a complete sellout to two special interest groups who made sure he had plenty of money for his re-election campaigns (rural legislators are cheaper than urban, even though they represent about the same number of people). He campaigned by pushing anti-gun control issues. He got rural Nevada voters whipped into a froth because college students couldn’t carry guns on campus. This was after two students were raped on campus and one was kidnapped from a home near campus and raped and murdered. All by the same guy. This legislator wouldn’t lift a finger to help school officials with rural school funding. Rural school officials had to go hat in hand to a couple of sympathetic Reno legislators, who were liberal on the political spectrum. But to the rural Nevada voters the liberal legislators were the enemy and the pro-gun legislator who wants to arm college students was the hero. Watching “The Boys” reminded me how much heroes are fictional creations based on flawed perceptions of our needs (Kim Kardashian, et al).
Two quick notes. When I’m bored, I will come up with plots for fictional stories. I had a plot for a superhero story satire airliner rescue and it was basically cloned in “The Boys.” I liked the version in “The Boys,” but I like my version better. Also, I have an idea for a detective novel and it ends similarly to “The Boys.” So if I ever get my act together and write the book, know that I had the idea before it showed up in “The Boys.”
The story is essentially built around Hughie, who loses his girlfriend to a superhero, and Starlight, a corn-fed Midwest blonde who becomes the Newest Member of The Seven, a crime-fight group of vigilantes for hire from a corporation called Vaught.
Billy Butcher is a mysterious man who recruits Hughie to help take down the Seven, who are managed by Madelyn Stilwell. The top superhero is Homelander, who has an odd relationship with Stilwell.
Starlight is sexually harassed by another superhero, which helps introduce viewers to the dark side of superheroes. In fact, being a full blown perv is common among men and women superheroes, as one faded superhero’s climax turns fatal for her partner.
Amazon’s “The Tick” dealt a little bit with this issue of the dark side of heroes as a villain successfully poses as a hero. Here’s one advantage “The Tick” has over “The Boys.” Griffin Newman’s nebbish Arthur Everest was likable. You rooted for him to do well. Despite “The Boys” half dozen episodes, I never warmed to Jack Quaid’s Hughie. Just a whiner. Not sympathetic.
Most of the other performances were excellent. Both Anthony Starr as Homelander and Elisabeth Shue as Stilwell knocked it out of the park. For Starr, a gimmick they use several times is him being vain and angry when he’s out of the public eye and then instantly switches on the superhero charm when the camera turns on or he steps into the limelight. Shue is an interesting mix of hot MILF and savvy executive. She delivers the business jargon like she’s spent decades crawling up a corporate ladder.
Karl Urban plays Butcher. This is my own flaw, but when he gets mean or tough I think, “Dr. McCoy wouldn’t do that! That’s not Bones!” I think most people would like his performance.
The series is a mix of action and humor, both dark and laugh-out-loud funny. And it has lots of surprises.
As a journalist, I’ve seen politicians up close and very few are truly good guys. But even villains are capable of doing good. I grew up in rural Nevada and sort of keep my ear to the ground on rural Nevada politicians. There was a state legislator representing rural Nevada who was a complete sellout to two special interest groups who made sure he had plenty of money for his re-election campaigns (rural legislators are cheaper than urban, even though they represent about the same number of people). He campaigned by pushing anti-gun control issues. He got rural Nevada voters whipped into a froth because college students couldn’t carry guns on campus. This was after two students were raped on campus and one was kidnapped from a home near campus and raped and murdered. All by the same guy. This legislator wouldn’t lift a finger to help school officials with rural school funding. Rural school officials had to go hat in hand to a couple of sympathetic Reno legislators, who were liberal on the political spectrum. But to the rural Nevada voters the liberal legislators were the enemy and the pro-gun legislator who wants to arm college students was the hero. Watching “The Boys” reminded me how much heroes are fictional creations based on flawed perceptions of our needs (Kim Kardashian, et al).
Two quick notes. When I’m bored, I will come up with plots for fictional stories. I had a plot for a superhero story satire airliner rescue and it was basically cloned in “The Boys.” I liked the version in “The Boys,” but I like my version better. Also, I have an idea for a detective novel and it ends similarly to “The Boys.” So if I ever get my act together and write the book, know that I had the idea before it showed up in “The Boys.”
Bob Jersey
Mar 14, 2022, 1:07:42 PM3/14/22
to TVorNotTV
They're already up to a third season, with "Supernatural" alum Jensen Ackles on board as "Soldier Boy"... their showrunner Eric Kripke and cast previewed it at SXSW, including a teeeeeaser 'toobed in this THR piece... https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/the-boys-season-3-teaser-trailer-1235109573/ (link)
B
Steve Timko, in part, Aug 25th 2019:
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