This post includes spoilers for Season 3 of The Boys.
I wasn’t familiar with The Boys before it first aired on Amazon. It’s based on a comic, because what isn’t these days, and to say it’s cynical is like saying BTS is popular. Accurate, but doesn’t really do it justice. The Boys is the world of superheroes seen through a jaded — and it must be said, realistic — lens, and as a result, it’s often incredibly nasty. Here’s an example from the funnier end of the nasty spectrum: normal guy Hughie is talking to his girlfriend out on the street, when suddenly she explodes in a shower of blood and flesh, leaving him holding her now dismembered hands. Superfast superhero A-train, high on a drug called Compound V, has run straight through her, disintegrating her as surely as if she’d stepped in front of his namesake. At the other end of the spectrum is something that happens in Episode 3 of Season 3, and it has me wondering if I’m willing to keep watching.
The nastiness of The Boys is sometimes used for a tension-breaking laugh, other times purely for shock value, and still other times to showcase immense cruelty. The cruelty is not without point; it’s to illustrate imbalances of power. There’s all kinds of power on display in The Boys: a threat from a supe who could kill you with a thought; a command from a parent that a young child feels forced to obey; an object of sexual desire using that to achieve their goals. Just because the world has superpowered people doesn’t mean it’s less ugly than it would be without them, says The Boys — quite the opposite. Indeed, dealing with supes just makes increases the scope and visibility of it.
The Boys’ nihilism is a singularity that sucks in everything around it, with every shred of decency, light, and joy seemingly falling victim to its gravitational pull. And yet, it’s so smartly written that I’ve really enjoyed it, despite how uncomfortable it often made me. It’s not just that bad things happen in The Boys, it’s that bad, recognizable things happen. The Deep sexually assaulting new recruit Starlight because he knows he can get away with it? Yep, that’s exactly what would happen. Don’t even get me started on Season 2, where Stormfront used modern alt-right tactics to win public opinion over to her literal Nazi agenda. (I had to walk away from the TV more than once during that season because it was too familiar, but man, was the outcome of that storyline particularly cathartic.)
The main antagonist of the show, the made-in-a-lab superhero Homelander, who’s bulletproof, can fly, has superhuman strength and hearing, and can even shoot lasers from his eyes. He’s what you get if Superman was raised by a corporation rather than a lovely couple from Kansas. He is twisted, lonely, and inevitably sociopathic. How can he possibly feel empathy for those around him? They’re ants by comparison. Stupid ants, even, who fail to recognize his godhood and give him his due. What makes Homelander interesting is that…he’s right, or at least not entirely wrong. He is exactly what he was created to be, and yet people keep trying to prevent him from doing what he was created to do. His frustration is understandable. Would he be a different person if he had grown up with friends rather than handlers? Almost certainly, but that ship has sailed. He is, in many ways, still a child, in that what he does more than anything else is want. He wants attention, validation, control, love, and recognition, and he wants it all on his terms. And as an indestructible superhuman who’s the adored face of a hugely profitable megacorporation, he has the power to get it, a fact he delights in reminding everyone around him.
If it weren’t for the mind-blowing performance of Antony Starr, The Boys would be unwatchable. He’s mesmerizing and pitiful, terrifying and tragic. If you couldn’t see the gears at work behind every awful thing Homelander did, he’d simply be a cartoonishly evil monster of a man. Thanks to Starr’s deft touch, Homelander is a force of nature from which it is nearly impossible to look away.
But I kicked this all off by saying I just might have to, didn’t I? So what finally did it? What was the event that possibly pushed my humanity a tad too far for me to consider it entertaining? Well, it involves Homelander, of course, because he’s at the center of every terrible thing that happens on The Boys, and a celebratory dinner with The Deep.
The Deep was kicked out The Boys’ version of The Avengers, The Seven, for what he did to Starlight, and his attempt to get back into the group has been a side-plot for the entire show. The Deep is an Aquaman knock-off: he can speak to sealife and breathe underwater. This is normally played for “his power isn’t really useful” chuckles to minor effect, but in Episode 3, it’s instead leveraged as a backdrop for yet another power struggle. Homelander has manipulated circumstances for The Deep to rejoin The Seven and has invited him and his wife to dinner to celebrate. Homelander sets up a seafood feast, which is immediately discomfiting to Deep, a fact everyone else at the table ignores. A dick move, sure, but surely something Deep has dealt with before. But then comes the coup de grace: Homelander serves up a live octopus on a plate and commands Deep to eat it. Deep knows this octopus. His name is Timothy. Squirming on the plate, eyes seeming to plead for mercy, Timothy is begging for his life, Deep says. Deep’s distressed and refuses, but eventually gives in: He knows this is the price he’s going to have to pay to have a chance at regaining his status. It’s a sick scenario, and one fully in keeping everything that’s been established for these characters, but The Boys takes the unpleasantness further. Even as he starts to shove Timothy into his mouth, Deep continues to translate: Timothy is praying. And then Deep swallows.
Now, don’t get me wrong: I’m fine with Homelander torturing Deep. Deep is a rapist who cares about being a hero only insomuch as it will get him things: money, fame, women, whatever. But as a viewer, I didn’t need to experience a terrified, innocent creature’s final thoughts third-hand in order to appreciate Homelander reminding The Deep of who’s really in charge. Is it stupid to be upset about a CGI octopus’ feelings when so many other genuinely awful things happen in the show? I don’t know, maybe. Except it’s not really about Timothy, but the all-too-recognizable innocent he represents. A pawn in a game being played by people obsessed with power, money, fame, and themselves.
Of course, the fact that it upsets me so much is the entire point of the scene. The fact that I do care about a CGI octopus means the writers and actors did their job. It’s a testament to the overall craftsmanship of the show. It’s The Boys doing exactly what it was created to do. So I don’t blame it, but I’m also not sure I want to forgive it.
Excellent overview of the show's dark heart. The 'he's praying ' bit got me in the feels as well. I think the show's last 2 series were excellent, but I am struggling with the sharp increase in the gore & cruelty factor this season. No mean feat, considering its worst moments in Seasons 1 & 2 were already pretty hard to watch. Termite's snuff porno-sneeze-plosion may rank as the most 'What the fuck?' thing I 've ever seen on tv. & then the Deep's book is called 'Not Without My Dolphin' & I laugh so hard I forgive the show its worse transgressions. The plot is dragging a little bit imo this season which makes the gruesome bits harder to stomach, but I'm hoping we get some interesting payoff from the Black Noir/Homelander storylines. And yes, Antony Starr is amazing. To give it its due, I must say there isn't really anything else like it on tv atm.