The Boys Season 1 Review

The Boys (2019-)
Season 1 - 9 episodes (2019 July 26)

Watch The Boys with Amazon Prime // Buy the comic
Created by: Eric Kripke, Evan Goldberg, Seth Rogen
Starring: Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Antony Starr, Erin Moriarty, Dominique McElligott, Jessie T. Usher, Laz Alonso, Chace Crawford
Rated: TV-MA
Watch the trailer

Plot
In a world where super heroes are commonplace, they are syndicated, monetized, and marketed by a company called Vought International. Privilege and power have corrupted the super heroes who abuse their powers. A clandestine group of normal human vigilantes arise to counter them.

Verdict
I love the premise. It's a deconstruction of super heroes and the series does a great job with pacing episodes and the overall arc. Super heroes have the celebrity and influence that puts them above everyone else. In this world that power went to their heads. They are above the law and know that. It can be over the top and crude, but that feeds the narrative. Hero worship is misplaced.
There are large questions in play at the end of the first season that aren't resolved, but they are secondary to the main plot.
Watch it.

Review
Based on the comic by the same name, this has already been renewed for a second season.

This premise feels accurate. Super heroes cross boundaries. They are celebrities, influential, and not unlike entertainers. Of course they can also be corrupt. That kind of power gives them ample opportunity for exactly that. The supes in this world are beyond corrupt.

The Seven - Starlight, A-Train, The Deep, Queen Maeve, Black Noir, Homelander, Translucent

This season follows two stories. Starlight is a new recruit of The Seven. The top super hero company, seemingly one of many companies.

Starlight discovers that being a super hero is about public image and increasing your following. The other supes aren't the paragons she revered as a child. Her first interaction with another supe is The Deep who is every male in power thinking he's owed something. Supes are drunk on power, unstoppable and uncontrollable. The Deep is the punching bag of The Seven, the least powerful and frequently inept.

Homelander and his fans.

The leader of The Seven is Homelander. While the character seems off at first, his development is a surprise. With each passing episode we see who he truly is. What the show did with this character is really cool. The facade he uses to fake it with the media isn't just hiding his indifference.

Karl Urban play Billy Butcher.

Hugh is a normal human dealing with a loss caused by a super hero. Eventually Hugh and Starlight's stories merge. Hugh is approach by Billy Butcher who has a vendetta against the supes. Hugh is accidentally roped into that plot because he has access to the supes.

The pacing is great, slowing revealing more information each episode while providing plenty of surprises. Black Noir is one of The Seven that doesn't get much screen time and never speaks. With the tone of this show I was expecting some sort of joke with that, but it never appeared. I did like the Homelander tells Noir he's doing a great job when we've seen him do nothing.

I'm excited for season two. With the prevalence of super hero movies and the cookie cutter plots, this was a welcome subversion.