The Boys (Amazon)

[DaneMcCloud]

Well, I backtracked and decided to watch the first five episodes of this season.

I never read the comics nor did I know anything about the story arc but I have to say, I've found this season to be fairly boring and unnecessary. Maybe the final three episodes will change the overall direction but I'm not counting on it. I actually liked Season 2 of "The Umbrella Academy" way better than Season 2 of "The Boys", at least so far.

Spoiler!

Huey and Starlighter exposed Compound V early on, Butcher's wife wants to remain with her child while Kimiko is seeking revenge.

IMO, this could have been an epilogue to Season 1 and I wouldn't have spent 5 hours watching this onscreen. Unless something super unexpected and cool happens by the season finale, I have no reason to watch a Season 3, as everyone's motivation for exposing the Supes has been satisfied.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

Well, I backtracked and decided to watch the first five episodes of this season.

I never read the comics nor did I know anything about the story arc but I have to say, I've found this season to be fairly boring and unnecessary. Maybe the final three episodes will change the overall direction but I'm not counting on it. I actually liked Season 2 of "The Umbrella Academy" way better than Season 2 of "The Boys", at least so far.

Spoiler!

Huey and Starlighter exposed Compound V early on, Butcher's wife wants to remain with her child while Kimiko is seeking revenge.

IMO, this could have been an epilogue to Season 1 and I wouldn't have spent 5 hours watching this onscreen. Unless something super unexpected and cool happens by the season finale, I have no reason to watch a Season 3, as everyone's motivation for exposing the Supes has been satisfied.

Spoiler!

w/r/t Butcher - eh...maybe. But now Homelander will always be the guy that ruined his life. Maybe if he could've somehow gotten clear of all that and taken his wife/son and lived happily ever after, he could've been content.

But once the boy was a 'supe' in his own right, Butcher's only hope was that his wife would abandon the boy and come with him. They could go on their merry way. When that didn't happen (and clearly won't), his only remaining path forward is to destroy Homelander. It's the only thing that could approximate 'satisfaction' in his world.

Huey's motivations are now obviously centered on Starlight. His splattered girlfriend ended up in his rearview some time ago.

And the whole gang writ large obviously is looking to be somehow absolved of any legal entanglements so that's what MM and Frenchie (and obviously Huey) will continue to be working towards along various paths

If you view the supe exposure as more of a catalyst to the story going forward than a finish line, I think you're closer to where they're trying to take the story.

But like you, I haven't read the source material.

I think ultimately it's a "It's not the destination, but the journey" sort of thing. There's been plenty of pure entertainment value in the episodes thus far even if there hasn't been an overwhelming amount of plot advancement.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

I think ultimately it's a "It's not the destination, but the journey" sort of thing. There's been plenty of pure entertainment value in the episodes thus far even if there hasn't been an overwhelming amount of plot advancement.

I think the comparison for me is Better Call Saul. Those of us that watched every episode of Breaking Bad knew Saul Goodman but the beauty of BCS is that we get to see how Jimmy became Saul Goodman. And while it often moves at a snail's pace and becomes tedious at times (as did the brilliant Mad Men), there's great interest in seeing that final transformation into the guy we all knew (and some of us loved), which is the great motivator to continue watching.

With The Boys, and to the same extent for me, The Umbrella Academy, I often find myself asking the question "Why am I watching this show?".

There's no doubt there have been some fantastic moments for each series but it just feels like I'm watching just to see what happens, not so much because of anticipation set up by the story arc or because I am just so engaged by the acting, direction and/or score. Nope, the main reason I continue to watch is because I've invested X amount of hours to see where it goes, mostly because other people think it's "good".

I guess in short, it's kind of a weird reason to be watching a program in which I don't really care about the characters much, especially when their initial motivations have been resolved.

I'm sure I'll watch the final three episodes but just like TUA, I have no real excitement or anticipation about additional seasons.