Thursday 2 November 2023

Gen V: Jumanji

 "I fart the star spangled banner!"

I haven't seen the titular film, so no doubt there are all sorts of pop culture references I'm not getting here. Nevertheless... 

The B plot here is so, so sweet. Sex is often played for gross in Gen V and The Boys, but this episode has one of the loveliest sex scenes I've ever seen, as Emma and Sam make love. It's his first time, but Emma is so very understanding and makes it clear that there's no pressure. Bless her.

The rest of the episode, though.... oooh, it's dark. Also structurally clever, of course. How can we get the rest of the gang to give Cate the time of day ever again? By getting trapped in her traumatised psyche and get to understand, if not condone, what she did. Cate has a lot of work to do to even begin to earn back their trust... but it's a start.

We know what Cate did to her brother, but not how her mother proceeded to hide her away, unloved, for nine years, easy prey for Shetty and her bottle of pills. And there are parallels with Jordan who, we now see, made some dodgy decisions in going along with brink, and with Andre, who started sleeping with Cate while Luke was still alive. And then there's the parallels with Marie: her sister's rewaction is utterly heartbreaking.

But Shetty, the doctor, and that supe-killing virus... ouch. We've had two intense and character-based episodes, two superb bits of telly, but I get the feeling a lot is going to happen in these last two episodes.

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