Gen V: Trojan

 "Thanks for the level up, asshole."

Wow. That's how you do a finale. Just ramping up the tension, with Godolkin's murderously Darwinian student auditions also functioning as a way for him to level up his powers so he can finally control Marie, leading to a truly thrilling climax with Marie and her friends vs. Godolkin, showing the power of the collective over the individual... although the way everyone sneaked into there was, yeah...

There's a lot of good character stuff too, though. Emma and Marie bonding over how damaged they both are from past trauma. Marie apologising and healing Cate, showing absolute trust. Jordan forgiving Marie, and dumping her, in one breath. Doug (whose experience with "Cipher" has been truly existential horror) bonding with Polarity over admiration for his late son. Godolkin's joy at being able to eat, drink, have sex and just feel again. Sage's vulnerability when asking him to live with her. Polarity's extraordinary growth as a character.

Godolkin is, of course, a monster. Yet, fascinatingly, his ultimate target is indeed Homelander, whose far right, MAGA-tinged, mentally unstable nonsense he sees as "mediocre"- a reminder that, by and large, those with far right views are not exactly ubermensch.

And the ending, with Starlight, A-Train and the gang joining the resistance just in time for the concluding season of The Boys? Uplifting and magnificent. Here's hoping they all appear, and we haven't seen the last of them.

And yes, The Boys will be replacing Gen V for the blog in this "slot". 

 

Gen V: Hell Week

 "It may be time for a very big sacrifice...."

Before I turn to any of the many bombshells in this extraordinarily gripping and eventful penultimate episode, let us briefly turn to that scene, and yes, you know which one I mean. America, just bleeding well lower your drinking age, instal bars in all your university campuses so people can drink without joining weird cults... and then just ban this freaky "Greek life" nonsense, m'kay?

Brilliant effect, mind. Poor Hemple, though. His last few hours on Earth are like that.

Anyway, this episode does a superb job of getting everyone in place for the big finale, and building up the excitement. Some nice character moments, though- after not impressing me last episode, Annabeth impressed me here with her concern for her sister, which is good writing- the reconciliation between her and Marie has to feel earned. And having seen her parents' death in advance? Ouch!

Marie means well, to be the big hero- however counter-productively, as we'll see- but her morals are very "ends justify the means" here. Understandably she's reluctant to heal Cate, given what her power is, but is, in her desperation, willing to do so if Cate will tell the others to keep away. In refusing, because of her promise never to control her friends, Cate arguably shows more moral integrity in that moment.

Then there's her curing of a newly assertive Polarity- who comes across here as newly confident, wise and self-aware. His understanding and forgiveness of Cate over Andre's death is a powerful moment. 

But (SPOILERS!) that ending packs a punch. There never was a Cipher, just Godolkin using a poor randomer's body while keeping his own elderly body in his basement. The perfect twist to a perfect episode... 

 

Gen V: Cooking Lessons

 "They tell me Mark Zuckerberg has a lesser version..."

Wow. Where to start with this rather eventful bit of telly? Probably by admitting that Cipher was never, in fact, secretly a well-meaning rival to Homelander with ends-justify-the-means methods but sound aims. Far from it. As Stan Edgar puts it, he's a supe supremacist- "Vought uber alles", indeed. And this plan of his, related to Polarity, to cull the God U student population by 75% as some crazed Darwinian exercise? Yeah...

As the gang struggle with being on the run, we have so much character stuff. There's Emma and Sam sort of starting to reconnect, now that Sam has started to heal, take his meds properly and get sorted out. But, as the episode reminds us, there's a potential triangle with Greg. But the big focus is on Marie adjusting to the enormity of what she's capable of- literally resurrecting her sister! Annabeth is not easy to like here, with her attitude to Marie who, after all, cannot fairly be blamed for their parents' death, an event over which she had no meaningful level of control. I'll be honest: we know and like Marie, and Annabeth doesn't come across as at all likeable here. But her reactions are nonetheless realistic, and there are possible tentative signs towards reconciliation.

And then, catastrophe: Cipher discovers their locations through, among other things, controlling and thus violating Polarity... cue Vikor's arrival and seemingly no hope. So it's something of a surprise when the late Victoria Neuman's daughter turns up to behead him with splendid gruesomeness. Cue Stan Edgar, the mother of all nuclear war bunkers, a scene with Stan cooking that (deliberately?) echoes another of Giancarlo Esposito's roles from Better Call Saul, and the best type of exposition: the long-awaited kind.

So the Odessa program wasn't started by Cipher but by Thomas Godolphin, way back when- Cipher only brought it back again after it had been seen to fail, with so many deaths. It was intended to create truly godlike supes, and only two subjects survived, namely Homelander... and Marie. This is, to put it mildly, quite the bombshell. I like Marie's horror at the comparison here. But, as Edgar rightly states, Homelander is a "gaping abyss of deep need and sociopathy", whereas Marie is a decent human being. 

One wonders what the full extent of Edgar's intentions are here. He means to take back control of Vought, to get rid of Homelander... what else? But there's one further spanner in the works: that old man that Cipher has, could it be Godolkin?

We end with Polarity, from a hopeless position, seemingly succeeding in killing Cipher. And in Marie walking away. Wow. The tail end of this season is one thing after another, and I'm loving it. 

Gen V: The Kids Are Not All Right

 "I saw my first vagina here."

"Ok. Thanks for that."

"You're welcome."

Wow. This episode took several unexpected turns. Yet it has us asking so many questions about Cipher. What does he want? Why does Marie's potential mean so much to him? Is Jordan right that he's in so much pain? What's going on with his dad, and all the hardcore carer stuff he does? He's sleeping with Sage, but what are he and his genius lover planning? He certainly doesn't seem to have Homelander's welfare in mind.

It's likely he manipulates everything for Marie, Jordan and Emma, sending Cate to Elmira as scapegoat as a blatant trap for the three of them, who are obviously going to spring them. It feels inevitable that they're all going to end up in that hellhole, and so it comes to pass. But there are so many nuances here. There's the shock of how Cate is treated when she arrived, her wig and fake forearm being removed. There's her genuine surprise and appreciation at what the others did for.

But... what Cipher pulls with Annabeth to manipulate Marie? Wow. And did Marie resurrect her? 

The scenes with Sam and his parents are nicely done too. At first it seems as though he's going to inevitably end up lashing out and killing them- but that gets subverted, and instead he learns a truth about who he is: his instability isn't Compound V, it's just genes.

This episode is... mad. This season feels as though anything can happen. The fact that we're kept guessing about Cipher just makes everything feel charged and exciting. And Hamish Linklater is literally acting his face off. 

Gen V: H Is for Human

 "Well, you kind of get used to the public nudity stuff..."

I only know of Olivia Rodrigo from Little Miss Llamastrangler, but damn, this middle aged rocker has to admit that the song they play at the start is daaaaamn good, a bit heavy with good vocals and some good, old-fashioned teenage angst.

The worldbuilding continues to be great here, in all sorts of subtle ways. The insidious "Avenue V" kids programme, indeed best enjoyed via the medium of weed. The poor young human lady working at the coffee bar, subjected to constant abuse and trauma because of the flyers put there by unthinking Starlighters who, ironically, haven't stopped to check their supe privilege. And, of course, the decision to hush up the real perpetrators of the attack on Cate.

But the character stuff continues to be great, too. Cate's realisation that, if her powers don't come back, she's finished. Sam having to actually have his terrible deeds on his conscience now that Cate can no longer just take the bad memories away.

Then we have Marie realising from an "Aunt" (I recognise the actress from Dexter!) that she was conceived in a Vought fertility clinic... and delivered by none other than Cipher. But also, quite rightly, calling out her aunt that she didn't "massacre" her parents, just had her first period, with no agency or control over what would happen, and that she's blameless. A subtle dig there at the Neanderthals who see periods as "unclean"?

So much going on. But the ending, with Jordan telling Marie that they love her back, and then... that ending. Wow... this is how you keep an arc going. Excellent stuff.

Gen V: Justice Never Forgets

"Today, as you are inducted into our sacred brotherhood, our legacy, it would do you well to remember our three trinities: wisdom, honour and dignity. Now take off your pants."

A confession: it's taken me until the second episode of Season Two to work out that "Gen V" is a semi-pun, supposed to rhyme with "Gen Z", as my British brain thinks "Gen Zed" and not "Gen Zee". But I get it now...

Anyway, another top episode. Lots happens, of course, but the worldbuilding is superb, as ever, gloriously skewering MAGA with aplomb as the orange fascist runs amok in the real world. Firecracker's broadcast about Cate is chilling, but not as much as Modesty Monarch, a "trad supe." Brr. And all that Nazi and Klan stuff in the secret room within the archive... this is dark, but that's what MAGA is. And then there's Emma telling Marie, truthfully, that going back to uni and being very, very visible is her only real defence against being disappeared by some supe version of ICE.

We get revelations about Andre, who seemingly suffered from the same condition as his father, hence his death. We have a lovely scene with Marie and Jordan reconciling, mourning, forgiving and reconnecting... literally, and heartwarmingly. We get the Rememberer, a great little character. We get another reminder of how those American frat societies are creepy, weird and deeply, deeply wrong. We get the Deep spouting Lost Cause bollocks.

There are lots of little nuances and, yeah, a bit reveal at the end. But mostly it's the mood, the world, the grim humour and, most of all, the characters.

So what exactly is this with Marie...?

Gen V: New Year, New U

 "Nothing good will come of this..."

Gen V is back, and this time it's a very different status quo following the last season of The Boys. Victoria Neumann is dead and the new, intriguing, sinister dean, "Cypher" seems very much to be a staunchly anti-human "supe supremacist" who hates humans. Lovely. He seems very likely to be this season's Big Bad.

But we begin with a flashback to 1967, the origins of Compound V, and the kind of gore we've come to expect from the, er, Boysverse, if "Boysverse" is a thing...?

The new status quo has Emma and Jordan released, exonerated and back in uni. Marie is on the run. Everybody hates Cate. Andre is still dead. So, you know, all is sweetness and light...

It's all very well done, though, reminding us immediately of the characters and what's going on after all the time that's passed. And lots of hints of the MAGA-tinged dystopia we're in, with Cypher talking of the "deep state" and "race traitors". Plus, of course, the targeting, and paedophile accusations, against Starlight's supporters, which is a key plot point, causing Marie to be found first by Starlight (at first, she's refusing to investigate all these new experiments at uni, but we all know that won't last) and then by Jordan and Emma... and with dramatic results for a desperate, distraught Cate who is, in the end, still loyal to Vought... hence the dramatic ending.

So far, I have very high hopes for this season.

Gen V: Sick

 "In my defence, he was a puppet at the time, so..."

Gen V has been a consistently excellent television programme throughout, but this penultimate episode- pretty much a finale in itself- is a particular triumph. The worldbuilding, the characters, the political subtext, the masterful switching of tone between dark humour, tragedy and emotion, is all done to perfection.

In terms of the characters, there are two main threads here. One concerns Cate, filled with guilt and knowing she has so much work to do if she is to earn back her friends' trust. Even we doubt her motives as she appears to succumb to Shetty's gaslighting, even realising that Shetty genuinely loves her as an adopted daughter. It's a particularly clever piece of misdirection as Cate eventually forces Shetty to reveal the truth- about the genocide virus, about wanting revenge for Homelander's killing of her family on that plane, about the entire uni just being a front for the Woods.And kills her, in a way that is particularly upsetting for Marie.

As for Marie, the episode gives us another bombshell: Marie's benefactor is none other than Victoria Neuman, whose powers are the same as Marie's and how she makes people'sheads explode. Neuman deals with the whole virus thing, making Dr Cardoza's head explode into the bargain... but what's going on with her? What does she actually want? The plot thickens.

Most powerful of all, though, is the reaction of the protesting students towards Neuman, clearly evoking slogans of the real world MAGA extreme right. And Sam, is seems, is in the process of being radicalised into supe supremacism. This is truly heady stuff. Supe genocide vs. supe supremacism, Nazis vs. Nazis...

Gen V: The Whole Truth

 "You have a... a piece of eardrum on your shoulder."

Obviously, this episode is awesome. I mean, it's Gen V. I expect all future blog reviews will probably begin with words to that effect.

This episode is fascinatingly different, though. Despite last episode's... dramatic ending, this episode focuses on a cataluyst thrown into the mix to do things to the characters. A catalyst called Tek Knight, who has Daredevil-like powers to act as a sort of human lie detector, yet he uses said powers just to do a TV show and "investigate" crimes purely to cover up for Vought, "find a patsy and destroy their life". He'sa piece of ****, and spends most of the episode showing this to be true in various ways. His comeuppance, and humiliation, is hilarious.

So much happens, though. Emma and Sam really connect, and are sweetly devoted to each other. Emma is now one of the gang, after spending most of the episode being with Sam in a cute but surely doomed relationship, shows that, like Alice and like Henry Pym, she can grow larger as well as small. I would say wow... but I wasn't expecting Marie to get together with Joranin another cute little relationship between probably the two most decent people in this show.

This show is completely insane. I love it.

Gen V: #ThinkBrink

 "Shall we talk about our intercourse situation?"

The quote isn't even the funniest thing about sex in this episode: that would be Jordan discussing Marie during sex, pausing briefly to climax, and then continuing. It just goes to show how very The Boys this is... like the last scene with Emma shrinking and, you know. Euurgh. Which reminds me of a certain parallel scene from The Boys. Yes, that one.

I'm so impressed by this. The balance between plot, character and world building is perfection. I love how Marie and Emma reconcile, hopefully the start of va beautiful friendship. They are alike in more than having powers that areb metaphors for self harm: both have low self-esteem. Both are made to be useful, Marie forced to parade at the Brink party for the university, having the kind of background that makes rebellion a luxury. Emma, meanwhile, eagerly siezes a chance to be a hero, to be really useful... and is out of her depth. It's sweet that Sam likes her though. Shame about her mum.

It's nice to see Marie open up, and reconcile a bit, with Cate and Jordan: she's not alone in having killed her parents in manifesting her powers: Cate did the same with her little brother. And she has a point. It's not their fault, but the parents who drugged them with Compound V. Jordan's parents, in a nice little metaphor (sometimes an obvious metaphor can work well) for transphobic parenting.

All this is unfolding at a perfect pace. The arcs advance yet the characters breathe. And Andre's dad knows about Sam and the dungeon beneath. Ouch. This is brilliant telly.