The Boys on Amazon Prime, otherwise known as the superhero show for adults, continued to be incredibly entertaining with over-the-top action and violence, but this season raised its game for me with an intriguing arcing storyline.
This season's story did two great things: it made us love to hate Homelander, and it gave us someone to match up with him.
Homelander has been the show's version of Superman since the beginning. As the leader of the Seven, he's basically indestructible. He has cool lasers he can shoot from his eyes, he flies fast, and he super strong. As a superhero, he can be boring, and while he's had funny moments and interesting stories throughout the first two seasons, Homelander's character was put in the spotlight this season. He basically realized no one - not even the corporate HQ - can actually control him. Which led to the evil side of Homelander that we maybe saw tiny hints of here and there. It was fun to see him drop the façade and slowly learn just how much he could get away with and still be loved by the public (this turned into one of 2022's best memes, as well). Homelander definitely made things uncomfortable for Starlight and the rest of the gang, but he didn't seem too bothered by that.
So the only solution? Well, there were two, actually. There's the V24 drug that gave temporary superpowers to whoever consumes it, but not without some risk. Butcher, of course, is the best user of this, and his dislike of Homelander made this story all the more entertaining. The V24 arc felt a little bit like a retread of Season 2, but I wholly enjoyed that storyline then, and I still found it satisfying enough in this situation.
The second - and far more interesting - solution to slowing down Homelander came courtesy of a major conspiracy cover-up-type story that involved going back into the show's history. We discover that the first supe, Soldier Boy, was actually created years ago, and mysteriously disappeared. While the idea itself is predictable and contrived (especially considering it comes in a season when his existence serves the need of the story in the moment), it was executed well - from initial discovery to reveal to the climactic battles themselves. The show did a great job of making me root hard for one side over the other, but the entertainment those clashes produced really made us all winners.
The key role players had rather heart-warming stories that gave them some extra dimension. Butcher decides to go clean - well, cleaner than what he's used to, anyway - because he has a new reason to play the part of role model, at least temporarily. Meanwhile, Hughie and Starlight's relationship was full of drama, but it felt more earned after what they've been through to this point and the challenges they faced this season. Hughie's jealousy was cute, and Starlight's journey felt earned despite some of her moments feeling a little too out of character for her.
I would be remiss if I didn't talk about that "one" episode. Anyone who has watched the show knows exactly which one I'm talking about. I really didn't care for it. It was crude for the sake of being crude; it was the lamest excuse the writers could come up with for justifying some lude scenes that didn't need to be there. Having said that, it proves there is a lot of creativity and an interesting sense of humor within that writing staff.
That episode aside, The Boys continues to be hilariously entertaining, and the story continues to feel relevant and not just some excuse to make cool stuff happen on the screen.