Amazon’s The Boys Season One Review

In the twisted world of The Boys, being superhuman is a business. And business is good.

The Boys, based of the comic sharing the same name, is a series that centers around a group of disgruntled humans fed up with how the world has allowed superheroes to ascend upon a pedestal that has afforded the most popular and well marketed heroes, The Seven (think a Justice League, with a splash of Watchmen), to exercise their powers without penalty or consequence. This behavior includes sexual misconduct, stealing, drug use and murder – all being covered up from the public eye by Vought, the corporation that has turned superheroes into a multi-billion dollar industry. It’s only The Boys that seem to see right through their facade and begin the long journey of exposing their true nature.

While the plot is increasingly interesting, what keeps you coming back for more was the series’ incredibly written characters. From its main protagonist, Hughie Campbell (Jack Quaid), brought into the dark underbelly of the superhero life through the gruesome murder of his girlfriend by a speedster not paying attention, Billy Butcher (Karl Urban), the anti-hero with a dark past that is out for vengeance, Mother’s Milk (Laz Alonso) (yes, that’s his name), and Frenchie (Tomer Capon). All of these characters come together for various reasons but the chemistry that keeps them together despite many indifferences is electric and compelling.

Even better are the members of The Seven, who are deeply flawed characters that appear to be well beyond redemption and yet some undergo a transformation over the course of the season, giving them a glimmer of hope to possibly return to the people they were long before the various sponsorships and merchandising. The Boys handles both the good and bad players with equal importance not leaning towards any one side in particular which provides a well-rounded perspective on the entire story and is not limited to just experiencing it from one angle.

As the season progresses, the characters are showcased further by the pitch black humor permeating through the series which is another attribute making The Boys so unique. The ridiculously colorful language, the use of superbabies as weapons and the many ways superpowers can be exploited are just some of the ways The Boys is able to mine humor from truly inexplicable situations – and the ride could not be more fun! It cannot be stated enough how enjoyable it is to see the exact opposite approach towards comic book heroes that we’ve grown accustomed to over the past decade. It’s unabashed humor is the core that the show is built around and was one of the best aspects of the show as a whole.

The Boys is a must watch for anyone interested on a very different take of the traditional superhero story. It’s not interested in showcasing people getting saved, but instead wants to explore how much money can be made off of the PR generated by those being saved. It’s dirty, unapologetic in its approach and oddly applicable to the business of today.

With The Boys, it was easy to just be in awe at how closely “the business” of being a hero closely mirrors the business of being a celebrity and a brand today.

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Critics w/o Credentials

Trying my best to get all thoughts about TV and Film out of my head and onto the interweb.