Gen V (1×04) The Whole Truth Review

For our spoiler-free review of the first three episodes of Gen V, click here.

Though Gen V may offer a different premise than The Boys, it retains much of that same edge. Quickly introducing the characters and their dynamic while setting up the world around them, the main takeaway is that something bad is going on behind the scenes of Goldokin University in a facility known as “The Woods.” Though those first three episodes could have taken more time to offer more character development. As this episode dove deeper into the proverbial woods, it was perhaps not as wild but it found time for some development.

The explosive death of Luke/Golden Boy created a firestorm for the university and Vought and it appeared to all be connected as the cover-up was on. Meanwhile, Luke’s powerful younger brother Sam (Asa Germann) was revealed to be held captive in The Woods and whose latest attempt to escape was thwarted by Marie, Andre, and Jordan, whose did not know his real identity at the time. Wanting to honor Luke’s memory and making sure he did not die in vain, it was up to Marie, Andre, Jordan, and Cate to expose The Woods and whoever was involved with it and also save whoever else was held captive there.

The first step was to save Sam and that was where the last episode ended as Emma was left in a precarious position after the guards started to circle in. Using her powers to sneak into his cell, the two struck up quite the relationship in a short period of time and it only continued to grow here. However, super detective Tek Knight (Derek Wilson), star of his hit series on Vought+, The Whole Truth, threatened to turn everything upside down. However ridiculous and cocky he may be, he was just as menacing while his detecting powers were no joke. Not very much can get by him. Those who he has targeted in the past have historically not fared well. Where he stood was clear but where he was ultimately going to take his investigation remained to be seen. That being said, his methods sure had a knack for rubbing people the wrong way. In the end, that’s what made Dean Shetty (Shelley Conn) getting the upper hand on him that much more satisfying.

While the Tek Knight stuff made for a nice distraction, the real development was the full extent of Sam’s fragile psyche. Abandonment issues were a given but the voices and hallucinations, for which the manifestations here were kind of entertaining, looked to send him further down the wrong path. As a result, the logical solution to him was to go back to the person he believed to be responsible for his current condition, Dr. Edison Cardosa (Marco Pigossi). The climax of the episode saw the rest of the group intercept Sam to try to reign him in. An abrupt and confusing shift at the end makes it unclear as to whether or not they were successful.

The performances carried the first three episodes and this was still the case here as this episode leaned more on the characters to carry it through, The stellar chemistry between the young cast is a blast to watch but in particular, the standouts in this episode were Broadway and Germann with the latter delivering a strong performance as the spiraling Sam. Wilson as the over-the-top Tek Knight is worth mentioning for the entertainment value of his performance within his short screentime.

At the end of the day, The Whole Truth is an entertaining episode that takes a step back to move forward as it leans on the chemistry of its young cast to carry it through.

still courtesy of Amazon Studios

If you liked this, please read our other reviews here and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter or Instagram or like us on Facebook.

Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.