The Boys are back for a fun season 2, with just a few minor missteps.
When last we saw The Boys, Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) had learned not only is his wife alive, but she had a child from the raping by Homelander (Antony Starr). That revelation drives a large portion of the season, but not without some detours here and there.
As the season opens, some time has passed and the other members of the team are in hiding with a drug gang as they are all now the most wanted people in the country. Billy has been accused of murdering Madelyn Stillwell (Elisabeth Shue) with nary a mention of what Homelander did to her. You may think this would cause the team a lot of issues throughout the season, but it rarely comes up except here or there. For the most part they move around unhindered by the marks on them.
While the Boys deal with the revelation of supervillains around the world, their goal has shifted more from taking down Vought and the Seven to simply exposing the existence of Compound V to the world. The hope is the fact a company has shot up babies with this super juice will turn everyone against the company and the heroes, but it will be a long road to changing the hearts and minds it seems.
If you can say anything about this second outing for the series it is that nearly everyone gets a chance to grow. Kimiko/the Female (Karen Fukuhara) and Frenchie (Tomer Capon) in particular see a lot of character development, as does Queen Maeve (Dominique McElligott). There are even moments where you feel for Homelander. His narcissism and cruelty appear to be products of his upbringing by a company, and while he realizes this at times, he also doesn’t really display a desire to change.
There is an odd turn, however, for the Deep (Chace Crawford) who falls in with a very thinly veiled parody of the Church of Scientology. It feels more like something for the character to do than any form of actual development for him.
In a series with so many characters already, and major new players in Stormfront (Aya Cash), Becca Butcher (Shantel VanSanten), and her son, having a sub-plot about a church didn’t make a lot of sense. There was a lot of ways the series could have expanded on the Deep without needing to add this element.
Just remember season 3 is coming
We see some storylines get resolved in The Boys season 2, but there is also a lot that doesn’t. There is a constant feeling of, “I bet we see more of this next season” as you watch the season unfold. With the news that it has already been renewed before this season is released, it feels as though that may have been the plan.
If you enjoyed season 1, season 2 is a worthy successor that feels as though it goes through some real development. It’s biggest drawbacks are the church sub-plot and perhaps having just a few too many characters, but they are both issues you can live with.
The Boys season 2 will debut on Sept. 4 with three episodes and then release episodes weekly.
Disclaimer: Amazon provided us with all eight episodes of season 2 for the purposes of this review. We watched the season in its entirety before beginning this review.
