‘The Boys Season 3 Episodes 1-3’ Review: The Boys Are Back As Outrageous As Ever
Amazon has been able to create its own universe of superheroes rights on its platform. Unlike Marvel, or DC, Amazon has chosen to go with the adult audience for these types of shows. And it feels like shows like Invincible, and of course, The Boys, have been able to create their own audience and distinguish themselves from the pack of other studios. These superhero stories are different yet familiar, and that is the sole reason why, for example, The Boys remains competitive.
When the first season was released way back in 2019, The Boys made ways thanks to its black humor, and its disregard for being controversial. The show doesn’t really shy away from the violence that would generate the fact of having people with superpowers in the real world. The Boys, of course, goes the extra mile to be controversial and challenging to some extent. However, the question has always been if The Boys will be able to maintain the excitement by using the same formula over and over again.
The Boys is a TV show developed by Eric Kripke for Amazon Prime Video. The show is based on the comic book by Garth Ennis, and stars Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Antony Starr, Erin Moriarty, and Laz Alonso. In this third season of the show, The Boys must face an ever more delirious Homelander, who has made his mission being free from the grasps of the Voidt Corporation. To do it, Butcher will gain superpowers thanks to the V-Compound, and the line between both rivals will become even fuzzier than ever before.
The Boys Season Three brings with it everything that you know and love about the show. The huge amounts of gore are still there, and from its opening sequence, the show makes it very clear that they are here to break every rule and challenge every convention. For some people, the show might be going too far in terms of gore, sex, and profanity, but those who enjoy the outrageous nature of the story will find that season three is just more of the same.
More of the same can be both good and bad, though, because while you give people exactly what they have enjoyed before, and stands to reason that they will enjoy it again. It also means that the show might not be able to progress its story and characters and the best way possible. A lot of time is spent running around the same conflicts as in past seasons, Butcher’s rage, Homelander’s megalomania, Hughie’s insecurities, and Starlight’s ambitions. We have seen it all before, and here we see it again.
The core cast of characters is charismatic enough though that you can pass the fact that the season feels a bit pointless in terms of how this is creating a path towards an ending. A great part of the season is spent just wandering around the characters as they try to make decisions for their own benefit. But the bigger picture seems to be buried six feet under, and not many people are willing to revive it. Focusing on characters is great, However, a better balance with the plot would be appreciated.
Antony Starr as Homelander, and Karl Urban as Butcher, keep being the best the series has to offer in terms of characters. In this season, both of them find themselves at a crossroads where they must take very hard decisions that could change their lives forever. Homelander’s emancipation and Butcher’s dilemma on whether to use powers or not are fascinating for sure, but damn, the lack of action this season seems to be a major problem.
Amazon is not really willing to spend as much money on anything that is not a proven brand. The company has spent more than $500 million dollars on the production of the newest Lord of The Ring TV show. However, The Boys seems to be having issues finding locations or creating set pieces that are extended enough to call them like that. It is a shame because this show definitely needs a bigger budget to make its world believable, but the production is definitely not getting what they need.
The show is filled to the brink with social commentary and all kinds of current topics. This makes the season feel very much current and relevant, but also this approach can get a bit tiresome, as people are willing to watch the show to escape from all these issues in real life. It can feel like a shame that these issues are also following the audiences even when they are watching their entertainment.
Season Three suffers from the same as Season Two, and it really feels like The Boys could be so much better experience if watched in binge mode. But Amazon is going the weekly release route once again, so we’ll have to wait and see what happens, but this is very much a very solid start. The Boys might need an explosive ending, though, if it wants to keep being appointed television for most of its audience.
