Review: The Boys – Season 1

Amazon’s superhero webseries The Boys, based on the comic book of the same name, follows a series of vigilantes who are trying to take down a group of misbehaving celebrity superheroes, “The Seven,” who are controlled by the large corporation, Vought International. Imagine the Justice League if they cared more about fame and money than they do about saving people.

The show gives us a very disturbing look at how unrestrained power and greed can corrupt people, especially when they have no accountability, and how even the best among us can be corrupted. It also pokes fun on a lot of popular superhero tropes, and challenges what a superhero show should be.

The story follows both the vigilantes, and the superheroes. And it begins with the introduction/recruitment of a new member to each group.

On “The Boys” side, we follow Hughie Campbell (played by Jack Quaid), a non-confrontational loser whose girlfriend got accidentally killed by a superhero, who gets recruited by Billy Butcher (Karl Urban), the mysterious leader of The Boys, who offers Hughie a chance for payback.

For “The Seven,” we follow Annie January A.K.A. “Starlight” (Erin Moriarty), a kindhearted and innocent young woman who was hired to become the newest member of The Seven after one of their members retired. Her introduction to the group makes her realize that being somebody’s superhero-for-hire is not what she’d thought it’d be. And how, in a world where being a superhero is considered a business, the bottom line and what is right are seldom the same thing.

The leaders of each group however, Billy Butcher and the Superman-like “Homelander” (Anthony Starr), are by far the most interesting characters in this story. Homelander in particular is impossible to take your eyes off of while he’s on screen He’s a gargantuan presence that looms over every scene he’s in, and completely takes over it when he wants to. His relationship with Madelyn Stillwell (Elisabeth Shue), the vice president of Vought International, is one of the most unsettling things you’ll get to see on screen. For Anthony Starr did this is nothing short of a juggernaut performance. As far as the other side goes, Karl Urban’s likable, naughty, and very angry Billy Butcher is the star of the show. His past is a bit of mystery the audience gets to unravel little by little. And by doing so, we slowly beginning to understand how deeply flawed this man truly is, and why. But every since great protagonist needs a great antagonist to overcome and vice versa, in this respect, both characters elevate each other extremely well.

In spite of the completely unrealistic premise, the show is very successful in keeping its feet on the ground. By keeping the characters, their emotions, and their reactions grounded in reality, it makes the whole situation feel more believable for the audience. They do this by showing you how a guy with super powers might consider himself better than normal people, and why that might make him a total a-hole. Or by showing you how a regular guy can be driven to the edge of darkness by going through a traumatic situation. The conflict within each group is also a major component of this. The characters actually spend a majority of their time in conflict with each other than with their opponents, which is something that most people can strongly relate to.

The beauty of the show is how it manages to make you empathize with both sides. They do this by digging deep into the character’s psyche, and showing you how they became the person we see on screen. This was a very impressive feat, particularly when dealing with the darkest and most sinister of the characters. They also put a heavy weight on every choice the character’s make, and there are no innocents in the deadly game these groups are playing.

The show also doesn’t pull any punches. The story is as dark and brutal as the characters in it. The gore is used to accentuate the horror of the situation, and the nudity is used to showcase the character’s depravity. Very few things feel gratuitous in the show, which is rare in a show as mature as this. It also deserves praise in its handling of PTSD, a topic that could have quickly gotten out of hand if a show of this nature.

The only real complaint I have about the show, which is a minor one, is that sometimes you need to stretch your suspension of disbelief a bit too far when dealing with beings as powerful as the ones they show. Which is not uncommon when dealing with superpowered beings. How can a speedster, who can run a mile in the blink of an eye, lose somebody he was chasing? How can a being with super hearing not hear a conversation happening nearby? Etc. Now all of these could be explained in some way or another, but it does take out of the show for a second, which is something that I’ve always disliked about anything related to superpowered beings. So it’s a shame that this was a bullet The Boys was not able to dodge.

Check out my video review below!

Overall, the performances and the story are fantastic. Amazon managed to bring to life not only characters that we care for, but created a world that we can care for as well. One that’s dark, gory, and sensual, but not for gratuitous reasons, and that manages to keep its feet firmly on the ground. In many ways, The Boys Season 1 unapologetically broke the mold of what a superhero show should be, and showed us what a superhero show can be.