‘The Boys’ Season 3 Review: Bloodier, Outrageous, And Sics Its Laser Vision On Toxic Masculinity
I normally feel somewhat of a compulsion to read the books either before or after watching their screen adaptations, because I hate the FOMO. But when it comes to The Boys on Prime Video, not reading the comics is actually working out quite splendidly for me. Going in blind accords the pleasure of having my mind freaking blown by how truly diabolical this show can get! Whether it is whispers of a superhero orgy (Herogasm), how far the twisted existence of Homelander (Antony Starr) can go, the unpredictability of adding a new Supe to the soup (Jensen Ackles as Soldier Boy), and what new shortcuts Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) is willing to take in his quest to exact his revenge… I am just sitting here, wondering what show creator Eric Kripke and team have in store for us. It’s delicious anticipation.
And let me tell you, The Boys Season 3 offers huge payoff. Like, as huge as Love Sausage’s you-know-what. The latest instalment just cranks up the blood, the explicit debauchery, and the dark humour to a degree where it is both outrageous to the point of disbelief and hard-hitting to the point of reminding you that this is legit happening off your screens right this very moment.
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If last season was all about the ladies, be it Stormfront (Man, I miss Aya Cash!) and her Nazi secret or Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) and her revenge, this season is back to being all about the boys. Homelander still reeling from the storm in his life, is on a publicity spree to clear his image of dating a Nazi. Clearly, he is hanging off a ledge here; pretending to be something he’s not. Apart from the fear of Vought head Stan Edgar (Giancarlo Esposito), Queen Maeve (Dominique McElligott) is still holding that flight video over Homelander’s head, which is keeping him in check. But if you’ve seen the trailer, something about his wretched situation is soon going to change, which might embolden Homelander to show his true colours to the public a lot more.
After Becca (Shantel VanSanten) dies, her and Homelander’s son, Ryan (Cameron Crovetti), gets put in the covert care of Grace Mallory (Laila Robins) by Butcher, who is reluctantly colouring within the lines when it comes to dealing with unruly supes. Just part of his deal with Hughie (Jack Quaid), who has left the team to go work for Congresswoman (and secret Supe villain) Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit) at the Federal Bureau of Superhero Affairs (FBSA). They make sure The Boys don’t kill supes, just tame them using the law, and for some part, the numbers suggest this is working. Hughie and Starlight/Annie (Erin Moriarty) are red carpet official at the premiere of The Dawn Of The Seven, and are even living together. But how long before Hughie’s male ego is hurt that he needs his girlfriend to open jars for him. Cute, no?
The cutest is, of course, #KimChie, ship name for my precious Kimiko and Frenchie (Tomer Capon), who continue working for Butcher, despite some misgivings and, like, zero vacation days. And MM (Laz Alonso) is taking a break, trying to be there for his daughter Janine, that is until a blast from the past brings him back into the game. A-Train (Jessie T. Usher) still can’t run without the risk of causing his heart to burst. And The Deep (Chace Crawford) is clamouring to get back in The Seven. Black Noir (Nathan Mitchell) has loads to say, and a lot more going on in that noggin of his. And Ashley (Colby Minifie) is, well, Ashley.
The Boys Season 3 was one of the most anticipated seasons for me because it was going to give us Soldier Boy. To say I am a JAckles fan would be an understatement (like saying SPN Season 5 finale was a good episode). I love the guy. The last time he and Eric Kripke came together, they gave me my favourite show of all time, Supernatural. Naturally, I was excited to see Jensen drop his Dean Winchester, step out butt naked, and suit up to play this twisted version of Captain America. Soldier Boy, while on paper the hero of heroes, is quite frankly, America’s Ass…hole. Could he be worse than even Homelander when it comes to warped ideas of masculinity and violence? That’s a yes. While The Boys think Soldier Boy might be the answer to their Homelander problem, it’s pretty much a case of springing the unknown devil to counter the devil they know. And it is not going to bode well for them!
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The Boys Season 3 is an ass person. Confirmed.
In both Seasons 1 and 2, The Boys boldly goes where no comic book film or show has gone before. You could say, it puts the D in Diabolical, if you know what I mean. And this season too, it sticks its finger so far up the ass that you’re going to squirm uncomfortably with just how gross and diabolical things can get. There’s a lot more blood, gore, laser eyes slicing body parts clean off, and some truly depraved impulses of the id brought to life, ever so literally. And yet, you’d find them believable because think about it… if you had the power, wouldn’t you wanna go crazy and test limits?
Preferences wise, if you’d ask me, I’d say The Boys 3 is totally a butt-person. No spoilers, but the first episode itself is going to make your jaw drop to the floor with a scene involving two supes. The Boys loves embedding perverse versions of superhero tropes and real pop-culture moments, and this scene reminded me so much of a popular theory about Avengers: Endgame that I laughed my ass off!
It’s not just sexual orgies you’ll find here but also a proper male ego-gasm. Almost every male character this season is confronted with their past, which involved some degree of abuse or trauma that turned them into the mess they were in the present. The Boys once again highlights the question, “What if our heroes didn’t know shit and were stumbling in the dark?” And because most of them are men amped up on power and rage, they’d neither ask for directions to the therapist’s office, nor listen to reasoning. We all know how that ends. In punches and physical displays of power. But with Temp V24 in the picture, it’s a futile fight.
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The political satire is on point as ever, but this season gets particularly cheeky
The Boys has always been a masterful satire holding up a mirror to our world where superheroes aren’t exactly real but the political context absolutely is. Season 3 doesn’t just get cheeky with its jibes at America’s current political scenario, it wears a spandex costume and dances on the podium about it. Apart from its central theme about supes and most people in general being c***s, as Butcher would put it, this season reads like a checklist of themes—Black Lives Matter, the fake-ness of reality television, fake news and media manipulation, #MeToo and #BelieveHer, gun laws, and of course the hill of toxic masculinity upon which entire governments around the world are built.
This being a dark comedy, some of these issues get addressed in the span of what would seem a gag, while some others have an overarching presence. I still think it is effective and hits home. It’s not all politics. Also mocked: Celebrities, powerful corporations, our obsession with superhero franchises, and news channels that spew more fiction than these superhero movies! Just like you’d be poised to spot Easter eggs in a Marvel movie, The Boys has me poised to spot possible real-life parallels. And I think the one involving A-Train and an ad he shoots is my favourite!
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The Boys Season 3 sics its laser eyes on toxic masculinity
Soldier Boy is a fine character to bring forth this season because he is the poster boy for toxic masculinity. It’s hate at first meeting, but the more you know about him this season, the more you understand how patriarchy plays into making him who he is, and the same patriarchy then elevates him as a hero, setting some truly problematic standards for what it means to be a hero and a man. With Homelander and Butcher, there’s a constant struggle of making peace with their own origin stories and the trauma in them. Neither is truly a hero nor a villain, and it’s those moments of doubt about their morality that make The Boys a compelling story. Their relationship with young Ryan is an interesting dynamic this season.
Similarly, A-Train’s arc this season to find purpose, The Deep’s struggles to be someone he’s not to get back into The Seven, Hughie’s upbringing by a single father and his dynamic with Annie, MM’s relationship with his daughter as he fights his own generational trauma, Frenchie’s past… all of it comes together to make a pretty clear statement against what it means to be ‘a man’ and just how polluted that ideas has gotten by all the toxic crap that patriarchy tries to sell us.
In all of this though, I did feel that the female characters felt a tad sidelined, with not as much happening for them as last season, particularly Queen Maeve (Dominique McElligott). I wanted more for her and Ashley!
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Jensen Ackles Makes A Fine Soldier Boy. But Just give Antony Starr his Emmy, You Peasants!
Ah, the glorious satisfaction of watching Jensen Ackles go R Rated! I initially thought Soldier Boy would be an extreme version of Demon Dean from Supernatural. But trust the guy to lend a whole new dimension to this character. It’s hard to shake off a character he played for 15 years because Dean IS Jensen in so many ways. And the boots are the same, no? But his Soldier Boy is a helluva convincing portrayal of a toxic alpha male from the era. Frozen in time, his toxicity is subtle, of fewer words, and comes out in unpredictable but violent outbursts of rage. It’s in the quieter moments that you see Ackles shine. If that bloody shield scene from The Falcon & The Winter Soldier gave you the chills, imagine Soldier Boy, with his shield repeating it every other scene. And yes, duh, he looks hot AF. The feminine urge to fall for a toxic man like that and regret it later…
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I love this cast for just how well it sells the insanity that this show puts forth. Chace Crawford as The Deep is so damn good and adds great comic relief every time he is on. I love what they’re doing with his character, and will not be excited to see where his arc goes next. Colby Minifie as Ashley is another impressive performer; she legit gives me anxiety about her job! A special mention for Giancarlo Esposito who is ever so formidable as Stan Edgar.
The Boys are all right and excellent as ever! The urge to protect Jack Quaid’s Hughie and champion Erin Moriarty’s Starlight is as strong as the need to root for Laz Alonso’s MM and ship Tomer Capon’s Frenchie with Karen Fukuhara’s Kimiko. I’m such a simp for #KimChie this season, y’all! It is a testament to their performances that you come to care so much for these characters and fear for their lives, which makes standing by Billy Butcher this season ever so hard! But damn, Karl Urban is indomitable, upping the ante every season. Sure, the way he says “C**t” is just music to your ears in that British accent, but this season delves deeper into Butcher’s history. If Urban is good in the action-heavy episodes, he is even better when he’s reluctantly flashing his human side. Watch out for those final episodes.
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I’m saving the best for the last. Antony Starr is a star. And you’d think that pun is just as cliché as me telling you those blue eyes of his are my Kryptonite. But come on! Homelander is such a complex and deterring part to play, and Tony Starr holds back no punches. I’ve never simultaneously hated and felt sorry for a character that is so despicable, that’s how incredible his Homelander is this season, battling that inner turmoil, insecurity, loneliness, betrayal, and even real fear upon the arrival of Soldier Boy. Just give Tony that Emmy, you guys, or I will sic my laser eyes on you.
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Verdict
The Boys Season 3 takes a leaf out of a certain Congresswoman’s book, as it (figuratively) blows your mind with its outrageousness and on-point satire. This season is near-perfect, brazen, and deliciously diabolical as always. NGL, that ending surprised me with what felt like something straight out of a ‘hopeful’ superhero movie. Then again, I love the possibilities arising from where we leave off, especially with the character development that so many of our favourites have undergone this season. Knowing Butcher… revenge is a dish best served diabolical!
The Boys Season 3 will stream the first three episodes on Friday, June 3, 2022, on Prime Video, followed by five more episodes releasing weekly.
PS: Dear Eric Kripke, question. That last scene in the final episode about the location of a certain politician… that’s a teeny nod to Supernatural right? RIGHT?
