Finished The Boys S2.
I really enjoyed the resolution and kinda hope the shows ends here. This gave me what I wanted* from the show and it hasn't embarrassed itself yet.
* Spoilers to follow:
Positives:
Stormfront, a.k.a. the Republican arc. The entire arc was in the name and so there was nothing surprising, but she served her purpose well and delivered on the S2 dilemma of every one of these shows: how do you top your S1 Big Bad and if you are keeping him around how do you humanize him while keeping him evil? It helped that the Stormfront actress was one of the only competent actors in the series (Homelander, Frenchy, and The Quietly Terrifying Guy from Better Call Saul rounding out that category) so even though she was given even dumber dialog than most she still really controlled almost every scene she was in.
Butcher and Wifey. Although together they have the sexual chemistry of ding dong ditch and the middle aged haus frau who steps in it, the contrived setting and the MacGuffin of Super Boy somehow made this... work? I mean as in I actually somewhat believed, and certainly felt for, the parental concern of Wifey and the Doomed Abandoned Love of Butcher. And their interactions were almost human, making this one of the few places in scriptwriting where it was not painfully obvious that dialog was written by 20-somethings who have never stepped outside their own heads for 15 seconds and have zero life experience to draw from.
Magic Starbright's ever-shrinking costume. What began as an eye-roll hamfisted attempt to critique the sexism of comic book movie franchises seems to have abandoned itself about halfway into S2 and just gone with it. MS can barely deliver a line of dialog, and she has the full emotional range of a cheaply made knock off action figure, but what she can do is play Flyover Splooge Cannon when sufficiently debased, and they finally just did that. Were I the actress I would consider any other line of work before I age out, but in her glory she actually managed to justify her screen time.
Homelander. The actor is great, the character is great. This is actually a contribution to American arts and letters, like Elmer Gantry or Larry "Lonesome" Rhodes. He, like they, is the perfect characterization of the rancid side of America: the monstrousness of our murderous strength and desperation to be loved. Homelander is the America of Reagan and Dubya and, finally, stripped of all illusion, Dump: the villain of the world stage with no clue it isn't a shining beacon. He is our id. As hateful and pathetic as he is, I am rooting for him to somehow redeem himself, for the same reason I still vote.
The pacing and the general flow of S2. It had a reason to be, unlike spectacular flame outs like S3 West World or even tepid re-runnings like S2 Mindhunter. The major characterization gained almost nothing but the minor characters actually fleshed out -- somewhat. Deep and A-Train's Fresca Scientology arc actually made them distinct people -- for example we actually know far more about Deep's personality than Meg Quaid's. We know more about Starbright's Mom than Starbright. S2 was not just about monetizing a property that unexpectedly did well in S1 and suddenly had to be stretched out (cough Heroes, Stranger Things).
Negatives:
I may have mentioned the writing is bad.
The writing is bad.
Super Boy. For just one split second in the finale I thought the show might have done the one and only original thing it could with the little bundle of Gen Z Neuroses and offed him. Graphically murdering Homelander's Surrogate Mommy was the show's signature dramatic moment -- it's Red Wedding when you realized it was possible to penetrate Plot Armor and actually kill a significant figure. Super Boy -- utterly useless except as a plot device for Butcher and perhaps to pull on the tender heart strings of a few haggard 30-something new mother Furries in Scottsdale, Arizona -- has literally been asking to be killed off since his fun shocker introduction. Rarely (Wesley Crusher) has there been a TV child so in need of obliteration. Hopefully the show will spirit their Madonna and Child off screen forever and resist whatever marketing temptation there is to dredge them back up. Their reappearance would probably constitute a jump the shark moment.
All the incidental figures in Meg Quaid's life. With the exception of Girlfriend Hands, who was at least great black comedy, every character who touches Meg Quaid not actually in the Scoobs is worthless. They exist to further our understanding of him and I am not interested in any understanding of him. The Walking Quintessence of Billy Joel Fandom is one reason I try never to be within 300 miles of my birthplace (there are three types of Long Island males: him, Seinfeld, and Louie De Palma) and I sure never want to see it on my teevee.
Miss Saigon. Completely wasted. Did they just not know what to do? Did the talent annoy the writers so they just quit on her? Or was she only there in the first place to make the Scoobs a little more diverse (compare with Ghostface Killah, who is the heart of the Scoobs and has a fully formed personality)? This is not either the actress or character's fault -- there was plenty of room for her.
Queen Maeve's Wise Latina. Oh god give it a rest.
Anyway, I thought this season was excellent. As good in its own way as S1. I am not hopeful about S3 because it's only a matter of time until some set of morons -- the money, bullpen writers, runaway fan service -- ruins it. But... we'll see.
