The Boys S2 Review: A Wildly Engaging and a Marvelous Genre-Bending Show!

Showcasing a hardheaded and a more sinister side into the world of Superheroes, the previous season of The Boys was a smash hit, and deservedly so, went on to become one of the most widely acclaimed shows in the genre. Fast forward to 2020, when the entire world is in disarray, fighting against a faceless Supervillain, the second season of The Boys 2 released amidst much fanfare and anticipations on Amazon Prime Video following a one week-one episode procedure from July 26, 2020.

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[Contains mild spoilers] Kicking off right where the previous season ended, The Boys 2 picks up with Hughie, MM, Frenchie, and Kimiko hiding in an underground shelter while the situation at Vought gets out of hand until a new hero shows up to take charge. As the narrative materializes, distinct shreds of evidence and threatening developments of Compound V alongside the Supervillain intimidation shape up the story of this eight-episode season that includes an overwhelming amount of gore, violence, and action.

One of the primary aspects where Season two of The Boys 2 shine is the remarkable writing of the show. Even though the storyline does not move miles from where it initially ended in the previous season, it establishes a few plot points that mattered to the overall narrative. That includes the other evil doings of Vought as far as their experiments go, creating other Supervillains to benefit their propaganda to the usage and the contention of Compound V and the million-dollar company’s involvement in it.

However, The Boys 2 impresses and focuses on its characters and shaping them up incredibly from the first to the last episode. Right from the very top, beginning with Billy Butcher, the narrative focuses on presenting a more humane side of his character and displays his love/hate relationship with his parents. It also concentrates on him trying to get back to Becca and forming a friendship with Hughie that he vehemently tries to ignore. Furthermore, moving on to the gang, we also get to see the relationship between Hugh and Annie blossom a bit more alongside Frenchie and his love-interest, Kimiko.

Consequently, the always looming question of “Is this fight worth fighting for?” registers into the narrative to a greater extent in this season as every other character, especially MM, Butcher, etc. ponder over an answer that lacks certainty and hope. As a result, we don’t get to see a meteoric rise or a sudden change of fate in the lives of our actual heroes who tend to fail at everything they touch through and through.

Furthermore, coming back to the characters, on the Superhero side of things, the treacherous intentions of Homelander continue to dominate throughout the season as his sexually-heavy relationship with his equally vile girlfriend turns things around for him.

Additionally, the remaining crew of the Seven from A-Train to The Deep and Maeve act more as supporting players to the storyline as we get to explore their personal lives, internal struggles, etc. And the writers piece together their characters well by allowing a decent amount of screentime, and their emotions to connect and materialize splendidly on-screen.

On the other side, amplifying on what we’ve all seen in the first season, the amusing dialogues and the comedy land properly from the very beginning to the very end alongside the blood and gore element of the show. The gruesome action, the sudden impact, and the unhesitating blood bath has always been a strong point of, especially in the second season, where the creators chose to go balls-out crazy inside and out.

However, if I could pick one drawback from the show, that would be the length of every episode. Clocking around, or sometimes above the fifty-minute mark, the narrative slows down here and there as this continues to be a problem with almost every primary Prime Video original.

But on the bright side, the charming cast and their splendid performances add a ton of appeal and delightfulness to the show and are incredibly fun to watch from start to finish. First and foremost, Karl Urban mesmerizes in his role as Billy The Butcher and enthralls with his stunning charisma and striking body language. The accent and the way he carries himself like a badass on-screen makes him the perfect protagonist of the show. And on the far side, Anthony Starr as Homelander flawlessly portrays the evil and silent assassin-cum-Superhero character with subtle sinister expressions as you instantly get that unpredictable and uncomfortable vibe every time he’s on-screen.

Jack Quaid and Erin Moriarty fill in the happy quotient of the show as their chemistry, and the budding romantic relationship between them serves as a refresher in a show filled with an abundant amount of graphic violence. The remainder of the gang, most notably Karen Fukuhara, Tomer Kapon, Laz Alonso, are fun to watch as a collective alongside the Superhero crew featuring Jessie Usher, Dominique McElligott, and Chace Crawford.

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Overall, the second season of The Boys 2 packs in a ton of emotion, blood-heavy action with masterful storytelling and top-notch performances. And most importantly, throughout the entirety of this season, the writers made sure to invest a great deal of the screentime for the characters to evolve, shine, and be engaging. Left with a ton of expanse and intrigue for a third season, The Boys 2 currently is and will continue to be a game-changer and certainly is one of the best Superhero shows out there. All credit goes to its creators for taking a gutsy approach that is unlike anything we’ve ever seen before. Watch ‘The Boys’ Season 2 on Prime Video here.

Rating – 4.5/5 | Grade – A+

Images via Amazon Prime Video

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