I feel like The Boys is a far stronger show when it focuses on genuine tender moments as opposed to when its just continuously showing us the most abhorrent, evil shit backed with rock or pop music.

From memory, the other seasons balanced that well. With, for example, Season 2 ending on a somewhat hopeful note, Ryan choosing Butcher as a defining climactic moment.

And then this season had a pretty excellent first episode or so, with all of the boys realising they can’t remain complacent (namely Hughie) in a comfortable system if they want to cause real change. Moments like MM (maybe the standout character of the season) looking at his wall on supes, watching soldier boy’s solid gold special, Hughie realising Victoria isn’t who he thinks she is as Uptown Girl (the song originally linked with his life going well) plays, all emotionally-charged, brilliant moments.

I think that sometimes the show is just hard to watch though, especially with no end in sight. Maybe that’s not its fault, but maybe its intense focus on shock-value can end up undermining some of its commentary or emotions.

As the season goes on, with Soldier Boy being the centrepiece, it becomes a mixed bag. It gets slightly overly convoluted with its scattered relationships, especially when the conclusion to that plot and soldier boy’s inclusion in the show feels a little flimsy. But then, that plot line also provides some of the best character study stuff the show has had to offer, i.e. Butcher and Hughie’s relationship, Black Noir’s fear of soldier boy, homelander’s power struggle, etc.

So yeah, all I’m getting at is that this is a show filled with some brilliant commentary and allegory that perhaps loses its way on the emotional side at times.

Season 1