THE BOYS has finished its run. . .

[indianasmith]

And I must admit, I enjoyed the entire blood-soaked, parody-heavy, biting social satire series all the way through!  And, without spoilers, Homelander's comeuppance was the most viscerally satisfying thing since watching Ramsey Bolton get eaten by his own hounds in GAME OF THRONES.

What did you guys think?

[Alex]

I enjoyed it a lot and can't help thinking that those who are complaining about Homelander's death have really missed the point of the whole show.

[M.10rda]

those who are complaining about Homelander's death

- - - Who the hell is complaining about Homelander's death?!?!?!?       

I am of two (or 2.5 or 3) minds about THE BOYS. There's a lot of great acting, Urban and Starr truly did justice to Butcher and Homelander, and MM, Frenchie, and Kimiko are all extraordinarily expanded and elaborated upon, beyond their counterparts in the comic. (Also all beautifully acted.)

The show is certainly timely (to the extent that one of the showrunners sort of complained that Donald Trump's recent behavior has made Homelander's behavior less noteworthy or even downright grounded). I enjoy the irony of THE BOYS airing on Prime, owned as it is by the shamelessly groveling fascist-appeaser Jeff Bezos. However, if there are viewers complaining about Homelander's ultimate defeat/demise... what then is even the point?  Those who might benefit most from watching THE BOYS may be beyond the reach of satire.......

I am often inclined to defend comic source material, but while THE BOYS often departed from "The Boys", it mostly did so in ways that made the comic deeper, more complex, and less trite... to a point, anyway. (Sometimes, admittedly, it just added filler in between the plot beats.)

That said - Hughie and Starlight were often monotonous in the comic and often monotonous and purely functionary on the show. Starlight does serve a thematic purpose, but Hughie was mostly intended as a visual joke in the comic - one that failed to translate, as aging Simon Pegg was recast in a supporting role. Jack Quaid isn't as funny to look at and is an even way more tiresome presence than Pegg. It's true that in the comic, the rest of The Boys are essentially ciphers, thus Wee Hughie has to carry the drama. As strong as MM, Frenchie, and Kimiko (just "the Female" in the comic) become in the show, Hughie's irrelevance is really underlined.

One thing that is preserved from the comic and even amplified on the show - the constant, constant scatologia. We started counting every instance just in the final season of someone peeing or pooping, or peeing or pooping on another character, or sodomizing someone or being sodomized, or talking about peeing or pooping or sodomy... and it's half a dozen times minimally in each episode - sometimes as much as eight or ten times. I am fine with peeing and pooping and sodomy, however those elements appear pathologically on this show, I think to its eventual detriment. A friend recently asked me to recommend an "extremely violent" TV show, along the lines of "Breaking Bad" or something similar. I described THE BOYS and they were impressed, but then mentioned the prevalent scatologia and they said "Oh well I'm not watching that..." 

[Alex]

those who are complaining about Homelander's death

- - - Who the hell is complaining about Homelander's death?!?!?!?       

A friend recently asked me to recommend an "extremely violent" TV show, along the lines of "Breaking Bad" or something similar. I described THE BOYS and they were impressed, but then mentioned the prevalent scatologia and they said "Oh well I'm not watching that..." 

I remember during the first season being surprised when I heard one of the guys I was working with talking about how Homelander was THE MAN (his words, not mine). Mind you, he also believes that the Russian/Ukraine war was over in days and the media is just lying to everyone that it is going on.

You could always suggest Invincible to your friend. I think that has slightly less scatalogical humour.

[M.10rda]

I'll watch "Invincible" eventually. I keep meaning to read the comics... 

[Alex]

Just on a side note, I feel a lot of comics are improved when they are made into movies (offhand, Watchmen and V For Vendetta being prime examples). For whatever reason I feel the opposite is true for most traditional novels (although I can name quite a few exceptions to that rule) and that the changes they make getting them on screen weaken the story.

[M.10rda]

That's cool. I didn't strongly dislike the WATCHMEN movie, though I preferred the HBO "sequel".

I will part ways w/ you on V FOR VENDETTA. The book is one of my absolute favorites, graphic or prose. I'd call it just about perfect, and spent 15+ years fantasizing about an adaptation that did it justice. When the Wachowski-produced one was released, I was... underwhelmed to say the least.

But different folks/strokes and so on.

[indianasmith]

Other than THE SANDMAN, I have largely ignored the graphic novel phenomenon (to my detriment), so when I started watching THE BOYS I had no idea what it was based on.  Great show, though - I really enjoyed the whole thing and would like to do a re-watch from Season 1 after I retire.

[Alex]

That's cool. I didn't strongly dislike the WATCHMEN movie, though I preferred the HBO "sequel".

I will part ways w/ you on V FOR VENDETTA. The book is one of my absolute favorites, graphic or prose. I'd call it just about perfect, and spent 15+ years fantasizing about an adaptation that did it justice. When the Wachowski-produced one was released, I was... underwhelmed to say the least.

But different folks/strokes and so on.

I remember when we used to go on holiday to Blackpool as a child, I'd pick up magazines there I wasn't able to pick up elsewhere, in particular on called Warrior which ran V for Vendetta. I was only able to get bits and pieces of the story, but I always wanted to read the whole thing. The part where Evey is imprisoned and tortured in particular stuck in my mind (indeed it became the only section I remembered until I reread the whole thing). When I did read it all, many years later (after the film had came out) I just felt vague disappointment that the changes in the movie had generally speaking, improved it, certain things made more sense. With The Watchmen, when I got a copy of that I was glued to the book and couldn't put it down until I got to the ending which I just thought was completely stupid and handled much better in the film.

This would be heresy to many graphic novel fans, but lately I've been wondering if Moore is just an overrated, bitter old man. Anyway, that is just my take on it.

[M.10rda]

I think your take on Alan Moore is quite fair. 

His run on "Swamp Thing" through issue 50 is one of the greatest runs in comic history. That and V FOR VENDETTA rank up there w/ my favorite comics or prose. I don't think any of his other work comes close, which isn't to say it's bad. WATCHMEN is extraordinarily cynical and the ending infuriated me as a 9-10 year old, too, and for many years after. At this point however I've come to accept that Moore's ending pretty accurately reflects our bleak reality. The guys in charge are amoral lunatics or smugly derelict in their duties, and the only character with any moral clarity is a wingnut who no one takes seriously and who is easily erased from existence.       Yeah, Moore was bitter, and is bitter, and as an old man I have grown every bit as bitter as he is! (At least the HBO sequel ends on a note of hope.)

As per V, I acknowledge a great deal of ambiguity in the text and sense that this was one of your criticisms. For me, the ambiguity is a commendable feature, not a bug. The book is 300+ dense pages w/ dozens of nuanced characters and subplots - it could easily have been an 8-part miniseries or even multiple seasons. The movie is two hours - if it "made more sense" of the narrative, it's because it massively simplified and excised content. I'll stick w/ the book...

But we were talking about THE BOYS, right?  That's a whole 'nother lecture, probably... there are plot points from towards the end of the comic that happen at the end of Season 1 of the show.  It's all mixed up.

PS If you saved those old Warriors, they are worth a farthing or two!