Gen V

Gen V is now releasing week to week after dropping 3 episodes at once. The first 3 episodes did a great job of setting up the story, the characters and the conflict. I think it does a great job of staying consistent with the world we already know from The Boys. Nothing in the spin off contradicts existing canon and it does a really good job of expanding on the parts of the world that The Boys doesn’t really show us.

I appreciate that these college kids feel and sound like college kids. Some of them are ready to go all scooby doo on this underground experimentation clinic and the rest of them are aware that they are just kids and have no business being mixed up in this. I love the self awareness of some of them but also the overconfidence of the ones that want to go after the bad guys.

Sam is a great character. I love that we are shown how broken these kids are. These kids were experimented on and obviously we know that’s bad but it's so much better when we see what the consequences are. Also using an overpowered character in a reckless way is a really intriguing take. Like we’ve seen Homelander and Soldier Boy but Sam is just a kid that was tortured into unbelievable power. And seeing his feats of strength through his mental break is a really great watch.

Well I hate this psychic guy, he’s skeevy as hell. He got what he deserved. God Marie has a cool ass power…that is very convenient.

And then there is this stupid ass reporter dude. The fact that this is even an option for supes. Like how lame do your powers have to be to go into performance? The only good thing he did was get Marie to admit to everyone that Jordan is the real hero for fighting Golden Boy. And their following hookup is great. And then he tries to pin Golden Boy’s hysteria on the dean and we are reminded why occasionally humans are better at navigating this world then supes are. The dean threatens this shitty reporter with exposing the fact that he fucks anything his dick fits into. I think that is genuinely hilarious. The supes have created this entire world where they are the center of attention. Their world revolves around who is the most popular and who brings in the most money and whose public image is the best. The obvious downside to that is that it's very easy to take them down.

Emma and Sam are adorable, they both feel lonely and broken and they make each other feel seen. Marie and Jordan are actually phenomenal. I could root for them. They both struggle with feelings of not feeling good enough, and having to prove themselves. And Andre and Cate are also really adorable. I am really loving the pairings that this show is doing.

Okay so literally 2 minutes before Emma eats to get all big, I asked if that was a thing she could do. I love how thoroughly the show is explaining these kids' powers.

Also The Boys and Gen V are both very consistent with the use of male nudity in which the men are vulnerable and/or humiliated and when there is a chance for female nudity they forgo it and I greatly appreciate the attempt to balance the scales.

Overall I think the show is incredible. There has not been a single misstep so far and watching it build is really great. I love that you think you have all the twists and the questions that are going to be answered and then they throw something else at you, but it still makes perfect sense. Nothing is coming out of the blue in a bad, underdeveloped way.