Tuesday, August 3, 2021

Emmy Catch-Up: The Boys

Every year, I watch the six submitted episodes of every series I don’t regularly watch that’s up for one of the Emmy series prizes. Last year, I started watching the entire season of each show to get a better idea of the quality I missed, and I’ve decided to continue that this year. 

The Boys: Season 2, Episode 1 “The Big Ride” (B)

This is a show that I was not looking forward to watching since I remember being turned off by the gore and excess of the pilot back when I first watched it. I held out until it earned an Emmy nomination for Best Drama Series, and I opted not to go back and watch the first season, instead relying on the very lengthy recap featured at the beginning of the season two premiere to clue me in to what I missed. I’m still not pleased about the violence that’s included, as I have no desire to see severed heads or copious amounts of blood spilling out from someone’s ears or a recently exploded carcass. I’m not sure what that adds to the show, but it’s evidently a very big part of it. I can appreciate that the writing and the story might be stronger, which is why this episode doesn’t get a bad grade since there was quality to be found underneath all the needless brutality. I didn’t remember meeting Homelander in the pilot but have since heard about him and seen him on Amazon FYC adds, and it’s so interesting to see Antony Starr in a role that’s so incredibly different from the part he played on “Banshee.” I also couldn’t be more excited about the addition of Aya Cash, a fabulous presence from “You’re the Worst,” as Stormfront, who seems like she’s going to be able to go toe-to-toe with Homelander in an interesting way. I was also pleased to see Jennifer Esposito, an underappreciated part of whatever show she’s on, but then she exploded only seconds later, which was a shame. Fortunately, there’s no shortage of great cast members, including Jessica Hecht, who offers Fresca in a way that makes it seem simultaneously like product placement and a cult. Giancarlo Esposito is perfectly cast for his role, and I look forward to seeing more of him on this show. I’ll make my way through this season over the course of the next few weeks, and maybe it will grow on me by the time I reach the finale.

No comments: