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 3 “Over the Hill with the Swords of a Thousand Men” (B)

I’m learning a few things quickly about this show: characters can die at any moment, and the ones who are supposed to be the good guys are most definitely the real bad guys. The latter seemed true from the start given how Hughie got into this world, which I do remember from the pilot, and the rather brutal death of Kenji in this episode was indication enough that even high-profile players don’t necessarily last long. Stormfront had already demonstrated that she didn’t want to toe a party line, and now she’s going head-to-head with Homelander for the glory, killing Kenji even though he called dibs simply because she wants the pleasure of watching the life drain from him. The two of them do seem to share an affinity for viciously destroying the physical power source of their foes, and neither care if anyone sees what they do or has an issue with it. Only Stan appears to be able to stand up to Homelander, and he also knows which battles he needs to fight and which are worth just letting go. The Deep’s bold effort to prove his value resulted in the death of the whale and a harsh greeting from his former teammates, and Starlight isn’t going to have an easy time recovering from her failure to adhere to Homelander’s demand that she kill Hughie or he would kill them both. That sequence with the whale was a pretty bold and striking visual moment, and this show definitely has its own unique style even if it’s still a bit too emphatic on the blood and gore.