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 2 “Proper Preparation and Planning” (B)

I’m trying hard to lean into the storylines on the show and not worry about the way it’s all sewn together with blood and gore, and I think it’s mostly working. I’m pleased to see a different kind of role for Dominique McElligott, who was a very underrated part of the first two seasons of “Hell on Wheels” and who here gets to play Maeve, who is so protective of her ex-girlfriend because she’s worried about what the incredibly powerful and insanely destructive Homelander would do to her if he found out about her existence. We’re seeing his attitude already with his son and Becca, and how everyone else is hopeless to prevent his continued terrorizing of them since they weren’t able to keep them hidden. I’m so intrigued by Stormfront, in part because she’s played by the terrific Aya Cash, but also because she has such a blunt attitude that’s not going to jive with anyone else on the team but might be appreciated by the similarly unfiltered Homelander. Starlight was smart to stash what Gecko gave her in Stormfront’s bag, and she was even more impressive when she managed to find a way out of A-Train stalking her and figuring out what she was up to by putting the leverage she had on him on the table. I enjoyed hearing Patton Oswalt as the voice of The Deep’s Gills, a truly peculiar plotline that I imagine could make more sense if I knew more about the character from season one. The introduction of Kimiko’s brother Kenji as the terrorist is an interesting development, and I’m curious to see where that leads the ragtag team of wanted fugitives.