Unlike seemingly a lot of people, I don't 'enjoy' violence/gore and will watch shows
of it) if there's enough other stuff to hold my interest. An example of this is
. I would've given up on it after the ending of the second episode in Season 1...except there were characters that intrigued me and I wanted to see
of (which was how I coped with all the characters I hated, the violence, the animal deaths, etc). It's similar with
. There was stuff I wasn't so fond of in Season 1, but there was also enough that I
enough (ie. some of the characters, some of the humour, etc) to keep me watching. I just have to put up with all the other stuff that I don't like.
I'm the opposite. I'm very inarticulate in r/l, but typing my thoughts out gives me the time to compose them in a more articulate manner (though the downside is I make plenty of typos, which I'm always editing my posts to fix).
I was curious how Season 2 compared to Season 1. I've seen some comments which agree with you that it wasn't as good as the first season, while I've seen others that liked the latest season more. Anyway, I won't be able to judge for myself until Season 2 gets released here on DVD/Blu-ray (I'm not sure when that'll be).
(the reason I write them is because I have all these thoughts swimming around in my head when watching shows, and because that certain other forum I post on hasn't been very kind to me when I've shared my thoughts on things, I just save them for my reviews that I post in a thread I started for seasons of shows you just finished watching. Not many, if any, people read my reviews in that thread, so I'm free to say whatever I like about the shows I'm reviewing since I'm fairly certain I won't get any negative replies to what I've said).
And you're right, @shadowbiz , no one's a 'review nazi' around here.
I'd like to hear your thoughts on Season 1 and my review of it, if you wouldn't mind. I actually watched the first season earlier this year (in July, according to the time stamp of when I posted my review for it). Please feel free to read my review if you wish (all I ask is that if you read my thoughts on it and find yourself shaking your head in disagreement with my thoughts...please take it easy on me. I'm well aware my opinions on shows/movies are oftentimes the 'unpopular' ones, so I imagine we may disagree on our opinions of this show and its characters - that's totally fine...so long as we can disagree
).
on Blu-ray.
{Spoiler}In the first episode, I immediately saw the parallels between these characters and other famous comic book characters.
Homelander = a cross between Captain America and Superman (but...you know...
evil)
Queen Maeve = Wonder Woman (with a bit of Xena mixed in)
A-Train = The Flash
The Deep = Aquaman
I just wasn't sure who Starlight's, Black Noir's and Translucent's other comic book character counterparts were. I knew going into this that the 'superheroes' were not going to be what one typically expected superheroes to be like, and boy...they certainly
weren't. It wasn't long before Hughie's girlfriend, Robin, was exploded by A-Train super-speeding right through her. I'd heard about this, so it didn't have quite as much impact as it probably would've had I not been spoiled for it (especially the slow-motion part of it after it appeared she'd blinked out of existence). So, straight away A-Train established himself as more an A-
hole than anything, as he barely seemed to care about this innocent woman's life he'd snuffed out and the impact it had on Hughie. I've seen quite a few characters in shows introduced as jerks/a-holes and it's often hard for me to have my opinion of them changed since they made such a bad first impression...this instance was no exception. Nothing I saw in the rest of the season altered my view of A-Train as a supremely a-holish person.
Next on my 'shit list' was The Deep (hi, Chace Crawford from
Gossip Girl, I wasn't sure it was you to begin with and had to wait until the end credits to check). He acted nice to Annie/Starlight to begin with, but it wasn't too long before he was dropping his pants and pretty much forcing her to give him a bj or he'd make sure she was no longer in The Seven and would ruin her life/any career prospects. Although they didn't actually
show the act (which I was thankful for), it was pretty clear she had to go through with it. This immediately made me feel sorry for her and she seemed like the only decent character in the show. I guess one could argue Hughie started off 'decent' as well, but he was kind of a sad-sack (though, to be fair, he had
reason to be after what he'd gone through), but even
he managed to go 'dark' as the season went on.
I didn't really get to know much about Queen Maeve or Black Noir in the first episode, sadly. All I really noted about Karl Urban's character, Billy Butcher, was that he had to explain what he meant by 'boot', his accent (which sounded like Urban's natural Kiwi accent some of the time, but at other times sounded like he was trying to be Dick Van Dyke as Bert in
Mary Poppins) and the fact that he had a bad habit of dropping c-bombs at regular intervals (and I'd thought
Pennyworth featured a lot of c-bombs. That was NOTHING compared to this show, as there were at least five per episode, if not more, I'd estimate).
I didn't know Simon Pegg was going to be guest-starring in this as Hughie's dad (after looking at pictures of the comic book version of Hughie, I saw how closely he resembled Pegg, but I guess they wanted the character in the show to be younger, so this was their way of giving a nod to the uncanny resemblance while casting a more age-appropriate actor for the part. Having said that, I didn't get that they were father and son to begin with. They looked more like brothers to me. The actor playing Hughie, Dennis Quaid's son, looked too old to be the son of Simon Pegg). I also didn't know beforehand that Elisabeth Shue was in this, so that was a surprise as well.
In the second episode, Karl Urban's accent seemed to lean more towards a British cockney accent than his natural New Zealand accent (though at times that still slipped through). It was interesting seeing the 'PR' side of things, with prearranged team-ups, etc. Though I HATED the actress who played the Vought publicist and Starlight's agent, Ashley. I hated her in
Jessica Jones (where she played a character named Robyn, which was why I noted the name of Hughie's girlfriend in this show, since she was also named that...though with different spelling. I think I'll forever associate the name with that loathsome character in
Jessica Jones and this actress who played her), as she almost ruined that show's first season for me she was so annoying, and she just has one of those very punchable faces, so every time she was onscreen in this show I was irritated and hoped she'd be offed. No such luck, unfortunately.
When The Deep was whining to Starlight about how he was only called on when there was 'trouble at a dock. Or a river, or a lake, canal. A jetty.', it immediately reminded me of
Knightboat: The Crime Solving Boat from
The Simpsons and how there was always an 'inlet or a canal or a fjord' as a means of escape.
I was glad to see Starlight stand up to The Deep and threaten to burn his eyes out for what he'd done to her (it became quite clear that although he 'acted big' in the first episode, he was just as much of a walking fish joke as Aquaman's always presented in everything but the Jason Momoa film). Homelander also threatened him. Speaking of, my brain could not compute that this was Antony Starr aka Lucas Hood (or, more accurately, Not!Lucas Hood) from the TV series
Banshee. I didn't recognise him in the first episode without his facial hair from that other show, though I did feel there was something familiar about him. It wasn't until I saw the end credits and recognised his name that I realised. He deserves kudos for playing this 'hero' who, on the surface, appears as sincere a 'good guy' as Christopher Reeve's Superman and Chris Evans' Captain America, but underneath that persona he presents to the public, he's actually a sociopath and quite evil. Considering all the powers at his disposal, that combined with his threatening manner equaled one scary dude. I never knew if/when he was going to zap someone with his laser eyes or something else equally horrible.
I was annoyed that Maeve still barely had anything to do/say, but was glad to see Translucent meet a sticky end, as he'd annoyed me and I was hoping he was dead after the first episode. It was weird that no one had thought prior to this about how someone with invulnerable skin wouldn't necessarily have invulnerable
insides as well. I mean, this is the
first thing that occurs to me whenever I see anything with characters who have super-tough skin. I figured they'd just trick him into drinking an explosive or whatever, but they explained why they had to knock him out and insert it rectally (because he might've vomited up anything they fed him). Anyway, I was virtually saying out loud to the screen, "Come on, Hughie,
kill him already!" as he wavered a bit, before finally going through with it. I may have cheered. I was also happy to see Starlight beating up those guys to save that woman from being raped. Unlike most of the other heroes, she was actually using her powers for
good. Unfortunately, it got her into trouble with her extremely annoying agent.
The third episode began with shoveling up Translucent bits. The only time I liked Homelander was him telling Elisabeth Shue's character, Stillwell, to turn off her kid/make it stop (even though she pointed out that it wasn't crying, it was still making annoying noises, so I understood where Homelander was coming from in that instance).
The woman who Starlight saved last episode came forward, so she was no longer in trouble for not consulting her extremely annoying agent about the save she made...but she was made to wear a skimpy outfit. Stillwell basically forced her into it, saying she'd be out of The Seven if she didn't (there seems to be a lot of that type of threatening by the characters towards poor Starlight
).
A-Train’s girlfriend, Popclaw, appeared to have one of Wolverine's original bone claws in each arm. She also reminded me of Marrow from the X-Men comics. A-Train showed how little he regarded 'mere humans', as he didn't seem to recognise Hughie (who was barely containing his rage when coming face to face with his girlfriend's killer).
It was funny seeing the actor who played Rufus in the TV series
Timeless (which I just finished rewatching on Blu-ray earlier this year) appear here in what seemed like a 'bit part' (though he was featured more in later episodes). I guess since
Timeless was a show from Eric Kripke (the man behind
Supernatural) and this one was too, he wasn't above 'reusing' actors. It also took me until this third episode to realise where I'd seen the actress playing Queen Maeve from previously. She was in
The Astronaut Wives Club,
which I'd watched when it was on TV. She looked quite a bit different here, which is why it took me so long to 'place' her.
Once we learned that Maeve had a thing with Homelander, I was immediately worried for her on account of the fact that he was always threatening-sounding (even with her) and him nonchalantly shooting her after killing a guy who'd been shooting at them. He cared more about his glove that got bloody from the sucking chest wound he'd punched in the dude. Clearly she wasn't totally on board with him killing the shooter. It was interesting that we learned Homelander couldn't see through zinc. Here's hoping this proves useful in eventually defeating him at some point.
I really couldn't have cared less about A-Train and his racing woes or druggie habits. The only real thing of note was that he was apparently 'high' when he ran through Hughie's girlfriend. That didn't excuse what he did, of course. I hope that wasn't supposed to 'let him off the hook' in any way. It'd be like excusing a drunk driver who killed someone. Meanwhile, his girlfriend crushed a guy's face from sitting on it after having taken the same Compound V stuff he was on (I knew that part was coming, thankfully, so was able to find something else worth looking at when that moment occurred).
Again I felt sorry for Starlight when she took a photo with a kid fan who was dressed in a replica of Starlight's old outfit and the girl revealed she was saving up to get an outfit just like Starlight's new one. Some dude yelled out for Starlight to show her boobs and after that kind of 'ruined' the photograph session, she told the girl to save her money.
I can't say I was too sad to see how The Deep was treated by Homelander given how he'd treated Starlight, but I was amused when it was mentioned that The Deep's 'friend' (a porpoise) found the Translucent bits.
The fourth episode showed just how evil Homelander could be, as he purposely let people on a plane die rather than rescue any of them. Maeve showed she at least had
some humanity, as she firstly wanted him to fly people down to safety (which let us know that she couldn't fly herself), but obviously Homelander thought that would take too long/too much effort, then she wanted him to at least save a mother and her young daughter...but he wouldn't even agree to that. In the end he gave her a choice to either crash with them or go with him. This was a particularly 'dark' moment (one might argue even 'darker' than the more gory moments, as this involved people begging to be saved and Homelander dismissing them/threatening them with his laser eyes). I will admit, though, that I found it morbidly amusing when he was reassuring them everything was fine as they were panicking after they’d been so relieved at his saving them (though they did witness him zap one guy dead). They'd applauded Maeve too. It was so close to being a 'happy' moment at the start, but then it all went to hell in no time.
Meanwhile, The Deep wasn't exactly having a 'fun' time either, as he wanted to help dolphins at Oceanland after talking to his therapist about being the fish joke guy. It was funny seeing him driving and the dolphin in the back, talking to him/wanting him to touch...something, but then he slammed on the brakes and the poor dolphin (who'd looked/been acting so happy) went flying through the windscreen (in slow-mo, no less) and out onto road where it got run over by a semi.
That^ was a pretty sad moment, and I almost felt sorry for The Deep since he seemed to genuinely care about the dolphin...but then reminded myself what he did to Starlight and he immediately lost my sympathy. I just felt sorry for the poor dolphin. I hate any sort of harm coming to an animal, so this^ was a bit much. It wasn't enough it went through the windscreen and onto the road. No, it had to get SQUISHED as well. I don't see the 'funny' in animal cruelty. Something that
was funny, though: Butcher’s Spice Girls analogy that he used in an effort to keep his gang together (which then led into their song 'Wannabe' that played as The Deep was attempting to rescue the dolphin).
The only one having a half-decent time was Hughie, who went on a date with Starlight. At first she seemed like a bad bowler, but it turned out that she wasn't really, after revealing that she'd held back on her bowling expertise because a guy she was with stopped talking to her after she beat up a dude and he apparently couldn't handle her being stronger than him. Hughie suspected her of not being the nicest person in the world (all evidence to the contrary) and was being haunted by his dead girlfriend.
Like with the show trying to make us feel sympathy for The Deep by showing him caring about animals, it seemed they were also trying to make us think that A-Train really cared about his girlfriend (shame he didn't care about anyone else's). We were introduced to The Female aka Kimiko, who had been locked up but was freed by one of Butcher's team (Frenchie - who I had trouble understanding half the time) and she killed a bunch of people violently. Elsewhere, Homelander was putting a spin on the tragedy of the crashed plane by saying it never would've happened if The Seven were allowed into the military.
The fifth episode illustrated that A-Train apparently
didn't care about his girlfriend after all, since he super-sped two needles into her arms, causing her to overdose after he'd found out about her taking Compound V and talking with Butcher. So A-Train's apparently an equal opportunity girlfriend-killer (not just other people's girlfriends, but also his own).
I can't say I really appreciated this episode's heavy-handedness with the whole Anti-Christian stuff (especially from Butcher). The only one who I was able to tolerate at the Believe Expo was Starlight (who got to wear her old/less reveal-y outfit again).
As part of her speech, she mentioned what was
really 'immoral' was what The Deep did to her. Of course, she didn't mention him by name, but everything else she put right out there...and good on her! Hopefully it got through to The Deep, who was watching at home, stuffing his face after the dolphin incident. Starlight wasn't the only one who went 'off script', though. Homelander did as well (though maybe not quite so much). Later on when Homerlander was lying on Stillwell’s lap, it was looking like he was going to suck on her boob or something...but, thankfully, only did that to her fingers (still, ew).
On top of Homelander's creepy relationship with Stillwell, we also learned about baby Supes and how they were
created, not born (as they'd been led to believe they were). I knew, long before watching this show, about Butcher using the Supe baby to slice and dice through guys with its laser eyes. Someone else who almost got cut in half was Kimiko (by Black Noir, who
finally did something noteworthy), but then she healed.
I was so glad that in the sixth episode we finally got to say goodbye to Starlight's horrible agent (though, sadly, she wasn't offed). Buh-bye, bitch! She said she was glad she didn’t have to kiss Starlight’s arse anymore, while I was just glad I didn't have to see her punchable face anymore.
Starlight stood up to Stillwell, The Deep had to ‘fess up to what he did to Starlight (though he spun it that he perceived it as 'consensual') and was basically sent into exile/banished, Maeve apologised to Starlight...but that was about it (more Maeve, damn it!), we learned that Homelander raped Butcher's wife, Butcher made it clear to Hughie that he thought Starlight was just like the rest of The Seven (if only he'd known what was done to her by The Deep, maybe he'd have had a little sympathy after what happened to his wife...then again, Butcher only seemed to care about himself and his own problems, so maybe it wouldn't have made any difference after all) and threatened Hughie if Starlight found out about Translucent's death.
I was amused by the Tara Reid and Billy Zane cameos at the convention, and this is the
second show I've recently seen grown-up Haley Joel Osment in (the other was
Future Man, which I was watching on TV). I don't think I'd seen him in anything since I watched
A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) on TV years ago, so it was quite the 'jump' to go from last seeing him as his kid self to seeing him as an adult. He still looks like himself (just now with a beard).
The seventh episode started with a flashback to Butcher (minus his facial hair, but with as much of a potty mouth as ever) and his wife, Becca, meeting Homelander. It wasn't until this episode, when we got a better look at her, that I recognised the actress playing Butcher's wife as Shantel VanSanten. She appeared in Season 2 of
The Flash as Patty Spivot and was another actress from the TV show
Timeless (she appeared in the very first episode as a lookalike of Wyatt's dead wife).
The meeting that Homelander had with The
Seven Five was filled with tension, I thought. He was his usual threatening self and I kept expecting him to do something bad. The only one he complimented was Black Noir (who we actually see doing
very little most of the time). In this scene Starlight found out about Hughie and Butcher, everyone learned about Starlight and Hughie being together, A-Train got mad at Starlight while Maeve was sticking up for her. Later they chatted and had a martini.
When A-Train was threatening Hughie’s dad, broken up about his girlfriend's death, all I could think was what an a-hole he was, since it was
him who killed her. Of course, he had to place the blame on someone
else since he was incapable of accepting responsibility (both for her death and for killing Hughie's girlfriend).
I was somewhat amused by The Deep being stuck living somewhere he deemed 'beneath' him. Even more amusing was Air Supply's 'All Out of Love' playing as he struggled to write his ‘Deeper: A Memoir’ (I'll forever associate that song with Dean Winchester singing along to it in an episode of
Supernatural) and then him going shopping at the local grocery store and chatting with a lobster who he promised to free. Less amusing was the lobster being killed before he had a chance to stop the guy from doing it. The show is trying really hard to make us feel for The Deep. I feel for the
animals.
Butcher killed Haley Joel Osment's character, Mesmer, while Homelander went to see a guy (played by the actor who was Carmine Falcone in
Gotham) who lab tested him and this was, I guess, supposed to 'explain' Homelander's evilness. I was just mainly worried about the dogs the guy was breeding and whether Homelander was going to do something horrible to them.
Hughie basically admitted to Starlight he was using her to get to A-Train (after earlier she'd asked him if he they went to a hotel because he was trying to do 'nice things' before up and leaving her like her father did). She wanted to take him to the cops, but Butcher shot her a couple times as they fled - which made me dislike Butcher (who I noticed didn't seem to utter as many c-bombs this episode as he usually did. Or maybe I just somehow missed hearing them) and Hughie (for just leaving Starlight like that) more than I already did. On the 'plus' side, Kimiko broke A-Train's leg - complete with bone sticking through (usually I'd be grossed out, but he totally deserved that). We also learned there were Supe terrorists out there.
In the eighth episode/season final, we began with Homelander zapping/slicing through guys. I did
not watch him crush one guy's head with his foot (after it became clear that was what he was about to do). It showed how horribly efficient Homelander was at taking out enemies. He also uttered his line to the guys he helped out about how they were the 'real heroes' (which he liked to do when in public). Turns out Homelander helped
create supervillains (which just seemed unwise to me, as although it ensures The Seven will be needed and let into the military like they've wanted all this time, it also means there'll be other Supes out there who could possibly give Homelander a run for his money. I mean, how does he know there won't be anyone else more powerful than him? Even if there isn't, they could all gang up on him).
Although I think Mother's Milk has got to be THE MOST STUPID NAME EVER for a character, I did like him helping out Hughie by pointing out to Butcher that Starlight didn’t know him, and since he got 'burned' along with the rest of them, she couldn't be to blame for it.
A-Train was his usual a-holish self when he wasn't immediately recognised in a store while on crutches and cursed at everyone. Later he was pulling a train to strengthen himself and he even managed to piss off his trainer or whoever the guy was who hightailed it out of there after even
he had had enough of A-train's BS. Losing friends and alienating people - that's A-Train.
Starlight had a talk with her mum about what happened to her as a kid (after Hughie had filled her in). She learned she wasn't 'chosen', but just 'made' and her mum was basically like a lot of pageant mums, making it all about
her and giving Starlight no choice really (which she'd already had taken away from her by The Deep, Stillwell, etc). It made sense why she then 'rebelled' by wearing her skimpy outfit once again (after getting a reprieve from it at the Believe Expo) and was looking to hook up with random dudes and other stuff until Maeve had a chat with her in the bathroom, telling her to just being her 'goody two-shoes' self. I liked seeing scenes between these two. I wished we could've gotten more (and just more Maeve in general, really).
As Black Noir played the piano, we met Giancarlo Esposito's headhoncho character. Mr. Edgar (who was apparently the boss of The Seven and seemed to intimidate them by just his name being mentioned). Elsewhere, Butcher referred to his guys as ‘the boys’, which finally made the show's title make sense (he also made up for his lack of c-bombs last episode by dropping plenty of them in this one) but abandoned them, while Hughie wanted to help them.
Homelander learned last episode that Butcher’s wife had his kid, but they supposedly died (her from it tearing itself out, and it after only a short while being alive). However, after more creepy stuff between him and Stillwell, she promised to not lie to him anymore and then proceeded to lie about Butcher's wife dying in childbirth.
Starlight showed up to help the boys. I enjoyed seeing her living up to her name and going all 'starlight-y', glowing and sending sparks everywhere.
When A-Train showed up, I was hoping she'd manage to take him out. Unfortunately, he shoved Starlight away (after we cut to slow-mo) and was his a-holish self once again (blaming everyone else for his problems while accepting no real responsibility or feeling guilty for his own actions), putting Popclaw's death all on Hughie...but then he suddenly suffered a heart attack. This would've been GREAT...except then, for some reason, Hughie felt compelled to save his girlfriend's killer who he'd been wanting to kill
himself all this time (and he'd proven he was capable, after offing Translucent). I was with Starlight, and it was a bit rich for Hughie to expect her to take over saving A-train while he escaped (after what the a-hole had just done to her).
When Butcher was waiting at Stillwell’s place in the dark, it immediately made me think "How long has he been sitting there waiting?". I always wonder this whenever a character dramatically waits in the dark for someone to return home. What if he'd been waiting a while and had to go take a leak just as she returned home? That would've totally ruined his dramatic revealing of himself to her. He'd found out she was supposedly Homelander's 'weakness' and thus strapped explosives to her, but as Homelander pointed out to him...it wasn't much of a plan. Everything Homelander said to Butcher (about his lack of plan and him not even making 100% sure he'd killed Butchers wife) was the truth. I wondered what the point of Homelander bringing Stillwell's kid down into the room was, but in the end all he really wanted was a confession out of her that she was afraid of him (after letting her know he'd caught her in her lie earlier on). He then proceeded to laser beam her in the face, burning through her eyes and a good percentage of her skull. I guess with Mr. Edgar being introduced, the show had no further 'need' for her character. So long, Elisabeth Shue. It was nice to see you again after having not really seen you in much for quite a long time.
Apparently Butcher figured he was screwed (or that he had nothing left to live for), as he set the explosives off once he no longer had any 'leverage' over Homelander. He then woke up on a lawn and it was 'revealed' (not that it was
that surprising really) Homelander's son was alive and living with his mum/Butcher's wife who was also still alive. I'm not sure where they're going with all this next season, but it should be interesting.
The thing that made the least sense this episode? The Deep shaving all his hair after having had a girl stick her fingers in his gills (which were in a sensitive area). I guess now he knows what it feels like to be sexually assaulted/have someone do something to him he
didn't want to happen (just like what he put Starlight through). So, has he finally had enough of living on land and is going to start a new life under the sea?
While I could've done without the constant c-bombs and excessive violence, I knew what I was getting into when I started this show. It seemed others, however, did
not.
I liked the show
in spite of those things rather than
because of them. Starlight was easily my favourite. Erin Moriarty was easily likable as her character and I'm not sure if I would've liked the show much if she wasn't in it. The opposite of that was Homelander, who was most definitely a character I
didn't 'like'. Nevertheless, I did find him interesting (and quite unsettling at times). Antony Starr was really good in the role. I've already mentioned a few times how I would've liked to have seen more of Maeve. I really wanted to get to know her character, but she seemed underused in this first season. I hope they rectify that in Season 2.
Here are some videos I posted on the previous page of this thread, if you're interested. Cast interviews...
the interviewing...
And the 'Honest Trailer' for the show...