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Gen V Season 2 Review Before The Boys Season 5 Drops
- Yadav B V
- 20 minutes ago
- 4 min read
Gen V Season 2 dials down the adolescent angst and channels it into plot structure and solid storytelling while retaining the gore. Season 1 saw students of Godolkin University being targeted systematically, being groomed to be soldiers for a shady cause, and other sketchy stuff.
The Plot of Gen V Season 2
Season 2 sees the students come together to uncover the cesspool of conspiracy that collects at the bottom of something seriously sinister. There's Dean Cipher, whose name is a bit on the nose ( actually said so by Emma ), considering his enigmatic persona played to perfection by Hamish Linklater, bringing the same intensity as he did in the series Midnight Mass.
Everyone in the school looks even better in this season ( if that's even possible ), which is addressed in an interview with InStyle.
The fight sequences that involve Dean Cipher test or train new Godolkin alumni are particularly entertaining, with great CGI and practical effects used to execute a significant plot device. You see a lot of parodies of mainstream superheroes, such as a dude who uses a Hammer to strike his opponents.
There is also a parody wherein there are supes with ridiculous powers, such as hair that can grow and be controlled at will - this might be a reference to the supe in Marvel's failed series Inhumans called Medusa (Medusalith Amaquelin Boltagon), the wife of Black Bolt.
Also, if you zoom out of the training scene sub-plot, it resembles an actual parody movie called Sky High, with Michael Angarano as Will Stronghold, and Mary Elizabeth Winstead as
Gwen Grayson.
In Sky High, the superhero school, there are the cool superheroes and the not-so-cool sidekicks. The Superheroes have major and conventional superpowers that don't require creativity to use, like flight, superstrength, and laser vision. The sidekicks, on the other hand, have more unconventional powers, such as turning into a gerbil, shape-shifting into a goopy liquid, and glowing at night.
In this season, the students of Godolkin University and supes throughout the US, in general, form camps of Hometeamers and Starlighters who support the respective supes representing a fascist regime and a democratic one, respectively.
If you want a recap of The Boys from seasons 1 through 4, you can check out the review where we discuss it in detail.
Cast and Character Development
Jaz Sinclair as Marie Moreau has a much bigger role in this season and takes on a leadership role not by choice but by circumstance, which you see as the episodes progress.
The very first V serum had the prominent feature of lengthened lifespan, as can be observed in Soldier Boy and Thomas Godolkin.
Coming to the early version of compound V, it looks very cloudy, but the new version of the compound is both clear and shiny. I don't want to get into the metaphor of it all, but if the writers wanted to convey a message, it looks like the message of power was clouded in mystery and hid behind propaganda. But the latest compound V is out in the open, power without any subtleties.
Asa Germann's Sam has a psychological disorder that visualizes stressful situations as a cartoon/muppet world. This is a theme that is explored from time to time in the movie, as in James Gunn's The Suicide Squad and Sucker Punch, where lead characters imagine stressful situations by transforming them into something new entirely that is harmless and not disturbing.
Gen V's youthful ensemble mirrors the Young Avengers in the MCU, only better looking and with more of an edge.
The end of Season 2 is pretty awesome either ironically or earnestly - but either way it is cool with Annie Januaury, and A train making spectacular entrances to get Marie Moraeu and her band of merry rebels. Marie Moraeu stares off into the distance with a determined look and cool music playing in the background as a team forms to take down Vought.
Coming to powers, you get to see Starlight or Annie January, who takes flight using electricity without much effort, which is pretty cool to watch.
At this point, the showrunners twist the trope of superheroes and the genre in general, making fun of it while playing it off in a way that is dead serious, making the series both a parody and its own superhero take.
The Boys Season 5
The Boys Season 5 promises to be a hell of a banger, with the kids from God U teaming up with the considerable forces of Butcher and his boys against Homelander and his army of supe minions.
The lineup is an aging Homelander with his wild card of a son with identical powers as his father, including red laser vision. Let's not forget Soldier Boy, whom Homelander has in his custody.
On the other side, we have Butcher with his newly developed tentacle powers, yellow laser vision, and Starlight, A-train, Polarity, Marie Moreau, and Gen V supes.
Should You Watch It? Hell Yes! At Least for The Boys S5
If you were brave enough to sit through the first few episodes of Genv in Season 1, then you deserve to watch it all come together ( sort of ) in Season 2. It is better, faster, more direct, and has cameos from The Boys that wrap up the second season well.