Continuing from the ending of season four of “The Boys” (2019) by creator Eric Kripke, also known for creating “Supernatural” (2005-2020), “Gen V” season two reintroduces us to the beloved college students and the resulting states of distress and peril after season one’s season finale.
SPOILER WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD
The season kicks off by introducing us to Thomas Godolkin, the creator of compound V and the grandfather of Godolkin University. Godolkin, played by Ethan Slater, is introduced to us in a flashback that shows an experiment gone wrong with one of the original compound V formulas, resulting in the fiery deaths of “himself” and his colleagues.
Flashing forward to the present timeline, we are introduced to the new dean of God U, Dean Cipher (Hamish Linklater), who has an abrasive tactic to develop the skills of the next generation of Supes. In his propagandization of “Superheros” as society’s sacrificial lambs and his “Anti-humans” narrative, we learn that characters Cate Dunlap (Maddie Phillips), Sam Riordan (Asa Germann), Justine (Maia Jae) and Rufus McCurdy (Alexander Calvert) have become the face of the Pro-Supe’s movement that was introduced during season one.
Following the main protagonists of the show, Andre Anderson (Chance Perdomo), Marie Moreau (Jaz Sinclair), Emma Meyer (Lizzie Broadway) and Jordan Li (London Thor and Derek Luh) were taken to Elmira in the season one finale.
Viewers learn that Moreau escaped the prison alone, leading to Anderson's escape attempt using the same methods as Moreau, with Li and Meyer. However, the trio was trapped, which led to Anderson's unfortunate death due to a stroke from his exertion of his Telekinetic powers.
This left Li and Meyer to remain in Elmira’s custody until they were released by Cipher with the opportunity to continue their education at God U if they became public faces for the university, under the guise that they were falsely persecuted.
We later find Moreau on the run, having an encounter with a bounty hunter whom she was saved from due to the intervention of Starlight (Erin Moriarty). Moreau would be found by Meyer, Li and Dunlap, which results in a confrontation that leaves Dunlap critically injured.
From there, the season takes off running. We learn that Moreau is the second of two to survive the Odessa Project experiments, which experimented on fetuses and embryos with compound V. **The only other survivor is Homelander (Antony Starr), the big bad of the Boys universe, making Moreau a “god-level” supe and the only person who can defeat Homelander.
It is later in the show that Moreau is revealed to not only control blood but also to regenerate cells and revive the dead, having to revive her sister Annabeth Moreau (Keeya King), heal Polarity (Sean Patrick Thomas), Anderson’s father, who has become a surrogate father to the remaining group of protagonists and Cate after her injury sustained at the beginning of the series inhibits her telepathic powers.
Cipher is revealed to be Godolkin, as Godolkin survived the fire that killed his colleagues, and actually a man named Doug whose body was taken over by Godolkin. Godolkin’s body is healed by Marie, in the belief that Godolkin was being held captive by Cipher, and this results in us learning that Godolkin not only hates humans, but also believes only the “strongest” supes should live.
Using his training tactic of controlled fights to practice his mind control abilities and rid God U of the “weakest” supes.
The eight-episode season ends with the death of Godolkin, and our main protagonists are on the run, with the addition of Marie Moreau’s sister Annabeth Moreau, who was revealed to have pre-cognition, being found by Starlight and A-Train (Jesse T. Usher), who officially welcome them into the resistance.
The season is a master class in continuing a story, adapting a plot to its format and confronting tragedy in a story. Chance Perdomo, who played Anderson, died in a tragic motorcycle accident on March 29, 2024.
Instead of avoiding Perdomo’s passing, they not only incorporated it into the story but also allowed the actors and viewers to grieve and honor Perdomo through the legacy of Andre. There was not a time throughout the season when Perdomo and Anderson were not honored.
We see Polarity grieve as a father, and not only use the memory of his son to heal, but to push past his fear and become a guiding force in the show. Polarity gains the will to live and continue to fight against the oppressive forces of Vought in honor of Anderson.
There is the constant memory of Anderson’s selfless act and how his character continues to inspire our band of supes to resist in the hopes of changing the way society functions. The anti-fascist and oppression messaging of the show becomes hyper apparent this season, being executed outwardly and masterfully.
While the plot itself was masterfully crafted, there are moments of character development that feel to have came out of nowhere.
Meyer, who has struggled with growing big the entire season, is miraculously able to grow big in command at the final battle. Sam, who has dealt with hallucinations of people as puppets due to schizophrenia since season one and earlier in season two, miraculously mentions in a one-off conversation with Meyer that he is on a new medication that has helped to regulate his hallucinations, stopping them for the remainder of the season.
There are multiple side plots introduced that seem to drop off toward the end of the season, like Meyer forming her own resistance group with Harper (Jessica Clement), Ally (Georgie Murphy) and Greg (Stephen Kalyn), Harper’s Brother and Meyer’s newest love interest. While they are there in the final battle and at Meyer’s send-off, they feel underutilized.
While the individual character development of supporting characters seemed to just time-skip through the course of the season, it was still an excellently crafted show. There were so many details, plot twists and easter eggs that the anticipation for season five of “The Boys” has seemed to magnify.
It would seem that the end is near for Homelander.
Rating: 4.5
