The Boys Season 2 Review: Now With More Head Explosions!

When the series begins, we meet Hughie. He is out for revenge because his girlfriend is killed by a Supe (short for Superhero). A-Train ran straight through her. Hughie joins a group called the Boys. Their goal is to take down the Seven. The public thinks the Seven are there to protect them and are as American as apple pie. In reality, the Seven and the Vought organization are manipulating everyone while continuing with their nefarious plans.

In season 2, Amazon changed it's release schedule. Instead of releasing the entire season at once, they first released three episodes. And then the last five once per week. This led to some unhappy fans. I'm not sure how I feel about it. Staggering the episodes means there's more time to discuss the show since many people are at the same place in the story. Of course everyone expects to be able to binge shows these days. I fear this may have tempered some enthusiasm.

When we last left the series, Hughie (Jack Quaid), Mother's Milk (Laz Alnso), Frenchie (Tomer Capon) and Kimiko/The Female (Karen Fukuhara) were in hiding. Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) is MIA thanks to being blamed for Madelyn Stillwell's (Elisabeth Shue) death. Homelander (Antony Starr) is actually responsible. We learned that Compound V is responsible for making Supes. Superpowers are not something people are born with. Hughie and Annie/Starlight (Erin Moriarty) keep seeing either other on the down low despite it being very dangerous. The Deep (Chace Crawford) had an unfortunate (but hilarious) incident at an Ohio water park. Enter new superhero Stormfront (Aya Cash). Comic book fans know what her deal is but TV viewers have to wait a while to see the real her.

Homeland and Stormfront get cozy and have some violent sex Whatever works for ya I guess. Homeland tries to encourage his son Ryan (with Butcher's wife Becca) to use his Supe powers but the kid hesitates. He eventually is able to muster a lot of power after getting angry.

The Seven are rounded out by Queen Maeve (Doninique McElligott) and Black Noir (never says a word). A-Train (Jesse Ushe) who is trying to be accepted back into the group. Remember he was addicted to Compound V and almost died (but was revived by Starlight) last season. He also murdered his girlfriend Popclaw. Maeve gets more to do this season and plays an integral part in the finale (thanks to a video she can use to blackmail Homelander). She finally begins to accept herself after being outed on television by Homelander. She reignites her relationship with Elena.

New characters introduced (or given more air time) in season 2 include:

Stan Edgar (Giancarlo Esposito)- the new CEO of Vought

Congresswoman Victoria Newman- attempted to hold Vought responsible in a congressional hearing that ended in tons of head poppings

Doppleganger- can change his appearance into anyone. He is used to do Vought's bidding and some other pretty gross stuff.

Grace Mallory- former Deputy Director of the CIA

Shockwave- a speedster A-Train's rival

Kenji- Kimiko's brother

Lamplighter (Shawn Ashmore) was a former member of the Seven and can set things on fire. Starlight took his spot when he retired.

Alistair Adana and the Church Of The Collective- They really like their Frescas. Eagle the Archer introduces the Deep to the church. He is later forced into an arranged marriage.

The baddies experiment with injecting Compound V into adults (even though it is much more dangerous than using children).

I wont give away the specifics of the ending. Suffice to say, it is life changing for Butcher and Ryan. When we last see Homelander he's pleasuring himself on top of a building yelling "I can do whatever I want". OK then. I guess he can... for now. Kudos to Amazon for giving us some male nudity instead of the usual women's boobs.

Grade: 4 Monsters (out of 5). "The Boys" has always been a show about the supposed good guys (Supes) actually being bad guys. The public is easily manipulated thanks to PR campaigns and social media. This season continues to shine a light on the unsavory dealings that go on behind the scenes to push the "wholesome" Seven image. The introduction of some new characters (Stormfront especially) definitely upped their game.

Season 2 definitely ups the amount of blood and guts. In one episode there are more head explosions than I've EVER seen on TV/film (excluding the recent movie "Spontaneous"). Great fun!

"The Boys" has been renewed for a season 3. Where do you think they'll go from here?