GEN V: SEASON TWO
Starring: Jaz Sinclair, Lizze Broadway, Maddie Phillips, London Thor, Derek Luh, Hamish Linklater, Sean Patrick Thomas, Asa Germann, and Ethan Slater
Creators: Eric Kripke, Evan Goldberg, and Craig Rosenberg
AMARÚ
Gen V: Season Two is as unapologetic, gory, and politically charged as any season of The Boys, maybe even more. It naturally builds out the world to continue this universe’s story well past its predecessor’s series finale. But I can’t help but feel there is something missing. Colliding multiple storylines with cameos (albeit good ones), action pieces, and a moving season-long tribute to Chance Perdomo makes for some great reveals, but the series moves through each so fast that the youth-centered themes and cast performances don’t feel as intelligent. It does give us a career-best Hamish Linklater performance, though, and left me entertained with this crazy show.
PAIGE
First and foremost, Gen V: Season Two does a beautiful and respectful job of honoring the late Chance Perdomo, who passed away before this season was filmed. The impact he left on both the characters and the cast is felt throughout each episode. Secondly, this season confidently stands apart on its own merit by going full throttle and building upon the majority of its characters’ developments. It introduces one of the best villains in the franchise, and furthers the overall story for this universe. Somehow, this is even more fucked up than its predecessor, and yet it has so much bloody heart.
QUENTIN
If you’re a loyalist to franchise IP — the type of person who still considers every spinoff of The Walking Dead to be appointment viewing — Gen V delivers enough of The Boys’ satire, gore, violence, dark humor, and superhero action to scratch your itch, especially as the parent series prepares to enter its final season. That said, all the fun aspects that are carried over from the core show are nothing more than wrapping paper for CW-style melodrama between characters that lack charisma. It’s like an R-rated Arrowverse, and although it remains provocative, I’m not sure I care enough to stick around once The Boys ends.
NICK
With Jaz Sinclair’s Marie Moreau being the clear focal point of Gen V going forward, this season needed to improve upon her character, which it does in both the writing and Sinclair’s performance. Helping with that evolution is having a truly intimidating villain (something many superhero stories struggle with), played by a never better Hamish Linklater. Above all else, though, this entire season is a tribute to the late Chance Perdomo, and it is a touching one. I’m not sure there's much road left for this story after The Boys concludes with its fifth season, but Season Two was a nice step up.
