The Boys season 2, episode 1 review: The Big Ride

The Boys season 2 is here and it begins with the same kind of wild, crazy, and great story we’re used to seeing.

After a lot of anticipation, Amazon’s The Boys season 2 is here!

At the end of the previous season, we found out that Butcher’s wife was alive. If that wasn’t  bad enough, it got worse when Butcher discovered that she had a son with superpowers. Guess what? It got even more diabolical because her son’s father is Butcher’s arch-nemesis Homelander!

But that’s just what was going on with them. The rest of his team is on the run, Starlight saw Hughie for who he really was and saved his life. While doing that, Starlight also saved the life of the supe (A-Train) who killed the love of his life Robin.  But if you’re following the Bam Smack Pow articles on The Boys, you know it doesn’t end there.

Wait…you don’t?! Well, keep reading to find out what happened in season 2 premiere.

Let’s start this with a bang

The Boys season 2 kicks off with a scene we already saw in a teaser trailer: Black Noir killing terrorists and Vought America talking business in their office.

Following that, we see Homelander speak at Translucent’s funeral. It gets even more disgusting when Starlight starts singing at the funeral. They’re both acting as if they actually cared about their fallen teammate. It’s just deplorable. When they leave, there’s a crowd of fans and media waiting for their comments. Homelander and Starlight give halfhearted responses (complete with a hug from Homelander) that you know they don’t mean.

You have to laugh. The Seven go out of their way to act like they actually care about people. They’ll go as far as to put on a sad face at a funeral. We don’t even know if there was even a body in Translucent’s casket. Knowing them, it was probably empty.

The biggest takeaway from this is Starlight. She’s learning how to play the game. She knows that she doesn’t have much of a choice but to do what she’s asked of with the Seven while working with Hugie.

What’s up with The Boys?

On the side of The Boys, they’re doing all they can to make money. Frenchie is selling weapons and  Mother’s Milk is removing a bullet from some random guy’s body. Hughie gets out of bed after watching Translucent’s funeral and sees all this and leaves. Where is he going? He says to get Purell. Hughie is actually going to see Starlight. No one is shocked by that, right?

The creative team put The Boys in a tight spot all while showing off their skills. M.M. is so meticulous that he spends his downtime building dollhouses and removing bullets. Frenchie is balancing being a source for illegal activities and helping The Female find her voice. And Hughie is trying to be a leader and failing.

The Boys are trying their best, but it isn’t enough and it does beg the question of how long they can possibly survive like this.

Homelander being Homelander

Homelander continues to be creepy by going to an office and drinking breast milk out of a refrigerator. And that’s just the beginning.

They find a replacement for Translucent. A blind man called Blindspot who tracks well with millennials (as their PR person Ashley described him). Homelander seems to love him until he claps Blindspot’s head and is rendered “useless” (according to Homelander). He tells Ashley that her new job is to find out what’s happening on the top floor of Vought and that she is no longer allowed to say who joins The Seven. So, Homelander is still the pinnacle of being a jerk.

While all of this is going on, The Deep is spiraling. He ends up getting arrested for being drunk and disorderly at a waterpark. Luckily for him, Eagle the Archer (who has the same costume and gimmick as Hawkeye) bails him out. Fun fact, The Deep doesn’t remember him despite meeting him on more than a few occasions. This leads to the Deep talking to someone who’s into a place called The Church of the Collective. Even money says it’s a cult.

The Seven continue to be awful. We see them still doing whatever they can to sell merchandise and keep their public personas alive at any cost. With the Deep, he’s just lost. If what he did wasn’t so vile and repugnant we might feel bad for him. It’s not surprising that the creative team chose a cult. He’s in a weakened state and is in need of help. It wouldn’t be shocking if we find out that Vought set this up. He was told this will get him back in The Seven.

The episode of The Boys was a perfect start to the season. We needed to know where each and every character’s going and we found out. Homelander is still a jerk. The Boys are a step away from destitute. And Starlight is playing a dangerous game of helping Hughie, liking him, and staying with The Seven. We also see when Stormfront joins The Seven – another scene that was shown in a trailer.

The team in charge of promoting The Boys season 2 did a great job in the build-up to the release. Having watched it now, it’s clear they showed us more of the first episode than the rest of the season, leaving many mysteries still very much intact. And this episode was also effective in answering some of the questions posed by the teasers.

Down with The Boys

Will M.M. finish his Vermont dollhouse?

Is Hughie really as foolish as we think and Starlight is playing him for a fool?

Starlight is blackmailing people. How bad will things get for her?

Like the comics, M.M. is keeping the team together. He will always have an important role on the team.

If you’re wondering where Butcher is, just wait…

What did you think of The Boys season 2, episode 1? Let us know in the comments below.