The Boys took the Superhero TV genre by storm when it first launched onto Amazon Prime back in 2019. I finally caught up with the first two seasons sometime early last year and I've become just as obsessed as everyone else. Based on the original comic book series of the same name, The Boys has taken a relatively unoriginal concept "What if Superman was actually evil?" and really spin it on its head to craft one of the most enthralling tv series the superhero genre has certainly ever seen. The series has made plenty of headlines for its absolutely insane and sometimes even vile content that it isn't afraid to display on screen, but I think its greatest strength lies its eerily timely political angles and memorable character work. I was unsure how could Season 3 could live up to the insane expectations that the first two seasons already set for it, but now that the season has concluded I'm ready to hail this season as my favorite one yet as the series continues to show no signs of slowing down anytime soon and remains one of the most consistent streaming shows on any platform.
The Boys once again in its third season has the challenging task of juggling many moving parts with this big of a cast of characters. And for the most part, I feel this season did a tremendous job of balancing all these moving pieces and delivering some really satisfying story arcs. One of the biggest contributions to the success of The Boys needs to obviously be attributed to the now iconic performance Anthony Starr has delivered as superhero poser/primary antagonist Homelander. It would have been so easy for this series to just go full cartoony and over the top with its portrayal of Homelander, but for now three seasons both the writers and Starr have done such an exceptional job in establishing real layers to this character while still reminding us that this guy is the most despicable, vile villain currently on any TV series. And this season illustrates Homelander committing some of his worst crimes yet, but also shows the villain at his most vulnerable and Starr does sensational work in displaying all of the emotions. He absolutely deserves an Emmy nomination for this season as it's his best performance yet. Homelander has earned his place amongst the greatest TV villains of all-time.
Karl Urban deserves just as much praise for his continued brilliant work as Billy Butcher. Butcher remains a great anti-hero who can be so vile and ruthless that he's a very difficult character to root for, but Urban always just captivates with his screen presence. This season did a great job in exploring how underneath his vile characteristics, Butcher is still a very tortured soul whose ultimately not as different than Homelander as he'd probably like to believe he is. Whenever Starr & Urban share the screen with one another, it feels like two acting titans going at it. In addition to these two great performers, this season provides some great character development for other members of The Boys such as Kimiko & Frenchie, two of my favorite characters. The relationship that has blossomed between these two has always been a heartwarming one and the way it evolved this season was easily one of the highlights for me. Karen Fukhuhara and Tomer Capone are both great actors, so it was so nice to see them get some excellent material this season. Laz Alonso also gets some great development as Mother's Milk (aka M.M.) as I loved his arc too and this character has skyrocketed to being one of the best of the series.
Another big highlight for me this season were the storylines for both A-Train and Black Noir two characters I honestly cared very little for in previous seasons. A-Train right from the pilot episode has always been one of the easiest characters to hate and for most of this season he is still very much that same awful guy, but I really appreciated that he was fleshed out so much more this time around and he really becomes a great character this season with actual dimensions. Jessie T. Usher has always been a capable actor and he gets to shine this season. As for Black Noir, the mute ninja has certainly always been a fun character to watch during the action but there's never been a ton of substance there. We learn so much more about Noir this season though including a very tragic backstory and he's honestly one of the MVPs for me. Dominique McElligott also gets some of the season's best moments as Queen Maeve and she too continues to be one of the show's best characters. I still can't say I care at very much for The Deep character, but Chace Crawford really does do a perfect job in this role.
The one storyline I was a little unsure how I felt about throughout this season was the one between Hughie & Starlight. I've loved these two characters from the first season as they remain two of my favorites and I have even grown to really love their relationship. There is a lot of established growing conflict between these two which I do think is often important to have, but this was one of the aspects of this season that did start to drag a bit for me. I did appreciate the writers bringing out a little bit of a darker edge to Hughie this season, but even as a big fan of the character he even got on my nerves during his arc this year. But, as critical as I've felt towards Hughie's story this season, he gets a really great emotional payoff in the finale that now makes me think back a little more fondly about his arc. Jack Quaid remains one of the best actors on this show as he brings so much heart to Hughie. I also liked how this season further the older brother/little brother dynamic of Butcher/Hughie in some very big ways. I do think Starlight was given her own great individual arc this year and Erin Moriarty has never been better.
Much of the excitement of this new season surrounded the casting choice of Jensen Ackles as the world's first superhero Soldier Boy. We don't get a whole lot of Ackles until midway through, but that excitement was well placed because he easily steals every single moment he has on screen. Ackles is already a proven capable action star with great physicality, but he also has charisma for days and is such a fun screen presence. Soldier Boy is just about as despicable as Homelander, but much like the latter he's also a great character that left me wanting to see even more of him. And speaking of despicable characters, the great Giancarlo Esposito has basically become a legend now for great TV villains and I loved how much more we got to see of his nefarious businessman Stan Edgar this season. What makes Edgar such an interesting character is how he's the only one to never stand down to the terrifying Homelander while also not being afraid to put him in his place. I wish we got a little more of Claudia Doumit as the deceitful Congresswoman Victoria Neuman, but she's definitely a fascinating character whom the writers clearly have even bigger plans for.
I loved Season 3 of The Boys and I also loved this week's big finale. I've seen very divided responses online about this finale and I'm kind of baffled by that. I found this finale to be one thrilling, unpredictable, and even emotionally satisfying conclusion to what has been a truly fantastic season of The Boys. This season I felt did everything the first two already did so well from delivering balls to the wall insane action and deep storytelling while also furthering the evolution of these characters. It sets the stage for what is for sure to be a very exciting Season 4 and the wait for it is going to be so hard.
Final Grade: A