The Boys (Amazon show)

[Slamz]

If you haven't tried this show, I recommend it. It's a lot better and different than I expected and they throw a lot of good twists into the story as it rolls along.

Setup:
Suppose super heroes were real. Like really real. Not like DC/Marvel where all the superheroes are basically good, wholesome people and even super villains mostly are there as foils for the heroes, but more like that guy you knew from high school who was kind of a jock but also kind of an asshole also turned into a super hero and was basically invulnerable and unstoppable. He's not a BAD guy, per se. He cares about his image and the perks that come with it. But he's not exactly a "good guy" either. Just kind of a casual douchebag with the abilities of a superhero.

That's the super heroes of this show.

The main character of the show is basically an average guy who finds himself thrust into something like the role of Lex Luthor. He's not a bad guy. Doesn't want to be a bad guy. He's trying to be a good guy but he's almost entirely helpless against the casual douchebaggery of the "supes" and the need to bring them to some justice for what they've been getting away with (aided by the corporation that makes tons of money selling their abilities and merchandise). "The Boys" are not the superheroes. "The Boys" are the resistance group that's trying to pull the wool off the eyes of the public and take down the corporation supporting the supes.


First few episodes only sorta-grabbed me and there were a few spots I fast forwarded through the "get on with it" sections but it gets really good as you go along. Season 2 has been rolling out and has been great so far.

[Diggles]

Plus it's got Karl Urban, who doesn't love Karl Urban.

[Vllad]

I really enjoyed the show. Basically showing what life would really be like with Super heroes. Kanye West with super powers basically.

[Zouji]

You forgot that the show has Giancarlo Esposito in it which instantly makes it worth checking out. It also has an inspirational speech in season one involving the Spice Girls. It also has lines like this, "If you are the fucking reason I can not finish that Vermont Country Dollhouse, I will fucking end you."

[strife]

The wife and I started watching it last night, got through the first 3 episodes of Season 1.

I'm not sure this is a "good" show, but it has been at least mildly entertaining so far,mostly due to the ridiculousness of some of their actions.

[Skelas]

Big thumbs up from me for this show. Slamz describes it well, it's what it would be like if we truly had superheroes.

[Slamz]

I'm not sure this is a "good" show, but it has been at least mildly entertaining so far,mostly due to the ridiculousness of some of their actions.

Yeah the first few episodes didn't do much for me either. Entertaining but not great. I actually want to say it was episode 4 where the series starts to get its legs. A couple of important plot points get started in that episode if I recall correctly.

[Sithh]

Decent companion movie to this Brightburn

[Arsilon]

I wonder how many shows this is true for. There have been a lot of really good shows whereby you had to get past the first X episodes before it really started to hit it's stride.

[Slamz]

Yeah, Umbrella Academy was the same way for me. Really got into the show but I want to say it was again episode 4 or so before it kicked in.

Maybe the issue for some at least is they're trying to do "The Avengers" setup but instead of setting it up with several stand-alone movies (Iron Man, Thor, Captain America) they are doing to do the same thing with the first few 45 minute episodes. Enough time to show you a few critical characters but not enough time to make it all that interesting. Once they have the intros down then it's "The Avengers" -- the show they wanted to make.

Makes me want to go rewatch Firefly actually because I recall that show being great from the start but it may be that Joss Whedon's superpower is smooth introductions, mixing it in with good stand-alone episodes, and most of these writers struggle with that. They can introduce a character or they can make a good episode but they can't do both.

[strife]

I agree, I feel kind of the same way about The Boys as I did Umbrella Academy.  I think I like The Boys more than Umbrella Academy though

I did finish what is available for the Boys and it did get slightly better, but I still put it in the decent, not good category.  I'm not going to be waiting around for new episodes to release and am glad that I waited until Season 2 was almost done before watching any of it, so I could just binge watch it.

It's decent, and has some entertaining stuff to it, made me laugh a few times... but once you get used to the show, the WTF moments are pretty predictable.  I couldn't always guess exactly the way it was going to happen, but I pretty much nailed every WTF death(even the dolphin & whale).  After the first few episodes, the one that surprised me was when the CIA chick got killed.

[Zouji]

If you are looking for very good science fiction and are a fan of Ridley Scott, then you should watch Raised By Wolves on HBO Max Live Now Go. If you don't like either then you should probably skip it. Lovecraft Country (on HBO Max Live Now Go) is good is well, but it is action/horror/fantasy. It does have Michael Kenneth Williams. I think his character is still mad because the character he played in Boardwalk Empire never got his Hoppin Johns. 

Doom Patrol is a very lawlzy Heroish show (I can't really say that these guys are Super). These people are pretty much Z listers as far as the DC hero pool goes. Even Cyborg is the cheap ass sucky version of himself. If you like Brenden Fraser (as Robotman) and/or Timothy Dalton (as the Chief) then you should give it a go. Doom Patrol season 1 and 2 are on the DC streaming service and the HBO Max Live Now Go service.

[Slamz]

I've been enjoying Lovecraft Country though so far (ep 1-3) it does not really have much Lovecraftian horror to it. Granted it's been a long time since I read his stuff but I recall him being far more oriented around playing with space/time/dimensions and incomprehensible horrors whereas the show so far is based around the horrors of racism, magic, conventional monsters, zombies and ghosts in roughly that order of priority.

[Zouji]

Lovecraft had plenty of undertones of the Horrors of Race, degeneracy, some magic, and lots of madness/paranoia. The monsters generally drove people mad upon seeing them close up in person and into an asylum, an alcohol bottle, or to opium. Their were also animated corpses hungry for your soul/body and ghosts. It also had the warping of spacetime and access to other dimensions. 

I have seen no truly conventional monsters in Lovecraft Country. They could all fit in a Lovecraft story except they would be attempting to turn on their masters.   


Lovecraft was about average, or above average, for his time in using racist tones in his stories. That was due to his upbringing and general seclusion.

[Vllad]

I've been enjoying Lovecraft Country though so far (ep 1-3) it does not really have much Lovecraftian horror to it. Granted it's been a long time since I read his stuff but I recall him being far more oriented around playing with space/time/dimensions and incomprehensible horrors whereas the show so far is based around the horrors of racism, magic, conventional monsters, zombies and ghosts in roughly that order of priority.

Well it does have to be made modern. You have to have the token gay guy, the token transgender gal, the token black guy, the token smart Asian, the token independent/feminist woman and the racist white guy who has modern emotions and cry's a lot.

[Zouji]

They are missing the asian and all of the white people are generally sociopaths and/or super racists. The token intersex person just made a token appearance.

[Dharus]

I've been enjoying Lovecraft Country though so far (ep 1-3) it does not really have much Lovecraftian horror to it. Granted it's been a long time since I read his stuff but I recall him being far more oriented around playing with space/time/dimensions and incomprehensible horrors whereas the show so far is based around the horrors of racism, magic, conventional monsters, zombies and ghosts in roughly that order of priority.

I could tell from the ads for that show that it wasn't even close to Lovecraft.  Shame really because nightmarish, mind losing, alien-like rabbit hole horror is lacking.  I think the closest movie I saw recently was Oculus but that still was more conventional horror.  I also think placing a large focus on identity for Lovecraft is a mistake because him and Robert Howard were not ideal people for that sort of thing.  Ironically, people who might like the show could easily go out and read his old stories and get turned off by some of the early 1900's jargon.  It just feels like a lot of other stuff in the entertainment industry which is to regurgitate some successful thing from 20+ years ago and rebrand it and sell.

[Zouji]

That has always been the main model of the entertainment industry. Even seemingly "new" stories are just repacking of old ones either from folklore or books. This goes for virtually all writers as well. It is a human thing. We add a sprinkle of something new to an old idea and call it a brilliant new idea.