User Reviews

Payback is a really well directed episode providing good thrills. Starlight lands a promotion, in a twist I didn't see coming. Meanwhile, Butcher and Maeve are diving into the Soldier Boy and Payback storyline. Hughie has his own troubles and adventures. Who the hell is Nadia, behind the Victoria Neuman mask ?

Fantastic start to an already prolific series. I didn't expect the first wtf moment to come so quickly (no pun intended). Homelanders character just gets better and better with each passing minute. He is a seriously damaged man.

All round great start and an already promising storyline unfolding.

I want to say this was a decent start to the season, and I suppose it was, to a certain extent, but at the same time, it didn't drag me in as much as I feel a premiere should. And that brings me to the assumption of manipulation by the writers: using the previous seasons as an excuse to, still, not make this season's premiere a draw, and instead, rely on scenes like the one with Termite and Peter/Ashley and Adam, as well as the one with Stormfront and Homelander, and the episode's ending, distracting from the lack of overall intrigue from the premiere itself.

I get the impression that the writers are using shock value as a plot device in a way where they have less responsibility, as writers, to create a premiere that doesn't rely on such tactics. But that doesn't and can't change the facts: this premiere was underwhelming.

In a sense, I can't blame them because it seems to have worked considerably; most people would probably disagree with my sentiment. They probably believe those moments make this premiere fantastic; those moments generate the buzz, and that's all most people seem to talk about, but they don't see that as the overall premiere being underwhelming. Or maybe they genuinely believe the whole episode was incredible: to which I think they must've watched something different than I did; the overall premiere seemed somewhat lackluster.

And I'm also not feeling the relationship between Hughie and Annie or their characters, although I guess I "like" her more. I know people feel warm and fuzzy inside due to them, but they're the weakest characters for me so far. Their screen time together almost seems a waste of it to me. Butcher and Homelander, especially Karl Urban and Antony Starr, are by and large the lifeline of this show; every other cast member and their characters don't even come close. And their performances in this premiere, especially by Antony, were exceptional.

And while the potential romantic aspect with Frenchie and Kimiko; I don't know whether they were romantically involved in the comics: which seems possible, is a bit much (a platonic relationship seems better and more appealing), I felt some way when Frenchie and Kimiko showed up; I like their new looks, especially his. Even though I never cared too much about both characters individually, until now, it would seem.

Other than that, I liked the introduction of V24, as it's in line with the comics, and it's great seeing that aspect brought into the mix of this show; it was missing the first two seasons. I seem to remember reading someone saying that they preferred that aspect not existing (yet) and that they hoped the writers would continue on that route, and how wrong they were: such a significant aspect of the comics isn't going to be glossed over. It makes sense for the writers to do it at some point, and that 'some point' is now: three seasons into the show. I can't wait to see that aspect being brought more into the spotlight and what occurrences will come of it.

And I liked the utilization of sound (ringing in the scene with Homelander blankly watching Dawn of The Seven and when he was walking past A-Train; the kettle whistling as Butcher is staring at the recording of Homelander and Maeve) used in this premiere. But not just in this premiere: sounds have been utilized previously in this show: if memory serves. It seems simple, yet it adds so much, and surprisingly, I feel it's not used that often in TV shows and films.

I also liked some of the work done by the cinematographer, Dan Stoloff. There were instances where particular shots looked good, and the lighting was well-done, like the scene with Kimiko and Tyler: the blue, and the contrast of the blue and yellow; in the penthouse room with Termite and Peter: the yellow.

My main takeaway from this premiere was that it felt slightly underwhelming, but I guess those moments made up for it: probably a lot more to everyone else than me, though. Not to mention, they (those moments) also come across as a sign of what's to come, that this season will likely get better as far as not being underwhelming is concerned; only more emphasis on the shock value scenes, I imagine. At the very least, this season should have sustainable entertainment.

By the way, Charlize Theron's cameo was lame, and her performance wasn't that good. Her voice sounded monotone, and her acting was a bit wooden. She came across as Charlize Theron, reading lines: I've seen bits and pieces of an interview with her; this cameo was pretty much her, minus more emotion/expression. You could argue that was the point, for whatever reason, but her cameo was still unnecessary.

I like how the show's handled Neuman so far. Season 2 made her feel like she was clearly based on AOC, which made the reveal that she's the headpopper a little sus, considering this is an Amazon-run show and we know Jeff Bezos probably hates her. But so far, season 3's made it pretty clear that she's just a character on the show, not meant to be a reflection on the actual politician.

Episode 1: The rating is just for the crazy visual effects, other than that it's 55+ minutes of crappy storyline plots or none of actually.

In this pilot, it heavily lacks in storyline, plot, vibe and flow. Whatever tiny you may be perceiving as thrilling are just the writers playing with your mind and splashing it with rotten chum.

Don't get me wrong; this episode is still great! But it feels more or less like set-up than an action-packed episode. There are some great moments, like that one scene where a man literally explodes another dude. But this episode is more of a catch-up on what everyone is up to. The ending to the episode was pretty wild as well; I didn't expect Hughie to find out this quickly, but nevertheless, still a great end!

The Homelander stuff is brilliant as usual; Billy is still the most interesting character out of The Boys. My main problem with it is that it's a huge pacing shift from the usual fast pace that The Boys is known for! Overall, I love this episode, just not my favourite season premiere!

7/10!

Edit: rewatched it, great episode! 9/10!

While watching the beginning my sister off handedly commented about the little guy going in big man and we laughed when she got it half right. Then I said what if he loses control of his powers, and then... the sneeze. Shock and horror was drenched on our faces, this start a good way to jumpstart our memories of the seasons that have come before. Should've known nobody gets to have fun without consequences here. Watching that poor lonely thread holding Homelander's sanity in place being wound to its limit is terrifying. Brilliant start.

(S3. E1) My Reaction / Review for The Boys Season 3 Episode 1 ''Payback'': Season 2 was good and I gave it a rating of 9/10. Let's see if this one is better or worse. Wow the scene where this supe goes inside this man's thing must be one of the most disgusting scenes ive ever seen. Nice to see MM spending time with his family. Edgar wants to make Starlight cocaptain of the seven? Homelander will lose his mind, I love it. Temp V sounds like an awesome idea. Who is Tony? And what does he want from Neuman? Wow Neuman murdered him just like she did with the others, she is a villain and now Hughie knows, I wonder what he will do about it. Great cliffhanger and an amazing episode! My rating is 9/10.