Teen struggles refresh The Boys’ dark universe

By Brontë H. Lacsamana Reporter

TV Review
Gen V
Prime Video

TO ENTERTAIN fans waiting for season four of the overwhelmingly cynical, violent hit superhero satire series The Boys, Prime Video has decided to follow in the footsteps of many moneymaking franchises that have come before by releasing a spinoff show.

The good news is that the spinoff, Gen V, unlike many such endeavors, succeeds on its own merit. It features the adventures of the superpowered students of Godolkin University (aptly nicknamed God U), blending the thrills of what it means to be a seemingly perfect superhero and the realistic challenges of teenage life in our society.

It all starts with protagonist Marie Moreau (Jaz Sinclair), a “bloodbender” who accidentally kills her parents upon discovering her powers. The opening scene — of Marie getting her first period, her parents bursting into the bathroom when they hear her panic, and the bloodshed that ensues — is a clear message from the show’s creators — Eric Kripke, Evan Goldberg, and Craig Rosenberg — that Gen V is a sure competitor to The Boys’ nonexistent boundaries.

Seeking redemption from this dark past, Marie sets out to excel in God U’s School of Crimefighting so she can fulfill her dream of becoming the first black woman in Vought International’s superhero league The Seven (satirizing DC’s Justice League). However, the school’s deep well of secrets plus her surging popularity both online and on campus, which in turn sparks her schoolmates’ envy, threaten to destroy her dream.

What this spinoff series gets right is its ability to build on the reputation of its origin material — both The Boys’ comics and TV show — delivering a gory, hypersexual social satire, but set in college. What it adds to that premise is the rich coming-of-age thematic journey seen through the various students’ struggles.

Marie’s power involves her having to cut herself so she can use her own blood as a weapon to fight others, though it also shows how her self-harm has become her way to cope with inner demons. Her roommate, Emma Meyer (Lizze Broadway), has the power to shrink, but she can only do so by purging, an eating disorder characterized by self-induced vomiting.

Though the two are roommates, one scene early in the series shows the two separately engaging in their harmful habits, withdrawing into themselves rather than confiding in each other, each to their own detriment. Gen V is full of such imagery, placed sparingly amongst the shocking gore and sex, just slightly showing the added value it has over the original material.

This is most evident in the storyline of Jordan Li (played by Derek Luh and London Thor), a gender-shifter that faces biphobia as a result of their powers. Mr. Thor portrays Jordan’s feminine form that fires energy blasts while Mr. Luh portrays Jordan’s masculine form that is invulnerable.

Those who haven’t watched The Boys but are interested in checking this out will be able to have a good time and get by without any prior knowledge — except, of course, if bloodshed, profane humor, and disturbing sexual content isn’t your cup of tea. Otherwise, it’s a refreshing college show with intriguing themes, storylines, and adrenaline-filled action.

Fans of The Boys will enjoy it tenfold, though, thanks in large part to cameos from the original cast plus the well-thought-out world-building. It shows the aftermath of the Compound V revelation in season one, where a large-scale experiment gave infants superpowers with the consent of their parents.

While merging satire, teenage drama, and superheroes seems like a contrived formula, Gen V (at least the four episodes that are out now) is strong enough to prove that it has both style and substance. Godolkin University and its young students, still making mistakes and learning about the cruel ways of the world, are the best avenue for exploring more of The Boys’ dark universe.

The fictional commercial for the school boasts of “a community of supportive faculty and peers who will accept you as the unique, culturally rich change agent that you are” — a mishmash of hilarious corporate buzzwords meant to paint a perfect picture of a super society.

Like the series it follows, it will be a blast seeing how Gen V turns this statement on its head.