Butcher is kicked out of the Boys.

The Boys is not the series it once was. At least on the strength of the first three episodes of this new season.

I was at times shocked to think I was watching an exciting thriller. At other times I was looking at character drama about trauma and relationships and emotions. I had to remind myself I was watching The Boys.

None of this is bad. The ick remains, the over the top violence remains (not least a particular moment during a dancing on ice rehearsal that ranks up there for the most senseless violence I’ve seen in a while).

I think The Boys might be maturing. And while parts of it are a little tired there are some solid additions to both the story and the cast.

One of the big challenges with a story like this is that the characters remain and their narratives have to move on. Otherwise you end up with the normal superhero nonsense where no one ever dies and no one, really, faces any consequences.

Where The Boys remains superior to other superhero shows is not in its grotesquery, nor in its punch to the nose satire but in its not letting characters off the hook for their actions.

This I appreciate because, at least, I can feel a sense of a longer term arc coming into focus. Through all the chaos and stupidity and violence and debauchery, there’s something deeper going on and I’m really glad to see it because it’s a good answer to the temptation to simply keep writing new things for these characters to do every week.

So, episodes 2 and 3 start the story properly. We see Plato and their tyrant king (sorry, I mean Sage and Homelander) start the process of conquering Athens (again, sorry, the USA). It’s as messy as you’d expect because no tyrant likes to admit they’re not the smartest person in the room and, in the end, the philosopher always, really, wanted to be in charge.

I already have the sense that Sister Sage is playing a very long game that does not involve Homelander being king at the end. I’m really excited to see where this is going.

Rating? 8 terrible ice skaters out of 10.

Stewart Hotston