Spoilers The Boys Season 4 Discussion ( Spoilers)

[TedShatner10]

I think there were signs of a better person within Deep, like there was with A-Train and Butcher (but like Butcher in all likelihood) he ignored every off ramp handed to him because he lacked genuine human support and decided on being an imbecilic crony to Homelander and Vought (but Homelander inevitably discarded him like all sociopathic narcissists do and due to an idiotic chain of events started by him, the Deep lost his oceanic powers).

Also him sexually taking advantage of Annie was what sped up the demise of the Seven, the downfall of America, and incoming collapse of Vought lnternational.

 

[Guy Gardener]

I think there were signs of a better person within Deep, like there was with A-Train and Butcher (but like Butcher in all likelihood) he ignored every off ramp handed to him because he lacked genuine human support and decided on being an imbecilic crony to Homelander and Vought (but Homelander inevitably discarded him like all sociopathic narcissists do and due to an idiotic chain of events started by him, the Deep lost his oceanic powers).

Also him sexually taking advantage of Annie was what sped up the demise of the Seven, the downfall of America, and incoming collapse of Vought lnternational.

I've always thought that his talking to fish is bullshit.

Knowing what they know may be his super power, but framing that knowledge as conversations with pea brained, or smaller, animals is just completely crazy, or it's just how his brain processes the information.

So the only thing stopping him from going back in the ocean is him, and the only reason that all the fish are trying to kill him is that his subconscious is compelling them to do it, because he is guilty and he wants to die.

 

[Jayson1]

I think it's easy to sometimes have sympathy for The Deep because I think it's human nature for people to feel bad for, even when it's bad people, who are suffering. I mean even when we have embraced the Death Penalty people wanted to make sure it was not cruel and unusual.

Plus The Deep is a fictional character and not a real person. Our feelings towards fictional characters tend to be different than they are with real people. Then you add in the fact that the character is just darn funny in how pathetic and shallow he can be. He makes us laugh so we like him. Which only enhances some of the worst things he has done like SA with Annie thus giving him more character depth.

 

[Commander Troi]

Anyone else not feel anything for Frenchie?

I felt for Frenchie! It blows me away how much he changed from the asshole he was in the beginning of the show - and it was mostly due to Kimiko. I really felt her pain.

 

[TedShatner10]

Feels like I'm going against the grain here but I liked this episode. Yes it feels like it maybe should have come a few episodes ago but still, there was a lot to like (Butcher's Posh Spice motivational speech for one) plus some genuinely punch the air superhero moments in a show that, oddly, doesn't give you many of them. In particular Annie and MM rescuing the focus group.

Yeah, that was a high point of the episode, with Annie & MM averting a total massacre of unarmed innocent civilians who's real crime was not being brainwashed enough (finally getting rid of that dog henchman), and the show was never quite as tactless & mean spirited as the crass comic book it's based on (and while we had MM kill the final member of Teenaged Kix, a willing executioner, we had MM rescue a more innocent surviving member several episodes ago).

 

[theenglish]

Completely agree. The first 2 seasons or so were amazing when they they were still developing the characters, relationships and the bigger plot. Even the gory gross out moments were kinda funny and the gore was its defining characteristics that set it apart from DC and Marvel, which made it interesting and above all different.

?? Not really. Aside from the supers being evil, what sets it apart from other super-hero universes, and has from the beginning, is that it uses the setting as a satirical commentary on society and analysis on how the powerful operate with impunity in our world. In the end, there are five characters in the show who could be considered good plus A-Train who got a redemption arc. It's been that way from the start. The only thing I've noticed over the last few seasons is that the social commentary as been using direct real world events as inspiration. That really amped up after season 3 (?) when Homelander killed a citizen in the street. Despite the obvious analogy to Trump, many viewers still didn't get that Homelander was a bad dude.* After that the commentary became more on the nose.

*This also happened in the second season when people didn't get that Stormfront was an actual Nazi.

 

[TedShatner10]

A lot of US based audiences are stoooopid (or to be more charitable a lot of present day audiences got shockingly poor media literacy and got their attentions sapped by smartphones).

 

[Saul]

Definitely no sense of or build up to a final episode. Just more of the same.

Anyone else not feel anything for Frenchie?

Considering that the actor that played him was former IDF there was zero chance of feeling something.

 

[USS Firefly]

Anyone else not feel anything for Frenchie? The moment where you saw he was thinking of sacrificing himself to save Kimiko was touching, but I didn't really feel anything other than, "Oh, look, something finally happened."

I felt sorry for him, I liked him.

 

[FPAlpha]

?? Not really. Aside from the supers being evil, what sets it apart from other super-hero universes, and has from the beginning, is that it uses the setting as a satirical commentary on society and analysis on how the powerful operate with impunity in our world. In the end, there are five characters in the show who could be considered good plus A-Train who got a redemption arc. It's been that way from the start. The only thing I've noticed over the last few seasons is that the social commentary as been using direct real world events as inspiration. That really amped up after season 3 (?) when Homelander killed a citizen in the street. Despite the obvious analogy to Trump, many viewers still didn't get that Homelander was a bad dude.* After that the commentary became more on the nose.

*This also happened in the second season when people didn't get that Stormfront was an actual Nazi.

A couple of things set it apart in addition to the gore, which was the actual main draw and focus of the show from the beginning- the social commentary on consumerism and the reversal of the superhero trope as a new kind of celebrity as their actual main job ( fighting crime is just another way to boost credibility to get better sponsor deals) were what made it very different to DC and Marvel in addition.

In the end they didn't change or even evolve that formula at all, it was just more of the same of escalating gross use of a superpower ( often in a sexual way), just more blood and guts and the constant 99% of Supes are dickheads of the highest caliber. To me it didn't matter much that they focused on US MAGA and Trump as a new benchmark, it was still the same old and by season 4 the formula was worn out and the season storylines kept repeating with only the details being different but the results basically staying the same.