The Boys - Season 1

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Callaroga Shark Media. Welcome back to
TV in the Basement, the podcast that

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dives deep into the shows you love, or maybe the shows you forgot you

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loved. I'm your host Journey Joe
Mitchell, and today we're talking about the

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wild ride that was season one of
the Amazon original series The Boys Strap In

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Because Things are about to get diabolical. The Boys debuted on Amazon Prime Video

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in July twenty nineteen and immediately made
waves for its dark, irreverent take on

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the superhero genre. Based on the
comic book series of the same name by

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Garth Ennis and Derek Robertson, the
show is said, in a world where

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superheroes are not only real, but
corporatized, monetized, and often straight up

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assholes. Enter The Boys, a
ragtag group of vigilantes led by Billy Butcher

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played with manic glee by Carl Urbin. The Boys make it their mission to

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expose and take down corrupt superheroes,
especially those in the elite superhero squad known

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as the Seven. It's a premise
ripe for the kind of gloriously messed up

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social commentary and ultra violence that Ennis
and showrunner Eric Kripkey gleefully provide over the

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course of eight hour long episodes.
Season one follows Huey Campbell, played by

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Jack Quaid, as he joins up
with Butcher's crew after his girlfriend is brutally

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killed by a superhero. Driven by
grief and a thirst for vengeance, Hughey

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becomes swept up in a larger conspiracy
involving the shady Vaut corporation that manages the

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Seven. The Boys assembled an impressive
cast to bring its morally gray characters to

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life. Carl Urban as Billy Butcher, the quick tempered leader of the Boys,

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Jack Quaid as Huey Campbell, an
electronic store worker turned amateur vigilante.

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Anthony Starr as Homelander, the Seven
sociopathic superman analog. Aaron Moriarty as Anni

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January Starlight, a naive but principled
new member of the Seven. Dominique mcklagot

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as Queen Mayve, Homelander's jaded ex
girlfriend. Chase Crawford as aquatic Hero the

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Deep, essentially if Aquaman was a
sex pest. Jesse t Usher as a

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train a speedster with a drug problem. Laz Alonso as Mother's Milk, Butcher's

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level headed right hand Man, Tomer
Capon as Frenchy, a eccentric weapons specialist,

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Karen Fukuhara as Kimico the Female,
a mute superhuman with regenerative powers.

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Nathan Mitchell as Black Noir, a
masked ninja who never speaks. Elizabeth Schu

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as Madeline Stillwell, a VAUD executive
who manages the Seven. While season one

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is strong across the board, a
few episodes stand out. Episode six,

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The Innocence, focuses on the uneasy
mentor mentee dynamic between Homelander and Starlight.

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Homelander revealing his true sociopathic nature to
her is chilling. Also features a darkly

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hilarious sequence where the Deep tries to
save a dolphin. Episode eight, You

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Found Me Season finale an action packed, twist filled finale that sets up intriguing

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plots for season two, including Butcher's
presumed dead wife being alive and the revelation

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that Becca's son is the product of
assault by Homelander. The shot of Homelander

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Mayve and Stillwell callously laughing after covering
up a fatal plane crash is haunting.

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The role of Hue was written specifically
for Jack Quaid after Kripke saw him audition

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for a different project. In the
comics, hue is drawn to resemble Simon

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Pegg. Peg appears as Hughey's dad. In the show, Homelander is meant

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to embody toxic post nine to eleven
American jingoism taken to its darkest extremes.

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According to showrunner Eric Kripke, the
show's over the top tone is meant to

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be one tick past reality. Many
of the show's musical choices feature on the

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nose lyrics that comment on the action, like playing the Door's twentieth century Fox

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when Huey visits a Fox News parody
station. Kripke said they wanted to explore

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what would happen if you combined the
worst of politics with the worst of celebrity

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and fame, and how badly that
could go off the rails. When asked

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if starl lights harrowing storyline in episode
one was inspired by the hash me too

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movement, Kripke said, it was
more about the fact that we wanted to

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make sure that in this superhero world
women had to navigate the same lousy reality

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that they have to navigate in our
world. Like the comic, it's based

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on the boys courts controversy. By
design, the pilot features an extremely graphic

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sequence where a train accidentally kills Huey's
girlfriend by running through her at super speed.

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Her death is shockingly visceral and gory, setting the tone for the show's

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unflinching violence. Also in the pilot, Starlight is coerced into performing a sex

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act on a fellow superhero to gain
entry into the Seven. Some found this

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storyline gratuitous, but others saw it
as a disturbing reflection of the exploitation and

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abuse that occurs in real world industries. Overall, the violence and sexual content

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definitely pushes the boundaries of the superhero
genre, but fans and critics largely agree

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the graphic elements aren't just for shock
vau but served the story's scathing satirical edge.

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For a show as gleefully depraved as
The Boys, you might not expect

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it to be an awards darling,
but season one garnered a surprising amount of

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critical recognition. At the twenty twenty
Critics Choice Super Awards, the Boys won

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Best Superhero Series, beating out heavy
hitters like Watchman and The Umbrella Academy.

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Anthony Starr also took home Best Actor
in a Superhero Series for his chilling portrayal

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of Homelander. The show also made
a splash at the twenty twenty one Saturn

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Awards, which recognized the best in
sci fi, fantasy, and horror.

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The Boys won Best Streaming Superhero Series, while Carl Urban and Aaron Moriarty won

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Best Actor and Best Actress in a
Streaming Series, respectively. The Boys even

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received some Emmy love. While it
didn't win, Season one was nominated for

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Outstanding Sound Editing for a Comedy or
Drama Series in twenty twenty. On the

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more technical side, the show's VFX
team won the award for Outstanding Animated Character

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in an Episode or Real Time Project
at the twenty twenty one Visual Effects Society

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Awards for their work creating the monstrous
love sausage in season two. Sure,

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it's a bit of a silly award, but hey, a win is a

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win. Individual episodes also received recognition. The season one finale You Found Me

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has an eight point nine rating on
IMDb, making it the highest user rated

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episode of the series, and the
episode The Innocence won Best Episodic at the

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twenty twenty one Hollywood Professional Association Awards. Critics generally heaped praise on the first

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season two, it earned a certified
fresh eighty five percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

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Entertainment Weekly included it on their list
of the ten best shows of twenty

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nineteen. Several critics highlighted The Boys
as a standout in an oversaturated superhero media

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landscape, praising its biting social commentary
and willingness to subvert genre expectations. So

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while it may not have the prestige
of some Emmy bait dramas, The Boys

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proved in its first season that there's
room for an ultraviolent superhero ro satire to

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make a mark on the award circuit. It's just delightfully on brand for a

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show this unconventional to be recognized in
some pretty unconventional categories. And that wraps

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up our deep dive into season one
of The Boys. It's a show that's

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definitely not for the feint of heart, but if you can stomach the gore

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and darkness, it's a wickedly entertaining
deconstruction of superhero tropes in American power fantasy