# The Boys S1 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted, amazon-prime\ **Created:** [June 17, 2019, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boys-s1/835656 "2019-06-17T20:58:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2019, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boys-s1/835656/141 "2019-08-14T18:52:02Z")
I will also say that while that’s the motivation for Butcher and Hugh, it’s not for any other of “The Boys” or the CIA agents. It’s just something that sort of ties Butcher and Hugh together… where Hugh can move forward from it, but Butcher can’t. Mother’s Milk, Frenchie, the CIA woman who recruits Butcher (Marjory?) have different reasons. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2019, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boys-s1/835656/142 "2019-08-14T19:04:59Z")
> [@moojja](#): > > I agree. Although I’ll argue that’s not Annie’s motivation? Yes, although she’s raped by a supe. Her motivation is she wants to be a hero. Yeah, but it’s her central conflict. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boys-s1/835656/143 "2019-08-15T04:29:59Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > … > Great series. But there’s one big problem with it, that I see. Women’s bodies keep getting violated by supervillains in order to motivate the protagonists. > … > Butcher’s motivation? His wife is raped and murdered by a supe. > Annie’s motivation? She’s raped by a supe. > … Butcher _thinks_ she was raped, but in the show the video evidence leans towards consensual. We might find out next season. Annie? That’s sexual harassment, not rape. She could have walked out, but then Wave threatened to have her tossed out of the seven. It’s still being a complete jerk nad it could be sexual assault, depending. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boys-s1/835656/144 "2019-08-15T10:14:01Z")
Coercing someone to perform sex acts is a form of sexual assault. And at another point full on rape was attempted, I believe. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boys-s1/835656/145 "2019-08-15T11:21:39Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Butcher _thinks_ she was raped, but in the show the video evidence leans towards consensual. We might find out next season. First, I’m talking about character motivation, and what Butcher thinks is his character motivation. Second, the video evidence shows her walking professionally and poised into Homelander’s office, then coming out much later disheveled and wide-eyed. She leans against the wall, looks around, realizes she’s holding one shoe, puts it on, and walks off. It’s Episode 7, 32:30. There’s no way we’re supposed to understand that scene as evidence that she wasn’t raped. > [@](#): > > Annie? That’s sexual harassment, not rape. She could have walked out, but then Wave threatened to have her tossed out of the seven. It’s still being a complete jerk nad it could be sexual assault, depending. It is not a defense to a rape allegation to say, “After I threatened her livelihood, she was down with it.” The [FBI’s definition of rape](https://web.archive.org/web/20120313021145/http://blogs.usdoj.gov/blog/archives/1801)includes oral rape: > [@](#): > > “The penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.” ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boys-s1/835656/146 "2019-08-15T12:15:47Z")
[Moderating] This is not the place for a debate on precisely what constitutes precisely which sex crime. Drop the hijack. (and a thank you to the poster who reported this hijack promptly, so it could be nipped in the bud. I came in here dreading a three-page trainwreck of back-and-forth) ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2019, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boys-s1/835656/147 "2019-08-22T00:20:14Z")
OK. I loved this series and I loved Preacher. What graphic novel should I read to prepare me for the next awesome show? I’ve been reading East of West, which was optioned by Amazon, and I’m loving that. What are some others? ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boys-s1/835656/148 "2019-08-26T18:04:59Z")
> [@RikWriter](#): > > You didn’t? I saw it coming from the moment I found out his wife had been pregnant. It was fairly obvious from that point on. I think you’re being a little loose with the word ‘obvious.’ Yes, I’m not surprised that Homelander’s kid was alive. There was nothing to make that obvious though. I was a little surprised to see that Butcher’s wife was alive. Homelander’s demonstrated cruelty through the first 6 or 7 episodes make it most believable that he could have killed Butcher’s wife to cover up his rape. The final episode doesn’t show if Butcher’s wife was raped or not; but it’s looking like she was not. And finally I was very surprised that Homelander, for all his faults, wasn’t the reason his wife disappeared, and I thought he actually showed a little humanity by making sure he saved Butcher. Homelander wanted Butcher to know he wasn’t the villain in this case, and even brough him to show him that his wife was still alive. You really think all of that was obvious? I don’t think so. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boys-s1/835656/149 "2019-08-26T19:03:07Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > OK. I loved this series and I loved Preacher. What graphic novel should I read to prepare me for the next awesome show? I’ve been reading East of West, which was optioned by Amazon, and I’m loving that. What are some others? Have you read _The Sandman_ by Neil Gaiman? Netflix is supposedly going to be making a series. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boys-s1/835656/150 "2019-08-26T19:16:38Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Yup. As I understand it: > > 1. Translucent came to Hugh’s shop and started beating him up. > 2. It seems like Butcher saved Hugh’s life by ramming a car into him. > 3. Translucent starts winning the fight, brutally, and it sure looks like he’s gonna kill Hugh and Butcher. Hugh’s already seen a supe kill a human, so he’s thinking that’s gonna happen. > 4. Hugh tries to kill Translucent to save his own life, but just knocks him out. > 5. As soon as Translucent wakes up in the cage, he starts screaming about how as soon as he gets out they’re all dead. > 6. Hugh still plans to let him go, but sees that poster about “Keep your hands clean,” decides in a rage that he’s a coward, and pulls the trigger. > > That scene is mirrored in the final episode, when he decides to save A-Train’s life, despite having even more reason to kill him. He’s decided to take a path different from Butcher’s. It’s a great scene of growth. > > * * * > > Great series. But there’s one big problem with it, that I see. Women’s bodies keep getting violated by supervillains in order to motivate the protagonists. > > Hugh’s motivation? His girlfriend is killed by a supe. > Butcher’s motivation? His wife is raped and murdered by a supe. > Annie’s motivation? She’s raped by a supe. > > They lean really heavily into the [Women in Refrigerators](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WomenInRefrigerators) cliche. In all those cases, I think the story would’ve been a helluva lot more interesting if they’d just switched one or both genders. Well, there was that one guy whose penis snapped off inside the Ice Queen when she climaxed… ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2019, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boys-s1/835656/151 "2019-09-03T13:03:52Z")
> [@D\_Odds](#): > > I think the point is that there were no _good_ guys. Starlight is probably the only real good guy, with Hughie coming in a distant second. This is about bad people taking down worse people. MM seems like a decent enough human being. > [@](#): > > As for Translucence, I think they had to go very, very deep to get that bomb to work. And while I know they were going for effect, it shouldn’t have blown him up like it did, instead just destroyed his insides. His skin should have held him mostly intact and he shouldn’t have sprayed everywhere. But expecting consistency in a superhero universe is a fool’s errand. I thought the same thing; it should have just blown guts out his orifices. That said, the manner in which he exploded wasn’t a stupid inconsistency; it was deliberately a parallel to what happened to Robin, a visual cue that Hughie was engaging in an act of revenge and in so doing had the blood on his own hands. NITPICK: “Translucent,” not “translucence.” The cool thing about the series, of course, is the fact that it’s the most realistic portrayal of what a world with superheroes would be that I’ve ever seen. Ofr course they’d be dicks. The fact Vought creates the superheroes kind of robs the series of what would be one of its most interesting question; if superheroes were naturally occurring, would Vought not maybe be doing the world a favor? They seem to keep superheroes under some degree of control; they’re dicks, but if they were just running free of any sort of obligation they might be WAY worse dicks. Homelander is legitimately a terrifying thing; it’s like if Superman were Zod and there wasn’t a good Superman to stop him. All superheroes could be tyrants. They’d rule the normal people. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2019, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boys-s1/835656/152 "2019-09-03T13:30:08Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > The cool thing about the series, of course, is the fact that it’s the most realistic portrayal of what a world with superheroes would be that I’ve ever seen. Ofr course they’d be dicks. I think it also shows a nice progression as Vought gets their shit together with regards to raising them. From complete psychopath literally grown in a lab Homelander, to more normal douchebaggery like The Deep and A-Train which mostly mirrors spoiled celebrities and sports stars, to just a basic decent human in Starlight. Given a normal upbringing they can turn out ok. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2019, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boys-s1/835656/153 "2019-09-03T13:51:49Z")
I liked the show, bit every time I see this thread title I hear/see that damned volleyball scene from _Top Gun_. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2019, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boys-s1/835656/154 "2019-09-03T14:04:01Z")
> [@Scoobysnax](#): > > I have not read the comics but this is probably one of the most realistic portrayals of how supers would probably act if they really existed. Power corrupts and absolute power would corrupt absolutely. That always sounds so hifalutin’. The real big problem, and one which this series does touch up on, is that power doesn’t make you less of an imbecile if you happen to be one. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2019, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boys-s1/835656/155 "2019-09-03T15:26:06Z")
That’s true. But power DOES corrupt. Consider Homelander. Every single human being on the planet today has to respect authority to SOME degree because, ultimately, you can be imprisoned or killed. Even dictators can find themselves on the wrong end of the gun or the noose if they don’t make enough people in their circles happy. All of us, every person who has ever lived, has their own physical vulnerability to consider in our behaviour with other people. Even the powerful, or else they end up like Julius Caesar, Muammar el-Quaddafi, or Benito Mussolini. But Homelander, from what we have been told, is totally invulnerable; he has no weakness of any kind. Not even Superman’s weaknesses of kryptonite and loved ones you could hurt. Nothing is stopping him from treating the human race like ants. It is hardly unsurprising he is a total sociopath, and his reputation, which his ego values, is really the only limitation on his behaviour. His power makes him hold everyone in contempt, value human life not at all, and commit hideous acts just for the hell of it. He is a billion times likelier an outcome of Godlike superpowers than is Superman. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2019, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boys-s1/835656/156 "2019-09-03T15:27:28Z")
I was at DragonCon this weekend and went to The Boys panel with Karl Urban and Jack Quaid. And they indicated that Season 2 was going to be a good deal more fucked up than Season 1. So we got that going for us. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2019, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boys-s1/835656/157 "2019-09-03T17:17:08Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > … > > The cool thing about the series, of course, is the fact that it’s the most realistic portrayal of what a world with superheroes would be that I’ve ever seen. Ofr course they’d be dicks. > … Why? Not every King or US President has been a dick. I mean, yes, Power corrupts- _some._ MM? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boys-s1/835656/158 "2019-09-04T00:32:30Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Why? Not every King or US President has been a dick. I mean, yes, Power corrupts- _some._ > > MM? Mother’s Milk. The prison worker with a daughter. His buddies call him MM. Kings and Presidents haven’‘t always been dicks, no. But… I mean, no offense, but didn’t I already write about that? They can’t be too dickish or someone hangs them. A head of state is powerful but he can stiil be sent to prison or shot. There is a limit on anyone’s power. Even a king. Ask Louis XVI or Charles II. Even Kim Jong-Un has to keep his inner circle generals happy to some extent or they’'ll arrange a little accident. He’s flesh and blood. There is no check on Homelander’s power, and not much on other superheroes. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boys-s1/835656/159 "2019-09-04T00:58:32Z")
Question without names because it’s been a few weeks and I’m terrible with names: The drug used to control the supes is blue, right? And in one scene, the lady boss paints her nails blue and then basically snuggles Homelander like a baby, right? And he’s sucking on her nails or something? I kept expecting that to come up, like she was drugging him through her nail polish, but nothing ever happened with it. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boys-s1/835656/160 "2019-09-04T01:51:15Z")
The drug doesn’t control them, it makes them and boosts their power. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boys-s1/835656.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-boys-s1/835656.md?page=9)