Spoilers & Speculation

[roamyn]

4 hours ago, gonzosgirrl said:

My guesses: Flashdance song? Maniac

Slugfest: Soldier Boy and Maeve

Chilling Image: Something to do with Ryan

Flash dance song:  flash dance, because it would be so incongruous.

Slugfest:  Butcher & Hughie 

Chilling image:  SB blows up part of Vought Tower & a bunch of Supes are lying around as a drone camera flies upward.

OR

ditto on the Ryan part

[Castiels Cat]

25 minutes ago, Affogato said:

Not sure what you are saying? 

my current theory is that he survived the great layoff because he is related to stan edgar, maybe like Victoria, an adoptee and maybe Stan’s sister’s son. Somehow. He may in fact believe he is there to protect the world when Supes go bad. So that would be why he thinks he’s a good guy. Like 007, you know?  Bad things for good reasons. 
 

Deep and A Train just ain’t that bright. 
 

Very gee of these people are good. Kimiko is terrifying and a spree killer and a monster.  Ask the oligarch’s women. Ask Kimiko. 

I don't think he has moral high ground. Not sure I buy mental illness as a defense. Most show some mental illness. Badly expressed on my part.

[gonzosgirrl]

2 hours ago, roamyn said:

Flash dance song:  flash dance, because it would be so incongruous.

Slugfest:  Butcher & Hughie 

Chilling image:  SB blows up part of Vought Tower & a bunch of Supes are lying around as a drone camera flies upward.

OR

ditto on the Ryan part

Two out of three ain't bad. 😁

[MrWhyt]

17 hours ago, Castiels Cat said:

Aquaman being useless is a trope

more like a fact at this point

Quote

I think he will prove to be pivotal and have a redemption.

redemption is a trope

[Castiels Cat]

5 hours ago, MrWhyt said:

more like a fact at this point

redemption is a trope

Jason Mamoa would like a word. He literally saves the lives of the Justice League from drowning. The current films are showing that his skill set is effective.

[Affogato]

12 hours ago, Castiels Cat said:

I don't think he has moral high ground. Not sure I buy mental illness as a defense. Most show some mental illness. Badly expressed on my part.

It is hate the behavior and not the person. May need to lock someone up and throw away the key and if that doesn't work, kill them outright, to prevent their evil behavior, but they still may be motivated by illness and trauma. Does real evil exist, and if it does, does it apply to people who have all suffered the kind of abuse most of these people have suffered? Mental illness is not a defense (except in some specific legal terminology, but it probably should be considered. Then, if necessary, you incarcerate or kill them.

[Smad]

What a golden opportunity this show passed up. The Season should have ended with a depowered HL but who escaped. HL having to live as an ordinary human would have been such an interesting story. Doubly fun since he would have to remain off the grid as he is one of the most recognizable faces on the planet. If he shows his face somewhere, it would be all over the news and The Boys would go after him. Basically he would have to be underground the same way The Boys have been while trying to find a way to get his powers back.

If they wanted to keep Ryan relevant, they could have gotten him out with his powers intact. So once HL gets frustrated he makes a ploy to go after his son. Maybe to try and get blood from Ryan to either see if it can give him his powers back or to engineer a new V out of him.

Maybe HL would have to form his own version of The Boys which should not be that hard considering how many fanatical fans he has. Plus some people in high level positions would probably sign on for it for their own gain.

This would be a much more believable way to stretch out the show than the nonsense they just pulled.

[gonzosgirrl]

IYKYK. When asked in an interview what he would have liked to keep from set, at first Jensen 'it's a real eye-opener' Ackles said Soldier Boy's shield, but then said he'd changed his mind and didn't want it after all. I assumed it was because it was too heavy...

[BabySpinach]

https://ew.com/tv/the-boys-season-3-finale-sets-up-season-4-tug-of-war-ryan/

Have people still not learned to not put kids at the center of non-kid stories? Child actors and their characters are almost never as compelling as the adults, especially with this show's cast. Can't say I'm particularly invested in Ryan waffling between psychotic little shit or goody-two-shoes while the actually-interesting characters cater to and revolve around him.

[gonzosgirrl]

2 minutes ago, BabySpinach said:

https://ew.com/tv/the-boys-season-3-finale-sets-up-season-4-tug-of-war-ryan/

Have people still not learned to not put kids at the center of non-kid stories? Child actors and their characters are almost never as compelling as the adults, especially with this show's cast. Can't say I'm particularly invested in Ryan waffling between psychotic little shit or goody-two-shoes while the actually-interesting characters cater to and revolve around him.

I could not agree with this more. And after his actions in this episode, Butcher can go fuck himself.  Anything Homelander does now is on him and his "boys". 

[Nick24]

17 minutes ago, BabySpinach said:

https://ew.com/tv/the-boys-season-3-finale-sets-up-season-4-tug-of-war-ryan/

Have people still not learned to not put kids at the center of non-kid stories? Child actors and their characters are almost never as compelling as the adults, especially with this show's cast. Can't say I'm particularly invested in Ryan waffling between psychotic little shit or goody-two-shoes while the actually-interesting characters cater to and revolve around him.

IA. I do not want some overpowered kid to steal another show. Just no! I'm just sick of it. 

Spoilers for SPN S13-15

Spoiler

Butcher/HL fight over Ryan in S4 is gonna be SPN S13, isn't it? Because The Boys 3.08 felt like SPN 15.17-15.18. Ryan = Jack, HL = Chuck, Soldier Boy = Billie and her plan....

What happened to Kripke? Has Dabb bitten him or what? 😡

Edited July 9, 2022 by Nick24

[MAK]

Hopefully (praying actually) they will focus on the tug-of-war between the adults, and Ryan will be mostly off-screen.

[Smad]

58 minutes ago, BabySpinach said:

Have people still not learned to not put kids at the center of non-kid stories? Child actors and their characters are almost never as compelling as the adults, especially with this show's cast. Can't say I'm particularly invested in Ryan waffling between psychotic little shit or goody-two-shoes while the actually-interesting characters cater to and revolve around him.

On this show it's the absolute worst you can possibly do.This show prides itself on it's adult language, violence, nudity and all around adult content. Putting a kid in the middle of that is going to tone the show down whenever he is around. Especially when you make him the freaking focal point now.

It's going to be a lot of choppy action if he's involved in it, instead of the direct carnage we usually see. Basically it will be like the end of S2. Didn't we all want to see Stormfront deep fry? If Ryan hadn't been there, we absolutely would have gotten that. Instead we get laser eyes, intense light and boom..cut to SF on the ground.

And then there is the language. They might get away with a 'cunt' a Season but beyond that? They will not be allowed to so much strong language around the kid nor have the kid use it.

This is going to neuter the show's gimmicks for which most people come to watch it. And with the writing seeming to get worse every Season, this is a really bad idea. Also I thought the point of the show was to KILL HOMELANDER (and really get rid of all supes), so we are going to stretch this out, YET AGAIN, via a plot device known as Ryan? And if they were going to do this, at least get a better kid actor.

[Bergamot]

2 hours ago, BabySpinach said:

Can't say I'm particularly invested in Ryan waffling between psychotic little shit or goody-two-shoes while the actually-interesting characters cater to and revolve around him.

Yeah, I have to say that this does not make me feel really excited about next season.

The thing is, he is just a child. It is not going to be difficult to manipulate him by promising him that you will always love him and take care of him and give him whatever he wants. It's not like we are going to see Ryan making weighty moral decisions about his own soul and the fate of the world at his age.

1 hour ago, MAK said:

Hopefully (praying actually) they will focus on the tug-of-war between the adults, and Ryan will be mostly off-screen.

This sounds to me like the only way to make this work. The problem with it that I see, has to do with something Kripke himself says about Season 3 in this article:

"The Boys' Showrunner Teases What (and Who) Is Next for The Seven & Co."

Quote

And that was one of the reasons I needed someone with Jensen’s charisma to be Soldier Boy, because that’s a character who’s off camera quite a lot but he’s also the catalyst for almost everything that happens in the season. So you need someone who, even when they’re not on screen, is still controlling the story in a way and you need someone really wildly charismatic.

Kripke should have paid attention to his own words here while planning Season 4, because there is no way that I can see Ryan as a character filling this role. He is going to be the catalyst, and is going to be "controlling the story in a way", but neither the character or the actor playing him has the necessary charisma. As a result there is going to be a big empty hole in the middle of the story. I am not optimistic.

Edited July 9, 2022 by Bergamot

[Bergamot]

It’s too late now, of course, but here is the way I would have changed things this last season if I could, in order to set them up for next season.

1) Have the Boys accidentally discover Soldier Boy while looking for a weapon against Homelander, but instead of them deciding to use him as the weapon, he temporarily joins them as a Supe that is working with them against Vought, just as Kimiko and Starlight and Maeve did, in order to get his revenge.

2) In order to make this even possible, have MM’s vendetta for killing his family be against Homelander, rather than having it be something that Soldier Boy did.

3) In the season finale, have Soldier Boy find out that Homelander is his son, and decide to join him and become his ally.

4) This would set up a different tug-of-war for next season, where you have Homelander on one side and Butcher and the Boys on the other, with Soldier Boy in the middle, and both of them trying to get him to fight on their side.  Now THAT would be a season I would be looking forward to!
 

[Smad]

I'm not optimistic at all. On top of the Ryan news, finding out that the S3 Finale was written by guys who have never written for The Boys (and one of them has never written PERIOD), this show is going to peter out.

Why join Netflix and Marvel in hiring people who have no experience in writing?

[Aithne]

7 minutes ago, Smad said:

I'm not optimistic at all. On top of the Ryan news, finding out that the S3 Finale was written by guys who have never written for The Boys (and one of them has never written PERIOD), this show is going to peter out.

Why join Netflix and Marvel in hiring people who have no experience in writing?

Yeah, I'm baffled by that choice. Kripke used to write the season openers and finales for SPN himself, and they were always killer. Why leave your most important episode of the season in the hands of a total newbie and a newbie to the show? 

[Bergamot]

1 hour ago, Smad said:

Also I thought the point of the show was to KILL HOMELANDER (and really get rid of all supes), so we are going to stretch this out, YET AGAIN, via a plot device known as Ryan?

That's another thing I wondered about in the article I just referenced. Speaking of next season, Kripke says:

Quote

I think it’s time to bring a couple new superheroes in to The Seven who are going to be much more in-line with Homelander’s madness. He’s gonna stack the deck with much more dangerous heroes than we’ve seen in The Seven up ’til now. I can say that. 

Now, maybe I will love these new characters, but it does sound like just another way to stall and avoid dealing with Homelander -- the Boys will be going after these new, more dangerous Supes. It's obvious that nothing significant is going to happen with Homelander versus Butcher and the Boys until the show is ending, but the delay is starting to look increasingly artificial and inorganic.

Also, I'm not sure that adding even more regular characters to the show is a good idea. I actually think they would do better with fewer of them. The strain on the writers to include every single regular character in every single episode is starting to show. I mean, did we really need to have two separate scenes where the Deep has sex with an octopus? 🙄

Well, it is still early days yet. Hopefully we will also be getting some spoilers for Season 4 that I can feel excited about!

Edited July 9, 2022 by Bergamot

[Asha124]

Did Kripke hire Dabb for season 4? I'm getting some serious Supernatural flashbacks. Granted, Jack was portrayed by an adult actor but the whole storyline was tiresome and the worst part of the later seasons (IMO). I'm not looking forward to Ryan being in the spotlight in season 4.

I really wish they had gonne the Captain Jack Harkness route with Butcher (spoilers for Torchwood season 3):

Spoiler

Jack sacrifices his own grandson to save others, which is exactly what Butcher should have done - sacrifice Ryan for the greater good.

Now we are stuck with a kid actor in prominent role (maybe he will improve until next season but so far I'm not impressed)... I would much rather watch JA being badass and learn more of SB's story.

[Mabinogia]

41 minutes ago, Smad said:

I'm not optimistic at all. On top of the Ryan news, finding out that the S3 Finale was written by guys who have never written for The Boys (and one of them has never written PERIOD), this show is going to peter out.

Oh, that explains a lot. The finale did feel like a different show than the rest of this season. I LOVED eps 1-7. Ep 8, not so much. 

Not happy about this Ryan news. I didn't really want to check spoilers about the show until that last ep. This is exactly where I was afraid the show was going and had to know, to manage my expectations. 

I can understand whey they want to keep HL, the actor is outstanding in the role, but seriously, he's past his expiration date as a character. IMO the only way to keep him on the show without the character getting annoying is if he'd lost his powes in the finale and next season was about a HL who actually has to deal with his own mortality. The actor could totally pull off dealing with going from an unkillable god to a powerless mortal with an unkillable godlike child in tow. Watching HL hide behind his child would have been really fascinating.

Watching yet another season of unkillable, all powerful HL terrorizing the world with his horrible, posse of evil Supes sounds boring AF.

And while the fight over the soul of an all powerful child could be interesting, it isn't when the kid in question is dull as dishwater.

[Nick24]

1 hour ago, Smad said:

I'm not optimistic at all. On top of the Ryan news, finding out that the S3 Finale was written by guys who have never written for The Boys (and one of them has never written PERIOD), this show is going to peter out.

3.08 co-writer David Reed wrote 3.02.

58 minutes ago, Aithne said:

Kripke used to write the season openers and finales for SPN himself, and they were always killer. 

Not always, btw. The story for S5 finale was written by some person, who had never written for SPN before. Kripke wrote only the teleplay. And, of course, IMO that was a piece of garbage. 

46 minutes ago, Bergamot said:

Also, I'm not sure that adding even more regular characters to the show is a good idea. I actually think they would do better with fewer of them. The strain on the writers to include every single regular character in every single episode is starting to show. I mean, did we really need to have two separate scenes where the Deep has sex with an octopus? 🙄

It feels like they are afraid of killing them off. 

35 minutes ago, Asha124 said:

Did Kripke hire Dabb for season 4? I'm getting some serious Supernatural flashbacks. 

You're not alone. I hope Kripke is better than that...

Edited July 9, 2022 by Nick24

[Nick24]

1 hour ago, Smad said:

I'm not optimistic at all. On top of the Ryan news, finding out that the S3 Finale was written by guys who have never written for The Boys (and one of them has never written PERIOD), this show is going to peter out.

22 minutes ago, Nick24 said:

3.08 co-writer David Reed wrote 3.02.

OMG. That same David Reed co-wrote the stories for SPN episodes (5.19 IIRC) with.....Andrew Dabb😂 (and Loflin). This fact made me LOL. 

ETA: He also co-wrote SPN 6.06. 

Edited July 9, 2022 by Nick24

[gonzosgirrl]

I hate it when shows bring in new characters before the existing characters get their due, or worse, have their already established stories get left hanging or ret-conned by new writers. 

I am 100% on board for giving new writers a chance. But when you only have 8 episodes to tell a story,  there really isn't any room for filler or mistakes. Their scripts need to be supervised and, if necessary, revised. The audience deserves it. 

Edited July 10, 2022 by gonzosgirrl

[Mary42]

9 hours ago, Nick24 said:

You're not alone. I hope Kripke is better than that...

He's not. 

[Castiels Cat]

On 7/9/2022 at 7:53 AM, BabySpinach said:

https://ew.com/tv/the-boys-season-3-finale-sets-up-season-4-tug-of-war-ryan/

Have people still not learned to not put kids at the center of non-kid stories? Child actors and their characters are almost never as compelling as the adults, especially with this show's cast. Can't say I'm particularly invested in Ryan waffling between psychotic little shit or goody-two-shoes while the actually-interesting characters cater to and revolve around him.

Mallory will also be involved because she is invested and he is her surrogate grandchild. She will release SB. 

I think we will get a big showdown eventually.

Very annoyed at the writing of that final.

Could have been better. Parts did work.

Would have liked to see more supes depowered. Ridiculous not to depower HL...

But that does veer way of the source material.

[Aithne]

Hopefully it's just one of multiple plot threads. Taking out Neumann is gonna have to occupy a lot of the team's attention too, I think. 

[gonzosgirrl]

Kripke said in a post-finale interview that (paraphrased until I can find the article Soldier Boy was kept alive for a very specific reason. I figure that means the endgame for whenever their final season happens.

Also, the responses to this tweet from Kripke leave me no hope that the creative team will see anything wrong in the way things went in the finale and we can only expect more the same next season.

Edited July 11, 2022 by gonzosgirrl

[Smad]

30 minutes ago, gonzosgirrl said:

Also, the responses to this tweet from Kripke leave me no hope that the creative team will see anything wrong in the way things went in the finale and we can only expect more the same next season.

Maybe someone from the creative team takes a peek at Reddit. We aren't the only ones complaining about the Finale. Only morons listen to the social media echo chamber. Of course Reddit isn't perfect since sometimes it takes Seasons until the people who complain aren't downvoted into oblivion and even the last idiot can't deny the travesty anymore (*cough* GoT *cough*).

[Castiels Cat]

On 7/8/2022 at 12:49 PM, gonzosgirrl said:

IYKYK. When asked in an interview what he would have liked to keep from set, at first Jensen 'it's a real eye-opener' Ackles said Soldier Boy's shield, but then said he'd changed his mind and didn't want it after all. I assumed it was because it was too heavy...

https://ew.com/tv/black-noir-nathan-mitchell-recast-the-boys-season-4/

Link about Black Noir recasting same actor.

On 7/11/2022 at 9:37 AM, gonzosgirrl said:

Kripke said in a post-finale interview that (paraphrased until I can find the article Soldier Boy was kept alive for a very specific reason. I figure that means the endgame for whenever their final season happens.

Also, the responses to this tweet from Kripke leave me no hope that the creative team will see anything wrong in the way things went in the finale and we can only expect more the same next season.

Ugh. I just read that plotlines from Varsity will be interwoven into season 4.

Not sure I care about rando college supes.

[Affogato]

I woke up this morning and I'm ok with the finale. Yes, I think they should have kept the current team of writers and some things felt off in tone, or unearned.

Still...

If Soldier Boy had depowered Homelander, which was kind of an obvious thing that we all noticed could happen, yeah, it would be interesting and it would set us up for the next season, where the focus is on Homelander. Also it would depower the soldier boy blast as the main part of a finale. Depowering Supes is clearly something that could be endgame, but not necessarily endgame.

If Soldier Boy is back in storage it gives Grace something to do.

Also, Butcher is the main character in this ensemble. This finale sets up Butcher (not Homelander) with some choices. Does he take V and live, at the expense of his beliefs and ideals? At the end of the finale it is also established that Ryan, Supe or not, is his main priority, which is part of a huge character shift for Butcher.

I'm okay with these things.

[Smad]

16 minutes ago, Affogato said:

Also, Butcher is the main character in this ensemble. This finale sets up Butcher (not Homelander) with some choices. Does he take V and live, at the expense of his beliefs and ideals? At the end of the finale it is also established that Ryan, Supe or not, is his main priority, which is part of a huge character shift for Butcher.

For me, that was always the obvious route with Butcher. He would be the final villain. He, just like Homelander, should be getting more unhinged the longer he can't kill HL. He eventually gets to the point where even his own team says 'this is too far' and leave him. Then nothing is holding him back and no one to pull him back and he becomes what he hates (full on HL 2.0). And then it's Butcher vs his former team which IMO would be so much more emotional and so much better drama. Butcher's life is a tragedy, nothing wrong with seeing that through to the end. This was not supposed to be a happy ending show after all.

22 minutes ago, Affogato said:

If Soldier Boy had depowered Homelander, which was kind of an obvious thing that we all noticed could happen, yeah, it would be interesting and it would set us up for the next season, where the focus is on Homelander. Also it would depower the soldier boy blast as the main part of a finale. Depowering Supes is clearly something that could be endgame, but not necessarily endgame.

See I would have even been fine with a HL that is not depowered. So long as the other characters stay true to themselves and their goal. They could easily excuse the blast not working on Homelander with 'he didn't get his powers from V'. They could say that SB burns the V out of a person rather than the general superpowers. Neither HL nor Ryan got their powers from V, so if the goal was to keep the status quo alive, make it so SB's blast doesn't work on them. But have the protagonists follow through on their mission/plan and then deal with it having failed. Instead all they have achieved is making The Boys team complicit in every life HL will end up taking.

[Bergamot]

14 hours ago, Castiels Cat said:

Ugh. I just read that plotlines from Varsity will be interwoven into season 4.

Not sure I care about rando college supes.

I guess I won't mind so much, just so long as it doesn't become necessary to watch the other show in order to continue to follow the original one and have it make sense.

I don't know though, the more I hear Kripke talk about next season, the more I start to be convinced that I am interested in the characters on The Boys much more than I am in the universe that the show has created for them. If the show does not have interesting stories for the characters I am already invested in, bringing new characters into that universe and telling stories about them instead is not going to hold my attention.

[gonzosgirrl]

Just moving this over here as there is some spoiler talk beyond the Herogasm episode.

3 hours ago, Aithne said:

I totally understand that POV. It's a show that indulges a lot of what Kripke enjoys in terms of blood and guts (I'm sure he wishes he could've done more of it on his actual horror show), which definitely isn't for everyone. It's funny, because there was another board where I was discussing this show, there's a vocal group that's just obsessed with Homelander, but I agree with you - I think the actor's great, but if the character died tomorrow, I'd be totally ready to move on from him.

I totally loved season 1 & 2, and especially season one because it was like nothing else I'd seen, and I loved the idea of turning the superhero mythology on its head. I think maybe the Emmy nod went to their head a little though, both in terms of feeling the need to amp up everything that worked (the shocking gore, the language, 'comedy') to the extent that by the end of season three, I was left a bit fatigued by it all. A feeling definitely not helped by Kripke & Co's constant assertions that every episode, every scene, was ZOMG! GOING TO BE THE MOST EXTREME SHOCKING FUCKED UP BEST THING EVARRRRRRRRR. ZOMMGGGG!!!! The creative team has absolutely bought into the hype, IMO.

Not gonna lie, I loved every moment of Soldier Boy, and I, too, love Frenchie and Kimiko . But there was far too much 'tell' about Soldier Boy that didn't fit with the 'show', and they kinda sorta ruined Kimiko with her sing-song, gleeful murder spree in the finale. So much of the clever, adult storytelling went right out the window (including the woobification of Black Noir).

And now it seems they are going to center the next season around the battle for Ryan's soul. I'd be okay with that if it meant focus on real battles between a powered-up Butcher and psycho Homelander that ended with actual consequences (ie, Homelander's death) and Ryan was mostly offscreen. But given the actor's bump up to regular status, and the fact there's no way they are killing off Antony Starr, I have zero confidence that will be the case. The past three seasons I couldn't get the episodes quickly enough. I think I'm probably going to wait to binge next season if reviews prove me wrong.

[Aithne]

19 minutes ago, gonzosgirrl said:

Just moving this over here as there is some spoiler talk beyond the Herogasm episode.

I totally loved season 1 & 2, and especially season one because it was like nothing else I'd seen, and I loved the idea of turning the superhero mythology on its head. I think maybe the Emmy nod went to their head a little though, both in terms of feeling the need to amp up everything that worked (the shocking gore, the language, 'comedy') to the extent that by the end of season three, I was left a bit fatigued by it all. A feeling definitely not helped by Kripke & Co's constant assertions that every episode, every scene, was ZOMG! GOING TO BE THE MOST EXTREME SHOCKING FUCKED UP BEST THING EVARRRRRRRRR. ZOMMGGGG!!!! The creative team has absolutely bought into the hype, IMO.

Not gonna lie, I loved every moment of Soldier Boy, and I, too, love Frenchie and Kimiko . But there was far too much 'tell' about Soldier Boy that didn't fit with the 'show', and they kinda sorta ruined Kimiko with her sing-song, gleeful murder spree in the finale. So much of the clever, adult storytelling went right out the window (including the woobification of Black Noir).

And now it seems they are going to center the next season around the battle for Ryan's soul. I'd be okay with that if it meant focus on real battles between a powered-up Butcher and psycho Homelander that ended with actual consequences (ie, Homelander's death) and Ryan was mostly offscreen. But given the actor's bump up to regular status, and the fact there's no way they are killing off Antony Starr, I have zero confidence that will be the case. The past three seasons I couldn't get the episodes quickly enough. I think I'm probably going to wait to binge next season if reviews prove me wrong.

Yeah, I'm still mulling over that scene with Kimiko killing the Vought lackeys. It doesn't bother me that much from the perspective of "there were contractors on the Death Star" or whatever, and I don't think she was being gleeful in the killing (she was serious once she got to work, I think she was just trying to find some sort of pleasure through music to get her through a tough thing, like some people do for workouts). 

The thing I'm mulling over is her overkill on the second dead guard, where she was slashing his face and slamming him into the floor. Everything else was efficient, and then the moment she thinks everyone's dead, she goes nuts on this guy. Was she remembering her last fight, and the emotions from that that have propelled her to accept the V back? It was reminiscent of that, but this time instead of being called back to reality by Frenchie telling her it was over, she was called back by seeing him about to get shot. And I just don't really know why that's part of the scene if we weren't supposed to find it troubling. Why would it have such specific consequences (ie,  the one thing that she accepted her powers back to prevent) if it was just supposed to look cool?

I don't know, I feel like this might be a recurring issue for her (getting into a rage/bloodlust). It was a problem for her in S2 as well, and it was sort of brushed under the rug (when she voluntarily hired herself out for hits to vent the rage she felt about her brother's death). But it seems like it's a key part of her psychology (maybe not surprising, all things considered) that has the potential to be a real problem down the line. 

But yeah, I am not terribly excited about the fight for Ryan's soul either - it's not that I know how it's gonna end or that it's predictable or whatever. I just need a break from the relentless focus on Homelander. 

Edited August 4, 2022 by Aithne

[Affogato]

It is possible the new 'Black Noir' comes up from varsity; also that it is a homelander clone.

[Castiels Cat]

On 8/6/2022 at 12:46 PM, Affogato said:

It is possible the new 'Black Noir' comes up from varsity; also that it is a homelander clone.

It is being played by the same actor that played original BN. 

[Castiels Cat]

On 8/4/2022 at 12:20 PM, gonzosgirrl said:

Just moving this over here as there is some spoiler talk beyond the Herogasm episode.

I totally loved season 1 & 2, and especially season one because it was like nothing else I'd seen, and I loved the idea of turning the superhero mythology on its head. I think maybe the Emmy nod went to their head a little though, both in terms of feeling the need to amp up everything that worked (the shocking gore, the language, 'comedy') to the extent that by the end of season three, I was left a bit fatigued by it all. A feeling definitely not helped by Kripke & Co's constant assertions that every episode, every scene, was ZOMG! GOING TO BE THE MOST EXTREME SHOCKING FUCKED UP BEST THING EVARRRRRRRRR. ZOMMGGGG!!!! The creative team has absolutely bought into the hype, IMO.

Not gonna lie, I loved every moment of Soldier Boy, and I, too, love Frenchie and Kimiko . But there was far too much 'tell' about Soldier Boy that didn't fit with the 'show', and they kinda sorta ruined Kimiko with her sing-song, gleeful murder spree in the finale. So much of the clever, adult storytelling went right out the window (including the woobification of Black Noir).

And now it seems they are going to center the next season around the battle for Ryan's soul. I'd be okay with that if it meant focus on real battles between a powered-up Butcher and psycho Homelander that ended with actual consequences (ie, Homelander's death) and Ryan was mostly offscreen. But given the actor's bump up to regular status, and the fact there's no way they are killing off Antony Starr, I have zero confidence that will be the case. The past three seasons I couldn't get the episodes quickly enough. I think I'm probably going to wait to binge next season if reviews prove me wrong.

I was so invested in the potential of a depowered HL... he is still a psychopathic and psychologically powerful character. However the arc of being normal and not a supe would have been amazing. Why give SB that power just to give Kimoko a dance number or two and retire Maeve. 

Idjits.

[Affogato]

9 hours ago, Castiels Cat said:

It is being played by the same actor that played original BN. 

Wears a full body mask. 
 

yeah I got that. But it would make some sense to mess around with that story. More than one can wear the outfit. I’m not devoted to rhe idea. Just sayin’. 

Edited August 15, 2022 by Affogato

[Morrigan2575]

21 hours ago, Castiels Cat said:

It is being played by the same actor that played original BN. 

So then what was the point in killing him? I really do think Kripke chickened out.

[gonzosgirrl]

28 minutes ago, Morrigan2575 said:

So then what was the point in killing him? I really do think Kripke chickened out.

I think so too. 

[Castiels Cat]

52 minutes ago, gonzosgirrl said:

I think so too. 

They love the actor...

He was always in the mask so yes there can be another BN.

Killing him gave us some insight into HL and gave what's left of the 7 a reality check.

Hopefully that act will have ramifications for anyone who thinks they are part of team V going forward.

It most certainly informed Ashley's decision to erase the tape of Maeve escaping.

But yes. A lot of the specific choices made in that finale were whiplash inducing and anticlimactic.

[Aithne]

So y'all see what JA commented on the pic of KU and JQ? Looks like he might be back sooner than expected! 

[gonzosgirrl]

10 minutes ago, Aithne said:

So y'all see what JA commented on the pic of KU and JQ? Looks like he might be back sooner than expected! 

I really think that's just a joke. I say things like that to my friends all the time if they post about a good drink or great meal, etc. Personally, I don't think we'll see Soldier Boy again before the final season (if at all), except maybe in Vought propaganda. 

[Morrigan2575]

17 hours ago, gonzosgirrl said:

I really think that's just a joke. I say things like that to my friends all the time if they post about a good drink or great meal, etc. Personally, I don't think we'll see Soldier Boy again before the final season (if at all), except maybe in Vought propaganda. 

Maybe but Celebs use Twitter to promote themselves and, their work. So I wouldn't write off Soldier Boy making an appearance or 2 in S4. That being said, if he does appear I would expect flashbacks if it's early in the season. 

[gonzosgirrl]

I won't be surprised if there are flashbacks, or shots of him in the cryo-chamber, but those (the cryo shots) could have been filmed already while shooting the last episode, and Jensen even said they shot more flashback scenes/longer versions of what they showed. But I sincerely doubt we'll see him as a live-action part of S4.

[Castiels Cat]

On 8/15/2022 at 6:58 AM, Affogato said:

Wears a full body mask. 
 

yeah I got that. But it would make some sense to mess around with that story. More than one can wear the outfit. I’m not devoted to rhe idea. Just sayin’. 

They really really messed with the DNA a lot if it's a clone unless the switch out at unmasking which feels cheap.

But then Frenchie just whipping up the deadliest nerve agent like it was a no bake cheese cake felt extremely cheap.

Edited August 17, 2022 by Castiels Cat

[roamyn]

This is just speculation:  Jensen Ackles stated that he couldn't lose the longer hair & beard that he wore for The Winchesters finale, because he needed them for another part and wouldn't have time to re-grow.  He has been hinting at some big Press Release the last few months (which is apparently delayed), too.

Because his looks are very, very close to SB's, I wonder if that's the part he was hinting at and if SB is coming back for the end of S4?

It may not be related, but it's fun speculating/hoping.

[Myrelle]

On 8/16/2022 at 2:08 PM, Morrigan2575 said:

Maybe but Celebs use Twitter to promote themselves and, their work. So I wouldn't write off Soldier Boy making an appearance or 2 in S4. That being said, if he does appear I would expect flashbacks if it's early in the season. 

I'm going to predict that we'll see him escape the cryo chamber early in S4.

We might not get more than that until possibly the end of the season when Kripke will use him again to promote S5-wherein and when we'll hopefully get to see a lot more of him.

"Free Soldier Boy" has been reverberating through the social media platforms time and time again since the S3 finale.

And honestly. I don't think Kripke would waste the opportunity to address that type and amount of fandom interest. 

Here's to hoping...🥰🤞

[Affogato]

This is hovering closer to the comic than I have thought before season 4. 

[Castiels Cat]

23 hours ago, Affogato said:

This is hovering closer to the comic than I have thought before season 4. 

Homelander eyeballing the Oval...