Note: This review covers episodes 1-6 of Gen V
Having become the first superhero series to secure a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Drama Series, The Boys evolved from a widely-acclaimed and massively popular comic book adaptation into genuine prestige TV. It’s still a franchise at the end of the day, with Gen V the first live-action spin-off to emerge on Prime Video this coming Friday, and it’ll go down a treat for anyone who adores its parent series.
Even though it’s only tangentially connected to The Boys by way of cameos, references, Easter Eggs, and connective tissue, both the biggest strength and most glaring weakness of Gen V is that it tries to go it alone. When it soars it delivers genuine emotion and engaging character-based drama set within the confines of a school for Supes-in-training, but at the same time it goes hard on the blood, guts, and sex to an extent that comes across as the creative team trying to do a little too hard to outdo its originator. How many graphic scenes involving engorged penises do you need to see on TV? Well, you’ll be finding that out in short order.
Another major danger was that The Boys would end up becoming the very thing it sought to tear down at every opportunity by becoming a monolithic shared universe in the Marvel or DC mold, and while that remains true by virtue of its offshoot’s mere existence, Gen V makes a solid fist of standing on its own two feet without repeatedly reminding everyone season 4 is waiting in the wings, a delicate balancing act to pull off considering the myriad of Vought name-drops, visual cues, and occasional cameos from familiar faces.
Unfolding at Godolkin University, things start off as they mean to continue with a blood-soaked opening sequence that introduces us to Jaz Sinclair’s Marie Moreau, establishes her unique powers, lays out her motivations, and delivers those geysers of claret we’ve become accustomed to from The Boys. As economical as it is effective, the exposition might be getting ladled on thick throughout, but it never slows the pace.
Securing a full ride to “God U,” Marie dreams of becoming the first Black woman to join The Seven, but soon discovers that the all-Supes school is as cutthroat and competitive as Mean Girls. Patrick Schwarzenegger’s Luke Riordan/Golden Boy is the star student, so much so that Clancy Brown’s esteemed professor Rich Brink repeatedly tells him he’s a shoo-in for Homelander’s crew once he graduates. Of course, things aren’t quite that simple, and the opening installment ends with a figurative and literal bang that upends everything you think Gen V is going to be based on the marketing.
Along the way, we’re introduced to who we swiftly discover are our core characters; Golden Boy’s girlfriend Cate (Maddie Phillips) can influence people’s actions through touch and suggestion, Marie’s roommate Emma (Lizzie Broadway) has become an online sensation due to her size-changing abilities, metal manipulator Andre (Chance Perdomo) lives in both the shadow of his former Seven member father Polarity and being best friends with God U’s top student, while gender-shifting Jordan (Derek Luh and London Thor) is the ambitious teaching assistant determined to make it to the top at any cost.
Naturally, their bright eyes and bushy tails diminish as the narrative progresses, with each of them being given a personal arc that deftly interweaves with the overarching story of something sinister unfolding in the bowels of the education establishment, with Gen V seeking to dovetail a superpowered conspiracy thriller replete with wide-ranging ramifications alongside more intimate and hard-hitting issues including generational trauma, eating disorders, daddy issues, self-doubt, guilt, and plenty more besides.
Eschewing the biting satirical tendencies of The Boys for the most part, Gen V smartly leans into its college setting to tackle issues that plague people of that generation on a daily basis, although it’s never too long before a dismemberment, exsanguination, exploding body part, or foul-mouthed tirade emerges to ensure it never loses sight of its origins. As mentioned, it’s hard to craft a spin-off to one of the biggest shows on streaming while simultaneously trying to carve out a space of your own, tackle pertinent problems in a realistic fashion, and then make good on the deranged levels of unhinged insanity audiences have come to expect, but the series makes a concerted – if regularly flawed – attempt to spin those plates.
Asa Germann’s complex and complicated Sam emerges as the unexpected anchor of Gen V, with his trials and tribulations tied to every major event that transpires in the first six episodes, and no doubt the last two as well. Sinclair makes the erstwhile protagonist easy to root for, and while several of the smaller arcs aren’t quite as interesting and a couple of key performances are found lacking in certain areas, there’s a case to be made for Broadway emerging as the stealth MVP of the whole shebang, although Schwarzenegger also deserves credit for imbuing what could have been a stock Homelander Jr.-type with the requisite amount of pathos.
There’s a lot to like about Gen V, with one standout action sequence as inspired and inventive as it is undeniably hilarious for reasons we won’t spoil here, but it nonetheless constantly feels as though that special intangible something that made The Boys what it is has been found sorely wanting. That being said, it’s far from being a spin-off made solely for the sake of capitalizing on a hot property, but it’s equally true that the series is at its strongest when it shies away from the excess and debauchery that defined many of its inspiration’s most memorable moments, even if there are plenty of those to be found, too.
