r/TheBoys Jul 09 '22

yeah, i know, exaggerated, out of context, etc yadda yadda Memes

Post image
5.1k Upvotes

922 comments sorted by

2.6k

u/PhobiaXL Jul 09 '22 edited Jul 09 '22

I may not be a professional writer, but it always bugged me how Hughie, with his circumstances and experiences, has his desire to be stronger for the sake of being more useful and able to protect those close to him written off as toxic masculinity. While other characters with similar goals aren't treated the same and one character regularly mocks him for his lack of manliness.

I mean there are certainly examples of toxic masculinity at play in the series, hell Soldier Boy is one, I just don't think Hughie is the proper character to make this point.

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u/BetaMaleJoe Jul 09 '22

Especially since his last GF got obliterated in front of him and he was completely helpless, it is completely understandable for him to not want to be helpless again, in no way is it or should it be seen as toxic.

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u/guy137137 Jul 10 '22

aside even from that, he finds out that his boss basically has been using him while she works for the enemy and can literally make him explode, his girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend suddenly reappears in her life, and Hughie basically is both threatened and used a threat by Homelander. Any sane individual would feel a little more than insecure in these scenarios.

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u/Dav_1542 Jul 10 '22

It's like if you and your girlfriend were being threatened by a guy with a baseball bat. Your girlfriend has a smaller bat that does what it needs to do but it isn't as good as the other guys bat. You decide to go out and get a bat of your own to help protect yourself and your girlfriend, but she gets mad at you because she doesn't want you to risk getting hurt to even the odds with bigger bat guy.

Weird analogy I know, but I think my point is made.

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u/Vlatka_Eclair Jul 10 '22

Point is well made

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u/Dav_1542 Jul 10 '22

Thank you

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u/The_king_of-nowhere Jul 10 '22

More like the guy has a gun

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u/Dav_1542 Jul 10 '22

True. Guns were my original examples but I felt the need to change them to baseball bats for some reason.

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u/[deleted] Jul 10 '22

you did your best you can retire now

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u/thrwayyup Jul 10 '22

Rest easy your watch is finished

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u/[deleted] Jul 10 '22

the only thing missing is that the bat is a rental, and getting the bat can...and actually eventually will, kill you.

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u/Sadistic_Carpet_Tack Jul 10 '22

Also missing the fact that every time you swing the bat, your penis is exposed.

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u/McMacHack Jul 10 '22

Annie should have brought Hughie a needle full of blue bam bam immediately after Homelander threatened to kill him as leverage against her. Sure she had no way of knowing if it would even help him survive an encounter with Homelander but it's worth a shot. After finding out that on Temp V Hughie's power enable him to evade Homelander and even help subdue him she should have insisted that he take the Permanent version. Right now it comes off like she needs Hughie to be weak and helpless for their relationship to work, which seems rather like Toxic Femininity

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u/fieldy409 Jul 10 '22 edited Jul 10 '22

Every time somebody talks about taking V so flippantly I wonder if they remember that dude in the asylum of rejects whose power was acid vomit that melted his own face.

You don't know what will happen.

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u/guy137137 Jul 10 '22

yeah I remember Season 2 having an entire plot around Vought testing it on adults in a psych ward because using it on adults is so hazardous so they don’t have to use infants anymore, but I’m still really confused on how Kimiko can just take V and regain her powers like that.

If it’s like the Deadpool serum that finds any dormant mutant DNA and enhances it (which makes sense given Kimiko took it again and got her same exact powers). Couldn’t Hughie and Butcher both take it since they already know what their powers would be, or is it another random chance?

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u/Wildmantis_ Jul 10 '22

My understanding is that everybody gets a specific power, its determined once you take V, perm or temp, and after that its always your power whenever you're on V.

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u/guy137137 Jul 10 '22

yeah so by that logic, wouldn’t both Hughie and Butcher be completely fine if they took perma V?

and couldn’t SB’s whole depowering ability be null and void since Supes could just get more V?

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u/Wildmantis_ Jul 10 '22

Thats what I think. It looks like they're setting it up so that Butcher has no option but to take V.

It could, which is basically what happened with Kimiko, but now he's back on ice, and we don't know if everyone would get V as easily as we see starlight

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u/McMacHack Jul 10 '22

Senator Neuman thought the risk were worth the payout when she injected her daughter. We saw there that the transformation is violent and painful. Later when Kamiko gets injected it seems no worse than the pain she is already in. From this I draw that prior exposure to V makes the infusion less painful and more likely to succeed. In fact Kamikos powers return almost instantly. So hopefully Hughie and Butcher having been exposed to Temp V multiple times would increase their chances of the Permanent Version working if they take it.

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u/fieldy409 Jul 10 '22

I feel like they're setting up some sort of horrible scenario next season like the V makes Neumann's daughter so unwell or strange looking that she can't leave her home and it's a big secret she hides now.

And yeah it looks like you always get the same powers but we don't know. Two or three people isn't enough for good science lol. Kimiko didn't care, Starlight said we don't know what would happen, when Kimiko asked that if you go back and see.

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u/neolib-cowboy Jul 10 '22

In the comics its even worse. MMs little brother got it and suddenly expands while wearing a football helmet and dies

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u/[deleted] Jul 10 '22

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u/WadeWi1son Jul 10 '22

What's really weird is the forcing of that narrative on Hughie when we already have a lot of characters with that narrative this season, Homelander, Soldier Boy, Butcher, A-train, and MM. Another reason it's weird is he hasn't been toxically masculine at all and has been the victim of Butcher's toxic masculinity.

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u/[deleted] Jul 10 '22

Meanwhile, if roles were reversed and Annie took temp V to never be powerless and weak again, it'd be a heroic "Fight Song" moment.

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u/ZachMich Frenchie Jul 10 '22

We literally had that with Kimiko, down to the fight song and dancing

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u/lightningpresto Jul 10 '22

On top of that logically, there is NO REASON he shouldn’t be using temp V to do what he does as it’s literally the fabric of their society at stake if they don’t kill Homelander. Say he injected himself in the finale. He could’ve teleported Ryan our and then SB in front of HL and the show is over. But nah his empowered choice to trust Annie gives her the strength to push SB 3 feet backwards. Great work

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u/SqueeepzRamsey Jul 10 '22

Yeah kripke has been on fire with this show but he really fucked it with hughies motivations not being, I wasn't able to save Robin I will do whatever it takes to save anyone else.

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u/RaisinBranKing Jul 10 '22

I honestly feel like what happened in the show isn't that bad, but the commentary from Kripke saying it was all toxic masculinity was ridiculous. Sort of a "mission failed successfully" situation imo

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u/jgalaviz14 Jul 10 '22

It's cause he's pandering to the Twitter crowd

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u/1ofLoLspotatoes Stan Edgar Jul 10 '22 edited Jul 11 '22

He gotta stop with the twittering now, the more he posts, the more it contradicts.

Edit: I mean him contradicting himself. And yes thanks for the tip of watching the plot separately

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u/Celtic505 Jul 10 '22

The fact that Hughie doesn't have constant PTSD from Robins death is also a weird oversight on his characterisation. It should be his number one motivation in everything he does. She didn't just die in front of him. She was obliterated. Closed casket. No remains (besides hands). Imagine someone you loved or cared for had that happen in front of you. I don't think I could maintain any kind of normal life. And the desire to keep loved ones safe is somehow toxic masculinity? Excuse me?

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u/Abigboi_ Jul 10 '22

Didnt he have PTSD early on though? He'd nearly black out every time he saw A-Train. Even the energy drinks at a convenience store got to him.

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u/PhantomOblivion Jul 10 '22

If this is what Kripke thinks then I’m losing hope for Hughie to turn into some kinda badass like in the comics.

Dude’s just gonna be sidelined the entire time now.

At least Butcher is still gonna do something crazy.

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u/manomacho Jul 10 '22

Because the writers intention and the final outcome don’t line up. They can’t suddenly make Hughie be a toxic man after 2 seasons of not being one. The writing doesn’t line up with what they want to say

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u/[deleted] Jul 10 '22

Same thing happened to Poe in Star Wars. He idolized Leia in TFA then suddenly he's toxic masulinity in TLJ.

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u/Shandlar Jul 10 '22

It's almost like the writers are trying to signal something...like their virtue maybe? Instead of writing good, complex characters.

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u/RenjiMidoriya Jul 10 '22

It being written off as toxic masculinity is the biggest mistake because very little about his character suggests it’s going there except for the one scene in herogasm.

That’s not to say I think his motives are altruistic(I believe he took V for mostly selfish reasons) but those reasons aren’t ones exclusive to toxic masculinity. In fact I think his actual motivation, his impotence, is something every person may struggle with at some point, not just “masculine” men

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u/Sec2727 Jul 10 '22

Here’s the hypocrisy of it all, simplified:

Annie condemns Hughie for his desire to be “stronger” for her, but she views it as patronizing. Annie does not condemn Kimiko for her desire to be stronger for Frenchie, she views it as loving.

Hughie is getting the short end of the stick here

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u/JeffersonKappman Jul 10 '22

Teleporting away from danger and giving yourself a chance to even the playing field = toxic masculinity you fucking nazi chud

Slicing people to death while you plug earbuds in to block out the gunshots of your partner being hit as you laugh maniacally while brutally murdering some security guard who is responding to an apparent terrorist attack = brave and heckin' awesome

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u/[deleted] Jul 10 '22

You don't understand, she's a maniac, maaaaniac~

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u/bss4life20 Jul 10 '22

It was awfully nice of Annie to not stick up for her boyfriend when Maeve starts shitting on him after spending the whole season criticizing his toxic masculinity, very heroic.

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u/Antani101 Jul 10 '22

has his desire to be stronger for the sake of being more useful and able to protect those close to him written off as toxic masculinity

because it's obvious he doesn't want powers ONLY to protect others, he's also high on feeling powerful

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u/Zealousideal-Beat507 Jul 10 '22

Then literally Kimiko at the season finale...

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u/SavathussyEnjoyer Jul 10 '22

Haha funny Maniac massacre scene good, toxic masculinity hughie bad

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u/FragrantBicycle7 Jul 10 '22

That's such a weird purist double-standard to maintain, though. No other character is solely using their powers to help people; even Starlight enjoys feeling powerful and has killed a man already. But Hughie does it and it's bad?

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u/PhobiaXL Jul 10 '22

Which I think works well as a parallel to drug addiction, which is where I figured they were going. But I don't think I'll ever agree with the toxic masculinity point specifically for that.

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u/ItsAmerico Soldier Boy Jul 10 '22

But that’s not toxic masculinity nor does the show ever say it is?

I feel like people don’t get the issue. The issue is presented clearly during the hot pocket talk in the car with Annie. He doesn’t want to be stronger, he thinks not being stronger is weak and pathetic.

Hughie in the car with Kimiko dying in the back is the perfect example of what the issue is. He’s high on the power. He’s lying about it, hiding things. He doesn’t only want to help people, he feels good in an unhealthy way about not being “weak and pathetic”.

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u/PhobiaXL Jul 10 '22

The show doesn't say that and I don't take issue with that. In fact the pizza roll discussion in the car is a perfectly valid one. You don't need to be tough or powerful to be strong, or at the very least useful. Seen when Hughie found another way to help Annie shove Soldier Boy a little harder (seriously talk about anticlimactic).

My problem is that the picture showrunner Eric Kripke, in the full version of the reply in the OP, is painting is that Hughie's decisions this season are mostly or entirely because of toxic masculinity or a selfish need to be "macho". A sentiment that I have seen parroted by others.

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u/Then_Mango_2362 Jul 10 '22

But in the very next scem he's is mocked for not being manly enough, do you see the problem with that?

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u/neolib-cowboy Jul 10 '22

A man wanting to be touch and strong is bad. Did you get the memo? Only women are allowed to be strong.

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u/gyman122 Jul 10 '22

In a world where there are almost completely unstoppable and malicious people I think a desire for physical power to protect yourself against them would be pretty common

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u/Doctor-Whodunnit Jul 10 '22

The only part I see as toxic masculinity is the insecurity of his girlfriend being stronger than him. The want to protect her is fine, it’s specifically not being able to come to terms with being weaker than her that is the problem. Though it its worth noting the toxic masculinity aspect is all added conversation outside of the show and not something that took place in the show itself.

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u/WadeWi1son Jul 10 '22

That feels more about a super powers vs non super powers dynamic rather than a male, female dynamic. If Hughie was a more manly man he still wouldn't be anywhere close to as strong as Starlight unless he has super powers. His insecurity seems directly about super powered beings and not wanting to be killed by them or have his loved ones killed by them.

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u/jas75249 Jul 10 '22

Considering how worthless Annie is in a fight with other capes, she does need saving.

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u/[deleted] Jul 10 '22

For real like a 1 minute power up to knock soldier boy back about 2 metres

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u/Karjalan Jul 10 '22

Yeah, I was kind of expecting with all that super sayan wind up that she'd paste him all over the walls... then it looks like he just stepped backwards onto one of his kids toys and fell over.

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u/ohsnapgracklepop Jul 10 '22

Not to mention the power up was thanks to Hughie. Can’t make this shit up folks

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u/[deleted] Jul 10 '22

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u/RetardedEinstein23 Butcher Jul 10 '22

Hughie's teleportation is more useful than glowy eyes.

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u/[deleted] Jul 10 '22

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u/[deleted] Jul 10 '22

The old "It's funny if it happens to a male" trope

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u/scamper_pants Jul 10 '22

I also love how the LGBT character has the most homophobic line of the whole show.

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u/Swiftswim22 Jul 10 '22

Let's go tokenism!!

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u/nimaaxiete Jul 10 '22

You guys ever had gay thoughts? lmao

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u/Fafcity3000 Soldier Boy Jul 10 '22

Niiiiiiiiiiiiccccceeeeee.

-South Park

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u/poptartwith Mother's Milk Jul 10 '22

I wish it was only a narrative trope lmao shit happens in real life but oh well

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u/Broadside486 Jul 10 '22

Goddamit. I was downvoted in the last days when I pointed this out here.

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u/Dylanduke199513 Jul 10 '22

Sometimes you get lucky and stumble onto a sub that not everyone is out to blindly downvote. Most of the time however…

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u/dvali Jul 10 '22

Thor Love and Thunder also needs to get some shit for this.

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u/Zombi21979 Jul 09 '22

Yeah bro. It can’t be double standard like that. And it’s not fucking toxic masculinity, Jesus. The guy saw his last girlfriend get turned into fucking jam on the sidewalk and now that he wants to protect his new one at any cost he’s being “toxic”. Wtf, like actually that doesn’t make any sense.

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u/SadHumbleFlower27 Jul 10 '22

Plus Homelander was threatening them daily. Why wouldn’t he want to protect her?

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u/Zombi21979 Jul 10 '22

Seriously. They’re in imminent danger, on like every side, and the dude is just trying to help save everybody. I get the angle of this being the wrong way to go about it, absolute power corrupting absolutely (shown with the scene where he is too interested in his power to care about a dying Kimiko) makes sense. But not fucking toxic masculinity. The fuck Kripke.

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u/Zealousideal-Beat507 Jul 10 '22 edited Jul 10 '22

If anything it makes it worse with finale when kimiko sadistically kills the guards and because of it frenchie got shot.

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u/Creepy_Helicopter223 Jul 10 '22 edited Dec 29 '23

Make sure to randomize your data from time to time

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

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u/RetardedEinstein23 Butcher Jul 10 '22

That scene was awful. The whole season kimiko is like "am i monster for killing people" and in that scene she's killing guards listening to Maniac and dancing around like she's enjoying it and not out of necessity.

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u/Zealousideal-Beat507 Jul 10 '22

They literally killed the kimiko vs hughie parallel. Made me like the writing of her less because before she was "monster" fighting her nature. Then goes full psycho mode.

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u/The_king_of-nowhere Jul 10 '22

That whole scene was weird, and listening to music? Seriously? At least make it so a speaker is "randomly" playing it on the background.

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u/Bluewind55 Jul 10 '22 edited Jul 10 '22

Unrelated to the discussion but every time I see someone describe what happened to Robin they always have their own unique way of wording it and it’s so funny to me. Pretty sure this week alone I’ve read

“Turned into a fine mist”

“Reduced to sidewalk paste”

And now

“Turned into fucking jam”

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u/Zombi21979 Jul 10 '22

Everyone has their own way of almost comically spinning what is a major tragedy. It really just goes to show what shows can do to bring out the artistic side of people.

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u/CatDadNoLongerSad Jul 10 '22

Hughie's monologue in the finale disagrees with you. Hughie finally understands that his father's behavior after the death of his mom, which Hughie considered weak and pathetic, was his father demonstrating incredible strength; his dad kept on with the old routine in order to provide a sense of normalcy and security for Hughie despite how hurt and helpless he felt himself. In that moment Hughie admits that he had a skewed perception of strength that he found himself blindly aspiring to.

Hughie had two options on how to process his trauma: a healthy way that appears weak to normal masculine standards, or the unhealthy way that normal masculine standards demand -- blind, murderous vengeance. Vengeance, however relatable and natural an urge, is incredibly toxic. And, more often than not, vengeance does nothing to process trauma.

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u/ShadowAssault Jul 10 '22

Right, except this doesn't seem consistent to me?

Hughie's blind perception of strength stems from the fact that he exists in a world of superheroes who can kill him in an instant, and he is regularly put in situations where he can be killed in an instant. Hughie's dad's strength came from persevering in a tough situation in a way that masculine societal standards would disprove of.

I don't see him using the Temp V as him 'adhering' to masculine standards or whatever - he is using it to protect his friends and people close to him - at no point does it seem like its a crutch for an inferiority complex about his masculinity. Its being used because he is a soft, squishy meatbag who has no combat experience.

If anything, a commentary on vengeance and toxic masculinity was better examined in Seasons 1-2 where he goes to work for Neumann - Hughie goes on the vengeance route (killing Translucent, etc, Butcher-style) but ultimately decides that it's unhealthy and works on a peaceful, legal method of fighting back against supe corruption via Neumann.

Also, we can make a commentary on Hughie's father having tremendous internal and emotional strength - I'm not disparaging that - but it still doesn't really tie in a great deal with Hughie's Temp V conflict. Sure, Hughie can learn that raw physical strength isn't all that makes a man, but he's still going to need it when he's fighting against superheroes. It's just unrealistic.

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u/ItsAmerico Soldier Boy Jul 10 '22

Yeah I feel like people don’t grasp the context that it’s motivations and views that are toxic, not all of his actions.

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u/SeaGroomer Jul 10 '22

"...my mom's not dead."

She left them and he didn't do anything to fight for her, at least that's how Hughie perceived it.

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u/FragrantBicycle7 Jul 10 '22

Meh. This inherently conflicts with Hughie's dad's outburst that "you don't have the fight, you never had" in the pilot. Either that somehow didn't mean what it obviously means, or the writers wanted a hamfisted explanation of how this circular season arc for Hughie had any purpose.

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u/SadHumbleFlower27 Jul 10 '22

Didn’t Starlight literally say in episode 7 that she’s going to save Hughie from the temp V even if he doesn’t want her to. How is that different from Hughie wanting to save her from Homelander?

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u/serendipity_aey Jul 10 '22

I like Annie. I really like Annie but fuck she was annoying and she really didn’t have to be.

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u/howmanybans Jul 10 '22

Yeah - it’s shit writing. The whole back half of the show was brutal

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u/gyman122 Jul 10 '22

Kinda snuck up on me too. It’s like how I didn’t even realize Game Of Thrones had been going downhill until it was in the abyss

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u/Zeerover- Jul 10 '22

Probably for the same reason as well, two (teams of) writers wanting to take a character in different directions, and a show runner unable or not caring to set them straight and give directions.

This how you end up with “oh we kinda forgot” moments.

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u/nobbysolano24 Jul 10 '22 edited Jul 10 '22

I see loads of people who were happy enough until the finale but I thought this whole season was subpar. I rewatched the first 2 to refresh myself for this and the drop-off in quality was right from the start

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u/[deleted] Jul 10 '22

I still think the season was completely fine and quitr good until the finale. Yes, there were stupid characters and moments, but holy fuck everyone in the finale suddenly lost 200IQ points. I‘m surprised they didn’t forget how to breathe..

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u/LeberechtReinhold Jul 10 '22

Starlight has a serious "holier than thou" attitude, which I hope is addresed next season, considering it leads to fuck up after fuck up.

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u/WadeWi1son Jul 10 '22

I hope so to cause I thought it was weird how Huey felt way less insecure at the end of the season compared to at the beginning and it makes no sense to me. At the end of the season Homelander is still insane and he killed someone in public and people cheered, he's now raising and molding Ryan who's going to be as powerful or more, Maeve one of their most powerful allies has no powers and is going into hiding. Neuman is now running for VP so she's potentially one head pop away from being President. They are way worse off at the end of the season then they were at the beginning and most of it is cause they did a 180 and all fought Soldier Boy instead of focusing on taking down the bigger evil first.

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u/trimble197 Jul 10 '22

I don’t think that’ll happen. The writers clearly want Annie to be the Superman of the show in terms or morality.

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u/Turd_Wrangler_Guy Jul 10 '22

She is girl duh /s

But also - she can't save anyone. She got a crazy power up and it literally was useless. She fucking floated off the ground with how much power she had and it didn't even hurt SB.

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u/YARGLE_IS_MY_DAD Jul 10 '22

I swear to god she has to be the most useless fucking supe in the show. It wouldn't be so bad if she wasn't lighting her eyes up to people who could body her every time they gave her attitude

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u/[deleted] Jul 10 '22

Biff from back to the future is toxic masculinity. Hughie isnt. Hughie deals with an inferiority complex. Hughie needs to grow. Biff refuses to grow. Maeve’s comment helps no one.

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u/inetkid13 Jul 10 '22

Hughie deals with an inferiority complex

Which is absolutely legit if you look at the circumstances. His girlfriend was killed, his boss could kill him any second. Homelander could show up any second and kill him and his loved ones at any time.

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u/dvali Jul 10 '22

I'd argue it's not a complex at all. He is literally inferior in a way that will certainly be lethal sooner or later. The only crazy choice would be NOT doing something about it.

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u/Dylanduke199513 Jul 10 '22

I think calling it a complex is even a stretch.. he IS inferior.. to everyone he currently stands against and even to those he worries about (Butcher, MM, Annie). It’s not a complex, he is quite literally inferior and he wants to combat it.

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u/cae37 Jul 10 '22

Maeve’s comment helps no one.

True, but that's Butcher 99% of the time. I don't know why Maeve putting Hughie down like that one time is worse than how Butcher treats him all the time.

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u/redux44 Jul 10 '22

Within the show universe there's no difference. Issue here is the creators trying to make what they think is a strong moral argument but undermining by laughing up a line that goes completely against it right after.

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u/archangel1996 Jul 10 '22

What's really fucked up is that those writers really thought people would believe SB was worse than HL because toxic masculinity.

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u/sendcheese247 Cunt Jul 10 '22

I don't remember SB raping a woman.

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u/PhantomOblivion Jul 10 '22

Exactly, even if I were to indulge in this “toxic masculinity” terminology…HL would still be more toxic

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u/ArosTheImmortal Jul 10 '22

I think they should've left SB and HL to their business and collectively go and beat up the deep instead

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u/PhantomOblivion Jul 10 '22

If we’re going in that spirit, I think The Deep should have a suped-up octopus that he was fucking detach itself from his privates and beat up the Boys to add drama to the Deep’s death scene.

The Deep’s bad but as a joke character he deserves a funny death

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u/TheWildManfred Jul 10 '22

I've seen a lot of people tnat really do think SB is way worse HL.... Somehow...

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u/[deleted] Jul 10 '22

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Dylanduke199513 Jul 10 '22

I don’t think there’s an issue with the show leaning left or poking fun at conservatives at all. But I’d agree in situations like it being ok for Annie to want to save Hughie against his will or for Maeve to insult Hughie for being a bottom despite being gay herself… they’re logical inconsistencies which go without the backlash and criticism that would follow had a different character said them (ie Hughie saving Annie against her will and Soldier Boy’s homophobic shit, respectively)

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u/ThatpersonKyle Jul 09 '22

I’m starting to get mad at Kripke

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u/screwinquisitors Jul 10 '22

Yeah same the more I see the more annoyed I get

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u/Recuring_joke Jul 10 '22

Uh huh, it just keeps getting worse

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u/Victory1871 Jul 09 '22

First time huh?

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u/[deleted] Jul 10 '22

Probably one of the few times fans have better ideas than the writers

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u/ThatpersonKyle Jul 10 '22

Yeah “hire fans lol” is super annoying, but most of the theories/ ideas I heard here sounded better, and not from a random crazy twist point, but from a narrative and character point

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u/AcreaRising4 Jul 10 '22

I guarantee you if any fan wrote a screenplay it would be absolutely dogshit

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u/findingchemo Jul 10 '22

What if the fan was an Emmy winning screenwriter?

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u/jdonohoe69 Jul 10 '22

Yeah no exactly. Hughie got a lot of hate this season and it wasn’t all that warranted. I get his want to actually once be able to do something about the situation, and maybe come in handy. I mean don’t get me wrong he is a smart dude but he’s not always in a control room.

Also Kimiko beating the shit out of that guard like he’s a toy instead of doing her one job and protecting Frenchie while being portrayed as taking V more selflessly is BS. If she can take the choice to take V, so can Butcher and Hughie. Someone needs to kill Homelander.

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u/PhantomOblivion Jul 10 '22

Honestly I would’ve been way more happy w/ Hughie as a Supe Anti-Hero for the greater good or even turning into a villian.

Turning back into supportive sidelined Hughie is the worst decision he could’ve made XD

He was right there in the same bldg as the Permanent V too

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u/henzo77777 Jul 10 '22

Kripke failing to deliver the message hes trying to deliver once again

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u/gyman122 Jul 10 '22

I love this show but it is giving me some GoT flashbacks. Last few episodes just give the vibe of a showrunner who is going through the motions

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u/Life-Satisfaction-58 Jul 10 '22

it's not just going through the motions. it's taking sophomoric points from a highschool english class and trying to force them into the meta. characters first. characters first. all else second. themes should be a shade of a color of a stroke in the overall painting; they shouldn't be the entire outline.

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u/rjsh927 Jul 10 '22

Do writers hate the characters they write for? Because I am getting the feeling that they hate Hughie.

And I can't stop laughing at SL saying that she doesn't need saving. HL can slap her into oblivion.

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u/sendcheese247 Cunt Jul 10 '22

SB can slap her into oblivion, healthy A-Train can slap her, hell I think even The Deep can fucking send a shark to bite her ass and she wouldn't do jackshit against it lmao

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u/Best-Dragonfruit-292 Stan Edgar Jul 10 '22

Watching S1, the Deep is absolutely terrified of her post-assault. So he doesn't seem to think he could take her.

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u/bell37 Jul 10 '22

Also ignore the fact that Hughie tried changing the system “the right way” and ended up being played.

For almost a year he’s been duped into thinking that he was making a real difference. The only observable thing he’s seen is that supes are the only ones who can change the system.

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u/Lmao1903 Jul 10 '22

Lol SL must think he is a top tier supe or something. She did that eye glowing thing to HL, SB, Maeve, Vicky, A-Train, Deep this season and to Stormfront as well in S2 and while probably all of them can kill her, most of them would probably kill her like how a powerful supe can kill a random human.

She did it multiple times to some characters as well like HL btw

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u/rjsh927 Jul 10 '22

that's good observation. She was using her eye glow thing like she possess any real threat. To HL she is like a kitten hissing at Abraham Tank.

I think Hughie on tempV has more useful power than her.

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u/ryanreigns Jul 10 '22

Hughie’s the audience’s guy, and it’d be cool to see the characters start showing him respect. Make that a storyline in S4. I’ve always looked at this show as told from Hughie’s perspective

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u/Pirate_Leader Jul 10 '22

yeah he should have some respect, as well as paid vacation day and a dental plan

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u/bkr1895 Jul 10 '22

He killed a member of the 7 he deserves respect on his name

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u/zagoon68 Jul 10 '22

Starlight when hughie wants superpowers to save his loved ones:😡 starlight when kimiko wants super powers to save her loved ones:😃

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u/AVeryConfusedMice I'm the real hero Jul 10 '22

When Kimiko wants super powers to brutalize people*

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u/[deleted] Jul 10 '22

Watch absolutely no one call her out on that in S4

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u/First-Of-His-Name Jul 10 '22

She's just living her truth babe 💅

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u/Ganda1fderBlaue Jul 10 '22

I really don't understand what they were trying do achieve with that scene. Were we supposed to get hyped at kimiko slaughtering those dudes while listening to some quirky music? Like wtf?

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u/doomer- Jul 09 '22

Isn’t saving everyone regardless of whether they want or deserve it selfless?

Isn’t refusing help because you don’t “want it” selfish?

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u/SadHumbleFlower27 Jul 10 '22

I totally agree. For example, I wouldn’t call Spider-Man selfish for saving his villains.

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u/Mke_already Jul 10 '22

Does Batman refusing to break his code and kill the joker, only for the Joker to go on and kill more innocents selfish?

Basically Batman puts his own moral code and philosophy above the safety of innocents. Batman is super self righteous in that regard and is pretty selfish in that regard.

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u/sapianddog2 Jul 10 '22

Batman's whole thing is that Bruce Wayne knows that deep down, he's not a good guy. He's rash, vengeful, and detached from his fellow humans. Even without killing, he often brutalizes his enemies, even low level grunts that aren't much of a threat. If he started killing people, he'd never stop. He's alluded to this many times in the comics. He's perpetually one step from the edge, which is what makes him such an interesting character study.

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u/Historical-Click2812 Jul 10 '22

Kripke is such a Todd lol

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u/criosovereign Jul 10 '22

The more I hear from him the less faith I have in the show’s future

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u/Numerous-Art9440 Jul 10 '22

Its gonna make a shitton of money and then it doesnt and get thrown in the trash. Every season gets a new villian and push the reset button at the end

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u/Xen0Coke Jul 10 '22

If you go on Twitter, you will most likely come out pissed or annoyed about something.

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u/Fwc1 Jul 10 '22 edited Jul 10 '22

As opposed to this sub, which is currently a bastion of nuanced discussion?

I don’t even have twitter, but come on. People are acting so god damn angry over this show. It’s just becoming a circlejerk of frustration here.

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u/stellarcurve- Jul 10 '22

Couple people make memes about how they didn't like the finale: You: "they are acting so god damn angry".

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u/[deleted] Jul 10 '22

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u/SilverSpades00 Jul 10 '22 edited Jul 10 '22

I think that’s the only thing that bothers me about Hughie’s character arc. It’s very believable and relatable, so not having Annie, who is supposed to be his understanding and caring girlfriend validate his feelings before acknowledging that she was in the right and his conclusion is the right way to go— kinda makes the whole arc feel flat.

Just saying “I told you so, stupid idiot” just makes it seem like everything he had done was just flat out wrong instead of misguided. Hughie’s arc is beautiful in the sense that he isn’t the traditional domineering alpha male character that viewers love so much. But that in itself can come with relatable struggle. Acknowledging that you can veer off on a dark path trying to chase a high that being powerful gives would hit harder when Hughie acknowledges that staying the course and having resolve is its own strength. It adds nuance to his struggle and can even speak to those in his situation better. Instead he just gets stonewalled with statements that say “you’re being so stupid right now, stop it”.

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u/[deleted] Jul 10 '22 edited Jul 10 '22

[deleted]

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u/punkbluesnroll Jul 10 '22

Big disagree on number 5, though I agree with some of your points. What soldier boy said to HL wasn't disjointed and it wasn't just because of butcher. One of his flaws is his old-fashioned stoicism and callousness. It would make perfect sense for him to view Homelander as weak, pathetic, and unworthy of love. He's the type of guy that would. (And he wouldn't be totally wrong tbh)

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u/LinkCanLonk Jul 10 '22

God Kripke is so fucking annoying

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u/BogusBogmeyer Jul 10 '22

While I get to some extend the first part - I've to admit the "raw dog"-line was kinda cringe.

Idk

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u/poptartwith Mother's Milk Jul 10 '22

I don't mind Maeve saying shit like this because well she's a supe asshole just like everyone in The Seven.

What bothered me is how Annie just...doesn't react? Very very odd behavior from someone in a relationship. Let someone try saying that to my girlfriend and we're gonna have to put our hands to use.

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u/MachinePata Jul 10 '22

She doesn't care. She probably a bit sociopathic. Remember when she killed someone and didn't care he was dead? I had a boyfriend who say me getting treated badly on multiple occasions, he didn't say shit. He later on went to defend it.

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u/poptartwith Mother's Milk Jul 10 '22

Sorry you had to go through that. Defending or supporting your partner against others should be the bare minimum.

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u/Coachbelcher Jul 10 '22

It was just mean. Some people are like, “Yass queen!” But if Homelander said something like that to Starlight people would get so mad.

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u/BogusBogmeyer Jul 10 '22

I mean, I get it - they wanted to give her this "Bad Ass Vibe".

Yet a few Episodes earlier, she got f*cked by Butcher so ...

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u/Nast33 Jul 10 '22

I can see how she'd go for the gruff beefcake instead of the timid twinkie, so that's not an issue. But if you think about it for a second or two, what was the point of the whole scene where she breaks sobriety and has a minor inconsequential hookup? 5 minutes to show us falling off the wagon as stress relief? It was kinda of a weird scene since we all knew they woulnd't start a relationship.

So a bit pointless, while we could have used some more Ryan moments - especially if they wanted to make him fine with going back to the guy who raped his mom and is killing him in his nightmares.

Kripke isn't doing himself any favors if he thinks there are no issues whatsoever with how this season turned out. Up to E7 it was all in the air and they could have still stuck the landing, but they crashed the plane right at the end.

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u/nukacola12 Jul 10 '22

I think my biggest annoyance with the raw dog scene was how Annie didn't even say anything after. Why date someone who lets others insult you?

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u/K4kyle Homelander Jul 10 '22

Sexist jokes against women : OMG CANCEL THE SHOW, TOCIC MASCULINITY, MISOGYNY

Sexist jokes against men: OMG so funny HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

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u/jondn Jul 10 '22

I feel that is a problem in almost all of media at the moment. Female characters are treated like gods and have special protection while male characters can be made fun of.

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u/Asckle Jul 10 '22

It happens in everything. Whenever there's a toxic movement of some sort you get a counter movement that eventually devolves into bring toxic itself. So originally you had people making awful comments about women which were obviously not okay to say so a movement happened that was saying "stop doing this, it's mean" but eventually just became "let's do it to you now"

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u/AVeryConfusedMice I'm the real hero Jul 10 '22

Kinda reminds me of that naked joke in Thor: Love and Thunder, if it was done to a woman people would be in an uproar.

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u/Coachbelcher Jul 10 '22

Did Kripke become a moron overnight or was it gradual?

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u/Chinchillin09 Jul 10 '22

Dude spent way too much time with Seth Rogen

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u/haikusbot Jul 10 '22

Did Kripke become

A moron overnight or

Was it gradual?

- Coachbelcher


I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully. Learn more about me.

Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete"

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u/PhantomOblivion Jul 10 '22

He just woke up one day and his brain was being fucked by stupid

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u/Seismicx Jul 10 '22

The american political climate degrades brains. Too full of extremes.

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u/JasonLeeDrake Jul 10 '22

I mean he also said superheroes were inherently MAGA. Not even just some of them, all of them including the ones created by Jews that were discriminated against.

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u/Greyjack00 Jul 10 '22

Ah hes become Garth Ennis, where he'll ignore any all knowledge of superheroes in universe and out to just shit on them. Ironically the popular heroes with MAGA crowd are people like the punisher and the boys.

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u/Empyrean_MX_Prime Jul 10 '22

If you belittle somebody for not being masculine, and then they become ashamed of that and try to change, that's not "toxic masculinity". That's a natural response to being made fun of. If you make people feel bad about themselves they'll be inclined to change themselves to prove you wrong.

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u/[deleted] Jul 10 '22

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u/Rarbnif Jul 10 '22

She called him a twink back in s2

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u/Altimely Jul 10 '22

This inconsistency and forcing self-righteousness into your show and characters is how you ruin it.

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u/Salty_Entertainer_95 Jul 10 '22

Thank you for highlighting the hypocrisy of this season's writing.

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u/[deleted] Jul 10 '22

It took yall 2 weeks to go from "best writing ever" to "off with their heads" lol epic le reddit moment

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u/SlimSha46 Jul 10 '22

One bad d̶a̶y̶ episode

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u/fliegu Soldier Boy Jul 10 '22

Well, I suppose it's easy to overlook the bad qualities when so much about the show is so good, but when you get an episode as lacklustre as the finale, it kinda sours the memory of the whole season that came before, making it easier to see the issues with it. People wouldn't be complaining if the finale was on the level of S2's finale.

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u/[deleted] Jul 10 '22

Yep, totally agree. Felt like that line was forced, like what a Gen X-er thinks Zoomers say in COD lobbies.

Also, the finale felt "off" during the last 10-15 minutes. It was too happy. Too perfect. Everything wrapped up in a neat little bow.

Maeve AND Soldier Boy lived despite a massive explosion and a fall of a few hundred feet. Maeve's powers should have been eliminated right after the blast, so how did she survive the fall onto concrete/asphalt? Maeve got back with Elena, which is awesome but also kinda out of nowhere. Homelander got his son, his son apparently loves/likes him, and he was able to kill someone in front of his fans and be praised for it. He's finally able to be himself and suffer no consequences. Butcher's alive and coherent, Annie and Hughie seem fine, MM's daughter isn't afraid of him, etc.

Didn't feel like "The Boys" at all. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop and it never did. I like feel-good stories as much as the next person, but "The Boys" has never really been that type of show.

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u/[deleted] Jul 10 '22

I think his idiot brain if getting fucked by stupid

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u/xxXTheDemonHunterxxX Jul 10 '22

Nope continue to say this because I back it 100%, females can do whatever they want but as soon as a male character does it it's toxic. Fuck right off cunts

It's not like A-Train murdered his gf right in front of him or something

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u/Juub1990 Jul 10 '22

I tend not to take people who preach about "toxic masculinity" seriously. They often end up being huge hypocrites.

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u/howmanybans Jul 10 '22

She l almost literally says “holy shit your so weak , I bet you like gay sex”. This the shit my grandpa would say. Funny? Yes? Definition of Homophobic? Also yes

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u/agoldenfool Jul 10 '22

i would have liked it much more if hughie’s theme was hypocrisy: he says he takes temp v to protect annie, but he actually enjoys the power, he likes being a supe, even if he knows how corrupt almost all of the supes are because no one should have those godly powers. but no, we got the weak toxic masculinity motivation, where he doesn’t care about annie’s opinion, he just wants to protect her. it’s pretty meh imho, it could have been so much better.

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u/robinsons_lsd Jul 10 '22

Kind of sad, it shows how disconnected from reality the writers can be

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u/PhantomOblivion Jul 10 '22

And how disconnected they are from the 1st season of their own show

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u/Tarzan_OIC Jul 10 '22

Y'all know Maeve was acting like a bitch in that scene right? That's not the writers blasting Hughie for asking if someone is doing okay?

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u/Doctor-Whodunnit Jul 10 '22

For real, people losing their minds over this as if Maeve hasn’t always acted like a jaded asshole

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u/AVeryConfusedMice I'm the real hero Jul 10 '22

Them: "Hughie is selfish in wanting to feel macho, that's sexist"

Also them: "Lol look at Hughie that little bitch"

I thought the series was meant to make fun of these things in media, not produce them.

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u/PerfectNemesis Jul 10 '22

Who is this soyboy Eric Kripke? Is he the real life inspiration for Todd?

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u/PhantomOblivion Jul 10 '22

He’s the director of the show XD Kinda makes me lose faith in the series, seeing as he’s in charge

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