Have A Super Day

I've watched the first two episodes of the new Amazon series The Boys.  It's a drama set in a present where superheroes exist.  We've seen this before, but The Boys has its own take.

Because in this world, the top superheroes, known as The Seven, are pretty much owned and operated by a corporation.  And while their public relations sells them as incorruptible and heroic, in private they're actually a pretty creepy, immoral bunch.  In the pilot, one of them, A-Train--the fastest person in the world--accidentally (as far as we can tell) kills a woman by running through her.

This is where we get the title (and a pretty lousy, generic title it is, though it's taken from the comic book the show is based on). Hughie, the boyfriend of A-Train's victim, is met by Billy Butcher, who it turns out is the leader of "The Boys"--guys who are quietly fighting to take down these supes, as they call them.  Butcher seems disreputable himself, but if you want to go up against heroes, maybe that's how it works.  Hughie doesn't know what he's going to do about his girlfriend--he's being asked to sign an NDA for $45,000--but Butcher is ready to recruit him for the cause.

We see the story from the ground level of the Boys, as Butcher, Hughie and others team up to find out the true story of these supes and, presumably, make it known to the world.  And we see it from on high, in the offices of the Vought corporation, which runs The Seven.  While we get to know all seven of the superheroes, their leading man--the one with the biggest reputation and apparently the most power--is Homelander (a bit on the nose for satirical purposes).  He's thought to be the most noble, but may be the most corrupt of all.

We also see The Seven from the viewpoint of their newest member, Starlight, a wide-eyed young woman gifted with superpowers who has wanted to join the group since she was a little girl.  The scales soon fall from her eyes as she learns how sleazy the whole racket is.

There's also Madelyn Stilwell, who wields tremendous power as the Vought vice president charged with overseeing The Seven.  Even the Supes know without the backing of Vought they could be also-rans.

That's the set-up, and the show delivers the action with both dark humor and a surprising amount of menace.  When you think about it, real superheroes, even if you thought they were fighting for good, would be horrifying.  They're laws unto themselves--invulnerable and able to crush anyone. That's what the Boys are up against. (The show starts with a warning for adult content, and it earns it, with brutal violence and plenty of sex as well.)

The show is pretty good so far.  The actors, including Karl Urban as Butcher, Erin Moriarty as Starlight and Jack Quaid as Hughie, all do good work.  The first season is eight episodes, and if it doesn't fall apart I expect I'll finish it before too soon.