[JohnnyB]

Originally Posted by Cole436

Spoiler!

A great buildup that didn’t stick the landing. I don’t think there were severe enough consequences for any of the characters. Maeve and Solider Boys death’s were fake outs, Homelander kept his powers, all the boys are fine (except for Butchers cancer), and there were really no fallout to Homelander being exposed to the public.

It felt like the writers were too scared to make the difficult play at the endgame. I also think they bit off a bit more than they could chew and too many arcs felt incomplete (A-Train’s, Vikki’s, Edgar, even BN to an extent). In saying that, this has still been the best season of the series so far.

There was a lot about this episode I liked. The discussion about fathers and SB’s rejection of Homelander was really well done. How they displayed the cycle of abuse through generations made my stomach churn. Homelander’s murder of BN was shocking and hard to watch. I think Ryan’s story is going to be interesting.

This episode was a solid 7.5 but the whole season was a 9.

Spoiler!

The discussion about fathers and the themes in the show about feeling like a failure and taking it out violently on others kind of weird me out. Like, it seems culturally relevant to the time we're in, but it's also pretty messed up. The idea of having detestable heroes in contrast with the traditional tropes of heroes that embody the most admirable traits already seems like it's targeting people who grew up loving super heroes and wanting to be like them and now feel like under-achievers. The extra male daddy issues and social isolation feels a bit heavy-handed on top of everything else. I can't honestly tell what the intended message is though in the end, or what the intended impact of the show is, if there is one beyond making money. I can't tell if it's ironically condemning these traits or empathazing with them.