The Boys - Season 2 EP5 ‘We Gotta Go Now’
AMAZONEpisode five of The Boys continues to dig deeper into the characters and mythos of the world it has created. And whilst it isn’t as packed in terms of pivotal developments as the preceding episode, it excels in other areas.
It’s hard to pick out a signature, standout strength of the series; between its acerbic script, well-paced direction and surprisingly artful gore, it has a lot going for it. This episode balances a mixture of all three, gearing up for further character and plot developments whilst maintaining a sensible length and a handful of action sequences to break up what could, in worse hands, have felt like an audiovisual Wikipedia article.
The direction for this episode is particularly assured, with up-and-coming TV director, Batan Silva showing competence, confidence and promise. The cinematography is handheld in a pseudo-documentary fashion. This isn’t a new concept – after first being popularised by 1999’s The Blair Witch Project, it has been employed countless times – but instead of being irritating and noticeable, it instead aids in exacerbating the intimacy of the relationships between characters. It’s not exceptional, but neither is it boring or directionless. There is also proof of versatility and variation with a hammed-up advertisement and a Marvel-esque opening sequence both showing different styles, even if they feel a little too brief to be truly adventurous.
The script also shows agility, blending humour and seriousness in a way which makes both aspects feel clear-cut enough from one another as to not feel indistinct, yet also not so separate that the humour seems manufactured. Alongside this is some apt (and scarily accurate) social commentary. In addition to being insightful and funny, it often has relevance to the growth of the characters. For example, there is a brilliant scene which mocks society’s view of gender roles as a necessary imposition on LGBT relationships (along with sending up the type of person to say, ‘Who’s the guy and who’s the girl in the relationship?’ to a same-sex couple) which turns into an emotional moment of growth for Queen Maeve.
All in all, this is another entertaining episode of The Boys with enough of the series’ inexplicable charm that it should satisfy fans of the show, even if it is a little light on major developments in which to keep audiences chewing over until the subsequent week’s episode.