The Reel Rejects - REJECT RECAP: The Boys Season 3 FINALÉ REVIEW - Episode 8 - "The Instant White-Hot Wild"

Episode Date: July 8, 2022

WHAT A FINALE!! And a MASSIVE THANK YOU to StoryBlocks for sponsoring the segment this season! Visit http://www.storyblocks.com/REJECTS to get started! As another top-notch season of The Boys comes to a close Greg & John discuss that Big Ending Fight, the fates of Soldier Boy, Maeve, and Black Noir, and the shocking turn between Homelander and Ryan, as well as where Butcher, Hughie, Mother's Milk, Kimiko, & Frenchie could be headed next season! REACTION HIGHLIGHTS on our YouTube Channel & FULL LENGTH (Sync-Up) WATCH ALONGS at Patreon.com/TheReelRejects!! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/the-reel-rejects/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello there, Reject Nation, people who are listeners of the Real Rejects over here. Thank you so much for finding us. We don't really promote the podcast all that often here, so it means a lot to anyone who has searched us and has decided to join us here on this journey, and especially because, like, a lot of our brand deals have been coming in through here, and that all goes back to helping support the Real Rejects. So thank you, thank you very much. What we're going to do right now, we have not watched the boys yet.

We are going to do a reaction for the boys, which you can catch over at YouTube.com slash the real rejects. But we're going to, just a little bit after the intro, we are going to play our review, our instant review or instant thoughts for this episode. It's been a hell of a journey so far. So again, thank you to everyone who has joined us. And thank you to Storyblocks for sponsoring this video,

this portion of the boys. They've helped us out through so much as of late. So I've been more excited than ever to be partnered with them. Anyhow, let's see what's going. up. Wow. That is cruel and twisted. That makes sense.

That would happen. That's the way of it go. Yeah. Well, shit. I feel like they got like two more seasons left in them. One or two. At least. I can see it too.

That was great. That was an amazing finale. Yeah. Shit. That was, foof. I'm in a daze. Shocking. That was a lot of shocking.

Shocking stuff in there. That's a crescendo. Oh, man. What's going to become of Ryan? He's going to be fine. All right. Let's chitty chatty. Before we do, a word from today's video sponsor.

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the first thing to talk about, John? Oh. Jesus. I mean, what an ending to the friggin' season. I mean, the way that they have managed, like, I think it's hard. It takes probably a lot of ingenuity in the writer's room to figure out

how to keep a character like Homelander ever escalating and ever sort of developing and warping in the levels of depravity and just what a threat he is to not only people physically, but also just as an ideological symbol. And to watch the back and forth with Ryan in this episode was like especially sort of heart-crunching because they've already done things surrounding radicalization and how people who are a bit older and who have a little more life experience get indoctrinated into these things. but you know for for him as you know still very much a child in a lot of ways and having these

really conflicting experiences with different guardians and father figures like it it's such a kind of heart-rending and in that sense like uh like the soul of ryan like i have to imagine that in the next season that's going to be a heavy theme because i mean you know you see it at the end there he's not that vex that his dad just blew some dudes head up so yeah like yeah i feel like especially building up soldier boy and like this you know homelander scale threat dealing with all that like this definitely feels like at least for soldier boy sort of an interstitial peace like there can definitely be more with him but just as the arc of again homelander i feel like you come in every season being like man where are they gonna

how are they going to keep him feeling like this volatile you know horrific presence and i think they they manage it here and and especially with these emotional curve balls that they throw there were a lot of points especially towards the end when like the three of them are all in the same room together grandfather son and grandson like uh the the amount of emotional suspense along with the physical stakes and that was really great yeah this whole season seemed to be about literally the inheriting the sins of your father and how that's passed along and how we all react as as we go about our lives like a lot of father and son themes was pretty much the through line for everyone of whatever inherited trauma there was even right down on like mother's

milk inheriting the life experiences he's had soldier boy you get to hear his backstory of how he was treated and then he quickly morphs into adopting his father's point of view while interacting with homelander and homelander you know i just think anthony star's performance when he is interacting with soldier boy just like how he starts breaking down in front of him i really Really love Anthony Star's performance because he can has such a range of just knowing each and every moment of what this character is thinking and feeling and then to have a scene where you're on the you're on the brink of something very explosive and and then to have him literally succumb to tears in front of Ryan and like begging to be a family in that moment. And that's kind of a through line for all these characters as we've seen with Butcher from season 10. to, especially this season with Explore, his past. So I think, like, thematically,

you all kept it on board for how they kept it on board for exactly how each one of these people would ultimately respond to situations, and it does leave it in a fascinating spot for every one of them. Like, look, I don't people don't like to hear this, but Homelanders Trump, all right? That's not my opinion.

It's pretty obvious is what they're doing. And for all you Trump supporters out there, that's what they're doing it's something that i've talked with other people who do like videos on the boys and they actually try to refrain from saying that they they they try to keep it out because there's definitely going to be redemption arc because they're like i don't want to stir something up in the comments i don't want to and it's like it's so obvious is what they're doing they just know who the filmmakers are involved in creating this piece you know it's what they're commenting on. So whether you like it or not, that's what they're doing. And especially in those

final moments, you know, what the crowd is representing and the fact he could do such a violent act and the crowd will just cheer him on. Be like, yay, we uplift you. We support you. You're doing the thing the mainstream wouldn't do. You're going against it all. And it's, it is, that's the kind of commentary I tend to like. No, we haven't seen Trump murder a guy in front of a crowd of people. we haven't uh but it's it's so obvious is what what they're doing and you be naive to think that's not that's not what they're commenting on yeah nope um so that is it leaves it in a more disgusting morbid place um for where homelander can play around it because now he's at a spot where he just killed an in his last season you know a big part when victoria newman was going up against

homelander in the public was there was a video capturing homelander murdering you know uh an innocent died and you see him just killing like terrorists and then uh he was trying to defend himself but everyone was against him and now here he murders someone right in front of a crowd of people in the states and everyone shares him on and so that gives him even more free reign to now be more sadistic and and indulge in his more violent senses more than ever when he's got the support of the people to allow him to do so. The people who have motivated him, validated him, and now he can keep on going down this path.

And to, you know, this tug of war that they'd have with Ryan, like the flippoor of where last season ends with Ryan choosing to go with butcher, and this season ends with butcher and all them being saved because Ryan's the one who's pulling Homeland, away and choosing to go with homelander i think it is a good flipperoo and it creates a more interesting conflict of for for someone like butcher and what a genius way to to have the tables turn in the heat of a moment uh in your finale of butcher will not let ryan die you can and if you let ryan die could have killed homelander there would be in this situation now um but i think that is just clever

clever writing because Ryan's kind of been in the background a little bit one could see I think you know one could I would have liked to have checked in with Ryan a tad a bit more to be totally honest there was a part of me it's like I could only use a little bit more of I don't know what hell he would have done

him for smarter than hey he's like chilling on the farm like bored as hell he's just chilling and stewing about that last moment with butcher yeah bonding with Mallory you know yeah there's not much more you could have done granted but who knows maybe just developing the relationship with anne mallory and and it's to make

that kind of that heart wrenching pull a little bit more um however i do think that's really clever to have a turn because you keep wondering like is it going to be soldier boy who ultimately succumbs to being a father and and embracing his his son now is that who it's going to be and i like the difference that the the divide that that is established of what he's like calling homeland or a pussy and saying, you know, like, you just seek this love and stuff. Like, he views him as weak in terms of showing that he's not like him, that they are two, they are two different people in response to how they wish to be perceived. I think that's really great at drawing the line there and does make it,

if you feel like you're setting up for something even more chaotic. I do like that they kept him alive. I do like that because there's more doors to explore with Soldier Boy. You know, the way they shift the dynamics of team ups and enemies, it's so, so invigorating the way they, they do it because they don't rely on, like, new cast. Like, there's always a new cast member every season. There's always some new players. But this show is not heavily reliant on that. It's really just about how do you mix things up? It's not the key to the stakes is, oh, we got to have a new character to, you know, get you afraid that they will die or something. Yeah, it's, they're good at playing the church. chess game and shifting around people's allegiances and making you wonder because they're you know like a train is like a perfect example of that is like how many experiences will it take for this

guy to finally maybe land on the right side of anything and it doesn't seem like at this point it will ever happen but they're really good at at least convincing you that it maybe could someday and that makes for really fun both you know drama and you know the light of your moment. I feel like the deep is like the more light version of that where you're like, this guy's never going to change. This guy is going to always be who he is. And yet, I don't know, they still find interesting things to make out of that. And they still kind of hold the statuses and the dynamics as well. And, you know, like losing noir this episode, like that felt pretty momentous still. Because, you know, we see how powerless everybody is. And to a degree they've always been so. But yeah, to kind of get to the end, it's like you have Homelander. the top of everything and we had noir and they they do nicely it's like they've given him this personality and then they've embellished it you know they started with the body language and then they embellished it here with the cartoon animals but even beyond that i just liked the triangle that they drew like there was a certain closeness and admiration between black noir and soldier boy

until that relationship turns horribly sour just because of who soldier boy is and then you know the way that mutates into his relationship to homelander like that like as much as in a way it's not one of the main main main characters dying and mave doesn't actually die i still was like wow you know for for black noir to go out like this does feel pretty harsh and does feel pretty momentous in this moment and he is the one member of the team you might actually mourn for if they died yeah it's like no one on the seven necessarily was a good person even black noir was not necessarily a good person but he was the one you were most sympathetic towards because the show always did things to demonstrate his sensitivity whether it be in season one where he plays a piano or when

he's learning about compound v and he's he's crying in the hallway in season two and then here they really capitalize on that even more with showing how he was treated by soldier boy with payback and who he feels he can interact with him he's like cartoon loony tune animal like friends of his you know they really showed just who he really is at his at his core that even despite he is his violent individual that he really is this thing of sensitivity there's like there's frightened yeah there's like there's still a child in there yeah yeah which is automatically endearing no matter how horrible you make the character to some extent there was something about the way when he showed up i was like i smell death on this guy yeah something's about he's gonna die and uh the second you know he

admitted fault or admitted to having kept that as hidden from homelander was like oh dude's dead right away because that's the thing he holds that's the homelander values most you know and it's like the more homelander what they've been doing with homelander is the more they strip away every element of facade or something that he would latch onto to feel worthy or to feel the sense of belonging the more they do that the more they strip those qualities away the more he starts to like come out of his shell the more the thing that will lead to the scorching of the earth as they put it and i love that i love that quality so gonna miss black noir really was a delightful presence i feel like in some way he could survive that still but not part of me was wondering if they were gonna have it be that on that like you know Darth Vader on a table you know getting stitched up and and you know either some kind of mumbo jumbo jumbo with compound v or something yeah you know mechanical parts blah blah blah blah but I don't know. I honestly feel like it could still happen,

but part of me is as much as I am bummed to see a character go, it does make things feel real and finite. So, yeah, I was sitting there bargaining myself watching his little intestine spray blood, and I'm like, but he could come back from this somehow, right? But right now it doesn't feel like it. On the flip with Mave, I think her character deserve to live.

I hope that her character does not. I hope that, like, I don't know what the season plans are for season four. or like is that supposed to be the final one? You know, they announced that early on with this debut of this season, but they might have the season four and five. I imagine they can go on for a while. There's many stories to draw from with the comics.

But where they end off with Maeve here, I think, is very strong because she's had such a defined arc, especially from season one to now, you know. And I appreciate that they brought it back around from this season of her training with the fighting. And then, you know, she's being held prisoners. You don't really think anything's going to happen with it. I didn't actually think she'd be like having a fight with Homeland or be able to hold her own throughout most of it.

But I thought it was a very worthy fight, like her, the brutality and the ferociousness of her, like just how she wouldn't stop going no matter what was happening to her, no matter how injured she got. And obviously, Homelander was just like holding back, but he was still getting dealt some pretty, you know, pretty awful blows throughout. and then for her to have like the ultimate sacrifice in the image of everyone i'm surprised she if anyone if anything i'm like i'm surprised you survived that like you were like close with him at that moment and the explosion happening fell to the grave like i i would think you would die um but i think you know just in terms of like audience member association with a character who was kind of like frustrating to me in the beginning of season two who then i really started a root for and then this whole time, you know, who's just kind of been put through the ringer and beat it and put down

and all ways to then have this moment, I thought was really rewarding. And I thought that they earned it. I think that's the most important thing is they earned what she ultimately got to have in the end. I think everyone did essentially. Like I like who franchise has evolved into, someone more confident and sure of himself and is like going to finally be able to stand up to butcher. Hewey was more so coming at realizations of what real strength is versus the physicality side of it. I know Eric Griffey got to pissed off some people the other day on Twitter with how he defined. Because someone asked him a question about why is it okay?

Why would Starlight think it's okay for Kimiko to get powers through compound V again, but wasn't okay for Huey? and he answered something along the lines of, I'm trying to remember, I'm totally paraphrasing here, but something along the lines of like, Huey was doing it because he wanted to feel macho, whereas Kimiko was doing it because it comes from like a sense of wanting to protect, you know, and whatnot.

Take ownership of something that you've been so, you know, torn up over and felt it was thrust upon you unfairly. Yeah, I'm creepy, you didn't say that. um humphrey did but kirkie didn't say that it was a very specific tweet that he put out and uh it was a fizzing off a lot of people because it was like oh so man can't

take it to defend his woman but there's a whole bunch of context and I'm sure he couldn't put in a tweet that's not the point and also you know v24 doesn't have the same effect as compound v yeah exactly compound v is not going to liquefy your insides

so I do like uh I do like what Huey ultimately learned, especially that learning lesson he does have about his father, because he seemed to kind of reject and judge everything about his father and never understood him. And it seemed like he finally understood who his father was and what strength his father actually possessed, even though the show would even kind of paint him as someone who was weak, that there was actually not a lot of weakness in what he did, but a lot of strength in what he did. And I like that. Whenever they go more gray, I'm really happy about that. And I'm getting to tell his daughter the truth about the past.

It sounds like they don't know that Soldier Boy is still alive. But can't do that. Butcher being set up now for he's got a timeline of when he might, when he would die. I hope the show goes through with him actually dying. Like when they commit to that shit. He's got a specific timeline here. And now he has to, now they have to adhere to that. He's got like 12 months to live.

They're not coming some bullshit. but every season from now on is only four days I mean this is the time to take place and tend to be relatively short yeah tend to be like a few weeks you could still squeeze a good amount of stories yeah so that was last 18 months on the long end yeah I think this is my favorite season I'm not entirely sure

I don't like immediately jumping on the bandwagon of that but I think this is my favorite one I really I think it could easily be mine as well I mean, I think the way that this season has both encapsulated, you know, the growth of their combinations of the iconography and imagery of superheroes and all that stuff with the satire and the commentary, I feel like they've had a pretty, you know, just solid grip on, you know, each season they get a little more assured about that. And then this season in particular, it's like, yeah, having every episode feel like a standalone kind of installment and also having it be that you have so many. of the core ensemble like it didn't feel like they felt forced to have everyone together or to

recreate all the same dynamics as before like there's a lot of disparity between the boys between a lot of different people there's a lot of pairings off and whatnot and I thought that made for yeah nice character explorations nice confrontations and nice moments where we have no idea what's going to happen

we feel jeopardy for you know our core team who I guess you could argue probably not going to die but at least I don't We sat here every week going, oh, God, please don't kill French. You're Kimiko. Or even Mother's Milk. Like, yeah, I liked the ultimate growth and resolution.

Yeah, French, he stands up. M.M. gets to sort of legitimize, you know, his trauma with his daughter instead of, you know, trying to create this perfect world. Yeah. And everybody, like, nobody felt useless or anything like that. Or, like, they were spinning their wheels to get, you know, somebody involved. Like, not every character is the most integral to every episode. But yeah, this felt well proportioned and well just conceived in terms of where everyone is

and what everyone's going through. It feels like there's more to come, but also like they made a crisp package out of this particular season. I think Starlight, what's her name, Marardi? Catherine Moriarty, I think that's her name. Forgive me if I'm wrong on that. Her last name is Moriarty. She's an incredible actress, and I feel like she's not talked about it enough. Yeah.

you kind of just accept her kind of the way you accept like carl urban you just accept her but she is she is the way they've developed her character and fleshed her out as this as this you know brave individual and someone with a a sense of like true strength possessed coming first internally then externally i think is so awesome of her and she's one of the people i moral ground wise and then And then physical-wise, when she's around, I feel like a sense of safety and security when she's there. And as a leader as well, how she's really morphed into that. You know, like the first season really felt like her, Huey, a butcher, and Homelander were the main characters. And they've kind of kept that through line with her, especially.

And I think she's such a, I don't feel like she gets enough recognition for her contribution to this show. she's phenomenal and she maintained being phenomenal to me from the beginning of the season to the very end and the range she displays so great and i was really worried that soldier boy was going to kill her yeah i thought soldier boy was going to get the jump on her um yeah excellent work there a train i don't know what to feel about him i mean i i feel like the uh it they have such a good tug and pull with the audience but i like the way they'd decide to explore that and especially with the whole the brother being being like you shouldn't have killed him we needed justice to be served and we wanted to see him locked up basically you want to see him suffer and be punished and see the image taken down for the public to see exactly see this guy's mugshot know that he is not a good guy and that's the retribution that the community needed to yeah and so because now he's going to get that hero's send off blah blah blah blah yeah um the deep And Ashley, you know, like I like the way they paint her because, you know, she's always, I always feel how torn she is, even when she seems dead set on a particular path.

But so much of what, like she has to pretty much hide or deny moral values in order to survive, you know, like she's always caught in fear and has to constantly act off of that. And I thought the physical representation of just how much this tears at her, you know, literally of, you know, she pulled out all of her hair and it just looks so painful that she has to wear away. Like, that's how, that's how she lets out everything she's feeling internally. And I thought that was a really fascinating character reveal on her end. Well, the way they've co-opted it into like a kink coping mechanism too, like, again, like the way they flesh out. develop even characters like that is like so twisted and fascinating and she does a terrific job too and i think uh you know that they lay some type of groundwork i thought was really clever and of you know it's ashley number two she doesn't let go on the helipad and you see that look

that ashore number two has it's like she she's gonna remember that and then ashley two's with her when she deletes the footage of Mave. And I'm like, you can't trust anyone in the show. She could use that against her. She could totally use that against her in some way if that means her climbing the ranks. Yeah.

So everyone tries to do with Vot, climb the ladder. Yeah, even if there was an off-screen kumbaya, how long could that last when opportunity and leverage are applied? Yeah, I'm sad the season's wrapped up, but it was an amazing journey, another knockout season for the boys. rush yeah um not sure why i'd rank it yet but probably my favorite now all right guys what did you think about this season leave your thoughts down below you can subscribe click that notification bell leave a like thank you to story blocks for sponsoring this video check us on

our podcast and whatnot if you're already here at the podcast thanks for being here uh anyway send this for the patreon anisa oliva anisa i've took me eight episodes to finally get here but i'm wearing the supernatural shirt you got me. I actually think you got us too, but this is my favorite one. I often get compliments on it whenever I go out in public or go to the gym or even in it. People are always like bitching shirts, what they always say. So Nisa, thank you for helping me out with my attire for today and getting a chance to represent it. And I want to thank you for being you.

You've been an amazing friend to us. on all accounts and an amazing listener and you just have this like kind of unconditional support and love that is really hard to find so thank you for being with us for so long and you know you're you're you're above average to us and more ways than one you broke the bell curve anisa yeah you're a real special lady to us so you're super i can't wait to hang out with you again when you're out here in California or when the day inevitably comes when we finally visit Texas, but thank you for being you and know that you have our hearts with you forever. Much love, dear.