Billy "Butcher", Hughie, MM, Serge and Kumiko find out that the former Vought superhero, Soldier Boy, was not killed during the Cold War in Nicaragua in the 80s, but is actually held in a coma in a compound in Moscow, so The Boys travel there, kill some Russians and release Soldier Boy, hoping to use his superpowers to kill Homelander. Annie, aka Starlight, gives The Boys some new Compound V doses, which, when injected, give them superpowers for 24 hours. Billy uses these injections for his mission, but it gives him a terminal illness. Queen Maeve cooperates with them because she also wants to kill Homelander. Annie, Hughie, Serge and MM refuse to kill Homelander while he is inside the Vought building, fearing hundreds of people will be killed with him in the clash, so Billy, Maeve and Soldier Boy ditch them and go to Vought on their own. Upon finding out Homelander has his and Becca's son Ryan with him, Billy wants to cancel the assassination to save Ryan, but Soldier Boy refuses, so he is thrown out from the building and arrested. Maeve loses an eye in a fight with Homelander and thus decides to leave to hide from him.
The 3rd season of "The Boys" is better than the 2nd, but still weaker than the 1st. It has suspense, an energy rush, and is addictive, but also makes mistakes in excessive splatter violence, as if the authors at times try to engage the viewers more with shock value than with genuine intelligence and confidence in their own style. This is already obvious in the first episode, 3.1: a superhero has shrinking powers, so a gay man asks him to shrink and go inside his penis (!), in a bizarre, ludicrous moment that seems like a bad screenwriting idea, especially in the bloody (and uncalled for) conclusion. All episodes end on a "cliffhanger", but then the next one does not seem like a natural continuation of this plot point, since the screenwriters seem to go on in circles instead of advancing the plot, to prolong the series. At times, "The Boys" seem like a superhero soap opera; other times, they seem like a more ambitious, intricately plotted, subversive commentary on modern American society: just imagine Homelander is the richest man in the world, a billionaire who can buy any influence and bribe any politician, and then you get the bigger picture. Is there justice in such a society? Does an ordinary man have equal rights as Homelander? The theme is the decadence of absolute power, just done through the superhero genre. Homelander is a superhero who becomes evil through corruption of his own ego, and slowly establishes a superhero aristocracy. Even when a reporter asks one critical question on TV in episode 3.6, Homelander calls it a "mediocre ambush" and simply walks away, displaying full impunity.
Some more inspired moments of writing shine. For instance, Homelander cares about his approval ratings among the audiences, and is informed that his teaming up with Starlight has a 94% approval. In episode 3.4 Homelander provokes Hughie, who stands up to him, but luckily Starlight intervenes and warns Homelander: "Touch him, or anyone he cares about, and I'll walk and take my approval points with me." As Homelander decides to take over Vought and expulse the CEO of the corporation, Stan Edgar (excellent Giancarlo Esposito), the two of them have a fabulous dialogue in said episode: Stan is an ordinary human, without superpowers, but he is perfectly calm, intelligent, with impeccable manners and wit. Homelander goes: "You're just... nothing", and Stan replies: "Then why are you still here, waiting for my approval like I'm your daddy? And even if I were, what would there be to approve of? The company is yours. No one left to stand up to you. But I think you'll come to sorely regret that." Some characters show growth and development: A-Train was careless about his negligent actions in the pilot episode, but when he sees the racist arrogance of fellow superhero Blue Hawk who injures black people, including A-Train's brother ("Black lives matter!" - "Supe lives matter!") in episode 3.5, A-Train changes and apologizes to Hughie later on. There is also a fascinating moment in episode 3.7 when Black Noir goes from a one-dimensional to a three-dimensional character, when he imagines cartoon characters (!) are recreating his trauma with Soldier Boy in front of him. Episodes 3.6 and 3.7 are excellent, but the final episode is a botched finale. Just as Black Noir became interesting, he is killed. Why? A wasted opportunity. The Boys retrieved Soldier Boy from a coma to use him to kill Homelander, but then in the last episode they split into factions, and again into different factions, until all this crumbles into pieces and becomes inconsistent and obfuscated. Their disagreement over how to kill Homelander feels unworthy of a contrivance, and should have been handled better.
Grade:++
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