While we’ve had plenty of Vought Rising integration into this final season of The Boys, last night’s episode, otherwise a very solid one, was so overloaded with plugging that prequel show it practically felt like a backdoor pilot.
A backdoor pilot is an episode that explores spinoff/new characters as a test for another series, usually by going hard on their storylines. However, Vought Rising already exists and is being positioned as the future of The Boys franchise after the main series ends. And this isn’t happening in some random time period; this is one of three final episodes in the entire series.
The entire storyline has now hinged on the lead of Vought Rising, Jensen Ackles Soldier Boy, who ultimately gives Homelander the immortalizing V1 he seeks due to what his old flame, Clara Vought, would have wanted, a relationship that will be a fixture of the new show.
We also saw a second big character from Vought Rising introduced, Bombsight, who possessed the V1 to try to give to his own love, Golden Geisha, whom he wanted to live with forever. She wasn’t up for that. We haven’t seen a young Golden Geisha cast in Vought Rising yet, but it stands to reason she’ll be there.
This might all be okay if we did not have two hours left in the series, and this feels like a commercial for an entirely new show. I maintain that Soldier Boy has totally taken over this season, pulling focus from both The Boys team and Homelander himself. This crowded space has shoved previously big characters like Starlight and Hughie almost entirely out of the limelight (Starlight’s failed fight against Oh Father was easily the worst moment of the episode).
I did like last night’s episode overall, but this is getting just a little bit ridiculous. The lead of Vought Rising is practically leading the final season of The Boys. The main plot structure was based around an eventual cameo from a Vought Rising team member. Clara Vought is the catalyst to Homelander getting the V1. It’s just a lot. This is also a final season that cannot spare a single moment to put any member of Gen V onscreen, despite the fact the spinoff helped set up this final season for two years now, and developed its lead as a Homelander-level supe. She’s nowhere to be found, just with a name drop or two.
I am looking forward to Vought Rising. I think Jensen Ackles is great at Soldier Boy, and Aya Cash was previously good as Clara Vought. But I think the show would have been just fine had it not been forcibly inserted into this final season, pulling focus from a lot of the characters we’ve spent so much time with to date. It feels like almost everyone else is getting half as much screen time as they should. We’ll see how this continues into the finale.
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