As we reach the halfway point of season one of Gen V, it goes without saying that it’s worth sticking around for the second half of the new series.
For fans of The Boys, this spin-off will continue to deliver on the outlandish, gorey visual spectacles that the franchise has become notorious for. However, while vulnerability and relatability is often casted aside for outgrown ego and superpowered showboating, the setting of a college campus shifts the tone towards hopeful but uncertain one that fits the main cast characters trying to find their place in the world as young adults with powers.
The series focuses on Marie Moreau played by Jaz Sinclair whose powers involve control over blood (aka bloodbending for those familiar with Avatar: The Last Airbender). Her tragic past as an orphan who is responsible for own parents’ death have led her to develop an “only for myself” attitude by the time she sets foot on the campus of Goldolkin University. She wants nothing more than to become a crime-fighting superhero to finally find validation as a good person. Fortunately, the social aspects of college life and the sinister secrets of the university create the series of events for her to grow as a person who can trust others and develop real heroic traits that have been hard to come by in the world of The Boys.
For students not on the prestigious path of crime-fighting, Goldolkin University offers curriculum in subjects such as performing arts to provide students a path towards the limelight in this world where superpowered individuals are also celebrities and media icons. Marie’s roommate Emma Mayer played by Lizze Broadway is one such student, entering college with her own YouTube channel and finds herself at odds with some of the other students in her major; drama among the drama students am I right?
During Marie’s first week at school, she also becomes familiar with some of the older students at Goldolkin including:
- Andre Anderson played by Chance Perdomo, whose dad is a famous superhero and a trustee for Goldolkin and as a result Andre is hesitant to follow in his dad’s footsteps.
- Cate Dunlap played by Maddie Phillips, whose superpower involves mind control through skin contact, leading to some hilarious moments featuring self-inflicted harm and non-consensual rough play.
- Jordan Li played by London Thor and Derek Luh, a gender-shifter whose feminine form fires energy blasts and masculine form possesses superhuman durability.
On the administrative side of Goldolkin, Shelley Conn plays Indira Shetty, the dean who utilizes her past work as a behavioral therapist to provide a warm and comforting presence to students such as Marie.
Besides finding myself rooting for Marie to find success given her past, I’m also sympathetic towards Andre’s desire to do true good in a world that has preferred heroism to only be surface level. And for those familiar with DC Comics, Andre and Cate end up in a Tim Drake – Cassie Sandsmark situation after the death of his best friend/her boyfriend, Golden Boy aka Luke Riordan played by Patrick Schwarzenegger. So as a Tim Drake stan, it’s hard for me to not gravitate towards this type of character.
Gen V has all the makings of a teen drama one could come to expect during prime time, but with superpowers added akin to the Arrowverse, as well all the raunchiness and gore dialed to an eleven in a way that is iconic to The Boys. With the most recent episode ending on a cliffhanger of sorts involving memory loss and a time skip of a few days, fans (including myself) are sitting on the edge of their seats to figure out what has transpired at Goldolkin University. Catch the Gen V on Prime Video out every Friday.
