Ever since we learned just how powerful Stormfront was after she withstood the full brunt of Homelander’s heat vision on her… chest area a few episodes back, it was fascinating and a bit disturbing to see how damaged she was after Ryan Butcher (Cameron Crovetti) did the same thing. After that devastating demonstration, he’s clearly more powerful than his dad, but hopefully less psychotic. The whole sequence between Billy, Ryan, Becca, and Homelander was ripe with tension and suspense, and very reminiscent of a standoff in one of those old Westerns.
One of the most endearing aspects of Season 2 has been the character progression of Karl Urban’s Billy Butcher. Over the years, Urban has proven that he can successfully play the hardened hero in films like Dredd and Lord of the Rings. And in the first season of The Boys, the New Zealand-born actor imbued Billy with many of the traits from those aforementioned roles. However, in Season 2, Billy’s character has grown into a fully-formed human being with genuine emotions. Watching his progression from the tough-as-nails vigilante early in Season 2, to the man who has a heartwarming conversation with his surrogate son at the end of the episode, is a truly amazing transformation. While it appears that Ryan is now under the protection of the government, we’re eager to see more of “Billy the father” in Season 3, if we actually see Ryan again (you can also see Kripke wanting to take him off the board for a while to focus on other plotlines).A few of Season 2’s weaker plot threads, including Queen Maeve’s downward spiral in her personal life and The Deep’s adventures with The Church of the Collective, never felt truly substantive. Sure, it was a welcome sight to finally see Maeve heroically stand up to Homelander without any fear, but overall, her storyline felt inconsequential compared to the rest of the ensemble. The same goes for The Deep, even though it can be humorous to watch Chace Crawford act like an imbecile, in the end, his character hasn’t changed at all – but perhaps that’s the point, and some people truly can’t (or don’t want to) change. A-Train, on the other hand, at least stood up for something in the finale, as he helped expose Stormfront for the villain that she was. Perhaps Season 3 will be a new chapter for him? Time will tell.
And speaking of Season 3, there are a lot of potential stories for us to get excited about. Going back to Victoria, we didn’t get to learn very much about her in Season 2, but that air of mystique surrounding her character makes her story all the more interesting. From what we’ve seen so far, she doesn’t appear to be on anyone’s side except her own, which makes her more of a wildcard for Season 3. There’s also Hughie, who wants to be less “clingy” and take on some responsibilities of his own, so the fact that he’s joined Victoria’s new Superhero Affairs group opens the door for some tantalizing possibilities. It will also be interesting to see Hughie chart his own path, instead of being so reliant on The Boys for support, especially Billy.
