Gen V

A young girl gets her first period. Her mother comes to check on her.

Her blood turns deadly and kills both her parents.

Years later, she attends a school for people with superpowers.

We're at Godolkin University ("God U"), an elite college for aspiring superheroes. It's run by Vought, the evil corporation behind metahuman mutation in the universe of the dark, deranged, and brilliant comic and TV series, The Boys. Along with Boysish shenanigans among the sidekick set, we have an incendiary suicide and a sinister secret lurking, literally, beneath the well-manicured campus lawns. Actually, God U has quite a few sinister secrets. Finding the truth behind the facade can be dangerous. It is dangerous to be right when powerful people are wrong.

These elements are taken from the pages of The Boys. Literally-- the first season adapted a story arc from the comics. The differences in this series concern the characters' ages. They are young, struggling with their identities. They have superpowers, but they're relatively powerless beside Vought.

I found the early episodes a bit tiresome in places. The Boys has already trod heavily on this territory. What Gen V adds is younger characters and too much over-the-top satire of them wacky Gen Z college kids and their obsession with social media. Okay, maybe it's not so over-the-top, but they make the relevant points early on, and keep repeating them. Over and over.* We also have the excesses of the parent show without, initially, enough in the way of serious concerns to balance them. It feels a little too much like executive producer Seth Rogen SethRogenning. In that respect, it recalls the more recent seasons of Doom Patrol or, more to the point, the excesses of actual privileged people. They're doing it because they can.

As the plot develops, the real concerns become more apparent, and the series ends with its strongest episodes. The thematic elements regarding how we interpret current events and the manner in which information is framed are particularly compelling.

The acting is (overall) excellent. The characters are, however, less interesting than the main cast of The Boys. It's a breath of fresh air whenever someone from the parent series makes a cameo appearance.

The best performance and most consistently interesting character is Jaz Sinclair as hemokinetic Marie Moreau, the lead. Yes, at nearly thirty, she's a little old to be playing a first-year college student, but she gives a solid portrayal of a genuinely sympathetic character who serves as the viewer's point-of-view. Lizze Broadway is also impressive as Emma Meyer / Little Cricket, even if I found her character as annoying as often as I did interesting. Remove the superpowers and this comes pretty close to a certain real-life type, but that doesn't make her consistently fun to watch.

The basic arc seems fairly predictable. An incongruous group of young heroes began working together after they learn a hidden truth. They aren't sure whom they can trust, even among their own numbers. And then-- at that point, Gen V takes some unexpected turns.

The season's ending clearly sets up for both a second season (recently announced), or for this arc to influence the next season of The Boys.

If you like the parent series, you will enjoy the offspring, though you may find the early eps retread familiar turf. If you find the excesses of The Boys too disturbing, you won't be sold on this incarnation.

Directors: Nelson Cragg, Steve Boyum, Rachel Goldberg, Sanaa Hamri, Clare Kilner, Philip Sgriccia, Shana Stein

Writers: Garth Ennis, Evan Goldberg, Chelsea Grate, Lauren Greer, Eric Kripke, Darick Robertson, Craig Rosenberg, Wei-Ning Yu, Brant Englestein, Jessica Chou, Lex Edness, Erica Rosbe, Zak Schwartz

Cast

Special Guests:
Chace Crawford as The Deep
Derek Wilson as Tek Knight
Antony Starr as Homelander
Jessie T. Usher as A-Train
Jensen Ackles as Soldier Boy
Karl Urban as Billy Butcher

*That said, a wild college party in the cellphone/social media era, but with superpowers, is vintage Boysiverse craziness.