Poe’s Law states: “Without a clear indication of the author’s intent, it is difficult or impossible to tell the difference between an expression of sincere extremism and a parody of extremism.”

This is an example review of The Boys, season 2 from Amazon Prime Video: 

“Bingeing is like jumping into a lake from the mountain top and this stingy weekly episode thing is like sitting in a bathtub. Totally different experiences. Just to be clear, season-2 gets full 5 stars. But Amazon is now my public enemy no.1 for not dropping all the episodes at once. It feels like I am transported back to the dark middle ages, waiting for weekly episodes to arrive.”

This would be brilliant if it were a parody of a spoiled, entitled, fanboy review bomb, but sadly this is an actual one-star review left on Amazon video for The Boys season 2.

Here’s what happened. The producers of The Boys (not Amazon) decided on a weekly release schedule because they wanted people to keep talking about the show for more than just the two weeks immediately following its release, as tends to happen nowadays with major titles. In other words, they wanted to stay relevant longer. 

And many, many people have pointed out the first three episodes did drop all at once, so (obviously)…just wait a month and binge it!

While it is understandable that you may feel frustrated by the fact things don’t happen immediately, however, please do not let that take from the the quality of the show. Because,it is fundementally perfect. Just like season one the dialogue is taut, tense and never wasted. The acting is not just well done, it’s well framed in the context of the show. The writing and pacing of each episode is, again, flawless. The production value…you know what? It’s an Amazon original. I’m going to stop mentioning that. It’s assumed from now on. 

Season 2 keeps it’s hard M rating without flinching or slowing down for even a moment. The character arcs continue to twist in interesting ways and it is legitimately difficult to predict what will happen next. A+, five stars, whatever you want to call it. And I can say much the same for…

The Umbrella Academy, seasons 1 and 2

Umbrella Academy was recommended to me by a friend who knew I was hurting for content while waiting for The Boys season 2. If you’re unfamiliar with it, The Umbrella Academy is a Netflix Original adaptation of a well known comic book series. It follows the adventures of a dysfunctional “family” of superheroes who were raised by an eccentric billionaire after being adopted as infants when they were all born on the same day to women who weren’t pregnant. They reunite for their adoptive father’s funeral after having drifted apart over the years. They know the world will end in a week but they don’t know how or why.

And truthfully, figuring that out is the B plot. The A plot is this group of siblings trying to reconcile years of damaged relationships and finally, well into their thirties, figure out who they are as individuals. 

The show has the dark sense of humor that I prefer, but it isn’t nearly as savage as The Boys. This is solid TV-14 rating that’ll make a decent alternative to those who don’t want a profanity laden, blood soaked murder fest. That being said there are still plenty of bodies on the floor at the end of any given episode. But what this show excels at is being witty. The dialogue is justifiably in love with how clever it is and how well it’s being delivered. Of particular note is cast member Aidan Gallagher, playing a character known only as Number Five. He’s the only teenage actor in an otherwise adult cast, but he’s the saltiest of the lot by far and he’s awesome at it. 

The advent of streaming brought us shows that are predominantly plotted out over an entire season’s worth of a story arc, and once again we are well served. Someone really knew what they were doing when they divided up the action, dialogue and character development scenes for each episode. It’s a different kind of storytelling than The Boys. In The Boys everything is very linear. There might be flashbacks, or scenes that reveal something which was deliberately concealed from the audience, but the events of the series feel like they’re happening in a pretty centralized way.

In the Umbrella Academy, it isn’t uncommon for most of the major characters to not even encounter each other until the last couple of episodes of a season. They’re off in groups of two or three doing unrelated things that get skillfully woven together as events build to a head. Consequently, while The Boys is overall higher quality, The Umbrella Academy tells a more interesting story; that is, if you like moving parts.

The plot can get complicated and while they do explain things to the audience from time to time, it’s a show where you need to be paying attention in order to follow the action. And, oddly enough, this has nothing to do with the fact that the plot is heavy on time travel. That aspect of things is neatly dealt with by one of the major plot elements; an agency whose function is to oversee the smooth flow of the timeline. So any time travel issues can be hand waved, and therefore are not an encumbrance to the plot.

Much like The Boys, every aspect of The Umbrella Academy is good. But it isn’t quite perfect and I’ll tell you why. Season one kept me guessing right up until episode seven, at which point it became kind of predictable. All of the major plot elements had been set up and their resolutions felt inevitable. There were still a few big surprises, and I appreciated that, but the ending felt telegraphed to me. Right up until the moment they swerved into the beginning of Season 2.

Season 2 takes place during a different time period, which is all I’ll reveal. This was an excellent decision because it forces the characters to deal who they are and what they become when forced to adapt to a radically different time and place; one far less socially evolved than they’re used to. Once again the group is splintered and must reunite. Once again the world is on the line again, and, once again, they don’t know how or why, but only when it will end.

But the characters are pointedly aware of this and reference it constantly, so it works. Season two maintained the same high level of quality and this time they didn’t telegraph the ending. The threads of the plot are even more colorful than before and woven together with the same expert timing. Season 3 is quite a ways off yet, but assuming Netflix doesn’t inexplicably decided to kill another amazing series after season 2 (pour one out for Altered Carbon), then we can expect to enjoy further adventures with the Hargreeves siblings. Season 3 of The Boys is already confirmed, so in spite review bombings we can look forward to that as well. And if 2020 has the tiniest shred of mercy in its endlessly evil heart, maybe Amazon will even give us some news about Carnival Row. Fingers crossed.