The Boys - Season 2: E06 ‘The Bloody Doors Off’
amazonThere’s no denying that The Boys has been progressing slowly, even for the series’ standards. Despite its grisly doses of spectacle and biting satire, the debut is never an action-packed one. Nonetheless, the first season is always gearing towards an endpoint and manages to engage audiences with compelling drama. But for its successor, the balance seems to veer off. While it’s still funny, provocative and entertaining in some regards, the past few episodes are more interested in exploring the internal conflicts within characters and the relationships between each other with minimal plot advancement. The imbalance makes sense from a narrative standpoint, as our heroes are still suffering from a prior defeat in the third episode. However, it’s sometimes a matter of spending too much time invested on the little things gradually blossoming but not enough variables moving forward.
That is not the case for The Bloody Doors Off. After the reconciliation of our heroes and Annie’s (Erin Moriarty) discovery of a lead on Stormfront (Aya Cash), the gang decides to take a visit to the mysterious Sage Grove center. The tour gets out of hand when a familiar face appears out of the blue.
This is the most eventful hour The Boys has had yet. It has everything the fans want in terms of grisly violence and morbidly comedic body horror. Everything is in motion here as both the heroes and the villains inch closer to a breakthrough. Anslem Richardson’s teleplay brings back the balance between smooth story progression and substantial character growth. When it’s not spilling blood, the episode turns to profound interactions, where some of the series’ most unexpected revelations happen.
The performances from the cast are a great reminder of how electrifying their chemistry is, as they’re able to sell each sincere and pivotal moment of the episode. The standout is Tomer Capon, whose character, Frenchie, is given a sheer amount of depth in a tragic backstory that affected nearly everyone he knew. Sarah Boyd’s direction does a great job in letting the dramatic scenes play out unfiltered and without any artificial presence.
In some ways, the episode isn’t without any issue. Out of all the character arcs in the second season, The Deep’s (Chace Crawford) affiliation with The Church of the Collective is still the least fascinating. It’s difficult to find relevance between the subplot and the bigger picture at hand other than being another extension of religion that the writers want to satirise. Hopefully, Deep’s recruitment of a mutual friend is a sign that the story is potentially heading somewhere.
Some people think the series has been directionless plot-wise, but hopefully with The Bloody Doors Off, it will revitalise the skeptics’ faith in the series. It’s a stellar episode that provides illuminating answers and provokes excitement on what’s to come. And considering its reputation, the future won’t be pretty.
