The Boys

"Deadpool" meets "Dexter" in this profane, violent series which is oddly addictive.  I haven't heard so many bad words since "Homicide:  Life on the Street" with entire conversations basically trading the F word back and forth.  In this Through-the-Looking-Glass take on superheroes the gore never stops with some internal body part on the outside of someone's body at least once every episode.  Part of the attraction is that it is so over the top you just can't take it too seriously.  On the rare occasion when it does get real (a plane flight comes to mind) the pain is visceral.  But that doesn't last too long.  Soon, another body is ripped apart or imploads and you just step back and take it all in stride.  The portrayal of women is interesting.  There is exploitive nudity and nearly every woman here seems to be a victim but the tale clearly makes a few points that women are fighters who are often exploited.  Using the medium as a kind of mobias strip, producers make a point by actually doing the thing you are trying to say is bad.  The show has a lot of that.  As "out there" as it is, there is frequent comment on modern society with embedded political swipes.  From a timing perspective it couldn't be more relevant -- showing law enforcement types abusing their power.  In the end, it exemplifies the old adage "absolute power corrupts absolutely".  As long as you can get past the language and the yuck.  There is also Karl Urban, who is always watchable, IMHO.  Definitely distracts.  And I need distraction.  Enjoy?

More Random Television

What can I say?  Not much new content.

Watched a bunch of Perry Mason films (OG) and Lifetime "He done me wrong" movies.  Got "Spider-Man Far From Home" from the public library and greatly enjoyed it.  More documentaries in the form of two Hamilton interviews (and watched Hamilton again, because, well, why not?) and "Lost City of Machu Picchu" which only made me cry a little.  I was there in March, right before the world stopped.  The documentary taught me a few things I didn't realize when I was there, giving me yet another perspective on this amazing place.  There was "Psych 2:  Lassie Come Home" (YES YES YES, SO FUN).  Thanks, Peacock.  (And Timothy Omundson, you rock.  Keep on keeping on bro).

And there was ComicCon@Home (thank you, thank you, thank you!)  I watched dozens of panels, from the new CBS All Access Star Treks to Batgirls to Inside the Voice Actors Studio to series updates on Upload, The Boys, His Dark Materials, What We Do in the Shadows, Motherland:  Fort Salem, Stumptown and Utopia.  They ranged greatly in style and quality.  It was fascinating to see actors outside of their roles.  Some really engaged while others seemed challenged to find any energy at all.  A mixed blessing was the "Conversation with Nathan Fillion" which was neat in the low-key conversational style rather than the stiff, predictable questions on a typical panel.  It was delightful in guest stars but jarring in terms of edits.  Less interesting was the Star Trek Women panel (more about Star Trek literature than the actual series) and the tour of the new ComicCon Museum, which seemed to be put together for ~very~ young children.  My favorite, and most intriguing to me, was the LGBTQ Characters on Television forum, which had some great actors and more substantive conversation than most of the sessions.  It was simply the "most real" panel.