The Boys season 1 was one of the best shows of 2019; it was raw, visceral, and wild. In the wild fervor of superhero madness, the Amazon series was a well-needed respite from the righteousness of Captain America. Well, that is definitely not the case with The Boys season 2.
When the second season of the beloved show came out, most people were caught off-guard with the release format. Unlike the first season, which dropped all at once, The Boys season 2 only dropped three episodes on the premiere date.
Suffice it to say, no one was incredibly happy with the situation, and I would go so far as to say The Boys season 2 got boring. Watching the first three episodes, I was bouncing in and out of each episode, taking in YouTube videos.
From a show, I watched in one go and did not sleep the whole night to finish, last year was just not interesting enough in the small episodic batches. I can barely remember what happened in the first three episodes of season 2, except for the whale scene from the extended trailer.
The Release Format is the Main Culprit in The Boys Season 2
The Boys season 2 was criticized for the traditional release format.
Source: Google
Let’s get this out of the way, The Boys season 1 is not the greatest show on earth as some would have you believe. The shock of seeing “superheroes” be the villain made up for a lot of the shortcomings of the show.
But had it been released in batches like The Boys season 2, I don’t think the cultural impact would be at the same level. I am not saying the TV release format is bad, but an electric show like this loses some excitement when divvied up throughout a month and a half.
The Boys season 1 worked because one episode flowed into the other. And watching it all in one go was like having a tight noose around your neck, which just kept getting tighter with each new revelations.
The tension of the cliffhanger from season 1 never transitioned to season 2 until the fourth episode. Had Amazon released all the episodes simultaneously, that revelation would’ve hit a little harder, and the second and better part of the third episode would not feel like fillers.
Let’s be honest, people; do not try to hide the fact that most of us yawned at least once watching that first episode. Stormfront made the second episode, but I was bored out of my mind in the third when The Boys were just chilling on a boat.
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All of the blame I firmly place on the release format of the show. There was nothing to look forward to after finishing the third episode, which is why I could not enjoy it. I think most of us can agree that The Boys season 2 is a little boring because fillers are not masked by accompanying great episodes.
I don’t know, maybe watching too much Netflix has ruined my enjoyment of old fashioned release formats but watching The Boys season 2 is just no fun for me anymore. I love the Prime Video show, cannot stop watching this season because the memes will ruin everything if I wait, but I also cannot enjoy it at the same time because of the long wait.
Review Bombing and Eric Kripke’s Reaction to the Hate
When people realized that The Boys season 2 saw more of a traditional release than a binge version, they were not happy. Some even went to the show’s review page on Amazon and gave it one-star reviews, not because the show was bad; instead, they were angry at the release format.
Eric Kripke, the showrunner of The Boys, saw what was happening and clarified that Amazon did not do the release format; instead, it was the producers’ idea. They wanted the three-episode premiere and then one episode every week and was unhappy fans review bombed the second season.
The fourth episode’s meme review portion was even retooled by the show’s makers to make fun of the negative reviews. Even though Eric was hurt, he seems to be taking it funnily. Well, I disagree with the review bombing, but the team did sh*t the bed with the rollout of the show.
I am bored; hope episode five is a firecracker as it was touted to be in the trailer.
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Eric Kripke Prime Video The Boys
Last modified: September 19, 2020
