Gen V Season 2 stars Jaz Sinclair, Lizze Broadway, Maddie Phillips, London Thor, Derek Luh, and Asa Germann, returning from the previous season—with Hamish Linklater joining the cast. After The Boys Season 4, Marie Moreau and the rest of her friends return to Godolkin University after months of suffering in the Supe prison, Elmira Adult Rehabilitation Centre. At Godolkin, they meet the new dean, Cipher, who trains Supes to be soldiers. On the brink of war between humans and Supes, the team discovers a program that could change everything.
Almost immediately, viewers learn that Chance Perdomo’s Andre Anderson is killed off in Elmira. The first episode explained how Marie and the rest of the group got out of the prison, but lost Andre over months of torture. This was a major part of this season since Perdomo passed away last year in March, so fans and viewers wondered how this season would tackle Perdomo’s death and his character’s legacy—being one of the main protagonists. The show paid homage and respectfully wrote the character’s death in a meaningful way, which echoes throughout the season as well.
As for newcomers this season, Linklater’s villainous role as Cipher stole the spotlight. If Lex Luthor and Zebediah Killgrave (Purple Man) had a baby, that would be Cipher. I would have said Brainiac, but Cipher is not that OP. However, Cipher’s speeches in Gen V Season 2 deserve to be recognized and meme-d. He suavely defused tense moments by dropping truth bombs and kept many secrets for more than half the season. If you loved Linklater’s preachings in Midnight Mass, you will love his menacing lines in this season.
Gen V Season 2’s only pitfalls were in its clichéd lines and teenage drama, but that is saying very little compared to the unique parts of the show. The show’s characters have small tantrums, but the fast-paced story allows the viewer to gloss over those details with the characters. Whether the characters should be getting over these traumatic moments so quickly is debatable, but it makes for better entertainment. The only annoying part about Season 2 is how many times you have to hear about Marie being or not being the so-called ‘chosen one.’
“Gen V Season 2 begins with a rough start and a few hurdles along the way, but provides enough worldbuilding to keep audiences interested to learn more about Godolkin, Emira, and the Odessa Project.”
The Boys universe has been known for using plenty of special effects, CGI, and practical effects—primarily with all the blood being splattered everywhere. Gen V Season 2 spares no expense on the gore and pushes the absurd boundaries of what students’ powers can do. If showrunner Eric Kripke wants to show a bunch of people coming out of a dude’s butt, he will get it done and not shy away from showing the uncanny VFX to show how it is done.
Through all the desensitized bloodbaths, nudity, and sexual themes, the second season understands what it needs to be as a companion series to The Boys. Gen V Season 1 began to delve into the world lore behind The Boys, but the second season cracks the world mythos wide open. From the very first episode, viewers learn about the creation of the first version of Compound V. Throughout the second season, the story drops information crumbs about the past—hinting where the other Boys series can expand upon.
This season contained many moments that will have fans pointing at their TV screens—doing Leonardo DiCaprio’s Rick Dalton meme from Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. The references to the main series are not distasteful either; they affect the main plot of this spin-off show while teasing what is to come in The Boys Season 5 aka the final season. As per usual, audiences can expect some fun and integral cameos along the way too.
Gen V Season 2 begins with a rough start and a few hurdles along the way, but provides enough worldbuilding to keep audiences interested to learn more about Godolkin, Emira, and the Odessa Project. This second season felt about as good as the first, still giving off a bit of CW teen drama—but with very explicit content and a TV-MA rating. By the end of the season, you will be hyped for the final season of The Boys—and potentially seeing the epic conclusion for both series.
