Spin-off shows live on the precarious edge, balancing justifying their existence and identity while not straying too far from the familiar source. The first season of Gen V, the spinoff to the wildly popular and often polarizing show The Boys, aired two years ago. As an offshoot of the core Prime Video flagship series, Gen V stood well on its own two feet. Serving as a placeholder between seasons 3 and 4 of The Boys, this show introduced new characters and plots, while sprinkling in familiar faces to seamlessly bind the two worlds together. Season 2 of Gen V has arrived, still fitting in the pocket of The Boys universe, while still confidently standing apart.

 

At the end of the first season, we learned that all students were admitted to their school, Godolkin University, or God U, due to being test subjects from the corporate superpower, Vought International, to weed out the most promising and popular. Compound V, the super-sized MacGuffin and what drove the plot in The Boys, carried over into Gen V. The students learning that they, in fact, were not special creations, but lab rats, injected with Compound V at infancy, yielding wild and often dangerous superpowers. The apocalyptic threat of the supe-killing virus was an effective, if not simple, device. 

 

Season 2 of Gen V pivots away from the whimsy of God U à la Hogwarts and becomes a breeding ground for hatred and superhero (or supe, if you like) exceptionalism. Every student is vectored toward some career aspiration (fine arts, marketing), with a select few being chosen for a pipeline to compete for a seat at the table of The Seven. All these trajectories are manipulated by social media branding and recognition.

 

There is a war coming, so says the new God U Dean Cipher (Hamish Linklater). Now that Homelander has become the de facto leader of Vought (and soon America, likely), the class warfare between humans and supes is bubbling under the surface. Dean Cipher intends to cull the herd, as he says, and cultivate an army of supes before it’s too late. 

 

Jazz Sinclair returns as Marie Moreau, the series lead whose superpower is hemokinesis (blood manipulation). She and her friends, Emma “Little Cricket” Meyer (Lizze Broadway), Cate (Maddie Phillips), Sam Riordan (Asa Germann), and Jordan (London Thor and Derek Luh) reassemble after being shuttled away and imprisoned at the end of season one. They work with Polarity (Sean Patrick Thomas), a retired, alcoholic supe, still grieving over the loss of his son and friend to the group, Andre. 

 

The season’s main plot centers on this group’s arc of foiling the master plan to create a superhero army, while tending to the inner wounds that have disrupted the fabric of the friend circle.

 

Gen V season 2 treads on similar ground as the first season, with lots of violence, nudity, and language. But underneath the gratuity is a story that both serves the grounded ecosystem developed in season one and the macro scope of The Boys universe. As mentioned, there are a few familiar faces from the main series that jump into this story in small doses, and thankfully, they serve to move the plot and not just be thoughtless cameos. 

 

The Boys season 4 was divisive with its audience, and Gen V season 2 has confidently picked up the mantle of satirizing the current political and social landscape almost to the point of absurdity. Some viewers will find themselves laughing at what they see displayed and appreciate the overt jabs the series launches, while others will miss the irony completely. I do not intend to spoil anything related to these moments, or the surprise guests, or the plot itself. I would warn all that Gen V season 2 maintains its chaotic blasting of contemporary society, reflecting our vanity, our ignorance, and our arrogance. There is no subtext here, just nose-punching commentary. 

 

The entire cast is fantastic, but the standout is Linklater, whose Dean Cipher relishes in ambiguity and mystery. There are a handful of contrivances, bumps, and flaws in this season as well. But the great and entertaining moments far outweigh the weaker ones. Gen V exudes strong youthful energy here, skewering the vapid social aspiration of clout and reputation. The delicious derangement of its parent series congruently lives on in Gen V season 2, while still confidently striding down its own path.