Other than Squid Game, I’m pretty sure there isn’t a more messed up, gory show currently airing on any streaming service. As evidenced by when I am writing this, I was somewhat reluctant to watch this show as I’d read the first volume of the graphic novel on which it is based and that GN didn’t really do it for me. It wasn’t until a good friend said that she had really liked it that I decided to give it a chance.

The Boys takes place in an alternate reality where superheroes exist. Most people love them but other see the damage they cause while “saving” people. Poor Hughie, the main protagonist, witnesses his girlfriend completely blown apart by a super hero running as super speed right through her. Not long after, Hughie is approached by Billy Butcher, who offers him help getting back at A-Train, the supe who killed his girlfriend.

This show is messed up in so many ways. It does not shy away from the gore in the least. Don’t eat anything while watching this because it’s pretty much guaranteed that at some point in every episode someone is going to explode or get ripped apart in very bloody fashion.

Super heroes in this show are more like celebrities than actual heroes. They spend more time doing photo shoots, making movies and promoting crappy products than actually saving people. The company that basically owns them, Vought, controls just about every aspect of their lives and makes sure they stay “on brand” all the time.

Along with Butcher and Hughie, there’s Mother’s Milk (or MM) and Frenchie that make up the team that is The Boys. Their mission? To take down Vought and expose super heroes for the killers, rapists and all around horrible people that they truly are.

The Boys is definitely an acquired taste. It is not the short of show I would recommend to a lot of people. As I’ve said, there is a lot of gore. There’s also a lot of swearing and references to sexual assault, as well as sex scenes. This show is out there and if you like that kind of stuff, you will enjoy this.

I enjoyed it. I’m still enjoying it as I near finishing season 2. But again, this show is rated 18+ and it more than earns that rating. I give it 3 out of 5 stars.