so THIS is how we write TV now...?

[@TheWritersBlockOfficial]

Do you still have hope for this Show??? Can they make the boys Super Again??? Download Opera HERE: opr.as/Opera-browser-thewritersblock

[@katandra8819]

I really wish they ended it at s3, solider boy was such a solid antagonist to homelander but that dangerous energy just seems to be lost now. overall feels pretty stale now as the writers are more willing to take risks on b-plot character arcs rather than progress towards a high-stakes confrontation

[@ge2719]

yeah the sage writing also seems lazy because its not really intelligence. she has the power to predict the future. an intelligent person can think of all the possible variables and maybe even analyse which ones are the most likely. but they cant know for sure what things will happen. like her entire plan hinges on getting footage of the president elect asking his people to take out the VP, she cant know for sure he would say that, never mind whether the clone would even manage to be there to record it, and then be able to get out with the recording. He could have just as easily phrased it more as "she tried to have me assassinated, I want her arrested and sent to trial for treason". and then the plan fails. It doesn't matter how intelligent you are, you can't know for sure how lower intelligence people are going to react. especially when you've never even met them.

[@TheWritersBlockOfficial]

Exactly! By making her SOOOO smart, it ends feeling like luck, whereas if she showed her adapting to mistakes THAT would have been enough to convince us of her intelligience. It's why so many movies show a character is smart/resourceful by fixing something on the fly or coming up with a solution under pressure (doo doo doo doodoo do do). That's why it's also so fun in the second RDJ sherlock movie when his predictions in a fight go awry and he's like "welp gotta figure out a new strat ASAP"

[@vividdem]

Yeah, it felt like they wanted to make her clairvoyant instead

[@zeframmann1641]

There's a reason it's called a "Batman Gambit", and he never gets called out for doing it.

[@billbill6094]

​​​​@@zeframmann1641 The reason it works in a Batman story is because he's properly set up to be more well informed, insightful, and have experience with the character of his enemies who he reads like a book. And Batman treats this like a tool instead of as a crutch, he's a great social engineer. So when he drops Lois Lane off the roof (as a _secondary_ plan to the Kryptonite ring) to break Superman free of Ivy's fake love hormones, with the knowledge that shock and trauma are strong enough impulses to bring a person back to their senses from her pheromones and that Superman is an inherently good and convicted person, it works. When Sage just assumes MM and Frenchie will be at the conspiracy con and intercept a message from her to Firecracker, to lead them to the adjacent room where they'll be unarmed and unaware of being followed? When she assumes that the CIA director will say something incriminating, that her shapeshifter who will have captured Annie and successfully fooled Hughie will capture it, and even if she dies she'll somehow get that footage? Which _also_ relies on the basis that Neuman will somehow be killed, not knowing about Butch having a parasite strong enough to tear her seemingly invincible body clean in two? It feels less like a gambit and somehow like an all-encompassing control of all the variables.

[@leafyishereisdumbnameakath4259]

​@@zeframmann1641typically we see batman doing his research. At least in every animated episode.

[@creedbratton4064]

One of the main issues I have with this season which I haven't seen many talk about, was changing Homelander from a complex character to South Park Donald Trump. In previous seasons he's been intelligent, while also psychotic and unpredictable, and rather than being straight up racist and mysoginistic, they used his god complex and his belief that supes are superior as an allegory for conservative thought in real life. Now this season he's just racist and stupid, which makes it even weirder when he doesn't kill Sage, because he's acting like Season 2 Homelander being reasonable to his own cause and reserved because he knows he may still need Sage, when that doesn't match with the character he is the rest of this season. So instead of it feeling like Sage carefully calculated that Homelander would deep down understand that he could still use her, and not kill her instead, it just feels like plain luck if not a full on plot hole that Homelander is able to think rationally for that moment.

[@danae1762]

"killing the guy threatening to reveal that he has Tilda Swinton hidden in a closet" is such a funny sentence lmao

[@TheWritersBlockOfficial]

Thanks!

[@cephalonbob15]

Billy Butcher legit saved season 4 with his final: Oi before unleashing his tentacles. Edit: The other thing that made this season bad was the writers turning male Shrekxual Assault into a joke, which just shows blatant double standard.

[@TheWritersBlockOfficial]

oi ue

[@Jose-se9pu]

Even Antony Starr was like "nah, my back still hurts for carrying season 3"

[@zeframmann1641]

Did they? Because the PTSD Hughie suffered had very real consequences and was in no way treated as a joke.

[@jonnybarnard8578]

​@zeframmann1641 when he broke down to his girlfriend it was about losing his dad, I was expecting him to continue and express just how haunted the assault made him but it went straight from, she said horrible things, to I miss my dad, not even a more meaningful line like, I put my dad through so much more than he needed to go through because I'm so fucking weak because I wanted him to stay with me. Just alot of little flaws, I know it's kinda nitpicky but stuff like that bothers me when I know the writers have the ability to flesh out the characters and what they're going through way more than they do

[@TheWritersBlockOfficial]

@jonnybarnard8578 individually it might be nitpicking but I think the issue is there's so much that it adds up.

[@LeonardoHeredia-hz7wx]

Let’s just hope Season 5 is good and doesn’t build up to an unsatisfying conclusion

[@milkcatdog394]

I think one of my main gripes with this season is that it HEAVILY relied on exposition. They forgot the golden rule: Show Don’t Tell

[@billbill6094]

I can't help but agree more on the Hughie's mom post-partum angle when I compare it. Because Hughie isn't the only hero (he may not be V'd up but it's fair to say he's earned that title) who had a mother abandon him due to post-partum depression, Daredevil did as well and it was handled much better there. Matt Murdock's mom, Sister Maggie, was set up to not "just" be self-harmful, she was being dangerously neglective with Matt as a baby. So when Father Lantom came to bring her back to the church it wasn't out of complete self-interest, there was a real element of protecting her child there. Nonetheless, she still felt guilty for not contacting Matt those 9 years where he lived with his father, and dedicated her life to being a matronly figure to many young orphans. When her own son becomes one of those orphans she acts as that same matronly figure for him, but when the secret's finally out they acknowledge that's not enough. They had allowed him to believe he was alone in the world, the secret they kept had enabled his isolation. But Maggie still tried to be there for her son all these years and was now there for him again. She'd been helping Matt since the beginning of the season with his life threatening wounds and possible permanent injuries. She doesn't give up on Matt even when Matt gives up his faith, his worldview, his devotion to justice and the law, his own identity. She in very serious ways helps him when all he seems to have left is anger and vitriol, some serious handicaps, and suicidal tendencies. That mother secret coming out did serious harm to his progress and his character, but even when he renounces her she still helps protect his life and others. Matt doesn't truly forgive her until the end of the season, but when he does he does so generously without there being an expectation of forgiveness, with a greater perspective and wisdom than he started the season with, and that's in large part due to her influence on his character. She seriously earned that forgiveness, her abandonment of him wasn't swept under the rug the first time he heard "post-partum." Hughie's mother on the other hand seemed to say "being a mother to you was going to make me kill myself so I had to live life as not your parent" and it feels so gross and trivializing to what depression is and what that does to a child. She basically Hannah Baker'd him, treated Hughie like the main character of that show who did nothing but got a tape anyway.

[@bongiska]

It would've been interesting if we found out that sage was never a super intelligent supe, but she was just a normal person who was just acting like an intelligent supe to get to the top,

[@TsakaneZantsi]

it wouldve been a crazy twist

[@technounionrepresentative4274]

Yeah, It would explain why she doesnt exacly feel super at all and it would be something truly unique, Having a normal human be a supe supremacist would be something we hadn't really seen before, The closest we had gotten in the past was ashley

[@johnterpack3940]

I quit watching in season two. It was clear they were going to keep dragging things out with Homelander. They needed to end him and figure out a way to carry on without. He's boring.

[@TheWritersBlockOfficial]

Yeah. Homelander as a martyr would be more interesting than having him just kind of waiting around and holding back this last season or 2. The tension of him coming across as heroic to the public was fun in the first two seasons, and season 3 makes it seem like he can fully go mask off , but they still keep hiding him back as a bad guy so that all the good guys stay alive. Which feels counter to the stakes set up in early seasons

[@johnterpack3940]

@@TheWritersBlockOfficial Shows get scared when a character becomes popular. "Mandolorian" brought back baby Yoda to try and keep it going. They don't seem to realize people get tired of the same thing over and over when there should be progress.

[@termitered]

Apparently Antony Starr being such a good Homelander is to blame for that lol

[@Zvnytksm]

Yk it’s based off the comics

[@leafyishereisdumbnameakath4259]

​@@johnterpack3940yeah I applaud you. I feel you. I always felt this should be a shorter show. I don't hate it but it's filler and to act like season 4 is filler but not season 3 because "soldier boy cool" is just foolish to me.

[@billbill6094]

Sage was such a conflicting character to me because I LIKED her actual character but hated how she was implemented. She relied on several bad genius/detective tropes that you might see in The Imitation Game or BBC's Sherlock, like making huge discoveries without genuine research, not giving the audience clues, not revealing how the character put something together, etc. She says a few things that are flat out wrong, such as misinterpreting Harry Potter of all things. Her plans all relied on a perfect prediction of the future as opposed to any effortful planning or manipulation. It really feels like Hollywood doesn't even try when it comes to writing genius characters, that stating the fact that their genius will be enough for the audience to rely on it fully, no need to get into the how's and why's. It's an informed ability amd therefore a terrible one for the narrative.

[@TheWritersBlockOfficial]

Great point! I think like Anthony star, the actress is doing the heavy lifting in place of the script

[@josesosa3337]

Curious, how does sister sage misunderstand harry potter??

[@josesosa3337]

How does she misinterpret harry potter?

[@billbill6094]

@@josesosa3337 When she talks about Hollywood conditioning people to accept white boy lone saviors chosen by fate or god, she cites Harry Potter as a main example. Except, the Harry Potter series was all about subverting the idea of a chosen one, someone so gifted and significant to fate that they're the only ones with the gift to save the world. Had Harry not been there or had he died at any time, it _would've_ been Neville Longbottom who killed Voldemort, despite how surface level wimpy he seemed his fate was just as much tied to prophecy, and he had similar inner strength/potential. And we see that while everyone gasses Harry up, he comes to realize he's not all that special or powerful in the grand scheme of things. Although he is naturally more adept at certain things, a lot of it comes from the sacrifice of his parents or his connection with the Dark Lord or his natural passion for subjects like duelling. His friends make up for what he lacks and have similar weaknesses themselves. Without the Harry, Ron, and Hermione together all of them would die, no special chosen one powers would have saved them. This misinterpretation is especially glaring because she's talking about the movies instead of the books. The movies are notorious for how significantly they buff Hermione and nerf the other two. Hermione takes several skills and abilities of the other two from the book (such as dueling and calmness under pressure) while keeping her original strengths. Harry & Ron keep their original weaknesses/fears while taking hers. Numerous major scenes will completely change whoever is driving it to be Hermione (Hermione riding the dragon for instead of Harry for example), and so many lines of dialogue from the book that were said by others were given to her (and sometimes the line she takes was originally directed at _her)._ This is part of the reason it's being remade as a series, the director's admitted favoritism for Hermione muddied the messaging and left out complexity. But anyway, how Sage looked at those movies and decided it was about the very thing it's subverting was a glaring mistake for someone 1000× smarter than the average person. Even missing the complexity of the OG stories she somehow also missed how Hermione was the real hero in the movies. It's like the writers just assumed they got Harry Potter, they may have not even watched it, and wrote the scene as a smug indictment of Hollywood being tropey. Which strikes me as incredibly lazy. It's not even the only thing she's factually incorrect about, it just stood out to me as weird.

[@josesosa3337]

@@billbill6094 when i asked my question, i joked about how sister Sage was gonna talk about Harry being a white savior and it looks like you proved me right. Thank you. As you pointed out, harry isnt even a white savior, he's from the UK because Rowling is from the UK. Its not that deep. Also, voldermort is a racial supremacist for pure blood magic users, so it makes sister sage and the writers look stupid for bringing that up. Also, your right about hermoine taking positive traits from Harry and Ron from the books. Whether its for convinience, exposition, or favoritism, Hermoine IS elevated in the movies. I've heard about the remake but i didnt know Hermoines faboritism was addressed. I thought the movies were mostly fine but now im curious to see what the new series will take from the books. Thank you.👍 Sister Sages special ability should've been something else. They say you can't write someone smarter than yourself.

[@vividdem]

I still like the show overall, even though you're completely right about this season being kinda lacklustre. I hope they can tighten it up and not have unnecessary side plots in the final season. Here's to hoping they stick the landing 🤞

[@TheWritersBlockOfficial]

I hope so too. There's so much potential

[@jaredbezes7806]

It’s funny because I literally fast forward the entire story of Huey’s mom and the hospital with his dad. Up until Huey’s dad went crazy. That was pretty cool. But all that blah blah blah I fast forward it

[@neilhannan7525]

First The Boys season 4, then Bear season 3 now House of the Dragon season 2

[@kalebv1161]

Wait til you get to umbrella academy season 4 🥴

[@leafyishereisdumbnameakath4259]

Thanks for this comment. You've given me new things to watch and see what went wrong

[@leafyishereisdumbnameakath4259]

​@@kalebv1161fr or so I heard

[@DennisShanaberg]

It’s like all three were filler seasons Ultimately aimless table setting

[@nerm7422]

Underrated channel, I tried explaining how much time season 4 actually wastes to someone but this gets that point across really well

[@TheWritersBlockOfficial]

Hey thank you! I'm working slowly on improving the way I talk which will hopefully widen the appeal, but it means a lot when the people who do find this channel leave kind words like this

[@pikachuuprising637]

Am I the only one who wanted to see Hughie Sr become part of the boys?

[@Asteroids50]

Same! Let Simon Pegg join the group. He would have been such an interesting addition

[@EnriqueMaxx]

This video is so good. Point after point just killing it! Commenting for YT

[@TheWritersBlockOfficial]

Thank you! That's very kind of you to say!

[@Zany_Xz6]

5 Seasons is an Average and Nice route a Show can take. 6 or 7 Seasons at MAX if there are enough Interesting Arcs Set up. Season 1 the Beggining, Season 2 and 3 Diving deeper into the show's Lore, Season 4 a Progressive Set up for the 5th, Final and Wildest Season. The Boys does exactly That. No Episode was a Filler episode, every Episode was setting up Arcs such as A-Train's Redemption, Butcher and his Commitment to his Darkside appearing as Joe Kessler, Butcher-Ryan-Homelander Dynamic, While also Setting up the Main Plot for Season 5. A temporary Step back as The Boys have been captured, The Supes have taken full control of the World and Butcher has gone completely Diabolical. This Arc was obvious throughout the Season and it sets up Season 5 Perfectly. I had so much fun Watching Season 4 and it was Not a waste of time At all.

[@matteofurlotti6211]

Generation V shouldn't have happened and the story about the virus should have been happening during Season 4

[@TheWritersBlockOfficial]

I haven't watched Gen B but i wouldn't be surprised if this is a root cause of the issue. They've created a spin off/ tie in series when they don't have the juice for the main series in the first place

[@laatrommi]

great video! i have seen so many people saying the season was actually amazing and you would only have a problem with it because of the politics and that those people were just "too stupid" to see the politics were there from the start. no, it's just the writing and the plot felt so much worse this season! the concept and performances are just so good in this show, but it seems like they have been getting worse in the writing department every season.

[@TheWritersBlockOfficial]

thank you! and yeah the whole political side off the discussion is really frustrating. Especially since the political side of the show (which has been there all along) has always been the worst part of the show. Even starting with season 1, they didn't have any meaningful commentary about the me too movement. They just had a women get SA'd for shock value. This show is at its best when its character driven. Not when it's "holding a mirror to society" and saying "hey remember that time a bad thing happened in real life... what if it happened here too..."

[@creedbratton4064]

Bottle episode in the hospital would have been amazing. The emotional drama would hit hard, but you could also bring a very impactful horror element to it which wasn't fully committed to with the comedic subplot (or arguably main plot).

[@TheWritersBlockOfficial]

It would be cool too cause it's horror from nothing perspectives (the one on the rampage AND those trying to stop him) because Hugh was so confused and not in control

[@zeframmann1641]

Liberals love the military industrial complex, you're thinking of leftists and we mostly ignored Top Gun because it's political messaging would prevent us from enjoying it as much as an unlikable protagonist. The political lens through which a viewer sees something will obviously affect their enjoyment, which is why mass-produced garbage is made to appeal to as many people as possible while challenging as few as possible. Obviously good politics can't save a bad movie by itself (Star Wars prequels and sequels) but they do contribute. Telling people to put that aside in evaluating a piece of media is telling them to ignore what the artist is trying to say.

[@TheWritersBlockOfficial]

You can disagree with what a piece of media is trying to say and still A) enjoy it B) appreciate it being well made/well told

[@lucasveloso-27111]

It’s weird how many critics hated the original Top Gun for being military propaganda but praise films like Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Edge of Tomorrow, Iron Man, Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation, or even the new Top Gun, all of which either glorify, don’t criticize, or were supported by the military or are films that are pro-recruitment.

[@superchamploo1155]

I finished house of the dragon season 2 and immediately gave the boys season 4 a pass lol. If any season wasted your time is was that one

[@TheWritersBlockOfficial]

HotD was interesting because I enjoyed watching it more, but man do we get nowhere by the end of the season. Also, it had the same issue as the boys where they interwove to many plot points. They should have just dedicated a WHOLE episode to Damien's MacBeth subplot

[@TheRockerX]

Totally agree. HotD season 2 was sooo much more underwhelming as a season. 8 episodes of buildup...then it just ends with no climax

[@TheWritersBlockOfficial]

@TheRockerX yeah. Most abrupt season finale I've seen in years. Clearly half of what the season should have been

[@Folkmoot]

I liked HoTD S2 quite a lot, the finale ended in an underwhelming way (supposedly due to budget cuts) but we did get a (SPOILER) crazy battle halfway through, people are definitely over hating on it, IMO. Genuinely a lot did happen, the last episode just kinda shimmied in place because they didn't have the budget to go into, what will now be, S3 stuff. Also I didn't mind the Daemon stuff too much, I even liked it a majority of the time.

[@TheWritersBlockOfficial]

@Folkmoot I like it a lot. It was just broken up in weird ways. Like the episodes often didn't have a strong focus. Which was frustrating.

[@BayaRae]

Every criticism leveled at season 4 can be leveled at any of the other seasons.

[@TheWritersBlockOfficial]

Agreed. But I think this season advanced the overall plot even less by the end, so it feels more noticeable

[@BayaRae]

The entirety of season 3 was a detour from the overall plot. Akin to season 3 of Boardwalk Empire but even less relevant somehow. I think there's another reason why everyone dislikes season 4 and nobody has articulated it yet. It might be that everyone has changed instead of the show.

[@TheWritersBlockOfficial]

@BayaRae how do you mean?

[@BayaRae]

The show has stayed basically the same in all regards. The difference is that the audience is far more politically astute due to the culture struggle. Which has caused them to see how obnoxious and grating the politics of the show is. Which, itself, is part of a broader fatigue and craving for escapism. I can't think of any other reason why people would start hating on the show now.

[@xaviercaparrosgelabert5436]

@@BayaRae People are bored of the plot not moving forward, the more season the plot doesn't move the more bored people will be, that's it. I agree that they should be more subtle with the politics they want to push, but I don't think that's the main issue

[@videostoryanalyses8910]

The Brits write their series in more efficient way, that is, if they can only write and handful of episodes they'll do that rather than stretching things out.

[@tsnhd]

Finally someone has the balls to say it. I hope they don't call you a nazi for this one

[@artemisia3674]

Totally agree with everthing you said. When I was watching season four, I thought something was off and It wasn't as good as the other seasons. But I didn't understood what bothered me. Now I know why I wasn't as much excited like when watching the other seasons.

[@toyosibee.mp3]

I thought they might do something with the “Sage corrects people using ‘woman’ to ‘person’ when talking about her” thing as a hint-hint nudge-nudge at Sage being nonbinary, and that being a “signifier” that Sage would end up later betraying Team Homelander, or that maybe Sage was just gonna be a genuine villain/morally-gray enby character (which could’ve had a little commentary on transmisogynoir on the part of the moniker ‘Sister Sage’), but having seen the season now…I think that moment is supposed to be read as Sage being like “put some respect on my name, actually” which is fine but 😅 bit less interesting imo

[@TheWritersBlockOfficial]

Damn that would have been super interesting

[@toyosibee.mp3]

@@TheWritersBlockOfficial Who knows if it would've been any good!! But it at least would've been interesting/not wasted our time!!!

[@ManimalMoose]

She does that because she's smarter than all the men too. So she's the smartest person in the world, not just the smartest woman.

[@toyosibee.mp3]

@@ManimalMoose I know! It would've been cool if that moment had a double meaning, is what I'm trying to say!

[@TheWritersBlockOfficial]

@toyosibee.mp3 agreed

[@thehyperverse9521]

I watched 1 episode of Season 4 and NOPE out of it. I guessed I saved my time then 😂 I was like, "WHY ARE YOU ALL JUST STANDING THERE AND BEING SNEAKY?! DO SOMETHING!!!"

[@Spidermanfan937]

Season 4 a lot of bad writing that hindered most of the season and was saved by the main 3 male leads . I also dig that they did justice by A-Train still . I agree about the subplots especially Sister Sage . The mom thing was just to start the trauma Hughie suffered this season . Season 4 could’ve had potential if they cut stuff out.

[@VianoCorp]

Bro why is your Iron Claw video unavailable in Antarctica! Completely unacceptable...

[@MrGreaves]

I remember watching your video on the Hunger Games as adaptations and really liking it. I thought your analysis was brilliant, and the presentation and editing style kept me engaged in what was essentially a detailed lecture/essay. And it’s no different here. Fully agree with everything you’ve said here. You’ve expanded my own thoughts into an incredibly detailed dissection of the latest season, with a nice dose of style over the top to keep it engaging. Huge fan of the content man. Keep it up 👍 P.S. glad to see someone who can discard politics whether or not you agree with them. As a “liberal” as you Americans would call me, it’s great to see someone be open about the fact that politics aren’t the most important factor. Like, they’re a compliment to the narrative if you agree with them.. but they shouldn’t be a detractor if you don’t, depending on how woven into the story they are I guess. But still… like damn, is it that hard for most people to watch / listen to something that they disagree with? 😂

[@TheWritersBlockOfficial]

Holy snap the lead in made it seem like it was gonna become a "...but this video sucks and I hate you now" type comment. Haha. Thank you so much for the kind words! It means a lot truly. I think people struggle with differentiating subject matter from presentation/craft. I've been reading a lot more books lately and a lot of people will LOVE a book cause it has the tropes/characters/vibes they like even though the book is written poorly and terribly structured. But they'll still say "it's sooo goood" which is very different from "I enjoyed it so much" My goal with this channel is to really emphasize craft and be bale to separate my personal taste from the actual craft. Like they're are plenty of very good movies I hate and bad movies I love. But I would say they're bad because I hate them pr good because I like them. Also you have grifters that claire to be critics that just hit the same agenda talking points and don't do any meaningful analysis. So i basically try to be the opposite of that. Call me an uncritical eater.

[@MrGreaves]

@@TheWritersBlockOfficial Ah hell no lol. Love, love, love your content! Honestly I really respect that angle. Sometimes I find it very hard to criticise the quality of something if my own enjoyment gets in the way, so I always like it when people can do that for me lol. Got any good book recommendations btw? :P

[@TheWritersBlockOfficial]

Naw. I joined a book club and so far we've read bad ones unfortunately

[@MrGreaves]

@@TheWritersBlockOfficial oh no 😭 well I hope the quality picks up soon!

[@crosshair9907]

I just really really hope that they don't botch / ruin Soldier Boy in season 5. If he's ruined, my apathy towards the show will be jumped into high gear.

[@KaiqueFrias]

Or in that vought rising prequel

[@magicinkstudio]

I 100% agree with this video. I just binge watch coz i have nothing to watch

[@Frshcuko]

It’s like two shows competing for who can let me down more? The boys or HotD? At least the finale of the boys was cool vs nothing happening in HotDs finale but these are still just 2 filler seasons oh my god

[@artinhasaniani1974]

Great vid. This really did voice some of my problems with this season of the boys. Don't get me wrong I still enjoyed it and had a good time with it but it was like what I felt small bits of in season 3 and cranked it to 90 in which nothing happened that further pushed the story of taking out vought and HL. S1 started it all S2 we had threats and felt hopeless with the characters especially when they reveled compound V yet it did nothing. S3 we had temp V but again the problem I ad with it was it lead to nothing and this season was just that and nothing more; side quests. I hope the show improves i like it quit a lot.

[@TheWritersBlockOfficial]

I think an issue is that "the boys" don't have a clear goal. There's np ti king clock. Like technically there's Neumann becoming official vp, but it doesn't feel like that tension drives the narrative. In season 1, the personal stakes of Hughes revenge. And the general push to "expose" the supes/fought Gabe a clear direction. Kripke had an interesting ending last season drawing parallels to MAGAs unconditional love of Donald no matter what info comes to light, but then they don't do interesting things with that in this season. They reference propaganda and misinformation, but that only becomes a real threat in the final minutes of the show. We should have seen homelanders crowd on a witch hunt and really get to see hl take the mask of for the whole season. But instead we just get beats from him similar to all the previous seasons. They set up the show as being gritty, but like later game of thrones seasons, the show is breaking its own rules to keep characters alive and stretch/condense conflicts

[@v2cheetos499]

Dog what is this tumbnail

[@TheWritersBlockOfficial]

Two Stills from the show and a rotten tomatoes score

[@bethanywallace8575]

Counter argument: my problem with the boys is how it attacks a percentage of its audience, and it does so using a strawman argument, painting people woth right leanings to be evil, ignorant, amd dumb. In the first and second season the beliefs of the creator were there and it was very obvious what they were, but I could still enjoy the show because it was still a well-written show with compelling characters. Then the show started being less skillful, and more blatant with it's political beliefs and what the writers thinks of conservatives, or people who lean to the right. It got to the point that I couldn't really ignore it cause it was starting to take center stage, and it got me eye-rolling too much. These liberal Hollywood types need ro get out of their little bubble and go talk to other people with differing beliefs, so that they can write more well-rounded stories and characters.

[@Lechef53]

To counter your arguement, the show pokes fun at both sides of the political spectrum, for example the liberal performative art. Not to mention, the show has always made fun of far fight Christians. It’s just before that the extremist far right were a smaller and richer minority. Also, they don’t really make fun of ‘normal’ conservatives. For example, Todd is shown as one of the conservatives but he isn’t shown to be ‘the biggest and most threatening evil on earth’. In fact he is shown to be caring and compassionate father so your point is kinda void.

[@uli_Gio]

😮🫳🍿

[@leafyishereisdumbnameakath4259]

This is the same problem every season of the show had

[@ahmadalimi9784]

Get a VPN 😊

[@leafyishereisdumbnameakath4259]

@@ahmadalimi9784 that doesn't make the show better

[@ahmadalimi9784]

@@leafyishereisdumbnameakath4259 I replied to the wrong comment

[@dnister_nymph]

Why is "How NOT to Adapt a Book (same Director btw)" video on the Hunger Games vs The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes adaptation blocked for viewers in Ukraine? It is very frustrating...

[@ahmadalimi9784]

Get a vpn😊

[@Asteroids50]

Reminded me of The Umbrella Academy. Every time I watch that show I feel like it wastes my time and then something really cool happens in the last 5-10 minutes of the episode and I HAVE to keep watching even tho I don’t enjoy it.

[@Jose-se9pu]

They made this season thinking they would make like 10 seasons...now we have what it's pretty much a filler season, while they will have to wrap all lose ends in ONE season in the next one.

[@brendanogorman1015]

It was always planned to be 5 seasons

[@Seasonal-Shadow_4674]

8:00 - 8:30 I personally think the theme of forgiveness in superhero media is a bit overused and glorified to the point that message is harmful. I agree it wasnt the best used for Hughie's Mom and to add to that, I dont think was the best used in Wakanda Forever as Namor himself still plans to use the alliance to conquer Wakanda and rest of the world. On top of that, I think two things can be true where Shuri spares Namor and forms alliance but doesnt forgive Namor without holding a grudge necessary, alot of research has come out that suggests you dont need to forgive to move on and live healthily

[@bradenstjohn735]

I thought this season was pretty good, I actually thought season 3 wasted a lot of time like in the long run nothing happened

[@TheWritersBlockOfficial]

Ooh thats interesting. It makes sense cause I think you're looking at how much changes big picture from start to finish of the season. In which case I think s3 Def wastes more time. Whereas in s4 a lot changes by the end, but most of that big change happens in the last episode. S3 feel more like a side quest that's enjoyable whereas s4 is a weirdly paced main quest

[@bradenstjohn735]

@@TheWritersBlockOfficial I liked S4 more than I did 3. But definitely doesn’t hold a candle to 1 &2. I forgot who it was that said it but one person had said season 4 feels like the actors were too busy to shoot together so it’s like 4 different side quest each episode and that definitely holds true. As you said the last few episodes really saved this season

[@itszaque]

Homelander is the only thing keeping me coming back to this series. That being said, this season (and your review of it) is a perfect synopsis of why I vastly prefer Movies (and most animes) to Tv Series. There's always exceptions, but at the end of the day, I prefer more sucenct stories that keep the main plot the focal point. Side plots are fine, but only when they serve to push the main plot forward.

[@TheWritersBlockOfficial]

I think the problem is there's also less separation between movies and TV. A lot of shows feel like stretched out movies rather than playing into the strengths of an episodic medium

[@roland7178]

Your attention span is cooked bro

[@lzano4886]

yeah naw i can’t agree with the whole sage section but that’s simply just a bias on my part. i reallyyy like how the reveal sort of just makes you feel like the entire season was just a flashback and there was absolutely nothing The Boys could’ve done to win I always saw The Boys transitioning from a superhero spoof show to a dystopian future typa show, so seeing the protags making no progress and the season ending with the antagonists winning really sets up for a peak ass Season 5 i doubt anyone in here actually cares about the Boys, but for those of us who do, we cannot act like this is any worse than the comics😭 im just really happy that my prediction was right, bc in the comics, the supes rule the country, and now it’s looking like it’s gonna be the case in the show. i just want season 5 to feel apocalyptic, i want acts of desperation and life or death moments, a faction of humans and righteous superheros to overtake homelanders regime. fuck it, end with the world ending, idc. but that’s what this season was supposed to feel like, a transitioning point between the last moments of a normal world and absolute dystopia the hugh part is all valid but me personally, i didn’t care that much about hugh, but season 5 is still coming so let’s not say that it didn’t have an effect on hughie or trigger a turning point for him, esp since he watched his best friend die to his mentor that changed his entire life in the last episode i think…you enjoy this season much more when you focus on the potential rather than how emotionally compelling it should’ve been i do agree that the Hugh episode would’ve been better as a bottle episode tho

[@deannas2778]

I hate that they made it exciting towards the end...like a couple episodes were slow and not as engaging. Sister sage just made it worse because she was poorly written which made her boring.

[@ethan9994ever]

Season 4 was great though fits right in to all the other seasons really well for the first season being 5 years ago and season 3 being two years ago if you don’t like season 4 you don’t like season 1

[@Seasonal-Shadow_4674]

14:00 - 14:15 I mean cant there simultaneously be both, apathetic people that strive to be good and on the other side, apathetic people that can also strive to be evil/awful? Cant some people find more interest in testing their theories through chaos and despair using various methods? And cant at least some of the people who side with awful/dangerous people and ideologies be apathetic and/or seen as apathetic?

[@ethan9994ever]

Saying the mom is a boring side character and unimportant is crazy guess your going to react the same if starlights dad shows up also left her because he didn’t agree with her mom, sister sage I was worried about at first and thought it was going to make the season awful doing crazy thing because she’s the smartest but her character was done well this season it’s not to obvious how smart she is because she doing it slow and I’m the background so no one notices and the part with not being able to handle being the smartest just puts another realism in the show any person given the power to be the smartest would go crazy and feel alone and probably not care so you’ll do stuff slowly or lazily because your the smartest anyway, her needing to hurt/damage her brain is cool because it helps her feel normal so it’s like a drug to her, your wrong about sage she does have a stake in everything she hates humans how selfish and evil they all are and she needs homelander because he has power and is powerful, it’s funny trying to argue or say her ideas are bad when she’s the smartest person🤦🏻, also thought Colin was going to be a problem for the season but they also do a good job with his character frenchie has killed many people so many people are going to hate him or be afraid of him on a relationship level frenchie has always been bi so saying frenchie is randomly gay is untrue, saying frenchie didn’t learn anything is crazy, firecracker is a bad annoying character because that’s why she was picked to join the 7

[@4yenIsAlive]

I think it was pretty good

[@TheWritersBlockOfficial]

Nice! What did you think was pretty good about it?

[@Howdyasdo]

Why does the thumbnail look ai generated? It has a wierd texture (more noticable on the right guy's beard)

[@TheWritersBlockOfficial]

I make the thumbnails in canvas and I think the uprez feature messed with that. Combined with the clarity slider. The stills are from the show, but the editing on them may contribute to the ai feel. Ill upload an alternate edit to test and compare and see if it effects click through. I do all the thumbnail stuff myself and I'm still learning how best to increase clickability without distorting the image

[@Howdyasdo]

@TheWritersBlockOfficial thanks for clarifying. Apart from that noticable texture I think it's a good thumbnail, eye catching.

[@OKOK-sr2xg]

smart characters are only as smart as the writer is.

[@potatosalad3997]

Thank you I’ve been waiting for someone to make a logical response to all the people who get pissy when I don’t love the political part of the show lmao, I’m not trying to take stance it’s just boring and unnecessary 😂

[@TheWritersBlockOfficial]

Like., my personal politics probably align with a lot of the creators, but the way the show explores its ideas and critiques the real world is so uncreative. It's just mirroring stuff that happens in real life with nothing new to say. This show doesn't add anything to the real world conversation, and it sure as heck won't change anyone's mind, so just focus on the characters as themselves and not an allegory for politicians we already hear way too much about in the news

[@lucasveloso-27111]

I haven’t seen The Boys, but I’m glad you actually watched the show to explain why audiences didn’t like it, instead of ONLY looking at audience reviews and deciding it’s bad and didn’t base it off the show’s politics, unlike this guy: m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/hGLYk3Vuqc9_ZpY

[@TheWritersBlockOfficial]

Yeah critical drinker is kind of everything I try NOT to be on this channel. I dont know if it's worse if he's grifting everyone or is actually blind to his own hypocrisy and flaws

[@Patrick-wl6pw]

I agree that boys s4

[@bzenga5981]

you can also do it by doing what you're doing right now

[@TheWritersBlockOfficial]

Making videos in general or specifically this one? Either way sick burn

[@bzenga5981]

@@TheWritersBlockOfficial look: i'm never gonna pass up an opportunity when the punchline is set up so well

[@TheWritersBlockOfficial]

Doesn't answer the question tho

[@bzenga5981]

@@TheWritersBlockOfficial don't care

[@TheWritersBlockOfficial]

Lol ok

[@soorej91]

for the love of god.. the last season of boys was alright. This is what you call a set up season which tied all most loose ends and set up a story as it gears to its final season. it did what it was supposed to do. It was never a waste of time since it helps us to experience this calm before the storm. If we had done he supe takeover from the beginning of this season, it'd have felt rushed now all the pieces are neatly set on the board. And yes the show has always been woke but given the shows nature it is fine and they equally poke fun at leftist idiocy as well so its all good. This season set up the following The setting up of a new environment for the trajectory where the story is headed. homelanders plans for final solution butcher embracing the darkness killing of Neuman who's character served no more purpose to the plot 4Introduction of sage and reintroduction of soldier boy starlight embracing her true heroic identity Integrating the Gen V guys into boys A trains redemption The supe takeover putting mothers milk on borrowed time The new noir and the fully evil deep 11 Setting up Ashley, and Stan as wild cards The virus This season was more than UE's S.A and Frenchies gay arc.

[@TheWritersBlockOfficial]

I get what the show is setting up, but I think it did so in a clunky manner and in a way that made this season feel like it only existed to get us to the finale. You can set up everything you listed in a much more efficient manner, hence why many people feel like this season was filler. That's why I think if you leaned more heavily into the personal subplots and actually fleshed them out, the season would have stood on its own AND set up season 5. But everything that wasn't just servicing the next season (aside from the deep/a train) felt rushed and underdeveloped. A good season of television should stand on its own. Look at S2 of Avatar: The Last Airbender. That sets up a ton of stuff for the final season. But Ba Sing Se, Zuko, and Toph are all some of the greatest standalone subplots in televison (at least in my opinion). Sure, this season did what it was trying to do. But that's my whole point. This season didn't try to be anything more than a stop-gap. Which I believe makes it a waste of time

[@LordRotule]

My brother, who watched the whole series beforehand, only watched the last two episodes of season 4 and understood everything. All the plot relevance resides within the last 2 episodes.

[@themondoshow]

you sound like you like trump but youre afraid to just go all in

[@TheWritersBlockOfficial]

How so? Cause that seems to be reading into things a lot (and incorrectly)

[@zimmerman1031]

As always, your work is top notch. Great presentation, and delivery. I didn't feel it was long-winded. I'm excited to see where your channel goes. My only warning, as this is the kiss of death, and it's not like you're showing any of this, so please don't be alarmed. I just hope you don't make things TOO personal. Like throwing in political stances. Some people allow their beliefs to start to infect their work. Like drawing a conclusion to how some people in a show resemble Donald Trump supporters, or Joe Biden supporters. I think it's best to stay professional and focused on what is relevant to the presentation, and not make statements that will naturally section off some of your audience, or offend them. Along with statements about race, or skin color. Again, I'm not saying you're showing these qualities, I just find when people casually throw out statements that include descriptors that are unnecessary and irrelevant, that it immediately turns me off to the channel, I downvote, unsubscribe, and even tell KZbin to no longer recommend that channel to me. Like a recent example was a channel that was operated by someone who wasn't white, making a derisive comment about a person that would be disliked under normal circumstances, but having to add that the person was white, when the race or skin color had nothing to do with the unlikable person. It made the channel operator seem like someone that disliked white people, and didn't even try to hide it with this casual inclusion of the "person's" skin color. Anyway, sorry for the long-winded comment, just wanting to offer support. I hope you continue to draw views.

[@TheWritersBlockOfficial]

Thank you for the kind words! I think like you said the key is "is it relevant". If my personal beliefs are relevant to a review I'm not gonna hide them or try to lie about what I believe, but I never want it to feel like my political/religious/lifestyle beliefs are tainting my analysis. That's why I put that section about avatar and top gun in. I'm always gonna analyze story first. In my recent bridgerton video, some of my opinions on representation came through, but that's also relevant because representation is a goal of the show and so my thoughts on it matter when evaluating how well that show achieves it's goals. I also actively avoid being someone like critical drinker who already has his mind made up about a product before seeing it and just rails against "the message" and "woke bad" without realizing how much he is pandering to his own crowd in the same way. I guess my point is I will always be honest about what I believe, but also not force my beliefs into an analysis where they are irrelevant.

[@zimmerman1031]

@@TheWritersBlockOfficial That's a great way of looking at it. You definitely shouldn't hide your feelings about something, hoping to appease as many people as possible. If you do that too much, you may very well feel sterilized, and start hating doing this. Or you may be deemed "too safe" which can also be a detriment. I suppose there is no right way of doing things, other than what you feel is right. You can't please everyone, I just think consideration, and relevancy are very important. Being willing to offend someone, to make sure your point is honest and clear isn't necessarily a bad thing, but at the same time, not even considering the audience I think is a bad thing. Likewise, allowing your opinion to be shown, when it isn't even relevant I think is bad, but if it is relevant, then it must be done. All in all, I think your way of doing things is really working out, and I will continue to view your next works with great interest!