u/Avalon-1

When Homelander made his ultimatum to starlight detailing exactly what he will do if the flight 37 footage, it was one of Antony starr's best scenes in the show. But it presented a narrative problem:

1. it changed the show calculus. Beforehand, it was all about deception, trickery and manipulation that kept Homelander in check. Now, it became all about how to stop homelander before he came off his chain.

2. this undermined the shows moral messaging regarding toxic masculinity and the thought processes behind it. Butcher was seen as a brutal ruthless person who caused misery for everyone around him. Suddenly, he became the only person willing to take a rabid dog behind the woodshed while everyone else was pleading on moral terms instead of actually presenting alternative plans.

3. on a meta level, many fans of The Boys also watched Invincible Season 1, which did show a supe inflict death and destruction on a city. This primed many viewers to think along the lines of Cecil and Butcher. And they were looking at starlight and Hughie tall about moral strength while scoffing "you only say that while butcher is willing to the dirty work"

Hell it inspired what I call "the cecil test", where "if a situation resembles a doomsday scenario, do others make plans for it?".

It feels like a list of chores that just never ends. Just the 10 half cash games alone were an unending slog that drained a lot of enthusiasm I had for the game, which is tied to getting a perfect score achievement that will probably feel hollow by the end of it. If I do get it, I won't be thinking about what I achieved, instead I'd be looking at the grinding and going "was it really worth it?"