What they've done to Homelander 😭😭😭
in season 1, homelander created supe terrorists, spun flight 37 in his favor, discovered secrets on his own, relentlessly pursued the disappearance of translucent PERSONALLY, knew how to rile up crowds to his benefit, knew how to control social situations to corner his enemies, knew how to intimidate people without using violence.
his relentlessness + social & physical abilities contrasting his emotional instability and soullessness is what made him compelling and scary to people in-universe and out. if he has a mission it's only a matter of time before he completes it in one way or another.
I was surprised when in season 2 he needed stormfront's help with PR and crowds as if manipulation wasn't his greatest asset. to me this was the first sign that the writers have lost the plot, but whatever, phenomenal acting & laser eyes keep him compelling.
he gained his IQ back a little in season 3, but then turned into an actual oblivious cross eyed drooling baby in s4 and has since ascended to edgy teen in s5.
arguing that this is all intentional due to homelander's crumbling psyche is dumb as hell, but since I've seen many people excuse poor writing: unless the main villain suffers TRAGIC CLINICAL BRAIN DEGRADATION, making him go from master manipulator to complete DUMBASS is not good storytelling EVEN IF IT MAKES LOGICAL SENSE. don't erase the biggest qualities that make the villain feel like anything more than a loose cannon without introducing any new ones, especially when the premise hinges on the villain being compelling. I would expect them to be expanded upon more.
the reason he is not compelling or scary anymore is because of how easily he gets dominated and outsmarted by anyone who isn't regular human. the show relies on cheap violence to make him threatening, which isn't as effective now that he has 5 different weaknesses. and it's hard to be intimidated by a character who's few achievements get a couple seconds of lazy screentime at best.
homelander has gone from t-1000 to the rev-9 in terminator dark fate who gets bullied for the entire runtime. basic storytelling says the main villain must not suffer from ineptitude lest he be fucking ruined 😭