I have been rewatching The Boys' earlier seasons to get to S5. Am on S3 and have some reflections.
Glad that Kripke came out to confirm that Hughie taking Temp V was cos he wanted to feel macho. It's really obvious, and therefore perplexing that some fans think he's being "vilified" for wanting to save Starlight. But I suppose like all art, everyone can come away with a different interpretation. So here's mine...
Hughie's anger is not like the rest of the Boys'. The rest have suffered deep, painful and very personal tragedies. Having found new love, Hughie has all but forgotten Robin by now, and his vendetta is based on his ego - a pretty fragile one honestly in S3. He feels upset because he feels ashamed that he didn't realise Neuman was a supe and had worked for her for a year, emasculated when he sees Starlight hanging out with Supersonic and later when Starlight saves him from Homelander, and envious of Butcher's newfound powers despite Butcher's warning.
If he was really "logical" and trying to do the right thing, he would have heard Butcher's warning for what it was. If he were secure in his masculinity, he would have known that Starlight is and has always been (physically) stronger, and focus on what he can value add to the team and to his relationship - creativity and cunning in his planning (like in S1), a skill The Boys actually do need. And being the voice of conscience - which Butcher, the Boys and Starlight (in S2) did benefit so much from.
Instead, in S3, like a man-child he goes ahead to just go along with his unprocessed emotions, putting people around him in danger (like Starlight) and still expecting praise from The Boys and Starlight when he constantly chooses the immature path.
He doesn't really want to save Starlight in an altruistic way - he just wants to feel better than others for once, and he wants to feel like the "hero"/"protector"/"the man" in their relationship. That's toxic masculinity - his identity as a male was threatened and therefore he moves to unthreaten it.
(Compare this to MM - who, being secure in his masculinity, is very happy to build a dollhouse for his kid, apologise sincerely to his kid when he flared up - a trauma response really - and even though he tries to court his ex wife back, he respects her decision to be with someone else. MM is awesome! And it's his personality that shines, not his muscles.)
If Hughie truly cared about saving Starlight, he would have factored in both his and her strengths (her being more physically powerful and him being a fast thinker) , and both his and her limitations (including Starlight being in constant danger around Homelander, and his own limits as a human and not a supe) in his plans. In Hughie's own words, he's just "sick of losing" (said especially after he felt embarrassed and ashamed about working for Neuman) - and that's what we see drives him to take the Temp V, and to do really illogical / unhelpful things in S3.
I miss S1 Hughie who genuinely thought about others when he was trying to help, and made decisions based on intel and empathy, rather than insecurity. But that said, I think part of Hughie's journey as a character is also the corruption of his initially innocent and warm character. I really quite liked S1 Hughie but S3 he was really quite crap as a person.
So... I do appreciate how in S3 the writers did try to show a bit of how "nice guys" can really not be genuinely nice people because of their lack of insight about their insecurities, and how they would try to wrangle some form of control when they have an ounce of power (having felt powerless alot before that). Hughie, and Monique's new fella. (Also, lording over his fellow Boys once he was part of Neuman's team was kinda ugh as well - that desire for control was lurking already.)
I know the writing in S4 got worse and I've been seeing disses about S5 online... Sigh. This used to be a much more nuanced show (underneath all the flashy gore and crudeness). Let's see how things go.
annaxmalina
baratheonpilled
pixelskylines
dededos
blakekathryn
stormborns
