I can't lie, after absolutely loving the first seven episodes of season 3 and then watching them absolutely shit the bed in the season finale, it was kind of hard to muster up any excitement for this season. But I will admit I still want to see things through even though I figure they'd be treading on some familiar ground ("oh no Homelander is just about to boil over, will he finally snap").
I finished the first three episodes released this week and they were... okay.
There's a sincere lack of shock value at this point when every previous season opened with some ridiculous death sequence or theme for the season establishing moment, and season 4 is really lacking in that really good hook. I don't need Frenchie and Kimiko running the same plotlines they've been doing for years now. Homelander making faces at a camera to show he's upset for the hundredth time. MM and Butcher at each other's throats but ultimately working together in key moments.
It feels like in many ways the show is in a horrible rut with it's main characters, save one fun little caveat: Butcher does seem to be experiencing real growth. Obviously getting faced with a fatal diagnosis, but you can see throughout the first 3 episodes how close he comes to falling into old habits (exploiting people around him so he can reach his end goal) and yet pulling back. The moments with Ryan are especially great because it now no longer feels like an obligation to Becca but a genuine desire to connect to the kid. That scene of him throwing out the cookies was such a nice touch when we think about where he was season 1.
Hughie and Starlight feel like they have less chemistry than ever. It's sad to see how well they played off each other in the first two seasons, then after going through their tensions in season 3, they just feel like they're obligated to be together. They lack the genuine interactions of the first season, then the growth of the second season. Instead its just "I guess they're back together." And Starlight not wanting to be the face of the charity she created is such a nothing plot point when they force her into it anyway a few episodes in.
Homelander is pretty much whatever for me at this point, but I will say I love how badly he's struggling with his relationship with Ryan. I feared the small smirk by Ryan at the end of season 3 would have him fully onboard with being Homelander Jr. So him getting worse and worse at being Ryan's father and him struggling to understand where he's going wrong is a nice touch. Especially when he recognizes right away how the people around him are doing nothing to help him with such. He knows he needs help, yet ego will always cause him to fail to actually heed advice from those who understand the world better than he does.
Sage is great because I love a machiavellian scheme where the goal is not readily apparently, and instead you kind of pick and sparse things to find a greater motivation. I also love how she lobotomizes herself so she can watch trash TV and eat junk food, and I'm curious how much that will come into play in future episodes.
Firecracker being essentially Stormfront but not a nazi is kind of boring, and her subplot with Starlight feels so forced. I guess maybe people complained too much about Starlight being treated like the only person who's sane/always right and so they gave her a... kind of out of character flaw (being incredibly hurtful towards other pageant girls when she was younger?).
New Black Noir is the highlight of the season so far and I laugh every time someone tells him to shut the fuck up.
The Deep is always the best portrayed character in the show. Chace Crawford just nailed this character down although its interesting to note that Sage was the first person to push him towards not being a pathetic loser and instead being capable of being as terrifying as any other awful superhero.
A-Train has always been my favorite character because of how much he struggles with how being a superhero pulls at him in all directions. I don't think he's worthy of getting a full fledged redemption arc, but he's the only member of the Seven with any sort of humanity. His general selfishness always wins out, but you see those brief glimpses of self-reflection where you realize he probably is a product of the influences around him more than a genuinely evil person. The sad part has always been he seems to fail in those critical moments and falls back into what matters most to him: the superhero life (and the wealth and fame that comes with it). I'm really hoping they let him stick the landing and not fall back to yet another "A-Train betrays the heroes at a critical moment" .... moment.
I could go into more but really the first three episodes are a lot of more of the same and after having a real chance to move into a new status quo last season, I find myself pretty bored with this so far.
TheRock ~ I had a name, my father called me Blues.