The first episode of Gen V brought us back to the world of The Boys, albeit with a new set of characters with superpowers who were studying at the revered but controversial Godolkin University of Crime Fighting. We were introduced to Marie (blood powers), Emma (she can shrink), Cate (she can manipulate emotions), Jordan (she can change between genders and exhibit two different sets of superpowers), Andre (he can manipulate anything that’s metal), and Luke, aka Golden Boy (fire powers). Marie wasn’t interested in mingling with the rest of the popular kids, but she was invited to a party after she stopped a violent student from escaping the premises, which inadvertently revealed the jail situated underneath the college. The party started off right but went sideways. Marie managed to save a woman who was hurt by Andre. However, she was forced to take the fall by Professor Richard Brinkerhoff and save the popular kids. When she went to confront Richard in his office, she witnessed Golden Boy incinerating him. That led to a full-on battle between Luke and Jordan, and it ended with Luke exploding into pieces in front of the whole school.
Spoiler Alert
Marie Moreau Gets A Taste of Popularity
The second episode of Gen V opens with Andre, Cate, Marie, and pretty much the rest of the school witnessing the cleaning crew collect what remains of Golden Boy. Ashley, who seems to be running point on the situation for Vought, has a conversation with Indira, Polarity (Andre’s dad), and the rest of the faculty at Godolkin to decide how they are going to spin the story. They don’t take a second to paint Golden Boy as a drug addict who died by suicide. They agree on portraying Richard as a martyr. But when it comes to letting Jordan take the #1 spot on the popularity meter, Ashley says something bigoted about their pronouns, because that’s essentially how capitalists think. With that out of the way, they paint Andre and Marie as the real heroes and bump up their positions. Ashley mentions The Woods to Indira, which is a reference to the underground jail in Godolkin, and it seems like an illegal facility. Marie returns to her room and is welcomed by Emma. Emma knows what Marie has been through, but Marie doesn’t know what Emma has been through (yes, I’m talking about the phallic ride). So, she lashes out at Emma and tells her to give her some space. The following day, everyone learns about the new rankings, and Jordan is understandably upset by them. At the memorial for Brinkerhoff, Cate tries to empathize with Jordan, but they cold-shoulder her. Cate notices Rufus (who is wearing a version of the M.A.G.A. cap) and a group of boys (one of whom is a Homelander fan) chuckling around the spot, and she convinces Rufus to beat himself with a baseball bat for the rest of the day. A slight aberration in Cate’s eye indicates that every time she uses her powers to manipulate someone’s mind, it takes a toll on her body.
One of the students informs Marie that she has to start acting like a superheroic influencer now because she is in the spotlight, while Andre’s father mentors him regarding how he must handle the spotlight. Andre does try to get Polarity to talk about Golden Boy, but Polarity goes into a speech about grabbing the opportunity that has been presented to him due to Golden Boy’s death. Amazing parenting. Vought’s correspondent at Godolkin, Courtney, informs Marie that she and Andre have to sit down for an interview with Hailey, one of the most famous journalists in the business. Marie wonders what she will talk about during the interview, and Courtney simply hands her a script that she has to stick to. Marie and Andre take part in a photoshoot, which feels bizarre because this is the university’s reaction to a suicide and a murder. Anyway, Marie tells Andre that right before dying, Luke mentioned The Woods, and Andre tells Marie that Luke whispered in his ear that Polarity had something in his possession. Andre merely hints that he wants Marie to team up with him and investigate this situation. Marie reminds him that she doesn’t owe anyone anything, and she wants to stay away from every single one of the popular kids because she was almost expelled for the mess they made. Adam Bourke (the director of Dawn of the Seven) makes a cameo, and he seems to be suffering through an acting masterclass. Emma is present there, and when Bourke asks the students to pair up with someone and prepare a scene for the next session, she tries to get a hold of Liam. Emma is shocked to know that Liam has already moved on. Justine doesn’t let her down, as she not only agrees to pair up with Emma, but she also makes a fool out of Liam.
Andre Discovers Golden Boy’s Phone
Since Brink is dead, Indira takes his position and starts teaching the students how to fight crime. Marie learns that she has gotten permission to attend that class because she is somewhat of a star now. Jordan harasses Marie for taking all the credit for the fight with Golden Boy, even though she knows that Jordan did all the heavy lifting. Marie reminds them that she doesn’t owe Jordan anything because they rejected her application, and she almost paid for Jordan and the rest of the group’s drug-induced shenanigans at a party. Still, Jordan asks Marie to talk about them when she goes on air during the interview with Hailey. Marie says that she has to stick to the script, but Jordan reminds her that if her words get recorded, they’ll be aired in some shape or form, and that’ll help Jordan climb through the ranks. We get brief clippings of Victoria Neuman campaigning for the position of Vice President, Homelander being tried for murder, and Luke’s parents barricading themselves in their own home to avoid the press because Cate is surfing the internet for news. She wonders what forced Luke to do what he did, and Andre expresses his confusion about the incident too. But they decide to echo Luke’s value system and get to the bottom of whatever is happening in Godolkin. Justine gets Emma to admit that she needs to purge (self-induced puking) to get small and eat food to get big. Marie sits for a meeting with Indira and reluctantly reveals that she wants to become a superhero so that she can become famous enough to be noticed by Annabeth, her sister, thereby allowing Marie to get in touch with her because she doesn’t know about her whereabouts. Indira tells her that, if she ever wants to open up about her feelings again, her doors are always open for Marie.
Indira takes a trip to The Woods, where the kid who almost ran away is being held captive and experimented upon by Doctor Edison Cardosa. It turns out that Sam is apparently Luke’s brother. He is very much alive. So, the question arises: Why did Luke think that his brother was dead? Did he find out something about The Woods and Sam? But why would that prompt Luke to kill himself? When Andre and Cate reach Luke’s hostel room to get some answers, they see that it has been completely cleaned and bleached so that there’s no trace or evidence of any kind. Emma learns that Justine has publicly spoken about her powers, which are activated when she pukes or eats, and she has painted it as an eating disorder.
Since Emma didn’t want that kind of attention, she confronts Justine, who is exploiting another student by making her record something embarrassing. Andre figures out that Luke was pointing towards Polarity’s statue when he said that his dad had it. When Andre makes a hole in Polarity’s statue, he finds Luke’s phone in there, which has a recording of him saying that Sam is in The Woods and the school has been experimenting on both of them. He wants Andre to save Sam and expose this nefarious circle that is tearing apart the students from the inside. Andre remembers that he has to go for the interview, but he wants to stay with Cate and continue the investigation. Cate motivates him to focus on his career as a superhero and then worry about Luke and the Woods later. Andre knows how Polarity is going to react if he doesn’t show up for the interview. So, he hugs Cate and prepares to attend the interactive session.
Did Andre discover the route to Godolkin’s secret jail?
Marie goes through the script that she has to reiterate in front of Hailey, but she mentally prepares herself to go off-script and give Jordan the credit that they deserve. Polarity keeps buying time for Andre because he hasn’t arrived yet. Where is Andre? Well, he has taken a slight detour to Brink’s office and is going through his laptop. He finds credible proof regarding the fact that the kid who tried to run away is indeed Sam and that he’s being held in a facility underneath Godolkin called The Woods. He takes a picture of it on his phone, and that’s exactly when the security forces from The Woods barge in to obtain any incriminating evidence.
Andrew almost gets caught, but he manages to stay hidden until the coast is clear. Courtney realizes that Andre won’t be able to make it to the interview. So, she turns it into a two-way affair between Marie and Hailey. Even before the interaction starts, things go sideways as Hailey ambushes Marie with the information that the news channel did get in touch with Annabeth, and she refuses to associate herself with Marie. She does it so that she can get a visceral reaction from Marie. However, Marie handles herself like a pro, and she even sticks to the script. That means she doesn’t give Jordan the credit that they deserve. When Marie returns to her room, though, she crumbles because she isn’t an opportunist in the strictest sense. She is a good person in a bad situation. She goes to Indira for support, and based on Indira’s reaction; I think it’s an indication that Indira knows she has Marie in her web.
During Gen V episode 2’s ending, we see Andre following the guards from The Woods, accessing a secret door to get back into the facility. When a cleaner discovers them, they simply kill him. Andre is discovered by two guards. But Cate comes to his rescue as she manipulates them into pleasuring each other in a pretty sadistic way. However, the act of manipulating a lot of people’s minds in a span of 12 hours causes Cate to suffer from convulsions. Andre is left with no other option but to hold onto her and wait for the fits to subside. Andre knows how to get into The Woods. He knows that Sam is in there. Based on his love for Luke, we can assume that he’ll try to conduct a rescue operation. However, he has to do it without getting detected, and it’s quite difficult to go through a secret door in the walls, which can be opened with an electronic device, in an inconspicuous way. So, he has to come up with a plan before the people who are experimenting on Sam permanently damage him.
