Amazing Spider-Man (2022) #1-5

Amazing Spider-Man (2022) #1-5

Issue #1: Six Months Later
The series begins with Peter Parker at his lowest point. It’s been six months since a mysterious, cataclysmic event caused Peter to alienate his friends, family, and colleagues. Spider-Man is operating solo, living on the edge, and grappling with his fractured relationships, particularly with Mary Jane, who now appears to have moved on. Meanwhile, the criminal underworld is in chaos as Tombstone, a long-time foe, takes advantage of the power vacuum left by Wilson Fisk’s departure from New York. Tombstone’s ambitions set him on a collision course with Spider-Man, sparking a dangerous new conflict.

Issue #2: Tombstone’s Rise
As Spider-Man investigates Tombstone’s latest operations, he uncovers a plot to consolidate power by weaponizing chaos within the city. Tombstone is using his gang to incite turf wars, destabilizing rival factions. Peter, struggling with his guilt and isolation, takes on the case with a renewed sense of purpose, despite warnings from those still in his orbit. A tense showdown between Spider-Man and Tombstone ends in a trap, with Peter captured and left at the mercy of his increasingly ruthless adversary.

Issue #3: A Web of Deception
Peter finds himself at the mercy of Tombstone, who reveals his plans to turn the city’s perception of Spider-Man against him. Tombstone stages a violent attack using imposters to frame Spider-Man as a dangerous vigilante, further straining Peter’s already fragile reputation. Meanwhile, Mary Jane’s mysterious new life comes into sharper focus, and her involvement with an enigmatic figure raises questions about what really happened six months ago. Peter escapes Tombstone’s clutches but is left shaken by how personal and calculated his enemy’s moves have become.

Issue #4: Fighting Back
Determined to clear his name and stop Tombstone’s scheme, Spider-Man launches a counteroffensive. Using his resourcefulness and knowledge of the criminal underworld, Peter turns the tables on Tombstone, dismantling parts of his operation while narrowly avoiding further traps. The issue highlights Peter’s resilience and intellect, even as he grapples with the loneliness of his current situation. In a parallel subplot, Norman Osborn reappears, offering Peter unexpected help, hinting at a potential uneasy alliance. The seeds of larger conspiracies are planted, adding tension to the narrative.

Issue #5: The Cost of War
The arc concludes with a brutal final confrontation between Spider-Man and Tombstone. Peter, pushed to his limits, uses his understanding of Tombstone’s psychology to exploit his weaknesses and end the gang war. However, the victory is bittersweet: while Spider-Man thwarts Tombstone’s immediate plans, the villain walks away unscathed, confident that his manipulation of the system will keep him untouchable. The issue ends with Peter reflecting on the growing challenges of balancing his responsibilities as Spider-Man with the personal cost of his choices. Meanwhile, a cryptic tease involving Mary Jane and Norman Osborn sets the stage for future conflicts.

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Thematic Exploration
This opening arc dives deep into the cost of Peter’s double life, emphasizing themes of alienation, responsibility, and resilience. Tombstone’s calculated and psychological approach as a villain challenges Spider-Man in new ways, forcing Peter to rely on his intellect and resourcefulness rather than brute strength. The lingering mystery of the six-month gap adds a layer of intrigue, promising future revelations that will reshape Peter’s relationships and sense of identity. With its mix of personal stakes, intense action, and a grounded exploration of Peter’s struggles, Amazing Spider-Man (2022) begins its run with a compelling, character-driven arc.

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Wolverine (2020) #20-25

 

Wolverine (2020) #20-25

Issue #20: Deadpool’s Disruption
The story kicks off with Wolverine on a mission to investigate a black market trafficking in Krakoan technology. However, his operation is derailed when Deadpool arrives uninvited, claiming to have vital intel on the smugglers. Despite Wolverine's reluctance, Deadpool tags along, bringing chaos and comedic mayhem. The investigation leads to Madripoor, where the duo uncovers a shadowy organization selling Krakoan technology to the highest bidder. Their discovery sets the stage for a larger confrontation, as Wolverine struggles to rein in Deadpool’s unpredictable antics.

Issue #21: The Auction Block
Wolverine and Deadpool infiltrate a high-stakes auction in Madripoor, where various criminal factions bid on stolen Krakoan technology. As the auction escalates, the two heroes clash over their differing approaches: Wolverine prefers stealth and precision, while Deadpool’s reckless humor and explosive tactics draw unwanted attention. The auction culminates in a violent showdown when a mysterious new villain, The Merchant, reveals their plans to use the stolen technology for a global black market empire. The issue ends with Wolverine and Deadpool barely escaping, but not without drawing the ire of Madripoor’s criminal elite.

Issue #22: An Unlikely Partnership
With tensions running high, Wolverine reluctantly agrees to continue working with Deadpool after realizing the Merc with a Mouth’s unconventional methods have uncovered leads he would have missed. The pair follows a trail that takes them to a hidden Madripoor lab, where they confront The Merchant’s hired muscle—enhanced mercenaries equipped with weaponized Krakoan tech. During the battle, Wolverine begins to suspect there’s more to The Merchant’s operation than just profit, hinting at a deeper conspiracy targeting Krakoa itself.

Issue #23: The Merchant’s Gambit
The Merchant escalates their campaign by launching a public attack on a Krakoan outpost, framing Wolverine and Deadpool for the destruction. This forces the two to go underground, dodging both Krakoan and Madripoor authorities while trying to clear their names. As Wolverine digs deeper into The Merchant’s operation, he discovers a disturbing connection to an anti-mutant extremist group funding the black market. Deadpool, despite his comedic persona, reveals unexpected depth by using his mercenary contacts to gather intel, proving himself a surprisingly valuable ally.

Issue #24: The Cost of Loyalty
Wolverine and Deadpool track The Merchant to a fortified facility where the stolen technology is being mass-produced. The infiltration mission tests their uneasy partnership, as Wolverine’s no-nonsense approach clashes with Deadpool’s chaotic but effective methods. The battle against The Merchant’s forces pushes Wolverine to his limits, and he begins to question whether Krakoa’s open borders and shared technology policies have made them too vulnerable to exploitation. The issue ends with a climactic encounter between Wolverine and The Merchant, where the villain reveals a personal vendetta against Krakoa tied to its political rise.

Issue #25: A Bloody Resolution
The arc concludes with an explosive showdown at The Merchant’s facility. Wolverine and Deadpool, finally working in sync, dismantle the operation and recover the stolen technology. However, The Merchant escapes, vowing revenge and leaving behind cryptic hints about larger threats to Krakoa. The aftermath sees Wolverine reflecting on his uneasy alliance with Deadpool and the moral compromises required to protect Krakoa. Deadpool, in a rare moment of sincerity, acknowledges his respect for Wolverine, hinting that their partnership might not be as temporary as Wolverine would like.

Thematic Exploration
This arc blends high-octane action with humor and moral complexity, exploring the consequences of Krakoa’s policies in a world where mutant technology is both a blessing and a target. Wolverine’s gruff seriousness contrasts sharply with Deadpool’s irreverence, creating a dynamic partnership that highlights their differences while proving their effectiveness together. Themes of trust, loyalty, and the price of progress are woven throughout, making this a story that is as introspective as it is entertaining. Wolverine (2020) continues to showcase the character’s depth and adaptability in a rapidly changing world.

Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty (2022) #1-6

Issue #1: The Shield’s True Purpose

Steve Rogers returns to the streets of Brooklyn, seeking a quieter life after the chaos of recent events. However, his attempt to reconnect with his roots is interrupted when he discovers a mysterious conspiracy tied to his iconic shield. Steve learns that the star at the center of his shield has been a symbol of control used by a secret organization called the Outer Circle. This revelation shakes his understanding of his role as Captain America and sets him on a mission to uncover the truth behind the Outer Circle’s shadowy influence on the world.

Issue #2: A New Mission
Steve begins his investigation by reaching out to allies like Bucky Barnes (The Winter Soldier) and Sharon Carter, who help him trace the origins of the Outer Circle. The search takes him to unexpected places, including hidden archives and dangerous confrontations with agents of the mysterious group. Along the way, Steve encounters a new enemy, The Revolution, a deadly operative who challenges Steve’s ideals and forces him to question his place in a world increasingly shaped by manipulation and deceit.

Issue #3: The Outer Circle Revealed
Steve learns more about the structure of the Outer Circle, a cabal of five powerful figures—The Revolution, The Machine, The Power, The Love, and The Money—who have been pulling the strings behind global events for decades. As Steve uncovers their influence on wars, politics, and economies, he realizes the depth of their control and their connection to the creation of the shield itself. This revelation strengthens his resolve to dismantle the Outer Circle but also exposes him to greater danger as the group begins to view him as a direct threat.

Issue #4: Allies and Adversaries
Steve’s quest for answers leads him to team up with unlikely allies, including a group of ordinary citizens determined to resist the Outer Circle’s control. Meanwhile, his growing conflict with The Revolution intensifies, culminating in a brutal fight that leaves Steve questioning whether he can win this battle without compromising his principles. Bucky, acting on his own leads, uncovers a shocking betrayal within their ranks, hinting at a deeper layer to the conspiracy.

Issue #5: The Machine’s Gambit
As Steve and his allies close in on the Outer Circle, The Machine, a mastermind of strategy and manipulation, begins to turn the tide against them. Using advanced technology and psychological warfare, The Machine creates chaos that threatens to undermine Steve’s credibility and the trust he’s built with his allies. The issue’s climax sees Steve face a personal crisis as he’s forced to choose between pursuing the Outer Circle or saving innocent lives caught in their web.

Issue #6: A Fractured Trust
The arc reaches its climax as Steve confronts the Outer Circle in a daring raid on one of their strongholds. However, the encounter reveals the group’s ultimate plan: to use Captain America’s legacy as a tool for their agenda. Bucky’s role in the conspiracy comes to light, exposing a rift between the two friends that could change their relationship forever. The issue ends on a cliffhanger, with Steve vowing to dismantle the Outer Circle piece by piece, even as the cost to his personal relationships and ideals continues to mount.

Thematic Exploration
This arc examines the intersection of legacy, freedom, and control, challenging Steve’s understanding of the ideals he has long stood for. The revelation of the Outer Circle’s influence forces him to confront the ways symbols can be co-opted for nefarious purposes, adding a layer of complexity to his role as Captain America. Themes of trust, loyalty, and resistance against systemic oppression are woven throughout, creating a story that feels both timely and deeply personal. With its mix of action, intrigue, and emotional stakes, Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty reinvigorates the Sentinel of Liberty’s mission for a new generation.

I liked where they're going here. 7/10.

Miles Morales: Spider-Man (2018) #37-42

 

Miles Morales: Spider-Man (2018) #37-42

Issue #37: The Multiversal Chaos Begins
The story kicks off with Miles Morales continuing to grapple with his dual responsibilities as a student and Spider-Man. However, his world is turned upside down when he encounters an alternate version of himself, known as Shift—a hulking, monstrous clone who has escaped from a secret laboratory. Shift warns Miles of a looming multiversal threat tied to the Beyond Corporation. The two are forced to team up when agents from Beyond attack, forcing Miles to confront his growing unease about the multiverse’s fragility and the consequences of his previous dimension-hopping adventures.

Issue #38: Enter the Spider-Verse (Again)
After receiving a cryptic warning from Shift, Miles seeks help from Ganke and Starling to investigate the Beyond Corporation’s growing interest in alternate realities. Their search leads them to a hidden portal, which transports Miles and Shift into a fractured dimension. There, Miles encounters alternate versions of himself, including a war-hardened, older Spider-Man and a teenage, unpowered Miles trying to survive a dystopian reality. Each version of Miles reveals the devastating effects of tampering with the multiverse, fueling his determination to stop Beyond’s interference.

Issue #39: The Clone’s Redemption
Shift’s backstory takes center stage as Miles learns more about his clone’s tragic origins and the experiments that created him. Despite his monstrous appearance, Shift proves to be an invaluable ally, displaying loyalty and courage that challenge Miles’s initial misgivings about him. Meanwhile, Beyond’s operatives, led by the ruthless Quantum, continue their pursuit of Miles and Shift, escalating the danger. The issue’s emotional core centers on Miles’s evolving relationship with Shift, as they bond over shared trauma and their desire to forge their own destinies.

Issue #40: The Beyond Conspiracy
Miles uncovers evidence of Beyond’s plan to harness the multiverse for profit and control, putting countless realities at risk. To stop them, Miles and Shift infiltrate a Beyond facility, only to encounter a formidable foe: Selim, another Miles clone who has fully embraced his role as an enforcer for Beyond. The clash between Miles and Selim is both physical and ideological, as Selim accuses Miles of failing to live up to his potential. The confrontation ends with Miles barely escaping, but the experience leaves him questioning his purpose and place in the multiverse.

Issue #41: Into the Heart of the Multiverse
Determined to stop Beyond once and for all, Miles and Shift rally their alternate-dimension allies for a final assault on the corporation’s main facility. The mission pushes Miles to his limits as he faces Selim again, this time in a high-stakes battle that threatens to collapse the multiverse itself. Shift’s heroism shines as he sacrifices himself to protect Miles and the integrity of the multiverse. The emotional loss cements Shift as a true hero in Miles’s eyes, and the victory against Beyond feels bittersweet.

Issue #42: Aftermath and Reflection
The arc concludes with Miles returning to his home dimension, forever changed by his experiences. He grapples with the loss of Shift and the heavy burden of protecting not just his city but the multiverse itself. Starling and Ganke help him process his grief, reminding him of the importance of his humanity and connections to others. Meanwhile, Beyond’s remnants hint at future threats, leaving Miles on edge about what’s to come. The issue ends with a quiet but hopeful moment as Miles rededicates himself to being Spider-Man, inspired by Shift’s memory to keep fighting for what’s right.

Thematic Exploration
This arc explores themes of identity, responsibility, and the consequences of power. Miles’s interactions with his clones and alternate selves highlight the complexity of his role as Spider-Man, challenging him to embrace his individuality while recognizing the broader impact of his actions. The arc also emphasizes the importance of found family and the sacrifices required to protect those you love. With its blend of action, emotional depth, and multiversal intrigue, Miles Morales: Spider-Man continues to showcase the unique strengths of its titular hero.

X-Force (2019) #27-33

 

X-Force (2019) #27-33

Issue #27: The Beast’s Ambitions
The story opens with the mutant nation of Krakoa in turmoil as Beast continues his secretive operations within X-Force, pushing the team's mandate into morally ambiguous territory. Wolverine and Domino express growing concerns about Beast's leadership, suspecting that his increasingly authoritarian methods could jeopardize the safety of Krakoa. Meanwhile, Black Tom Cassidy struggles with his connection to the island's organic systems, sensing an ominous disruption. When an unauthorized breach occurs, X-Force uncovers evidence of a mysterious biotech threat targeting Krakoa’s core infrastructure.

Issue #28: The Bioweapon Unleashed
X-Force investigates the source of the breach, discovering a rogue faction experimenting with mutant DNA to create hybrid bioweapons. Led by the enigmatic Chronicler, the faction has developed tools capable of undermining Krakoa’s defenses. The team splits up to contain the threat, with Sage and Forge working on countermeasures while Wolverine, Domino, and Quentin Quire confront the enemy in the field. During the mission, Quentin’s psychic abilities begin to falter, hinting at deeper interference with Krakoa’s telepathic network.

Issue #29: Quentin’s Fall
Quentin Quire’s powers spiral out of control as the Chronicler’s influence spreads, exploiting his insecurities and fears. The issue focuses on Quentin’s psychological struggle as he begins to doubt his place on the team and in the mutant community. Meanwhile, Beast orchestrates a risky operation to isolate the Chronicler, further alienating his teammates with his cold, calculated decisions. Wolverine and Domino grow increasingly suspicious of Beast’s motives, suspecting he may be withholding critical information about the Chronicler’s true goals.

Issue #30: Secrets and Betrayals
X-Force uncovers the Chronicler’s ultimate plan: to destabilize Krakoa from within by manipulating its most vulnerable members. As tensions rise, the team discovers that Beast has been keeping secrets about the Chronicler's origins, including ties to Krakoa’s own resurrection protocols. Sage confronts Beast, accusing him of endangering the mutant nation by prioritizing his personal agenda over transparency. The issue ends with a dramatic revelation as Beast’s hidden experiments come to light, leaving the team fractured and uncertain of their leadership.

Issue #31: The Island Strikes Back
The Chronicler’s bioweapons launch a coordinated attack on Krakoa, infecting its organic systems and threatening the island’s survival. Black Tom Cassidy takes center stage, using his connection to the island to repel the attack and rally the mutants to defend their home. X-Force works together despite their differences, with Quentin rediscovering his confidence in a pivotal moment that turns the tide of battle. However, the victory is bittersweet as the team realizes the Chronicler’s attack was only a test for something far more dangerous.

Issue #32: Beast’s Reckoning
The fallout from Beast’s actions comes to a head as the team confronts him about his unchecked authority and unethical decisions. Wolverine demands accountability, while Sage argues for reform within X-Force. Beast, however, remains unrepentant, insisting his actions were necessary to protect Krakoa. This internal conflict mirrors the external threat, as the Chronicler prepares to launch a final assault on the island. The issue ends with Beast’s fate hanging in the balance as Krakoa’s leaders debate whether to dismantle X-Force entirely.

Issue #33: A New Path Forward
The Chronicler’s ultimate attack forces the mutants of Krakoa to unite, with X-Force leading the charge in a desperate bid to save their home. The team’s unity and determination prove decisive, as they thwart the Chronicler’s plans and neutralize the bioweapon threat. In the aftermath, X-Force reflects on the damage done by Beast’s leadership and vows to rebuild the team with a renewed focus on accountability and trust. The issue closes on a hopeful yet uncertain note, with Krakoa stronger but wary of the fragile balance between its ideals and the darker realities of survival.

Thematic Exploration
These issues delve deeply into the moral complexities of leadership, loyalty, and the ethical dilemmas faced by Krakoa’s secret defenders. Beast’s descent into Machiavellian tactics forces the team—and the reader—to question the cost of security in an unstable world. At the same time, the Chronicler’s manipulations highlight the vulnerabilities inherent in Krakoa’s utopian vision. Through its blend of action, intrigue, and psychological depth, X-Force (2019) continues to challenge what it means to be a hero in a world of shifting alliances and uncertain futures.

Venom (2021) #6-10

Venom (2021) #6-10

Issue #6: A New Era Begins

The story picks up with Dylan Brock adjusting to his new role as Venom after the apparent death of his father, Eddie Brock, who has ascended to become the King in Black. Dylan struggles with the symbiote's immense power and the weight of his father's legacy. Meanwhile, Eddie, lost in the timestream of the hive mind, begins uncovering a sinister plot orchestrated by a shadowy figure named Meridius. Eddie learns that Meridius has been manipulating the symbiote timeline for centuries, setting up a confrontation that threatens all of existence. Back on Earth, Dylan's powers attract unwanted attention, leading to encounters with both allies and adversaries.

Issue #7: The Seeds of a War
Dylan, now fully bonded with Venom, faces off against a mysterious villain named Bedlam, a hulking symbiote with unrelenting ferocity. The battle forces Dylan to embrace more of Venom's brutal instincts, a decision that haunts him as he fears losing his humanity. Meanwhile, Eddie continues to explore the hive mind's timestream and discovers a strange nexus of future symbiote events connected to Meridius's plans. He realizes that Meridius intends to dominate all symbiotes across time by controlling their evolution. Eddie begins to piece together the puzzle of his role in the larger battle to come.

Issue #8: The Hive’s Prisoner
Eddie's journey through the symbiote hive mind takes a darker turn as he is captured by Meridius. While imprisoned, Eddie encounters other symbiote warriors who have fallen to Meridius's machinations, each revealing fragments of their shared fate. Back on Earth, Dylan grows closer to Sleeper, another symbiote ally, who becomes a mentor of sorts in teaching him how to control Venom. The issue builds tension as Dylan's bond with Venom strengthens, paralleling Eddie's struggle to resist Meridius's attempts to manipulate him.

Issue #9: The Fall of Time
Eddie manages a daring escape from Meridius's clutches, gaining critical insight into the villain's true nature and goals. Meridius is revealed to be a future version of Eddie, corrupted by the immense power of the King in Black and determined to reshape time to ensure his dominance. This revelation shakes Eddie to his core as he realizes the path he might take if he succumbs to despair and ambition. Meanwhile, Dylan faces a moral dilemma when he must decide whether to trust Alchemax, a shady organization offering him guidance, or strike out on his own as Venom. The clash of ideologies sets the stage for an inevitable collision between father and son.

Issue #10: The Battle Within
In a climactic showdown, Eddie confronts Meridius within the hive mind, where their battle transcends time and space. Eddie fights not only to save himself but to ensure Dylan's future and protect the symbiote lineage from Meridius's corruption. On Earth, Dylan faces Bedlam again, this time fully embracing his role as Venom. With Sleeper's help, Dylan uncovers more about the connection between Meridius, Bedlam, and the broader symbiote war. The issue ends with Eddie narrowly escaping back to the present, carrying critical knowledge that could save Dylan and prevent Meridius's rise, but the cost is his growing isolation from humanity.

Thematic Exploration
These issues delve into the complex relationships between fathers and sons, legacy, and the burden of immense power. Dylan's struggle to reconcile his humanity with Venom's primal nature mirrors Eddie's internal battle against his potential future as Meridius. The narrative raises questions about fate, free will, and the lengths one would go to protect their loved ones. With its mix of high-stakes action and emotional depth, Venom (2021) continues to redefine the mythos of the symbiote saga.

Amazing arc. Great writing. I give this one a 9/10.

Strange (2021) #1-5

Strange (2021) #1-5

 Marvel Comics' Strange (2021) by Jed MacKay begins with Clea Strange stepping into the role of Sorcerer Supreme following the death of her husband, Stephen Strange. The first issue sets the stage with Clea navigating her grief while asserting herself as a powerful and determined protector of Earth. She faces challenges from Wong, who questions her motivations, and hostile threats from magical enemies seeking to exploit Stephen’s absence. Clea’s resolve is clear: she intends not only to protect the world but also to find a way to resurrect her husband, no matter the cost.

In the second issue, Clea takes on the Blasphemy Cartel, a mysterious organization exploiting dark magic for nefarious purposes. The Cartel's soldiers wield undead-like powers, posing a significant threat. Clea demonstrates her otherworldly strength and her unique approach to magic, which diverges from Stephen’s methods, showcasing her lineage as the Faltine, a race of powerful magical beings. This issue also begins to unravel the secrets behind the Blasphemy Cartel and its connections to the larger Marvel Universe.

By the third issue, Clea’s investigations into Stephen’s death and the Cartel lead her to a shocking revelation: a corrupted version of the Harvestman, a grim reaper-like figure tied to Death, is stalking her every move. This confrontation escalates her quest to find Stephen's soul. Clea’s determination to resurrect her husband puts her at odds with cosmic and mystical forces, raising questions about the balance between life and death and the potential consequences of her actions.

In the fourth issue, Clea’s battle with the Harvestman intensifies, as their encounters reveal deeper truths about the fabric of magic and the forces opposing her. The issue balances intense action with Clea’s introspective moments as she reflects on her identity—not just as Stephen’s widow, but as a powerful sorceress in her own right. Clea’s sharp wit, combined with her raw power, sets her apart as she faces mounting challenges from enemies both old and new.

The fifth issue climaxes with Clea uncovering critical information about the Blasphemy Cartel’s origins and their links to a larger magical conspiracy. She also faces a heart-wrenching moral dilemma when the Harvestman’s identity is revealed to be closely tied to Stephen Strange in a twisted and unexpected way. This revelation reframes Clea’s mission and sets up a powerful emotional conflict for the series moving forward, highlighting Jed MacKay’s intricate plotting and Clea’s growth as both a hero and a person.

I give this arc a 7/10.

My take: This movie was weird as hell. And not all that great. Just saying.

Kinds of Kindness (2024)

By Alissa Wilkinson

You could endlessly pick apart “Kinds of Kindness,” but I don’t recommend it. The closest to a précis you’ll get for the film comes at the start, when the strains of the Eurythmics’ banger “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” ring out over the opening titles. The lyrics repeat the discomfiting notion that:

Some of them want to use you.
Some of them want to get used by you.
Some of them want to abuse you.
Some of them want to be abused.
Well, who am I to disagree?

“Kinds of Kindness” is a return to a certain form of form, if you will, for the director Yorgos Lanthimos, fresh off his warmer, cuddlier films “The Favourite” and “Poor Things.” His earlier movies, “Dogtooth,” “Alps,” “The Killing of a Sacred Deer” and “The Lobster” — all four written with Efthimis Filippou, who was his collaborator on “Kinds” — are less accessible, more deranged, less logical, more disturbing. Which is of course why they’re so polarizing. And so beloved.

I expect “Kinds of Kindness” to take its place among that latter group, with its vibrantly, defiantly off-putting stance and sidesplittingly sick sense of humor. It’s a triptych that at first seems slight, then gains meaning the longer you hold its three seemingly disconnected short films in juxtaposition and peer through the overlaps. All three share a cast that includes some returning Lanthimos players, like Margaret Qualley, Joe Alwyn, Willem Dafoe and Emma Stone, who won her second Oscar earlier this year for “Poor Things.” There are newcomers, too: Hong Chau, Mamoudou Athie and especially Jesse Plemons, who won the best actor prize at Cannes for his performance.

Plemons is the main character for most of the film. In the first segment, he plays a man whose every move is dictated by his boss (Dafoe), until it isn’t. In the second, Plemons is a cop whose researcher wife (Stone) goes missing on a desert island; when she returns, he’s convinced she’s not actually his wife. And in the third, Plemons and Stone play members of a strange cult (led by Dafoe and Chau) who are desperately seeking a young woman who will become its spiritual leader.

It’s all presented with the eerie air of a very dark comedy, the sort where sudden savagery can come crashing through the wall at any second. Violence and cruelty are the drivers of “Kinds of Kindness,” often presented not as the opposite of that kindness but as kindness itself. This strange world calls for delicious off-kilter performances, and the cast — particularly Stone, who’s proven her mettle in this regard, and Plemons — deliver. If you think you know what’s happening in a scene, just wait.

I mentioned the temptation to endlessly pick it apart. “Kinds of Kindness” unabashedly invites that treatment. Each of the three stories, for instance, has its own title in which a character named “R.M.F.” is mentioned; he shows up at the start of the first, “The Death of R.M.F.” (which, just to mess with us, also mostly features characters whose first and last names begin with R and F). But is this the R.M.F.? Is it the same guy in all three films? And, if so, what does that mean for the actors playing very different characters in each segment?

If tiny tidbits like this are a key to unlock some mystery, I haven’t figured it out yet after two viewings. But this is not a puzzle box movie; it’s a Lanthimos joint. That means it displays certain stylistic tics, especially a deadpan, almost robotic dialogue delivery and strangely insular, often airless settings. The tie that binds his whole filmography together is a fascination with the brutal dynamics of power that govern human relationships: parent to child, husband to wife, ruler to subject, woman to man. Lanthimos’s characters tend to speak their minds bluntly, which strips away any social niceties. It’s as if he’s trying to peel the skin and muscle off the skeleton of human society, and if it’s kind of gross, well, that’s the point.

Threaded through the three segments of “Kinds of Kindness” is a fascination with one dynamic in particular — the desire to dominate, or to be dominated, or quite possibly both. It only takes a peek into a schoolyard or a political arena to see that a lot of people want to be told what to do, and other people want to be the tellers.

That means there are many ways to read “Kinds of Kindness,” pretty much all of which will be supported by the text. Domination shows up all over contemporary life, in part because the proliferation of choices present to most of us — about what we’ll wear, what we’ll do, what we’ll eat, who we’ll be — can throw us into chaos. This accounts, in part, for the abundance of cults we’re always watching documentaries about. It can feel counterintuitive, but the scariness of boundless freedom sometimes manifests in a desire to find someone who can tell us what to do.

So the reading that wouldn’t leave me — and this may say more about me than the movie — is that “Kinds of Kindness” skewers a particular strain of “wellness culture,” or maybe the seedy underbelly of the “life coach” industrial complex. I don’t want to say too much, but in the first film, Plemons’s character loses all sense of himself and reality when he is no longer handed instructions for his daily life, a routine that’s time-stamped and microplanned, right down to his menu and whether or not he’ll have sex that night. A similar spinout happens in the third film, when Stone’s character is deemed not clean enough, in her purity-obsessed cult, to be granted the privilege of being controlled anymore. There’s a sense that deviation from regulated expectations results in madness.

You may see something else in “Kinds of Kindness.” There are many ways to read a fable, especially one as unhinged as this. You might love it. You might hate it. You might find yourself obsessed with it, or you might dismiss it as a load of hogwash. Who am I to disagree?

Civil War (2024)

From Vulture: https://www.vulture.com/article/review-civil-war-starring-kirsten-dunst-and-cailee-spaeny.html


By Bilge Ebiri

Americans sure do love to see their institutions destroyed onscreen. I remember back when it was sorta-kinda news that audiences applauded and cheered as aliens blew up the White House in Roland Emmerich’s Independence Day (1996). Since then, it’s been standard operating practice for blockbusters, particularly the disaster-y ones, to incinerate or otherwise defile a monument or an iconic government building. (We took a brief recess after 9/11 — “too soon,” etc. — but went right back to it once the cultural all-clear sounded.) Maybe because our institutions were deemed so secure and unchanging for so long, the idea that they might be ravaged by aliens, meteors, zombies, or Dylan McDermott became a naughty fantasy we were eager to see played out onscreen, over and over and over again. A variation on this kind of chaos has become all too real over the past few years, with more than 40 percent of the country in a 2022 poll saying they think a civil war is likely within the next decade. I’m not entirely convinced that the constant barrage of apocalyptic destruction on our screens is unrelated. We’ve been spectators to the fantasy for so long that we’ve come to imagine we’re participants in it.

Here’s another truth about repeatedly indulging in our fantasies: We become desensitized to them. What makes Alex Garland’s Civil War so diabolically clever is the way that it both revels in and abhors our fascination with the idea of America as a battlefield. No real monuments get done blowed up real good in this one. The spectacle this time is coyer but somehow all-consuming. What’s being incinerated in Civil War is the American idea itself.

The film is set in what appears to be the present, but in this version of the present a combination of strongman tactics and secessionist movements have fractured the United States into multiple armed, politically unspecified factions. The president (Nick Offerman) has refused to give up power and is now serving his third term; he’s dissolved the FBI, bombed American cities, and made a point of killing journalists on sight, or so we’re told. California and Texas have joined forces and become something called the Western Front. There’s also the so-called Florida Alliance. Smoke rises from the cities; the highways are filled with walls of wrecked cars; suicide bombers dive into crowds lined up for water rations; death squads, snipers, and mass graves dot the countryside.

How we got here, or what these people are fighting over, is mostly meaningless to Kirsten Dunst’s Lee and Wagner Moura’s Joel, two war journalists making the treacherous drive from New York City to Washington, D.C., for an exclusive, probably dangerous interview with the beleaguered president. Tagging along for the ride in their van are Jessie, played by Cailee Spaeny, a young, inexperienced photographer who aspires to a career like Lee’s, and Sammy (Stephen McKinley Henderson), an aging reporter who wants to go to the front lines in Charlottesville. Lee is vexed by both their presences. Jessie’s too young, and Sammy’s too old. The blood-soaked highways of the divided states of America are no place for either of them.

The journalists covering this war gather in hotel bars, get drunk, and loudly yuk it up with the jacked-up bonhomie we might recognize from movies set in foreign lands like The Killing Fields, Under Fire, and Salvador. They’re mostly numb to the horrors they’re chronicling. After the young Jessie is scarred by an early run-in with a man who threatens to shoot two unarmed, tortured, barely alive captives, Lee tells her that it’s not their job to ask questions or get involved: “We take pictures so others can ask these questions.”

One of the reasons Lee is such a legend in her field is because she has grown a protective shell around herself. She wants to get the picture. That’s it. She’s protective of Jessie but only to the extent that the girl will slow them down or upend their plans. “Would you photograph that moment, if I got shot?” Jessie asks. “What do you think?” Lee responds, as if the answer is obviously yes. But we also understand that Lee bears the psychological scars of what she’s seen. At night, alone in her bath at a hotel, she covers her eyes and revisits the horrors she’s photographed all over the world. “I thought I was sending a message home: Don’t do this,” she says of her earlier work. “But here we are.” Garland can be clunky and obvious with his dialogue, but Dunst can also make just about any line sound true. Her face tells one story, her words tell another; together, they bring this conflicted woman to life.

The film embodies Lee’s traumatized numbness to a degree. Garland knows how to build suspense, and he depicts astonishing violence with the requisite horror, but he also moves his film along in playfully provocative ways. After one ghastly sequence in which guerrillas shoot a weeping soldier, the director cuts to a montage set to De La Soul’s “Say No Go,” a song about a horrific subject that adds a peppy beat to the grisly images onscreen. (I was reminded of the way Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket cut to the Trashmen’s “Surfin’ Bird” right after a similar firefight.)

Even the film’s episodic quality — it’s really just a ghastly travelogue through the war-torn Eastern Seaboard, with our protagonists confronted at each stop with some upsetting new incident — feels like a provocation. Part of shutting yourself off to such horrors involves being able to move past them, and Civil War, like its characters, glides past each monstrous vignette with unbothered brio. This can make the film feel weirdly weightless at times. Its characters are observers and nomads. If anything, they feel less invested in what they’re witnessing as the movie goes on.

Civil War’s lack of a political point of view, as well as its refusal to really identify the positions of its warring parties, has come in for some understandable criticism. But does any sane person really want a version of this film that attempts to spell out these people’s politics or, even worse, takes sides in its fictional conflict? (That sounds like it would be the worst movie ever made.) Garland does include flashes of real news footage from a variety of recent American disturbances, but he’s clearly done more research into media depictions of other countries’ war zones.

This is maybe his best idea, and why the film’s lack of political context feels more pointed than spineless: The conceit here is to depict Americans acting the way we’ve seen people act in other international conflicts, be it Vietnam or Lebanon or the former Yugoslavia or Iraq or Gaza or … well, the list goes on. In that sense, Civil War winds up becoming a movie about itself. Beyond the plausibility of war in the United States or the tragedy of such an eventuality, it’s about the way we refuse to let images from wars like this get to us. It’s more a call for reflection, an attempt to put us in the shoes of others, than a warning — not an It Can Happen Here movie, but a Here’s What It’s Like movie. It doesn’t want to make us feel so much as it wants us to ask why we don’t feel anything.

Disclaimer (2024)

from the BBC: https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20241010-disclaimer-review

Caryn James

In Alfonso Cuarón's most dazzling films, including Children of Men, he trusts his audience to follow his lead, however winding the narrative path. That approach shines through in Disclaimer, a twisting series that takes on the eternal yet timelier-than-ever subject of fiction v reality. Cate Blanchett stars in the juicy role of Catherine Ravenscroft, a famous investigative journalist who is anonymously sent a novel in which she is, unmistakably, a scandalous character. Disclaimer doesn't have anything new to say about how our imaginations fill in the blanks of reality, but Cuarón and Blanchett make the series an engrossing, intelligent romp.


Cuarón wrote and directed all seven episodes, and slows the pace from its source, the 2015 novel by Renée Knight. The story flashes back and forth in time, gradually filling in details, at first with some deliberate confusion. We see a young couple having sex on a train travelling in Europe, but don't yet know who they are. Soon we meet a retired London teacher with the suitably fussy name Stephen Brigstocke, played by Kevin Kline with devilish glee. Stephen has just discovered a novel written by his late wife. Recognising Catherine in it, he has the book self-published under a pseudonym and mailed to her, with the disclaimer usually found in fiction altered to read: "Any resemblance to persons living or dead is not a coincidence".

Catherine is not the most challenging role Blanchett has ever played, but she is, as always, enormously convincing, ramping up Catherine's distress with each turn of the screw from Stephen as he threatens to ruin her life. He blames her for a tragedy that touched him, and, out for revenge, follows up by sending her photos even more explosive than the novel. Blanchett navigates the performance beautifully. Catherine becomes increasingly frenzied, yet remains sympathetic in her desperation, no matter how badly she might – or might not – have behaved years before.

Kline plays Stephen with great precision. He is full of grief for his wife, who died nine years ago, and wanders around wearing her worn-out pink cardigan. But he is also mean-spirited about his former students. As his scheme goes on we see him masquerade as a pathetic old man when it suits him, only to turn his back and show a sly grin that gives the game away. Stephen becomes reprehensible, yet Kline is always intriguing to watch. Kodi Smit-McPhee is touching as Catherine's aimless, unhappy son. A miscast Sacha Baron Cohen, in what looks like an unfathomably bad wig, plays her husband, Robert. His stiff performance makes Robert more of a gullible dolt than he's meant to be.
The show's middle section is a reminder that Cuarón has been a master of simmering eroticism going back to Y Tu Mamá También

The first section of the series lays out the revenge plot, and Catherine's efforts to find – and then silence – Stephen. Much of the middle section is given to flashbacks, and many of those take place in Italy. The great cinematographers Emmanuel Lubezki and Bruno Delbonnel create a gauzy, enticing look there, but they make even the rainiest London days look glowing.

Lesley Manville is heartbreaking as Stephen's wife, Nancy, who spirals downwards into a lasting depression after the death of their teenage son, Jonathan (Louis Partridge). Other flashbacks play out scenes from Nancy's novel, with Leila George as a younger Catherine. That middle section is also the sexy part of the show, a reminder that Cuarón has been a master of simmering eroticism going back to Y Tu Mamá También (2001). Here he makes words and glances steamy. But Nancy could not possibly have witnessed everything she put in the novel, and Cuarón's story becomes even more teasing.

In voiceover, we often hear Stephen explain his plans, a first-person narration that works because he seems to be addressing us, making us complicit in his scheme. But an alternating narration from Catherine's point of view in which a disembodied voice (Indira Varma) addresses her as "you", is just annoying. When a distraught Catherine looks in the mirror after reading the novel we hear, "You have seen this face before. You hoped never to see it again. Your mask has fallen." Blanchett lets us see what Catherine is feeling. There's no need to explain her thoughts.

Narrators are unreliable and memories are subjective, in fiction and reality. Why it takes some characters in Disclaimer so long to figure that out is a bit of a head-scratcher. That hardly matters, though, as Cuarón leads us through this constantly intriguing maze of possibilities.

Shogun (2024)

from New York Times:https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/26/arts/television/shogun-review.html



‘Shogun’ Review: Rediscovering Japan

The FX remake of the classic mini-series is classed up, retuned for contemporary sensibilities and still an epic soap opera.

By Mike Hale
Published Feb. 26, 2024Updated Feb. 28, 2024


The new FX mini-series “Shogun” is getting a lot of credit simply for not being “Shogun,” the 1980 NBC mini-series also adapted from James Clavell’s best-selling novel about the last days of feudal Japan. But the new show stands and falls on the same terms as the old show: its success as an epic costumed soap opera. You can correct for wooden acting, dated production values and Eurocentrism, but you can’t really correct for the basic nature of the material.

And on those terms, this “Shogun” — which premieres Tuesday on FX and Hulu with two of its 10 episodes — is perfectly successful. It is sumptuously produced, mostly well acted and not excessively sentimental or sensational. If its story seems to stop and start a bit, there are reasons for that, which become clear in a satisfying and moving ending; if there are major characters who don’t stand up to scrutiny, there are others who come alive and hold your interest. It may not live up to its hype, and it may leave you wondering why so much time (more than a decade) and money needed to be spent reanimating Clavell’s tale. But it delivers.

Created by the husband-and-wife team of Justin Marks and Rachel Kondo, the FX “Shogun” is still the story of an English navigator, John Blackthorne, who arrives in Japan at the turn of the 17th century and becomes embroiled — to a startling degree — in the political, cultural and romantic life of the country. (Blackthorne, like most of the significant characters, is loosely based on a historical figure.)

Kondo and Marks have recalibrated the narrative, however, moving Blackthorne’s point of view down in the mix and elevating the roles of many of the Japanese characters, particularly Toda Mariko, the noblewoman who becomes Blackthorne’s translator and love interest, and Yoshii Toranaga, the lord who both protects and manipulates him.

That’s a notable change from the original “Shogun,” but 44 years down the road, it’s not as if the show should get a ton of credit — it’s an easy win. In the current global TV environment, the show’s emphasis on Japanese characters and language is welcome but not exceptional. (Tremendous effort reportedly also went into vetting the details of period costume and behavior; few viewers, even in Japan, are likely to know the difference, but what’s onscreen certainly looks credible to the rest of us.)

As the plot, busy yet not all that complicated, unwinds — Toranaga and his rival Ishido jockeying for power, with Blackthorne as a reluctant pawn; Blackthorne being alternately repulsed and seduced by his new surroundings — the real difference between the old and new shows has less to do with cultural enlightenment than with a higher level of tastefulness and technique. Though there is a multicultural dimension there, too: Marks and Kondo’s show is informed by the craftsmanship of classic Japanese samurai films, which were in turn heavily influenced by the attitudes and styles of Hollywood westerns and swashbucklers. This “Shogun” sits in a polyglot comfort zone.

Not everything has been improved. Cosmo Jarvis (“Lady Macbeth”), stepping in for Richard Chamberlain as Blackthorne, seems just as lost as his stranded, bewildered character. He works a dull note of dazed petulance for much of the series, eventually shifting to stunned sorrow. While the story builds Blackthorne up — he is continually (improbably) saving the day — Jarvis’s lack of presence works against the narrative, making Mariko’s attraction to Blackthorne and Toranaga’s sympathy for him hard to buy.


We stay engaged, though, because the actors Jarvis is matched against easily hold our attention. Anna Sawai, who did not quite click as a contemporary action hero in “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters,” is thoroughly convincing and captivating as Mariko. And Hiroyuki Sanada carries the show as the relentlessly pragmatic, humanely inhumane Toranaga; he is not the most expressive of actors, but he has a quiet force and regality that fit the part.

A number of the supporting players are also excellent, beginning with the Japanese film mainstay Tadanobu Asano as the scheming daimyo Yabushige and including Takehiro Hira as Ishido, Moeka Hoshi as Blackthorne’s consort and Tokuma Nishioka as Toranaga’s most loyal retainer.

The roles those performers play so capably are familiar ones, and if the creators of the show display an increased sensitivity to stereotypes, that does not prevent this “Shogun” from exhibiting signs of a familiar cinematic Japonisme. It’s there in the fetishization of death (seppuku recurs) and the central contrast of Blackthorne’s Western individualism with the Japanese characters’ devotion to duty and sacrifice. Sex is aestheticized; a maid is a member of a secret assassin’s guild (though the character is no longer a full-on ninja, as in 1980). Dialogue keeps blossoming into poetry.

All these things may be historically and culturally accurate to some degree, but they are also undeniably the tropes of Western romanticization of Japan. And at the end of the day, “Shogun” — if it stays tied to Clavell’s book at all — remains a prime example of the Westerner’s attempt to encapsulate his fascination, or infatuation, with Japanese style and attitude.

So why go to so much trouble to spruce up a British writer’s half-century-old fantasy of Japanese history? It may be defensible only in commercial terms. But when Toranaga and Yabushige meet on a cliff in the rising sun and explain what the whole story has been about, Sanada and Asano glide past all those paltry concerns.

The Perfect Couple (2024)

 This was not very good. I don't even feel like finding a review to post.

The Boys Season 4

from Wikipedia

1 "Department of Dirty Tricks"

The CIA tasks The Boys to assassinate Victoria Neuman, but the mission goes awry when they are discovered by her superpowered daughter, Zoe, who attacks the group. Ryan learns that Butcher has approximately six months to live. At CIA headquarters, Butcher reunites with Joe Kessler, an old friend, who attempts to recruit him to take down the Supes. Homelander, obsessed with his aging and fed up with his sycophant group, recruits Sister Sage (known for being the smartest person on the planet) to join The Seven. He and Sage have three supporters beaten to death by the Deep and Black Noir II, including Monique's ex-boyfriend Todd. Sage instigates a riot outside the courthouse when Homelander is found "not guilty"; A-Train dumps the corpses of Homelander's supporters into the riot, ensuring the Starlighters are blamed. Butcher arranges a meeting with Neuman for the Red River files but changes his mind at the last second after having a hallucination of his deceased wife, Becca. Hughie learns his father has suffered a stroke and reunites with his mother.

2 "Life Among the Septics"

Butcher tells The Boys his remaining time to live and is kicked out. However, Butcher tracks them and helps them to spy on Sage, who is recruiting alt-right Supe Firecracker at TruthCon. Butcher and M.M. fight, causing the former to leave. Their plan is thwarted when Sage, Firecracker, and Splinter intervene; Sage leaves and a fight ensues. Butcher returns and kills Splinter, and Firecracker flees in the aftermath. Guilty over his actions, A-Train gives Hughie and Annie files exonerating the Starlighters accused of murder. Homelander and Sage organize Ryan's first public mission, a scripted rescue. The mission ends awfully when Homelander appears off-script and shocks Ryan into killing the stuntman disguised as the criminal. Butcher opens up to M.M. in an attempt to rejoin The Boys, to no avail.

3 "We'll Keep the Red Flag Flying Here"

Homelander introduces Sage and Firecracker as new members of The Seven and appoints Sage as the new CEO, replacing Ashley, who is reduced to "mascot" status. Butcher meets with Kessler, and they devise a plan to kidnap Ryan. The former arranges a meeting with Ryan with the intent of drugging him, but they instead spend time bonding together. M.M. recruits A-Train as a spy, who reluctantly accepts. Frenchie and Kimiko go on a mission to destroy a Shining Light Liberation Army cell. During the mission, a drugged Frenchie hallucinates about his past, while an old acquaintance confronts Kimiko. Annie confronts Firecracker, who reveals that she holds a grudge against her because of a rumor she spread that ruined her career. Hughie and M.M. infiltrate a meeting between Homelander, Neuman, and Sage to assassinate President Robert Singer, which goes awry when Homelander detects and attempts to kill Hughie; A-Train rescues him. Hughie's mother, Daphne, reveals that depression and a failed suicide attempt led to her departure. Ryan returns home only to be confronted by Homelander for visiting Butcher, which results in Homelander having a mental breakdown.

4 "Wisdom of the Ages"

Homelander returns to the Vought lab where he was raised and experimented upon, tormenting most of the employees before its director, Barbara, intervenes. Daphne's plan to take Hugh Sr. off life support angers Hughie. Annie meets with Singer to strike a deal to take down Vought. Hughie and Kimiko secure Compound V from A-Train for Hughie's father but are ambushed by the Shining Light. M.M. and Butcher fail to blackmail Firecracker, who publicly discredits Annie by revealing her decision to have an abortion months prior, leading to a brutal fight that damages Annie's reputation and ends her alliance with Singer. Ezekiel attacks Frenchie while investigating Firecracker, but Butcher intervenes only to be choked unconscious; he awakes to find Ezekiel dead, torn to pieces. Butcher tells Hughie that he used V to cure his illness but admits that it failed and accelerated it instead. Frenchie confesses to Colin about killing his family and is brutally beaten by him before threatening his life should he see Frenchie again. Hughie witnesses his father waking up from his coma after receiving Compound V. Bloodied, Homelander leaves Barbara locked in a room with the corpses of her colleagues.

 5 "Beware the Jabberwock, My Son"

After Hugh Sr. wakes from his coma, Daphne reveals she administered the V. Butcher informs The Boys about a virus that kills Supes, acquired by Neuman.[a] He and M.M. visit Stan Edgar in prison, seeking help to obtain the virus in exchange for amnesty. The Boys and Edgar discover V and the virus being tested on animals at a farmhouse, where Neuman arrives as well. After being attacked by the mutated farm animals, they locate Dr. Sameer Shah who has the last remaining sample of the virus, but are forced to use it to kill a herd of mutated sheep. Afterward, Sameer goes missing and is presumed dead. M.M. returns Edgar to prison, but Neuman frees him. Empowered and mentally confused, Hugh Sr. kills patients at the hospital but soon returns to his sense; Hughie ends his life peacefully. Homelander declares The Seven will now be "wrathful gods" for the "greater good". In the presence of Robert Vernon / Tek Knight, Cate Dunlap, and Sam Riordan, VNN anchor Cameron Coleman is framed as the leak by Ashley and killed by The Seven. Wracked with guilt, Frenchie surrenders to the police. Butcher reveals to Kessler that Sameer is alive and he has kidnapped him to replicate the virus.

6 "Dirty Business" 

The Boys learn that Tek Knight is hosting a party at his mansion with Neuman and The Seven in attendance; they infiltrate the party by disguising Hughie as the Supe Webweaver. When Tek Knight discovers Hughie's identity and attempts to torture him, they enter the mansion to rescue Hughie. M.M. shoots Sage in the head right before he has a panic attack; A-Train saves M.M., rushing him to the hospital, and Sage survives. Annie and Kimiko save Hughie and restrain Tek Knight. The three antagonize Tek Knight until he reveals that Homelander and Sage plan to use his prisons as internment camps before he is killed by his butler Elijah. Homelander and Neuman convince the senators to rally against Singer. Firecracker tells Homelander about her encounter with Annie, realizing that the leak is still alive. Meanwhile, Butcher forces Sameer to replicate and make the virus strong enough to kill Homelander. When Sameer reveals that enhancing the virus could potentially eradicate every Supe on Earth, Butcher is pressured by Kessler to continue but discovers he is a hallucination, as the real Joe Kessler died years ago.

7 "The Insider"

Butcher bails Frenchie out of jail to assist Sameer with the virus. M.M. gives up leadership of The Boys, passes the baton back to Butcher again, and considers leaving with Monique and Janine; A-Train convinces him not to leave. The Boys discover a plan to assassinate Singer that will be carried out by an unidentified Supe shapeshifter. Homelander kills Webweaver, believing he is the leak. Hughie goes to Neuman's house to convince her to stop everything, to no avail. Homelander sends The Deep and Black Noir II to kill The Boys, starting a fight with Butcher and Annie, who are saved by A-Train and M.M. Infuriated, Homelander fires Sage from The Seven for hiding A-Train, who has fled the country with his family, as the leak. Tired of being used by Vought and Homelander's manipulation, Ryan gets fed up, interrupts a live show to give a speech, and leaves. Frenchie and Kimiko reconcile by telling each other what they blame themselves for before Sameer injects Kimiko with the dose of the virus he has prepared and escapes; Frenchie saws off her leg so the virus doesn't spread. Butcher passes out in a bar and Annie wakes up to find herself shackled in a room somewhere, realizing that she has been impersonated and replaced by the shapeshifter.

8 "Assassination Run"

While Butcher recovers, Mallory and Ryan visit him, where the latter is told of Homelander's crimes and that he must kill him. However, Ryan refuses, accidentally kills Mallory, and leaves, causing Butcher to embrace his dark side of Kessler. Homelander tasks the remaining Seven with killing everyone at Vought who has incriminating evidence against them; a targeted Ashley injects herself with V. While Frenchie develops the virus, The Boys monitor Singer in a bunker where they discover Annie is the shapeshifter and a fight ensues; the real Annie arrives and kills the shapeshifter. When Homelander reveals that Neuman is a Supe on air live, she calls on Hughie to protect her and Zoe in exchange for help. When The Boys and Neuman meet, Butcher arrives, kills Neuman with his new superpowers, and steals the virus. Sage reveals to Homelander that his plan has been a success when Singer is arrested for conspiring with The Boys to kill Neuman. Speaker of the House Steven Calhoun becomes the new President of the United States, swears allegiance to Homelander and declares martial law, deputizing Homelander and his army of superhumans. The rest of The Boys are ambushed and captured by Vought troops, led by multiple Supes, but Annie regains her powers and manages to escape; Butcher drives off with the virus. In the mid-credits scene, Calhoun shows Homelander where Soldier Boy is being held captive.