By Nick Nitkowski

Much to my surprise, it’s been almost a full two years since season one of “Gen V” started streaming. I honestly didn’t think we were going to even get a new season because of how much time had already passed since season one. But here we are! It’s a brand-new season with the alumni of season one going back to school at good ol’ God U! The question is, will this new season manage to accelerate and achieve a grade better than season one? Will it tackle obstacles and be up to par with its parent show “The Boys”? Well, we’re just going to have to see what they’ve learned.

This new season takes place quite some time after the events of the first season, which means that the characters are not where we last saw them. This was a personal issue for me because I hadn’t rewatched season one in preparation for this new season, but I had a good memory of what happened. However, they heavily and repeatedly reference some pretty important things that we, as the audience, never saw happen in the series. This led to me being confused where I was constantly thinking to myself, “Did I miss something from last season?” So, while you’re watching this new season and you find yourself confused, you’re not going crazy. We never saw it happen. Could they not have made just one episode or even a series of flashbacks to fill in the gaps of time?

Outside of that little issue I have, this season is actually pretty fantastic! It brings in all of the things you love from the previous season as well as “The Boys” with all of the violent action, the WTF moments sprinkled throughout, and yes, they still unapologetically hold up a mirror to those with a specific ideology as well as referencing certain sociopolitical topics that are very much relevant in the world right now. This is what I enjoy about this show because it accurately depicts what the current world would be like if there were superheroes among us.

All of the main actors and actresses from season one return in this season. All except for one. But in this season, we are introduced to some new characters. Including, in my personal opinion, one of the best antagonists of the series, next to Homelander himself, Cipher, the new Dean of God U, played by Hamish Linklater. He had such a great presence every time he was on screen. He was just so interesting to watch. Everyone else did a great job reprising their roles, and I really liked where everyone ended up by the end of the season. Makes me excited to see what comes next.

Overall, if you’re a fan of “The Boys” and season one of “Gen V”, then I believe that you are really going to enjoy this new season. It definitely manages to be up to par with not only season one of “Gen V” but it’s also up to par with “The Boys”. It provides everything you love from both shows while also providing quite a few very good surprises throughout the show. This season made me want to keep watching after the end of each episode. I didn’t find a single episode in this season boring. Aside from the one gripe I had mentioned earlier, this was a great addition to the universe of “The Boys”. You’re not going to want to miss this season because “Gen V” is Grade A.

4.5 stars