![]() | This article may require copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone, or spelling.(March 2024) |
"Cherry" | |
---|---|
The Boys episode | |
Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 2 |
Directed by | Matt Shakman |
Written by | Eric Kripke |
Produced by | Hartley Gorenstein |
Featured music |
|
Cinematography by | Evans Brown |
Editing by | Nona Khodai |
Original release date | July 26, 2019 |
Running time | 59 minutes |
Guest appearances | |
| |
"Cherry" is the second episode of the first season of the American superhero television series The Boys , based on the comic book series of the same name by Garth Ennis. It is set in a universe where most of the superpowered individuals are portrayed as corrupt individuals instead of being the heroes that the general public believes they are. The episode was written by the series showrunner Eric Kripke and directed by Matt Shakman.
The episode follows Billy Butcher and Hughie Campbell reuniting with the former's old partner Frenchie to find a way to kill Translucent before Vought can find him, much to the shock of Hughie, who continues to struggle with the death of his girlfriend, Robin. Meanwhile, the Seven's leader, Homelander, starts an investigation of his own to find Translucent after Vought's vice president, Madelyn Stillwell, dismisses the latter's disappearance.
"Cherry" was released on the streaming service Amazon Prime Video on July 26, 2019. The episode received positive reviews from critics, praising the visual style, direction, performances, black humor, faithfulness to the comics, and Frenchie's introduction. However, criticism for the episode's was aimed at the writing which felt repetitive and overwritten.
Hughie and Billy escape with Translucent's body. Billy approaches his former partner, Frenchie, and tricks him into revealing his face to a conscious translucent. Forced to help Billy, Frenchie locks Translucent into an electrified cage while finding a way to kill him, and Hughie manages to cut the Supe's tracker. Meanwhile, at the Vought Tower, Madelyn Stillwell deduces the Mayor's death and forces Homelander to search for Translucent.
Frenchie creates a bullet similar to Translucent's carbon skin, but the plan backfires, and Translucent's tracker becomes active, so Vought finds the location. Billy requests CIA member Susan Reynor for Translucent's files, to no avail. Later that night, Annie is forced to cooperate with The Deep over a drug smuggling case. Annie confronts The Deep, threatening to kill him should further blackmail occur. Annie stops the criminals but finds out Vought staged the scene for publicity, to her dismay. She later rescues a woman from rape but accidentally exposes her identity.
Stillwell approaches Senator Calhoun to introduce Supes into the army, but Calhoun refuses for financial reasons. Stillwell then recruits the Supe Doppelganger to blackmail Calhoun. Despite this, Calhoun assures the Supes they will be declined. Hughie approaches Translucent about Robin's death and A-Train's plans, but Translucent refutes them. Frenchie finds a way to kill Translucent and inserts C-4 explosives into Supe's colon. Now afraid, Translucent reveals that A-Train visited his girlfriend Popclaw when he killed Robin. Homelander arrives at the hideout, but Frenchie diverts him away. Translucent uses his urine to cut the cage's electricity, but Hughie interrupts his escape. Translucent attempts to manipulate Hughie into leaving, but Hughie detonates the C-4, killing Translucent.
An adaptation of the comic book series The Boys was initially developed as a feature-length film in 2008. However, after several failed attempts to produce the film, which caused it to be in development hell for several years, the plans for a film were scrapped in favor of a television series. [1] In 2016, it was announced Cinemax would develop the show. Erick Kripke became the series showrunner and head writer, alongside Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen, who would direct the pilot episode. [2] In November 2017, Amazon acquired the rights to develop the show, announcing that they would produce over eight episodes for the first season [3] while confirming that the previously announced creative team would still be attached to the series. [4] [5] The episode, titled "Cherry," was written by Kripke and directed by Matt Shakman. [6] [7] The episode is titled with the name of issues #3–6 of the comic book series of the same name. [8]
Kripke considered that the character Jack from Jupiter's alien-looking design was too fantastic for the world that he and his crew were creating in the series, and that would mess with the mythology of the human characters being born with powers. Intending to keep the realism of the TV series, Kripke decided to replace it with a more human-like character created exclusively for the TV series known as Translucent, though he retains the same powers of having an indestructible skin. [9] For the character's death by being blown up from the inside, Kripke admitted that this wouldn't be probable to do in real life due to the strength of the skin that would have contained the blast, accepted it was a conscious decision he took, and commented, "Yes, you're absolutely right, the skin should have contained the blast, but then we'd have missed out on that amazing bloody explosion of 'blood and meat. Keep Your Rules in Mind, but Never Logic Yourself Out Of Entertainment." [10]
The episode also made a pivotal and major change from the comics, where Hughie kills for the first time. While the part where Hughie murders a Supe remains the same, the way the character did it is changed, as in the comics, he accidentally killed a Supe under the name of Blarney Cock in self-defense as the latter attacked him. In the TV series, however, Hughie decides to kill him on purpose after initially intending to let him go by blowing up the bomb that was inside Translucent. This major change was released by Kripke, as he and the production crew intended to increase the level of violence and gore instead of keeping the same one from the original comic book series and without any intention of toning it down. [11] [12]
The episode main cast includes Karl Urban as Billy Butcher, Jack Quaid as Hughie Campbell, Antony Starr as John Gillman / Homelander, Erin Moriarty as Annie January / Starlight, Dominique McElligott as Maggie Shaw / Queen Maeve, Jessie Usher as A-Train, Chace Crawford as Kevin Moskowitz / The Deep, Tomer Capone as Frenchie, Nathan Mitchell as Black Noir, and Elisabeth Shue as Madelyn Stillwell. [13] Also starring are Simon Pegg as Hugh Campbell Sr., Alex Hassell as Translucent, Jennifer Esposito as Susan Reynor, David Andrews as Senator Calhoun, Shaun Benson as Ezekiel, Colby Minifie as Ahsley Barrett, Ana Sani as Anika, and Jordana Lajoie as Cherie. [14] [15] : 57:29–57:56 Laz Alonso and Karen Fukuhara are credited for their respective characters as Mother's Milk and the Female, though neither of them make an appearance at the episode. [15] Mike Massaro makes a cameo appearance as an ESPN interviewer for the episode. [16]
The filming of the first season would take place in Toronto while the story takes place in New York City. [17] Filming took place at the exterior of the Roy Thomson Hall to emulate the exterior of the Vought International company headquarters, known as Seven Tower, while the tower was created digitally. For the tower's interior, which includes some of the rooms and the modern lobby where the company makes the fundraiser event in the episode, the filming for such scenes would take place inside the Roy Thomson Hall. The scenes that took place at the fictional in-universe Tony Cicero's restaurant where The Boys kept Translucent imprisoned were filmed in a restaurant in the district of Etobicoke in the province of Ontario. [18] [19]
Visual effects for the episode were created by DNEG TV, Framestore, Folks VFX, Mavericks VFX, Method Studios, Monsters Aliens Robots Zombies VFX, Mr. X, Pixomondo, Rocket Science VFX, Rodeo FX, and Soho VFX. [20] [15] : 58:36–58:42 It was announced that visual effects supervisor Stephan Fleet would be in charge of overseeing the development for the visual effects. [21] A scene where Translucent is dumped into the back of a car, Fleet decided to keep the actor in a grey suit that he used for the fight scene in the previous episode to keep him invisible, as he considered that it was important to maintain the character's human weight. [22] For the creation of the series one of the most violent and gory scenes where Translucent explodes, the visual effects team decided to make the scene entirely practical without using CGI to capture the realism of the scene. [23]
The episode features the following songs which are "Dans Ma Ruche" by Guizmo , "Neat Neat Neat" by The Damned, "La Foule" by Youssoupha, and "Cherry Bomb" by The Runaways. [24]
"Cherry" premiered on Amazon Prime Video in the United States on July 26, 2019. [25] It was released alongside all the episodes from the season, which were released on the same date. [26] The episode, along with the rest of The Boys' first season, was released on Blu-ray on May 31, 2022. [27]
"Cherry" received positive reviews from critics. Brian Tallerico from Vulture rated the episode with three out of five stars, praising it for the episode design and performances, stating that the episode suffers from the talky superhero-philosophy dialogue, which sometimes feels overwritten and repetitive and also criticizing the episode's story, which he deemed added nothing new to the series plot. However, despite the episode's flaws, he still considered that there is still enough hope for the television series to continue. [28] Greg Wheeler from The Review Geek rated the episode with four out of five stars by stating that "With the facade of the Seven chipping away, it'll be interesting to see what direction the show takes from here but for now, The Boys delivers another progressive and well written episode." [29] Darryl Jasper from ScienceFiction.com gave a positive review to the episode and commented that the episode continues expanding the world and considered that the character's Billy Butcher past would be something interesting to follow and explore in the upcoming episodes for the series. [30]
While writing a review for Tilt Magazine, Randy Dankievitch stated that the episode takes a deft turn for The Boys, with an interesting deconstruction of the classic "villain captures hero" trope. There are also a lot of intriguing other ideas brought into play, be it the power hierarchy inside the Seven or Madelyn's larger goals of getting some of that good American defense spending money injected into Vought International. [31] Martin Carr from the Flickering Myth gave the episode a positive response to the episode to which he commented "In many respects The Boys is still getting warmed up, stretching its collective legs and establishing tone. Some have come for the guns, gore and censorship baiting excess, while most will stay for the depth, breadth and social commentary." [32]
The Boys is an American satirical superhero television series developed by Eric Kripke for Amazon Prime Video. Based on the comic book of the same name by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, it follows the eponymous team of vigilantes as they combat superpowered individuals who abuse their powers. The series features an ensemble cast that includes Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Antony Starr, Erin Moriarty, Dominique McElligott, Jessie T. Usher, Chace Crawford, Laz Alonso, Tomer Capone, Karen Fukuhara, and Nathan Mitchell.
The Homelander is one of the main antagonists of the comic book series The Boys and the media franchise of the same name, created by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson. The character is depicted as an egotistical and sadistic narcissist who serves as the extremely powerful leader of The Seven—a group of corrupt and hedonistic superheroes funded by Vought-American—and the archenemy of Billy Butcher. Beneath his public image as a noble and altruistic hero, the Homelander cares little about the well-being of those he professes to protect.
William J.Butcher, or "Billy the Butcher", is an antihero in the comic book and Amazon Prime series The Boys, created by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson. He is the leader of The Boys, a group of CIA-sponsored vigilantes who observe, record and sometimes liquidate "Supes" artificially created by the mega-conglomerate Vought. He is the Homelander's archenemy, whom he blames for the rape and death of his wife Becky, while also developing an intense hatred for all superhuman beings.
Hugh "Wee Hughie" Campbell is the main protagonist of the comic book series The Boys and its spin-offs Herogasm and Highland Laddie, created by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson and visually designed after Simon Pegg. He is a member of The Boys, a group of vigilantes led by Billy Butcher, and the self-declared archenemy of A-Train. After the accidental death of his girlfriend Robin at A-Train's hands, he joins The Boys to get vengeance on "Supes" artificially created by the mega-conglomerate Vought-American. He later becomes the love interest of Annie January / Starlight, while also becoming increasingly ruthless and savage under Butcher's influence as the series progresses.
The third season of the American satirical superhero television series The Boys, the first series in the franchise based on the comic book series of the same name written by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, was developed for television by American writer and television producer Eric Kripke. The season is produced by Sony Pictures Television in association with Point Grey Pictures, Original Film, Kripke Enterprises, Kickstart Entertainment and KFL Nightsky Productions.
The second season of the American satirical superhero television series The Boys, the first series in the franchise based on the comic book series of the same name written by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, was developed for television by American writer and television producer Eric Kripke. The season was produced by Sony Pictures Television in association with Point Grey Pictures, Original Film, Kripke Enterprises, Kickstart Entertainment and KFL Nightsky Productions.
The first season of the American satirical superhero television series The Boys, the first series in the franchise based on the comic book series of the same name written by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, was developed for television by American writer and television producer Eric Kripke. The season was produced by Sony Pictures Television in association with Point Grey Pictures, Original Film, Kripke Enterprises, Kickstart Entertainment and KFL Nightsky Productions.
Black Noir is the name of three characters from the comic book series The Boys, created by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, and the television series and franchise of the same name, developed by Eric Kripke. In both the comic and television series, Noir is a member of the hedonistic and reckless Vought-American superhero group the Seven and is depicted as a "silent ninja" type parody of Batman, Snake Eyes and Deathstroke.
The Boys is an American media franchise, consisting of action-drama/satirical black comedy superhero streaming television series which follow the residents of a world where superpowered individuals called Supes are recognized as heroes by the general public and work for a powerful corporation known as Vought International, which markets, monetizes, and (secretly) creates them, with most being selfish and corrupt outside of their heroic personas. Based on the comic book series of the same name by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, originally published by DC Comics under its Wildstorm imprint before moving to Dynamite Entertainment, the television franchise debut has garnered success both financially and critically.
"The Name of the Game" is the first episode of the first season and series premiere of the American superhero television series The Boys, based on the comic book series of the same name by Garth Ennis. It is set in a universe where most of the individuals with superpowers are portrayed as corrupt rather than the heroes the general public believe them to be. The episode was written by the series showrunner Eric Kripke and directed by Dan Trachtenberg.
"Get Some" is the third episode of the first season of the American superhero television series The Boys, based on the comic book series of the same name by Garth Ennis. The show is set in a universe where most of the super-powered individuals are portrayed as corrupt individuals instead of the heroes that the general public believes they are. The episode was written by George Mastras and directed by Phil Sgriccia.
"The Female of the Species" is the fourth episode of the first season of the American superhero television series The Boys, based on the comic book series of the same name by Garth Ennis. It is set in a universe where most of the superpowered individuals are portrayed as corrupt instead of being the heroes that the general public believes they are. The episode was written by Craig Rosenberg and directed by Fred Troye.
"Good for the Soul" is the fifth episode of the first season of the American superhero television series The Boys, based on the comic book series of the same name by Garth Ennis. It is set in a universe where most of the superpowered individuals are portrayed as corrupt individuals instead of being the heroes that the general public believes they are. The episode was written by Anne Cofell Saunders and directed by Stefan Schwartz.
"The Innocents" is the sixth episode of the first season of the American superhero television series The Boys, based on the comic book series of the same name by Garth Ennis. It is set in a universe where most of the superpowered individuals are corrupt individuals instead of being the heroes that the general public believe they are. The episode was written by Rebecca Sonnenshine and directed by Jennifer Phang.
"The Self-Preservation Society" is the seventh episode of the first season of the American superhero television series The Boys, based on the comic book series of the same name by Garth Ennis; named after its sixth volume, the episode adapts elements of the limited Butcher, Baker, Candlestickmaker. It is set in a universe where most of the superpowered individuals are portrayed as corrupt individuals instead of being the heroes that the general public believe they are. The episode was written by Craig Rosenberg and Ellie Monahan and directed by Dan Attias.
"You Found Me" is the eighth episode and the first season finale of the American superhero television series The Boys, based on the comic book series of the same name by Garth Ennis. It is set in a universe where most "supes" are portrayed as corrupt individuals instead of the heroes the general public believes they are. Written by Anne Cofell Saunders and Rebecca Sonnenshine, the episode was directed by the series showrunner Eric Kripke.
"The Big Ride" is the first episode of the second season and ninth episode overall of the American superhero television series The Boys, based on the comic book series of the same name by Garth Ennis, and named after its ninth volume. It is set in a universe where most of the superpowered individuals are portrayed as corrupt individuals instead of being the heroes that the general public believe they are. The episode was written by the series showrunner Eric Kripke and directed by Phil Sgriccia.
"Proper Preparation and Planning" is the second episode of the second season and tenth episode overall of the American superhero television series The Boys, based on the comic book series of the same name by Garth Ennis. It is set in a universe where most of the superpowered individuals are portrayed as corrupt individuals instead of being the heroes that the general public believes they are. The episode was written by Rebecca Sonnenshine and directed by Liz Friedlander.
"Over the Hill with the Swords of a Thousand Men" is the third episode of the second season and eleventh episode overall of the American superhero television series The Boys, based on the comic book series of the same name by Garth Ennis, and named after its eleventh volume. It is set in a universe where most of the superpowered individuals are portrayed as corrupt individuals instead of being the heroes that the general public believe they are. The episode was written by Craig Rosenberg and directed by Steve Boyum.