The episode follows the boys as they attend the Believe Expo to get more information about Compound-V and uncover its remaining secrets by blackmailing the festival's host, Ezekiel. Meanwhile, Frenchie stays behind to watch over the Female, one of the test subjects of the drug who was held captive in the previous episode. During the festival, Annie January and Hughie Campbell get to know each other more, while the former still struggles to follow Vought's rules and her mother's expectations. Meanwhile, Billy Butcher and Mother's Milk find a lead about the Compound-V that Vought had been hiding for several years, which could unravel the truth behind the creation of the Supes.
"Good for the Soul" was released on Amazon Prime Video, the streaming service, on July 26, 2019. The episode received positive reviews from critics, with praise for its religious themes and performances. Starlight's speech and confession were also subjected to strong praise, with many lauding the episode for providing more depth to the character.
Plot
A-Train arrives in La Havana, Cuba, where he is hiding Popclaw for telling Billy Butcher information about the source of the compound V. A-Train tells her that Madelyn Stillwell has allowed their relationship to become public, but in exchange, he asks her to tell him who she told him about Compound-V. Popclaw finally tells him about the men who blackmailed her, though she admits she doesn't know their names. A-Train then proceeds to inject her with multiple syringes of heroin, which kills her from an overdose. When A-Train returns to Seven Tower, he confirms Popclaw's death to Homelander, revealing that the latter ordered him to kill her. When Homelander suspects A-Train's addiction to Compound-V, A-Train assures him that he is not using it and promises to find the Female.
Butcher, Mother's Milk, and Hughie Campbell attend the Believe Expo to get more information about Compound-V, while Frenchie stays behind to watch over the Female whom the boys have recaptured. [lower-alpha 1] Billy tasks Hughie with asking Annie January, who is also at the event under Vought orders, to give him a VIP experience with Ezekiel. This way, Hughie can blackmail Ezekiel with a video of him kissing men in exchange for information about Compound V. Hughie and MM are uncomfortable with the idea, given the former's lack of experience in blackmailing someone. Due to Butcher's insistence, however, Hughie reluctantly agrees to proceed and asks Annie to give him access to meet Ezekiel to which she agrees.
Meanwhile, Homelander gives a speech during a memorial to the Flight 37 victims. Queen Maeve who is distraught and feels guilty for abandoning the passengers to die,[lower-alpha 1] leaves the memorial early out of anger at Homelander's lies. Though he tries to assure her that they did what they could do, Maeve refuses to believe this and is hesitant to agree. She later visits her ex-girlfriend Elena in a drunken state in the hopes of finding some consolation. Elena, though not happy to see her again, tries to listen when Maeve admits that she can no longer deal with the guilt. However, Maeve tries to kiss Elena but when she refuses, Maeve regrets having come and leaves before she can explain what happened.
Homelander arrives at the Expo and becomes annoyed by the script he was given and goes to see Stillwell, but instead finds Vought's publicist Ashley Barrett. Homelander then finds Stillwell taking her son to the pediatrician and complains about the speech. Stillwell tells Homelander that the speech is intended to convince the government to allow Supes to join the army, as his speech will be seen by millions across the country. Though Homelander reminds her of the flight incident, she dismisses it and tells Homelander to follow the speech much to his annoyance.
Butcher visits his wife's sister Rachel after learning that they purchased a headstone for Becca, even though they never found the body. Rachel says it's as because her mother is getting old and wants a place where she can talk with the deceased daughter. She reminds Butcher that it has been eight years since Becca went missing and was never found. Rachel tells Butcher to move on and accept that Becca is gone, though not before assuring that they miss her. Butcher arrives at the cemetery where the headstone is and proceeds to destroy it with a hammer.
During the Expo, Annie becomes uncomfortable with the festival after she is forced to lie about sex to some teenagers during a session. She expresses this to her mother, Donna, though she is not sure if it is because she has changed or the festival has changed. Donna dismisses it and reminds Annie that she is Starlight. During the meeting with Ezekiel, a baptism is held for all the guests, with Homelander being the one to baptize them. When it is Hughie's turn, Homelander holds Hughie underwater for a long period of time. While it seems that Homelander will drown Hughie, the baptism resumes normally, though Hughie's phone is damaged rendering him unable to use the video to blackmail Ezekiel. Despite this Hughie improvises, pretending to be a man who slept with Ezekiel, who initially denies it and attempts to choke him. However, Hughie reveals that there is a video of this that will be posted if he kills him. Hughie proceeds to blackmail Ezekiel into giving him information he knows about the Compound-V. He later calls MM to inform him of the information he obtained including the last shipment of the Compound-V and MM then gives this information to Butcher.
Homelander gives his speech to the audience but instead of following the one that was given to him, he strays from it by stating that he only follows a higher power and won't wait for the approval of Congress to protect America, much to Stilwell's dismay and anger. When it's Annie's turn to give a speech, she doesn't want to go to stage though her mother forces her as she has friends who are viewing the event. She initially follows her speech from the teleprompter, but then she becomes annoyed and also strays from the script, where she criticizes the extremist beliefs of Christianity and expresses her disillusionment over working for Vought and the reality of being a superhero, admitting she no longer knows what she does is right and wrong. She also admits to having been sexually assaulted[lower-alpha 2] much to Stillwell and the Deep's shock, though she doesn't reveal the identity of her assaulter. Hughie sympathizes with her, though Annie expresses some disgust toward him for using her to see Ezekiel. Hughie apologizes and finally confesses that his girlfriend died recently, leading Annie to also feel sympathy for him, and the two embrace.
Butcher and MM find the location of the last shipment of Compound-V at a hospital, where they see several newborns being injected. The duo realizes that the Supes are created and engineered with the Compound-V to give them powers and manufacture them for the years to come, meaning that the Supes are not born naturally much to their shock. Before Butcher can take a sample of it, several guards start shooting at them, leading Butcher to use a baby with heat vision to kill them all. Then Butcher and MM place the baby back into his place and leave with the sample.
Distraught at Popclaw's death, A-Train starts watching her movies and switches to their sex tape, which he finds overwritten by footage of her accidentally killing the landlord, much to his shock. He also finds out that Butcher and Frenchie blackmailed her to give them information about the Compound-V.[lower-alpha 3] He takes the evidence of Frenchie's face to be analyzed. However, they cannot identify him due to his multiple aliases and addresses, while Black Noir goes to find and take care of him. Frenchie's friend Cherie tells him that Black Noir is looking for him and likely has all the addresses. Frenchie calls Butcher to tell him he has been exposed, and Butcher orders him to run and leave the Female behind. However, Frenchie sympathizes with her and decides to free her from the chains, but the Female runs away. Frenchie attempts to escape but is found by Black Noir. Before Black Noir can attack him, the Female returns to save Frenchie and allow him to escape. The Female fights Black Noir but is overpowered and killed. Frenchie returns to find her lying on the ground, but suddenly, she starts to breathe as her wounds start to heal immediately, much to Frenchie's shock and fascination, who can only tell her: "You're a miracle."
Production
Development
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 "Good for the Soul" was written by Anne Cofell Saunders and directed by Stefan Schwartz.[6] The episode shares the same title as Vol. 3 of the comic book series of the same name, which covers issues #15–22.[7]
Writing
The episode explores the issue of the Christian right, with Vought being in charge of planning the Believe Expo to promote many of the heroes and make the public believe that the reason they have powers is because God chose them as part of a superhero miracle.[8] The episode also criticizes the way Christianity spreads its idea in excess and how Vought only uses as profitable propaganda and the influence that has been scattered across the pop culture through the years. The writers consider that the myth of the superheroes being chosen by God represents the imposition of an idea scattered through the nation so Vought can appease the audience from the Supe's behavior that justifies not only being celebrities and movie stars but also their positions in the police, the military, and government. The episode is proof of how several companies impose the idea of toxic ideas that the companies impose for their benefit, which the writers considered to be adequate as Donald Trump was the president of the United States at the time.[9]
Similarly to the previous episodes of the series, a major change was made with one of its characters being adapted differently from the comic book series for the television adaptation. The episode introduces Ezekiel, who serves as the leader of the Believe Expo and is based on the character, Oh Father, who share similar characteristics as both are leaders of the Christian Supe organization Capes for Christ and their religious hypocrisy. Their difference is that the latter sexually abused teenagers, while the former was turned down, only to become a hypocriticalhomophobic.[10][11] The writers decided to make this change to critique the hypocrisy about homosexuality and how homophobic ideas continue to affect the community in the current time.[12]
The filming of the first season takes place in Toronto, while the story takes place in New York City.[15] The scene for the funeral service that Vought held for the victims that died in the hijacked flight of the previous episode that Homelander and Queen Maeve failed to save with the former having refused to save them, the crew decided that this scene would be filmed at the scene at the zinc-clad pavilion which is part of the Sherbourne Common waterfront park.[16][17]
Visual effects
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.[18][14]:59:46–59:51 It was announced Stephan Fleet would act as visual effects supervisor and oversee the development of visual effects.[19] The elastic powers of Ezekiel were created through CGI and simultaneously used a stunt double's arm to make the scene where Ezekiel attempts to chicken Hughie. The arm was animated and edited to get Ezekiel's elasticized arm.[20]
Music
The episode features the following songs which are "A Lo Caliche" by Sr Ortegon featuring Pana Black, "Raise It Up" by Extreme Music, and "Ain't No Sunshine" by Bill Withers.[21]
Release
"Good for the Soul" premiered on Amazon Prime Video in the United States on July 26, 2019.[22] It was released alongside all the episodes from the season, which were released on the same date.[23] The episode and the rest of The Boys' first season were released on Blu-ray on May 31, 2022.[24]
Reception
"Good for the Soul" received positive reviews from critics. Brian Tallerico from Vulture gave the episode three stars out of five. He deemed that the episode had weaker writing, though he praised it for finally starting to take risks for the political and social commentary, and considered that Homelander represents a false hero that was being worshiped the same way they worship the modern politicians from today.[25] For his review for TheReview Geek, Greg Wheeler gave the episode four stars out of five. While he considered that the episode wasn't on the dramatic level of the previous one, he found it enjoyable. He praised the portrayal of the religion and the moral questions it can bring while also praising the character development of Starlight, to which he commented, "While not quite as dramatic as the previous episode, The Boys delivers another enjoyable episode nonetheless. The religious aspect of this whole debacle brings up some very interesting moral questions and seeing this play into the main narrative is certainly a welcome inclusion here. It helps to add some depth to Starlight's character too, especially seeing her religious upbringing and how difficult that must have been for her."[26] Randy Dankievitch from the Tilt Magazine praised the episode for its character development and the complexity of its characters. However, it also criticized the episode for not giving anything new to the storyline, to which he replied, "The Boys doesn't really have anything to say about the events taking place on-screen. Instead, it offers placeholders for moral complexities, character motivations, and personality, even in its most carefully constructed characters, like Madelyn or Starlight."[27]
For a review from ScienceFiction.com, Darryl Jasper praised the episode for its storyline character development and for connecting multiple storylines to the main one related to the investigation of the mysterious Compound-V. He also praised the episode for the portrayal of a guilt-ridden Queen Maeve and her development over the dark paths that she had taken, and that Starlight is about to pass in the future.[28] Martin Carr, for the Flickering Myth, stated that the episode to be important given its take on the social commentary and trying the audience to be more conscious and aware of the real-life issues that the series treats. He wrote in his review, "Rarely has a series come crashing into the public consciousness with such confidence and no small amount of bravado. From Karl Urban down there is a sense of belief in the material which adds an authenticity to the end product. Kripke, Rogen, and Goldberg have given us a hard R-rated social conscience dramedy that refuses to scrimp on anything. Comic book tongue in cheek it may be but the character drives this hybrid and never employs a heavy hand to make the point. No wonder Amazon greenlit a second season before showing us a frame of footage."[29]
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.
Over the Hill with the Swords of a Thousand Men is a graphic novel written by Garth Ennis and illustrated by Russ Braun that was released in six parts throughout 2011 and 2012 by Dynamite Entertainment as the penultimate volume of the American comic book series The Boys. Part 1 was released on November 2, 2011, Part 2 was released on December 7, 2011, Part 3 was released on January 4, 2012, Part 4 was released on February 1, 2012, Part 5 was released on March 7, 2012, and Part 6 was released on April 4, 2012.
Rebecca Anne "Annie" January is a fictional superheroine in the comic book series The Boys, Herogasm, and Highland Laddie, created by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson. As Starlight, she is a member of the Seven, a group of superheroes funded by Vought-American, and the love interest of Hughie Campbell. Annie is a former member of the Young Americans group with the ability of flight and light manipulation. Throughout the series, she is portrayed as one of the only members of the Seven with selfless, benevolent motivations, but becomes disillusioned when she sees the dark secrets of Vought and the other members of the Seven.
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 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 supervillain 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.
Soldier Boy is the name of three superhero characters in the comic book series Herogasm and The Boys, created by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson. The first character introduced is the elected leader of the Vought-American-sponsored superhero team Payback. He is depicted as one of the only "Supes" with selfless, benevolent motivations, who detests the use of profanity. However, Soldier Boy annually has sex with Homelander alone at the "Herogasm" orgy, under the mistaken hope that the "test" of doing so will convince Homelander to let him join his own superhero team, the Seven. After his most recent dalliance with Homelander, Soldier Boy is captured by CIA black ops agent Billy Butcher and brutally tortured and murdered by him for information on Homelander's recent activities. The original Soldier Boy is later revealed to have been mercy killed by Mallory during his first mission at the Battle of the Bulge, after his "Avenging Squad" inadvertently caused Mallory's men to be massacred, and been replaced by the second for the remainder of the war.
Mother's Milk, or simply M.M., is a fictional character and antihero in the comic book series The Boys, Herogasm, and Highland Laddie, created by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson. Born Baron Wallis, he is a member of The Boys, a group of CIA-sponsored vigilantes who observe, record, and sometimes liquidate "Supes" artificially created by the mega-conglomerate Vought. One of two "Supes" in the group alongside "The Female ", Wallis' mother was dosed with the superpower-inducing Compound V while pregnant with him, the result of which was her eventually mutating into a Cthulhu-like creature, and him becoming the first naturally-born Supe, prematurely aging. To stay alive, Mother's Milk requires continued consumption of his mother's Compound V-enhancing "mother's milk" on a semi-regular basis, leading to him taking the term as a sobriquet and boxing ring name. He later rises to become heavyweight champion of the world following his military career, before being recruited to the Boys after accidentally killing his opponent in the ring, becoming Butcher's second-in-command/best friend over years of missions and befriending Hugh "Wee Hughie" Campbell on his own recruitment. After helping Butcher finally get his revenge on Black Noir, M.M. learns that Butcher plans on killing all Supes and potential Supes, including him and his daughter. After confronting Butcher over this, M.M. is smothered to death by Butcher to prevent him from interfering with his plan. In order to avenge her son, M.M.'s mother then gives Hughie the necessary milk to kill Butcher.
"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.
"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.
"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.
"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 portrayed as 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. 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 season finale 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 Rebecca Sonnenshine and 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 believe they are. The episode was written by Rebecca Sonnenshine and directed by Liz Friedlander.
"The Vought Guy", also known as Mr. Vought-America(n) or The Guy From Vought, is a fictional character in the comic book series The Boys and the resulting franchise, created by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, an executive officer of the defense contractor/pharmaceutical company Vought-American Consolidated, which publicly owns the Seven, several smaller superhero teams, and their related franchises, while privately being responsible for the creation and distribution of the superpower-inducing Compound V. The most prominent normal human antagonist in the series, whom the Homelander often unsuccessfully seeks to impress/cause to fear him, the Vought Guy is an apparent high-functioning sociopath and embodiment of Vought-American, working only in the corporate interest, including orchestrating/ordering: the near-coup of the Russian government, the massacre of the G-Men teams, Payback's ambush of the Boys, and the planned takeover of the White House via idiotic puppet ruler U.S. Vice President "Veep" Vic Neuman. At the conclusion of The Bloody Doors Off, his legal name is revealed to be James Stillwell.
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