HCA Gradebook: “The Boys” Season 3

TV Show: The Boys 

Plot: A group of vigilantes set out to take down corrupt superheroes who abuse their superpowers.

Cast: Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Antony Starr, Erin Moriarty, Jensen Ackles, Dominique McElligott, and Karen Fukuhara

Creator: Eric Kripke

Release Date: June 2, 2022

Network: Prime Video 

HCA Overall Grade: A-

Number of Grades: 11

Tessa Smith says “The Boys season 3 is bigger, bloodier & more political than ever before. It is completely bonkers and filled with jaw dropping moments, shocking twists, and pure insanity. It doesn’t get much better than this.”

Grade: A+

Rick Bentley says “The Boys had already established itself as one of the elite programs on TV but the third season has magnified the quality -from writing to acting – tenfold. It continues to redefine television with its reverent and irreverent approach to the superhero genre.”

Grade: A+

James White says “The Boys has more on its mind than shock value, and it takes its time to explore all its characters, anchored by competing turns from Anthony Starr as spoilt man-child Superman Homelander and Karl Urban as foul-mouthed Superhero-hater Billy Butcher. Jensen Ackles, meanwhile a veteran of Boys boss Eric Kripke’s long running series Supernatural, fits right in as Soldier Boy, a hero from the show’s history who has his own baggage. There might be more competition on the outrageous superhero front (Peacemaker particularly), but The Boys proves it is head(less) and shoulders above almost all the rest.” 

Grade: A

Nancy Tapia says “The Boys Season 3 proves to have found the secret for another successful, wacky season!”

Grade: A

Joel D. Amos says “The Boys is everything you want from the Prime Video superhero show that is unlike any other superhero landscape that audiences have previously experienced. What’s fascinating is with this third season, it is absolutely crystal clear that this is exactly how “supes,” as they are called, would act and carry themselves in real life. The way creator Eric Kripke has built his program from a singularity to a multitude of resonance is uncanny. The cast is sublime, led by the role of a lifetime for the well-deserving New Zealander, Karl Urban. His “Butcher” is truly the main character on a show that is ensemble in every other sense of the word. The thing about Season 3 of “The Boys” is that even Urban’s Butcher makes choices that go against the grain of what you thought you knew about him. The same could be said for Jack Quaid’s Hughie Campbell. As more shows pass by, the more one gets the sense Hughie’s apple does not fall far from Butcher’s tree. Should make for an explosive future.”

Grade: A

Rodrigo Salem says “If someone thought the success would make the show softer, think again: the third season opens with one of the most outrageous (and hilarious) sequences in the history of TV. Antony Starr is having so much joy as a villain that elevates the whole series.”

Grade: A

Rob Licuria says “Eric Kripke, you’ve done it again. If season 2 of The Boys far exceeded the already fantastic first season, this third season just pushes the bloodied and charred remains of the envelope even further, and ups the ante more than I thought possible. Excellent performances across the board and razor-sharp writing really elevate this show among the likes of Moon Knight and Peacemaker in the crowded superhero genre. What a gloriously fun ride!”

Grade: A

Danielle Broadway says “Point blank: for those that loved previous seasons of The Boys that are down for things getting more graphic and messed up–this will likely be one of the best shows of the year. It goes further than a morality lesson by showing viewers some of the most immoral behavior their eyes have ever seen. It’s pretty fantastic.”

Grade: A-

Terence Johnson says “How do you make a show that regularly goes places other shows won’t go even more enticing? By doubling down on interpersonal relationships and conflict. While the first half of the season really sizzles, the back half does bend a bit as it works to weave everything back together and I did find myself a bit wanting in the end. However, The Boys was never boring and should provide all the thrills and superhero chills a viewer could want.”

Grade: B+

Maggie Lovitt says “There is a lot to love about this season of The Boys, but there is also a lot left to be desired. Most of the characters have reached a point where they need new motivations and outside influence to propel them forward. They have mostly reached the end of the arcs established in Season 1 and, depending on how much longer Eric Kripke intends to keep the show running, they need new, further-reaching plotlines to build onto their established arcs.”

Grade: B+

Clarence Moye says “An increasingly political and violent entry, The Boys Season 3 succeeds on the strength of its strong ensemble, but it fails to top Season 2’s dynamic Stormfront and addictively gonzo plotting.”

Grade: B

The first three episodes of The Boys Season 3 are now streaming exclusively on Prime Video.