Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
Prime dropped the first three episode of ‘Gen V‘ Season 2 and I was going to watch them over dinner, but then thankfully remembered the kind of show this is… and changed my mind. Good decision. Because the very first minute opens with a 1967 lab flashback, where a group of scientists inject themselves with something and things go horribly wrong. We’re talking blood and guts everywhere, just a shade tamer than The Boys Season 4, Episode 4, where Homelander visits the Vought lab and massacres the scientists who tortured him as a kid.
Also Read: Gen V Season One Review – A Bloody Good Mess
For those who need it, Season 2 begins with a quick recap of past events to jog your memory. And after the cold (and bloodied) open to the 1960s, episode one, titled ‘New Year, New U’, shifts its attention back to the young protagonists of Gen V. The weeks of trauma and torture at Vought’s lab ends for supes Emma (Lizze Broadway) and Jordan (played alternately by London Thor and Derek Li), as they return to Godolkin University through a “deal” their so-called friend Cate Dunlap (Maddie Phillips) strikes with Vought. Meanwhile, Marie (Jaz Sinclair) is still on the run but manages to reclaim her spot on campus as well.
Now that the protagonists have their freedom back, they can chill, party, make tiktoks, get hammered, but they – Marie, Emma, and Jordan – also start investigating a secret program from the ’60s, one that may hold the key to finally taking down their enemies. Hamish Linklater plays Cipher, the new dean at the University, and Jordan recognizes him from the lab, so the kids are suspicious of his motives.
Not too surprisingly, Cate starts to use her mind-control powers for the new dean. Although I was most wary of Sam Riordan (Asa Germann), now no longer a lab rat, but a student like the others. However, if you remember, he is a lot stronger than the average supe, and is prone to weird hallucinations and fatal outbursts.
You will have to have seen the ‘The Boys’ Season 4 to have a better grasp over the campus politics in Gen V. In just these first three episodes there are already plenty of cameos, including Erin Moriarty’s Starlight. And Homelander of-course is the ultimate god for the superhero kids at the Godolkin University, and his name is constantly dropped in conversations. This season of ‘Gen V‘ also expands upon the “humans versus supes” conflict, with Godolkin University setting up separate entry gates for ‘human’ workers at the campus.
Once again, Lizze Broadway’s Emma is the most entertaining character in these three episodes of Gen V Season 2. She remains close friends with Marie, despite the latter’s betrayal (breaking out of the lab without her friends), and is the most enthusiastic about exposing Vought’s lies and cover-ups. As for romance, that chapter is closed, there are no more entanglements between her and Sam (Asa Germann), who continues to be a dangerous wrecking ball. But Marie and Jordan’s chemistry hasn’t cooled down in the show, so there’s still a slight sliver of romance in the show.
Gen V Episode 2, ‘Justice Never Forgets’, has Emma teaming up with Polarity (Sean Patrick Thomas) to dig through university archives for clues on the ’60s experiments. On the other hand, Marie and Jordan are forced to take a class supervised by Dean Cipher himself, which turns out to be a violently gladiator-style class.
Of course, the writers slip in plenty of little twists to keep the gore and blood steadily flowing through each Gen V episode, so fans won’t be disappointed on that front. Episode 3, ‘H is for Human’, leans more into campus politics and emotional connections. Marie seeks out an old acquaintance to learn more about her past, leading to a major revelation, while Emma gets sidetracked by a smaller side mission.
From grotesque deaths and body bits flying to wild campus parties, ego battles, and lethal accidents, Gen V’s latest episodes deliver nonstop shock and spectacle, all while stoking the disturbing rise of the “supes versus humans” war. Episode 3 ends on a tense note, leaving viewers wonder if the lead protagonist will once again find themselves locked up in a lab for daring to defy the adults of their messed up world.
Stream ‘Gen V’ on Prime Video.
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