The Big Ride (The Boys)

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For the original comic book volume, see The Big Ride.
"The Big Ride"
The Boys episode
Episode no.Season 2
Episode 1
Directed byPhil Sgriccia
Written byEric Kripke
Produced by
  • Hartley Gorenstein
  • Gabriel Garcia
Featured music
Cinematography byDan Stollof
Editing byNona Khodai
Original release dateSeptember 4, 2020 (2020-09-04)
Running time63 minutes
Guest appearances
Episode chronology
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The Boys season 2
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"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.

The episode follows the Boys currently conformed by Hughie Campbell, Mother's Milk, Frenchie and Kimiko, dealing with a Supe terrorist that had recently arrived to New York City and is now on the loose, while struggling with their lives in hiding as wanted fugitives while also dealing with the absence of their leader Billy Butcher. Meanwhile, Homelander starts to feel his position and power as the Seven's leader threatened, when Vought's CEO Stan Edgar recruits a mysterious superhero to the team named Stormfront without his approval.

"The Big Ride" was released on the streaming service Amazon Prime Video on September 4, 2020. The episode received positive reviews from critics with praise for its direction, tone, writing, and the introduction of Stormfront, as well as Aya Cash' performance of the character. The "Never Truly Vanish" song was also singled out of praise, receiving a Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics.

Plot[edit]

During a meeting discussing the incorporation of the Supes to the military, Vought's CEO Stan Edgar discusses with US Secretary Robert Singer the agreements of the deal and the worst-case scenarios that would eventuate in case of casualties. Meanwhile, in Syria, Black Noir kills the Supe terrorist Naquib after the latter killed a SEAL team with his powers.[a]

In New York City, a funeral for Translucent being held by Homelander who invents a story that he was killed by a Supe terrorist named El Diablo and assuring that he will be avenged, as a way to cover up the his real cause of death. Annie January has been secretely aiding Hughie Campbell as a spy and under the ratar, as the latter alongside the remaining Boys currently conformed by Mother's Milk, Frenchie, and Kimiko, are wanted fugitives hiding in the basement of a store led by Frenchie's associates, while Billy Butcher who has been framed for Madelyn Stillwell's murder is nowhere to be found,[b] with MM as the current leader. Hughie and Annie meet at the subway where the former tells her about a Supe named Gecko as the target for a secret mission and Annie need to track him down. Despite being a childhood friend from her time as Capes of Christ, Annie agrees to track him down and leaves. She finds him using his regenerative powers as a body broker to deal with a buyer his arm. Annie records him and uses the video to blackmail him with releasing the footage and exposing his S&M acts, unless he gets a sample of Compound-V during a supposed reunion at a dinner restaurant.

Meanwhile, the Deep who still struggles adjusting with his new life at Sandusky, Ohio after his forced "sabbatical",[c] becomes even more enraged after being cut from a photo with Translucent during the latter's funeral leading him to start terrorizing kids at a water park in a drunken state. He is arrested as a result, but is later bailed out by Eagle the Archer. The Deep wakes up at Eagle the Archer's home alongside a therapist named Carol, where they persuade the Deep into joining the Church of the Collective.

Homelander manages to get Vought's former publicist Ashley Barret re-hired as the new vice president to fill Stillwell place. She introduces Blindspot to Homelander as a new member of the Seven, but the latter bashes the former's ears and threatens Ashley reminding her that he will be the one who chooses who joins the Seven. However, during the filming of a commercial a new Supe known as Stornmfront announces herself as the newest member of the Seven much to Homelander dismay who repriminds Stan Edgar for not consulting him of the addition, but the latter accuses him of spreading the Compound-V to terrorists and tells hims that he is not the most important asset of the company.

One of Frenchie's associates returns wounded as one of the Supe terrorists they smuggled into the country escaped, where Hughie admits he has secretly meeeting Annie. The Boys meet CIA director Susan Reynor to inform her about the Supe Terrorist. Raynor believes that Vought International is behind the creation of Supe terrorists and suggests the possibility of a coup from the inside. However, before she can reveal more information Raynor is killed when her head explodes, forcing the Boys to escape as they suspect that Vought is responsible. Returning to the hideout, Butcher appears as Frenchie admits having called him much to Hughie dismay. Butcher approaches Hughie as the episode ends with the former replying the latter: “Don’t you worry, Daddy’s home.”

Production[edit]

Development[edit]

In July 2019, it was announced that the second season of The Boys was already in development during the San Diego Comic-Con a week before the series premiered.[1][2] The series showrunner and head writer Eric Kripke was already writing on the scripts for the season, having started to work on them during the 2018 United States elections in order to capture the topics and themes that it would be explored for the season accurately, which would be the white nationalism, white supremacy, systemic racism, and xenophobia.[3] In June 2020, it was announced that the episodes for the second season would be released in a weekly basis instead of dropping all of them in one day in order to make people discuss about the topics for a longer time.[4][5] The episode which is titled "The Big Ride" was written by Kripke and directed by Phil Sgriccia.[6] The episode is titled with the name of the Vol. 9 of the comic book series of the same name that covers the issues #48–51.[7]

Writing[edit]

The episode introduces a new character from the comics known as Stormfront as a new member of the Seven. However, the character was gender swapped for the television adaptation which diverges from the comics where the character is male, though both versions of the character remain keeping their ideologies.[8] Kripke revealed that he changed Stormfront's gender as a way to hurt the Seven's leader Homelander by becoming worst nightmare who could threaten his position and steal his spotlight as a strong woman who is not afraid of him in a way to make the latter's even more insecure of himself, something that the male version of the former's would not be able to accomplish enough.[9] Another reason of why Kripke made the change was in order over how people like her manage to spread messages through social media by apparenting to be attractive disrupters or free-thinkers who attrack a younger generation and slowly start to spread their ideas while the audience may not realize this immediately, thus also making Stormfront an expert over how ton handle social media thus making her a modern villain.[10]

Another major change from the comics for the television adaptation was the fate of CIA director Susan Raynor, which is the character with most similarities from the comics. In the comics the character remains having a sexual relationship with Billy Butcher wherever they meet despite actually she despising him, while her television counterpart is no longer in a relationship with the latter and moved on from it by the time the series take place.[11] While her comic counterpart is kept alive till the ending of the comics, her television counterpart is killed by a mysterious Supe killer known as the "Head Popper", as a way to introduce the mystery over the identity's of the latter as a secondary storyline in order to use it for further seasons of the series.[12][13]

Casting[edit]

The episode main cast includes Karl Urban as Billy Butcher, Jack Quaid as Hughie Campbell, Antony Starr as Homelander, Erin Moriarty as Annie January, Dominique McElligott as Queen Maeve, Jessie Usher as A-Train, Laz Alonso as Mother's Milk, Chace Crawford as The Deep, Tomer Capone as Frenchie, Karen Fukuhara as the Female, Nathan Mitchell as Black Noir, Colby Minifie as Ashley Barrett, and Aya Cash as Stormfront.[14][15] Also starring are Giancarlo Esposito as Stan Edgar, Jennifer Esposito as Susan Raynor, Shantel VanSanten as Becca Butcher, Langston Kerman as Eagle the Archer, Jessica Hecht as Carol Manheim, Abraham Lim as Skinny Man, Jordana Lajoie as Cherie, David W. Thompson as Gecko, Claudia Doumit as Victoria Neuman, Jim Beaver as Robert Singer, and Chris Hansen as Himself.[16]: 1:01:22–1:01:55 

Filming[edit]

The filming for the second season took place at the city of Toronto, while using several locations across the city in order to seek to capture the New York City where the series took place.[17] The opening scene where Translucent's funeral takes place was filmed at a theatre with LED-programmable panels known as the Lyric Theatre for the inside which is located at the Meridian Arts Centre, while the exterior of it was filmed in the outside of the North York Civic Centre. For the scene where the Boys meet Susan Raynor and the latter is killed, filming took place at the outside of the Victory Soya Mills Silos. The crew also filmed at the basement of a Gold Galore pawn shop located on Weston Road for the Boys current hiding place and headquarters, which would be a recurrent place for the rest of the second season. The scenes where the Deep was at the fictional Splash Zone Sandusky park and the Supe terrorist arrived at the city, where filmed at the Wet 'n' Wild Toronto Waterpark and the Don River area near the Keating channel.[18][19]

Visual effects[edit]

Visual effects for the episode were created by ILM, Rising Sun Pictures, Rocket Science VFX, Rodeo FX, Ollin VFX, Soho VFX, Rhythm & Hues, Method Studios, and Studio 8.[20][16]: 1:02:30–1:02:33  It was confirmed that the visual effects supervisor Stephan Fleet would be returning to oversee the development of the visual effects after doing that in the previous season.[21] The scene where Raynor's head explodes was created through a practical explosion which was later recreated digitally by Rocket Science VFX, while also seeking to capture the comical element for the scene.[22]

Music[edit]

The episode features the following songs which are "Sympathy for the Devil" by The Rolling Stones, "Never Truly Vanish" by Erin Moriarty, and "Pressure" by Billy Joel.[23]

Release[edit]

"The Big Ride" premiered on Prime Video in the United States on September 4, 2020.[24][25] It was released as one of the first three episodes of the season with the other two being released on the same date.[26] The episode, along with the rest of The Boys' second season, was released on Blu-ray on May 31, 2022.[27]

Reception[edit]

"The Big Ride" received positive reviews from critics. David Griffin from IGN rated the first three episodes with 9 out of 10 and stated that the episode started with even more of the irreverent, gratuitous, and stylized drama that made us the audience fall in love with the first season. He also praised the character development and the performances of Cash and Esposito.[28] Brian Tallerico from Vulture rated the episode with 4 stars out of 5, praising it for its tone and ambition for which he commented that "the start of the Amazon Prime series’ sophomore outing feels even more certain about its tone and narrative ambition, serving the dual purposes of resolving hanging plot threads from last season while knitting a few new ones at the same time. The season premiere introduces new cast members without losing focus of what worked about the first year, and just about all of it bodes well for where the next seven episodes could be going".[29] For a review of The A.V. Club, Roxana Hadadi stated that the episode manages to define the skepticism and distrust of the series source material with corporate, military, and bureaucratic interests that increased by merging to entertain, distract, and subdue the audience with superheroes. She considered that the series themes such as the capitalist and religious ones embodies much of the current time such as Ennis's original comics represented the immediate-post-9/11 era.[30]

While writing a recap for the Entertainment Weekly, Nick Schager described that the superheroes of the show "are fame-seeking fascists, murderers, junkies, and deviants with more psychosexual hang-ups than you can count on both hands, and they're back for further world-takeover mayhem for the second season of the Amazon hit series". He also stated that for the season it expects for the Boys for a more vengeful action against the Seven now with the knowledge of the latter origins, but hoping that it would be more intense as the Boys are now "Public Enemy No. 1".[31] Liz Shannon Miller stated for the Collider that the episode feels like a "direct sequel" from the previous season, which she considered to be the right move as there are several loose threads that remain unresolved following the first season's finale. She also praised the production design particularly the set decoration to which she considered to be one of the highlights of the episode.[32] Rating the episode with 4 out of 5 stars, Richard Edwards from TechRadar considered that the episode struggles with putting its narrative back on track again, but considers that "the episode rarely flags, with shock moments (they don’t come bigger than an exploding head) punctuated by some major revelations about the wider world of The Boys".[33]

Accolades[edit]

Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result Ref(s)
Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards 2021 Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics "Never Truly Vanish" – Christopher Lennertz and Michael Saltzman Nominated [34]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ As depicted in "The Self-Preservation Society".
  2. ^ As depicted in "You Found Me".
  3. ^ As depicted in "The Innocents".

References[edit]

  1. ^ Petski, Denise (July 19, 2019). "The Boys Renewed for Season 2 By Amazon; Aya Cash Closes Deal as Stormfront". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved July 19, 2019.
  2. ^ Otterson, Joe (2019-07-19). "'The Boys' Lands Early Season 2 Renewal at Amazon". Variety. Retrieved 2023-12-15.
  3. ^ "INTERVIEW: Eric Kripke spills details on THE BOYS season two!". The Beat. August 17, 2020. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
  4. ^ Miller, Liz Shannon (2020-06-26). "The Boys Season 2 Release Date Announced, Will Go Weekly". Collider. Retrieved 2023-12-30.
  5. ^ "The Boys boss wanted to avoid "sugar rush of a binge" with season 2's weekly release schedule". Digital Spy. 2020-09-10. Retrieved 2023-12-30.
  6. ^ "The Boys (2019-2023)". Writers Guild of America West. Archived from the original on July 28, 2019. Retrieved June 28, 2023.
  7. ^ "The Boys, Volume 9: The Big Ride book by Garth Ennis". ThriftBooks. Retrieved 2023-12-30.
  8. ^ Petski, Denise (2019-07-12). "'The Boys': Aya Cash In Talks For Stormfront Role In Likely Season 2 Of Amazon Series". Deadline. Retrieved 2024-01-05.
  9. ^ "The Boys boss say Stormfront was gender-swapped to explore new hate groups". Digital Spy. 2020-08-07. Retrieved 2024-01-05.
  10. ^ Abdulbaki, Mae (2020-09-01). "The Boys Season 2 Didn't Just Gender Swap Its Season 2 Antagonist, As Eric Kripke Reveals Other Changes". CinemaBlend. Retrieved 2024-01-05.
  11. ^ "The Boys Season 2: Show Characters Compared With The Comics". GameSpot. Retrieved 2024-01-05.
  12. ^ Valentine, Evan. "The Boys Season Two Twist Foreshadowed In Premiere Episode". ComicBook. Retrieved 2024-01-05.
  13. ^ Elvy, Craig (2021-05-14). "The Boys: How The Season 2 Premiere Set Up The Head Popper Twist". ScreenRant. Retrieved 2024-01-05.
  14. ^ Elvy, Craig (2020-08-30). "The Boys: Season 2 New & Returning Cast Guide". ScreenRant. Retrieved 2023-12-30.
  15. ^ Sneider, Jeff (2019-07-19). "'The Boys' Renewed for Season 2 as Aya Cash Joins Amazon's Superhero Show". Collider. Retrieved 2023-12-30.
  16. ^ a b Kripke, Eric (September 4, 2020). "The Big Ride". The Boys. Season 2. Episode 1. Amazon Prime Video. End credits beg..in at 1:00:57.
  17. ^ Scarnato, Ryden Scarnato (2019-10-17). "New Superhero For The Seven Spotted In 'The Boys' Season 2 Set Photos". Heroic Hollywood. Retrieved 2023-12-30.
  18. ^ "Where was The Boys Filmed? Guide to ALL the Filming Locations". Atlas of Wonders. Retrieved 2023-07-01.
  19. ^ Life, Toronto (2020-10-14). "Every Toronto location that shows up in the second season of Amazon's The Boys". Toronto Life. Retrieved 2024-01-07.
  20. ^ Frei, Vincent (August 5, 2020). "THE BOYS – Season 2". Art of VFX. Retrieved December 30, 2023.
  21. ^ Frei, Vincent (2019-11-04). "The Boys – Season 2: Stephan Fleet – Overall VFX Supervisor – Amazon Studios". The Art of VFX. Retrieved 2023-12-30.
  22. ^ Frei, Vincent (November 4, 2020). "The Boys – Season 2: Stephan Fleet – Overall VFX Supervisor – Amazon Studios". Art of VFX. Retrieved January 7, 2024.
  23. ^ Milner, Sarah Bea (2020-09-05). "The Boys Soundtrack: Every Song In Season 2". ScreenRant. Retrieved 2023-12-30.
  24. ^ Mithaiwala, Mansoor (2020-08-31). "What TIME The Boys Season 2 Premieres On Amazon Prime". ScreenRant. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
  25. ^ Fullerton, Huw. "The Boys Amazon season 2 release schedule: When are new episodes released?". Radio Times. Retrieved 2024-01-02.
  26. ^ Burton, Bonnie (2019-08-15). "The Boys season 2: New trailer, cast, plot and release date". CNET. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
  27. ^ Zogbi, Emily (2022-04-05). "The Boys Seasons 1 and 2 Get Blu-ray Release With Deleted and Extended Scenes". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
  28. ^ Griffin, David (2020-08-24). "The Boys: Season 2 Premiere Review". IGN. Retrieved 2024-04-13.
  29. ^ Tallerico, Brian (2020-09-04). "The Boys Season-Premiere Recap: Storm Clouds". Vulture. Archived from the original on 2020-09-27. Retrieved 2024-04-13.
  30. ^ Hadadi, Roxana (2020-09-04). "The Boys returns with new villains and the same sneering disdain". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 2024-04-13.
  31. ^ Schager, Nick (2024-09-04). "'The Boys' premiere recap: The boys are back in disarray". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2024-04-13.
  32. ^ Miller, Liz Shannon (2020-09-04). "The Boys Season 2, Episode 1 Recap: Season Premiere, Explained". Collider. Retrieved 2024-04-13.
  33. ^ Edwards, Richard (2020-09-05). "The Boys season 2 episode 1 recap: the superhero drama picks up exactly where it left off". TechRadar. Retrieved 2024-04-13.
  34. ^ Hipes, Patrick (July 13, 2021). "Emmy Nominations: 'The Crown', 'The Mandalorian' Top List; HBO/HBO Max Edges Netflix For Top Spot – Full List Of Nominees". Deadline. Archived from the original on July 13, 2021. Retrieved July 13, 2021.

External links[edit]

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