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Sakamoto Days Episode 22 Review: Bloodshed Ends, New Missions Begin

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And finally the JCC exams comes to an end in Sakamoto Days. But only because the administrators are exhausted by the bloodshed and can’t afford any more losses. Only a handful make the final cut, which means Shin and Sakamoto can now shift their focus to the real mission: infiltrating the JCC to gather clues on Slur.

Also Read: Sakamoto Days Episode 21 Review

Titled “Each One’s Mission”, episode 22 of ‘Sakamoto Days’ begins with Shinaya finally coming to his senses after taking a beating from protagonist Sakamoto. Remember, he had been remote-controlled by Gaku until the connection was broken.

Gaku’s motive was to scout new recruits for Slur’s criminal organization, and while he seemed bent on slaughtering every student in the JCC exam, in a surprising twist, he does choose two candidates to bring over to the dark side.

While the last few episodes stayed locked into the exam mayhem, this chapter finally gives us a peek at what ORDER members Nagumo, Osaragi, and Shishiba are up to. The trio are handed new missions by their organization, though the nefarious Slur remains at the center of their pursuit.

Exams wrapped? Check. Bloodshed paused? Sort of. So this edition isn’t as action-packed or blood laden as the before. But since it gives a glimpse into what almost every major character is up to, things get over in a blink.

Sakamoto and Shin return to the convenience store before the school session starts, so viewers get to the see the whole gang together after a long time: Sakamoto with wife, kid, Shin, Lu, and Heisuke. The school buzz is real, although an unexpected piece of news hits Sakamoto, complicating their plans for the JCC.

There are at least two fun twists in the edition, one of which is incredibly hilarious and over the top, but don’t worry, no spoilers here. The closing minutes turn to Assassin Academy, where survival itself is the first lesson, and graduation is far from guaranteed.

Watch ‘Sakamoto Days’ on Netflix.

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Alienated #6 Review: A ‘Save The World’ Climax

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Plot overview of ‘Alienated’: Earth is deluged with the bodies of dead aliens, but one family finds a survivor and attempts to understand what happened to his species.

Wow, okay, I wasn’t expecting such a dark climax to this weird, weird, sci-fi comic-book series by Taki Soma and John Broglia. Although the ‘save the world’ twist was not surprising.

Issue #6 of ‘Alienated’ opens at the Pentagon, where two staffers discuss a strange development: human corpses have stopped decomposing ever since alien bodies began appearing across the globe. Meanwhile, with TJ and the kids, the lone surviving alien echoes the same observation, a sign that Earth itself has changed in ways that may not bode well for humanity.

While Frank, the old man from TJ’s retirement community, presses on with his mission to expose the surviving alien, the main group focuses on finding a way to prevent humanity from meeting the same fate as the aliens. The plan they devise carries a heavy, unforeseen cost. Frank steps up to execute a high risk plan, but his grandchildren Lily and Winter aren’t ready to let their gramps play hero by himself.

There’s an odd scene in this issue where Winter delivers a romantic monologue to his crush from behind the wheel of his car, leaving the latter visibly baffled. The moment feels out of place, almost comical, and makes little sense, until the final twist clicks it into place.

In just 24 pages, the creators deliver a whirlwind finale for ‘Alienated’, which feels a wee bit underwhelming, but considering the choppy pace of the tale so far… it’s a decent climax. And the artwork remains consistently engaging throughout.

I would only recommend this if you’re in the mood for some quick, low-stakes sci-fi comic-book series, with colorful, cartoon-y artwork.

Rating: 3 on 5. Alienated is also on Kindle Unlimited.

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Secret Lover Review: Wang Jyun Hao Is ‘Kawaii’ in Manga-Inspired Romance

Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)

Taiwanese series ‘Secret Lover’ is for fans of ‘friends to lovers’ trope, where the leads comically rely on ‘rock, paper, scissors’ to make most of their decisions. But well, it’s based on a manga series by Komeoka Shigu, so exaggerations are to be expected.

Directed by Chiang Ping Chen (‘See Your Love’, ‘Plus & Minus’), the ten-episode series follows childhood friends Lu Jun Xi (Wang Jyun Hao) and Han Tuo (Chance) as they navigate the challenges of steering their platonic bond into the trickier waters of romance.

Forget slow-burn, ‘Secret Lover’ dives straight in with episode 1’s surprise kiss between Jun Xi and Han Tuo at the movies. Jun Xi is left questioning how things escalated, especially since he’d only been taking Han Tuo’s “flirting tips” to impress his crush Lin Xiao Yang (Lin Yen Tzu). But Han Tuo’s real agenda quickly becomes clear: he wants Jun Xi for himself, and Yang doesn’t stand a chance. Although he also faces some competition from gamer-girl He You Mei (Julie Yuan), who likes Jun Xi.

Set against the final year of University life, by episode two, ‘Secret Lover’ already rushes the leads into a secret romance, something most series would drag out over 10 chapters. From there, the story turns on Han Tuo’s problematic mix of jealousy and insecurity, and Jun Xi’s awkward attempts to survive a relationship that’s moving faster than he can handle. At times, it feels like Han Tuo is steamrolling Jun Xi into the relationship, but Han Tuo gets lucky: Jun Xi’s feelings are genuine.

The central conflict in the story revolves around Jun Xi’s insistence on keeping their relationship a secret. This “secret lover” situation often frustrates Han Tuo, who longs to go public with their romance. Adding to the tension, new friend You Mei stirs the pot in a few mildly comical scenes, warning that nothing good ever comes from couples hiding their love. The couple’s struggles deepen when separate, grueling internships leave them with little time together.

Honestly, I stuck with ‘Secret Lover’ until the end because Wang Jyun Hao is ridiculously cute as Jun Xi. His sunny, cheery personality makes him feel like an affectionate little Shih Tzu: playful, warm, and hard not to love. Chance, meanwhile, is a mixed bag as the more reserved Han Tuo. The character is flat and one-dimensional, leaving you unsure if the problem is the writing or Chance’s limited range. Even so, the second half proves he can rise to the occasion, with a handful of emotional scenes where his performance lands.

Lin Yen Tzu is endearing as Xiao Yang, the lead couple’s childhood friend in ‘Secret Lover’. Rather than being reduced to a clichéd third wheel or a vampy antagonist, she is a reliable, supportive presence, who cheers them on quietly. The show also weaves in childhood flashbacks of the trio, showing how Jun Xi always stood by Han Tuo during the painful aftermath of his mother abandoning him after his parents get a divorce. This also serves as an interesting contrast between their families, while Jun Xi has loving parents, Han Tuo has a fraught relationship with his workaholic father.

Overall, ‘Secret Lover’ is a standard friends-to-lovers romance that could’ve been far more entertaining with a lighter, more comedic tone. Instead, the series leans into drama and angst. A few tweaks, sharper writing for laughs and a more upbeat soundtrack, might have transformed it. Think ‘My Love Mix-Up’ or ‘Cherry Magic’, especially since this too is adapted from a Japanese manga.

‘Secret Lover’ is available on YouTube, iQIYI and WeTV.

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‘The Summer Hikaru Died’ Episode 11 Review: Indo’s Sin Uncovered

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“Hikaru… was like the main character of a manga. He could talk to anybody…”

Yoshiki goes down the memory lane in ‘The Summer Hikaru Died’, recalling how the human Hikaru different from the entity inhabiting his body now. Interestingly, these flashbacks are prompted by the entity’s question about whether Yoshiki misses the “real Hikaru.”

Quick Recap of The Summer Hikaru Died’ Episode 10

Determined to keep digging into the mysterious Nonuki-sama legend, Yoshiki and Hikaru visit the village temple, which turns out to be a chilling shrine lined with wooden heads. As Hikaru’s locked-away memories resurface, he reveals the village’s grisly past of sacrificing human heads to appease a deity and ward off disasters like famine or crop failure. “This place is a freaking murder village?” – that’s Yoshiki’s blunt summary of the dark secret.

Titled “Indo’s Sin,” episode 11 of The Summer Hikaru Died finally reveals the extent of Hikaru Indo’s family’s connection to the curse plaguing Kubitachi village. After pressing his father, a former close friend of Hikaru’s late father, Yoshiki learns of a sinister tradition passed down through the Indo family for generations.

It was old man Takeda who in episode 9 of ‘The Summer Hikaru Died’ violently reprimanded the boys for being ignorant about Indo’s history. But learning more about the Nonuki-sama or the ‘Indo’s Sin’, does little to solve Yoshiki’s existential crisis and confusion over what he should do about the bizarre situation he is in.

This ‘Summer Hikaru Died’ chapter brims with revelations, unsettling events, and raw emotion, but for once, it isn’t Yoshiki falling apart. Instead, it is Hikaru who is overwhelmed with his inner chaos, torn between his alien nature and human attachments, grappling with his connection to Yoshiki and his strange desire for a place to call ‘home’.

Perhaps the most surprising element of this chapter is Hikaru turning to the matronly Rie for advice. Until now, his serious interactions were limited to Yoshiki, with the rest of his time spent goofing off with classmates. But his exchange with Rie highlights how unnervingly human he seems, even if tinged with immaturity. And seeing someone other than Yoshiki respond to him with genuine concern underscores that it isn’t just Yoshiki clinging to his dead best friend, this entity has a hold of its own on people.

With only one more episode of ‘The Summer Hikaru Died’ left this season, I’m as unwilling to let go of Hikaru as Yoshiki is. The animation could certainly be sharper, with backgrounds that often lack detail. Yet the sheer intensity of the story, blending emotion and the supernatural, keeps the anime gritty, engaging, and riveting at every turn.

Watch ‘The Summer Hikaru Died’ on Netflix.

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Katabasis Review: Takes 2 to Make Hell Boring

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)

R. F. Kuang’s ‘Katabasis’ severely underestimates the number of people who’d be willing to go to hell if all it took was giving up half their lifespan, especially if the trip meant saving somebody who’d guarantee them a job. The novel’s plot is on point for the 2020s: two desperate Cambridge post-grad scholars studying ‘Magick’, journey to the underworld to retrieve their brilliant but dead thesis advisor, as they think he is their only ticket to a bright academic future. The premise is darkly comical. But the execution is very very questionable.

By the end of the first chapter of ‘Katabasis’, which is just 16 pages long, Alice the protagonist was already sounding a like Rin re-hashed, the heroine from R.F Kuang’s ‘Poppy War’ trilogy. Alice says something about how she’d sacrifice her first-born for a job, which is such an odd thing to say, since she is single, unmarried and nowhere near having a baby, and because Rin from Poppy War has her uterus removed so it wouldn’t distract her from her ‘warrior goals’.

In-fact, even Peter, the secondary protagonist, sounded like a mash of Kitay and Nezha, a solid nerd and a charmer. Peter is positioned as Alice’s rival, even though they have a love-hate relationship, much like Rin and Nezha. I hoped these differences would start to fade over the course of the novel, but Alice remains a slightly rehashed version of Rin through the course of the novel, without the crazy supernatural powers.

What R. F. Kuang does in ‘Katabasis’ is take all sorts of accounts of hell from around the world, from Italian philosopher Dante’s texts to Chinese mythology, and gives us a weirdly boring underworld, which appears as a Cambridge campus to Alice and Peter. ‘Hell is a campus’. Of course. At first, the concept sounded interesting, that hell appears to people as whatever they’re most comfortable with, so that their transition from life to death is easier. However, it’s ridiculously annoying that Alice and Peter would constantly run into academics like them.

I get that this is dark academia, but does that mean 80% of the novel has to read like the author is constantly quoting philosophers? Alice and Peter are supposed to be searching for Professor Grimes, their strict, brilliant, manipulative mentor. And after some bickering, they decide to trek through the eight courts of hell to find his soul and bargain with Yama, Hades, or whoever’s in charge down there, to bring Grimes back.

The first court they enter (Pride) turns out to be a library, which feels like a blatant attempt to woo readers with bookish imagery. When the protagonists run into trouble, they’re granted refuge on a boat on the legendary River Styx by a young shade, who just so happens to be a Cambridge alumnus. Later, one of the courts is a city where souls spend eternity writing theses to justify their vile acts.

In Katabasis, the dark academia theme is stretched thin, with an overreliance on everything scholarly. At this point, it’s almost surprising the final boss of Hell isn’t Professor Charles Xavier or J.R.R. Tolkien himself (he was a professor at Oxford). You know, just stretch the academia blanket all the way.

The First Court is a fancy library with statues, perhaps something like this (Representational Image)

‘Katabasis’ was more entertaining in flashbacks, when it would show readers what life was like at the Cambridge campus for Alice, especially in the first year. And that’s not a compliment, because why is hell more blander than campus life? The heart of Alice’s arc lies in her toxic bond with Professor Grimes, a mentor whose brilliance is paired with cruelty. He’s manipulative, controlling, and takes pleasure in cutting his students down, yet Alice excuses it all, as if intellectual genius gives him the license to be abusive. But is he even a genius? We learn the truth over the course of the novel.

Alice’s journey to hell is an elaborate metaphor for how academia is worse than literal hell, which author R.F. Kuang demonstrates well through the pages of ‘Katabasis’. Clearly Cambridge is so awful, a trip to hell seems worth it. But this novel should’ve been half its length and definitely needed to be a lot more imaginative.

The climactic events of ‘Katabasis’ give Alice a far too convenient solution to her problems, it’s almost romantic, maybe even ‘cute’. That’s really not what I had signed up for when I ordered my copy.

Rating for ‘Katabasis’: 2 on 5 stars.

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4 ‘Bads of Bollywood’ Cameos That Were Fun & 4 That Weren’t

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Netflix series ‘Bads of Bollywood‘ starring Lakshya, Bobby Deol and Sahher Bambba, leans hard on cameos to keep audiences hooked, so hard, in fact, that by the second half, the parade of stars starts to feel exhausting. Still, a few appearances are genuinely fun and add zing to Aryan Khan’s directorial debut. Here’s a breakdown: the cameos that worked, and the ones that were forgettable (or flat-out unnecessary).

First, let’s look at the fun ones!

4. Shah Rukh Khan

In any other show, a Shah Rukh Khan cameo would top the list. But in ‘Bads of Bollywood‘, his son’s directorial debut, it was expected, teased in the trailer, and thus lands at #5. Still, King is King, and his presence remains a thrill. He hosts an awards show and gets called ‘ghantey ka badshah’ by another character.

3. Rajkummar Rao

Rao pops up in an awards-night episode, one overloaded with red-carpet cameos. Yet in just a few seconds, he delivers a comical, grounded bit that feels more genuine than others, a reminder of why he’s truly a class apart.

2. Arshad Warsi

Warsi’s role as Gafoor Bhai, a flamboyant underworld don, sits somewhere between cameo and supporting character. His pomp-filled entry will make some viewers think that Sanjay Dutt is going to come on-screen, but hey, if not Munna Bhai, Circuit hi sahi!

1. Emraan Hashmi

The biggest surprise cameo in ‘Bads of Bollywood‘ belongs to Hashmi, who plays himself in episode 3. Hired as an intimacy coach for the lead pair, his meta role gets even better when Raghav Juyal’s character Parvaiz, a die-hard Hashmi fan in the series, serenades him with “Kaho Na Kaho” from Murder. It’s as hilarious as SRK’s Omi gawking at Shanti in ‘Om Shanti Om‘.

Cameos That Fell Flat in ‘Bads of Bollywood‘

Not all-star appearances hit the mark. These cameos added little to the plot and felt more like eye-candy for Netflix promos or as simple show of strength.

1. Salman Khan

A blink-and-miss moment where Salman attends a party as himself, calls it “bullshit,” then flips to, “Great party!” That’s all. Forgettable. Unnecessary. He was just there for die-hard fans of the actor to have something to look forward to in ‘Bads of Bollywood’.

2. SS Rajamouli & Aamir Khan

The Baahubali director S. S. Rajamouli and Aamir Khan have a brief and mildly funny exchange about idli vs. vada pav, but mostly there to flex star power. Aasmaan stares at them from afar thinking the cinema greats must be discussing something profound… nope.

3. Ranbir Kapoor

Seen briefly in a Karan Johar’s office in one of the later episodes, Ranbir looks exhausted and out of place in the show. His cameo neither adds to ‘Bads of Bollywood‘ nor feels necessary. We’re not counting Karan Johar’s appearance in the show as a cameo, because he has a pretty pivotal role in the story, even though his part isn’t long.

4. The Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives Cast

This one feels like a shameless cross-promo for the Netflix reality series. Neelam Kothari, Maheep Kapoor, Bhavna Pandey, and Shalini Passi, all of them appear in the Awards Night segment, and it would’ve been more fun to see some other Bollywood stars. But okay, Netflix had to plug in its show.

Obviously there were tonnes of other actors and celebrities that appear through the show, and Bads of Bollywood could’ve used cameos more sparingly. When they work (Emraan Hashmi, Arshad Warsi), they elevate the humor and meta vibe.

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Kraken Mare – Short Film Review

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Err…. ‘Kraken Mare’ is a short film that felt like a cryptic long trailer of a larger movie.

Written and directed by Francisco Garcia Mateos, the sci-fi story unfolds in a dystopian future on Titan, a moon of Saturn, set 32 years after what’s ominously called “The Fall.” The plot follows a group of rebels planning something, though what exactly is only revealed in the final minute.

At about 13 minutes long, ‘Kraken Mare’ offers intriguing world-building and some sleek, visually captivating graphics. But the characters are flat, the storytelling feels choppy, and the overall experience rarely manages to stoke any excitement in the viewer.

Christina Kasumba plays Princess Dorku, easily the film’s most visually striking presence. Draped in a golden crown, a shimmering mask, and wielding a sleek staff, she looks every bit a goddess. Unfortunately, the role adds little to the story, aside from a few lines asserting the fairness of her regime, even as others view her rule as tyrannical.

The rebels in ‘ Kraken Mare’ barely register, reduced to skulking through corridors and fiddling in a control room. The so-called twist in the final minute lands with a thud. Maybe this film needed a few more minutes to make a better impact and a sharper set of actors.

‘Karaken Mare’ is available on YouTube.

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Dan Da Dan Season 2 Episode 12 Review: The Joy (and Pain) of Mecha Battle

Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)

The ‘Teens versus Kaiju’ battle continues in Dan Da Dan!

Except this time, they’re all trapped inside a giant Transformer-style robot shaped like the Buddha, and nobody has a clue how to steer it.

Quick recap of Dan Da Dan Season 2 Episode 11: Momo, Okarun, and Aira try to fight the Kaiju that appears out of nowhere, while Jiji takes Kinta to safety. Unfortunately, a sweaty Kinta awakens Evil Eye within Jiji, and the Evil Eye comically starts looking for Okarun, convinced it’s their day to battle. With no progress in their fight against the giant monster, the kids retreat to Granny Seiko’s house to strategize. That’s when Okarun suggests transforming the alien-tech nanoblock house (the blocks can change into anything one imagines) into a weapon to fight the Kaiju, and nerdy Kinta takes it one step further, turning the house into a massive mecha.

Titled ‘Clash! Space Kaiju vs. Giant Robot’, Episode 12 of ‘Dan Da Dan‘ Season 2 hilariously opens with the teens screaming inside the robot, fumbling to figure out how to square off against the Kaiju. ‘Let’s just push any button,’ is their brilliant game-plan. Honestly, it’s not that bad an idea, but the actual result is comically far from what the teens were hoping for.

Even though this anime is meant to be an over-the-top, whimsical supernatural ride that often makes little sense, I love the realistic touch of the protagonists struggling to use their awesome-looking mecha right away to beat the hell out of their enemy. So the first few minutes are absolutely madcap.

Of-course, Momo and gang eventually find a way to battle it out, so like the title suggests, this edition of ‘Dan Da Dan’ focuses on the tense battle between the protagonists and the alien-monster. Kinta’s over the moon about living every kid’s fantasy of piloting a giant robot, though honestly, the chapter indulges him a little too much. With six other wildly amusing characters already in the mix (counting granny Seiko and kitty turbo granny, who’re visibly missing in this segment), do we really need so much of Kinta? Not really. Anyway…

Thankfully, Aira and Momo take charge in the second half of the episode, devising a new plan to decimate the Kaiju without relying entirely on their nanoblock weapon. Needless to say, I laughed hardest when Aira snaps at Kinta to “shut up” and then mid-battle demands, “who the hell are you?!”

While the Buddha-mecha’s motion is occasionally awkward, the animation overall is vibrant and entertaining, keeping the episode’s energy intact. The Dan Da Dan animators once again lean on a neon-green and yellow palette, keeping the visuals in sync with the current chapter’s sci-fi elements.

The climactic minutes almost bring the Space Kaiju chapter to an end, ending the saga with a crazy twist that comes as a huge blow to Momo Ayase, but will leave fans laughing their heads off. It’s a riotous cliffhanger!

Stream Dan Da Dan on Netflix or Crunchyroll.

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The Ba***ds of Bollywood Review: Kuch Kuch Meta Hai… and Cameo Ka Mela

Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram) Click for audio version

If Tom Cruise can do his own stunts in ‘Mission Impossible’, so can Asmaan Singh in ‘Ba***ds of Bollywood’.

Written and directed by Aryan Khan, the seven-episode Netflix series promises a fun, parodied peek into Bollywood’s “outsider vs. insider” divide. With starry cameos that feel straight out of the “Deewangi Deewangi” song from Shah Rukh Khan’s 2007 Om Shanti Om, endless cinema callbacks, and old hit songs sprinkled throughout, the show initially plays like a satire. But soon the script starts veering into a tale of toxic helicopter parenting, ending with a climactic twist that’s equal parts surprising and WTF-level underwhelming.

Lakshya plays Aasmaan Singh, making a killer entry in an action shoot where he catches bullets with his teeth, Rajinikanth style. Fresh off a hit debut, he’s set to star in a Karan Johar (playing himself) film opposite nepo baby Karishma (Sahher Bambba). In a meta twist, the two meet at a newcomers’ roundtable, where a spoof of the viral Siddhant Chaturvedi–Ananya Panday “nepo baby” exchange unfolds. Karishma’s legendary father, veteran actor Ajay Talvar (Bobby Deol), is dead set against her debuting alongside a newcomer like Asmaan, so he goes to bizarre lengths to sabotage Asmaan’s career.

The first four episodes of ‘The Ba***ds of Bollywood’ are quite entertaining, some of which is generated by the thuggish friendship between Aasmaan and his tapori dost Parvaiz (Raghav Juyal). Vijayant Kohli and Mona Singh plays Asmaan’s doting parents, while Manoj Pahwa is endearingly fun as Aasmaan’s chachu, a struggling singer.

Manish Chaudhari plays minor antagonist Freddy Sodawallah, a powerful studio head who locks Aasmaan into a three-film exclusive deal, trouble brews when Dharma Productions comes knocking with an offer from Karan Johar. The meta-joke writes itself: in real life, Lakshya himself signed a three-movie deal with Dharma at the start of his Bollywood career.

The show lampoons everything from glitzy parties and drug scandals to paparazzi and loud TV reporters, a lot of which is chuckle-worthy. But in the last three episodes, it shifts gears into familiar Bollywood territory. Strip away the big-ticket cameos, which honestly start to feel tiresome in the second half, and ‘The Ba***ds of Bollywood’ boils down to the same old formula: a powerful dad trying to keep his daughter away from aspiring Romeo with zero assets and one hit film.

That said, some of the cameos are genuinely hilarious, especially the ones not spoiled in the trailer, so if you plan on watching ‘The Ba***ds of Bollywood’, I won’t give them away here. The background score works largely because it leans on nostalgia, for instance the ‘Baadshah’ track cues Shah Rukh Khan’s cameo entry, and Bobby Deol’s hit ‘Duniya Haseeno Ka Mela‘ plays more than once. Among the original songs, Anirudh Ravichander and Arijit Singh’s Badli Si Hawa Hai stands out as a groovy, memorable dance number.

The blossoming romance (or the lack of it) between Aasmaan and Karishma is easily the weakest part of ‘The Ba***ds of Bollywood’. We hardly see them together, and when we do, there’s zero “ride-or-die” chemistry. Parvaiz nails it in the climax, calling them a “ch**tiya couple”, and honestly, you’ll laugh, because it’s not just funny, it’s accurate. The finale tries to justify why their love story was kept so lukewarm, but instead of being clever, it just exposes how timid the writing really is. Aryan Khan clearly wasn’t ready to push the envelope, so he played it very, very safe.

Viewers might find themselves echoing Karan Johar’s line from the series: “I am entertained, but not enough.” The Ba***ds of Bollywood* could’ve been sharper if it had been trimmed down to a film or a five-episode run. Regardless, for those who love masala action flicks, this might be worth a one time watch.

Rating: 6 on 10. Watch ‘The Ba***ds of Bollywood’ on Netflix.

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Gen V Season Two Episodes 1-3 Review: Supes, Secrets, and Slaughter

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.

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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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