The Self-Preservation Society

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"The Self-Preservation Society"
The Boys episode
Episode no.Season 1
Episode 7
Directed byDan Attias
Written byCraig Rosenberg
Ellie Monahan
Produced byHartley Gorenstein
Featured music
Cinematography byDylan Macleod
Editing byCedric Nairn-Smith
Original release dateJuly 26, 2019 (2019-07-26)
Running time56 minutes
Guest appearances
Episode chronology
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"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.

The episode follows the Seven as they finally learn about the existence of the Boys, leading to Homelander to accuse Annie January of conspiring against them due to her relationship with Hughie Campbell. Recognizing one of them as Becca's husband Billy Butcher, Homelander decides to investigate about Becca whereabouts after he raped her and learns something that was apparently impossible. Meanwhile, the consequences of the relationship with Hughie and Annie finally start to have consequences, as the Boys become exposed and are forced to send their relatives to safety, while Annie starts to struggle with the truth after she discovers Hughie's true allegiance.

"The Self-Preservation Society" was released on the streaming service Amazon Prime Video on July 26, 2019. The episode received critical acclaim from critics with praise for the performances, writing, character development, pacing, and the exploration of Homelander's backstory.

Plot

In a flashback to eight years earlier, Billy Butcher and his wife Becca are at Vought's Christmas party where Billy met Homelander for the first time. Sometime later after Becca's disappearance, Butcher is approached by CIA director Grace Mallory, who shows him footage of Becca after she was raped by Homelander. Mallory recruits Butcher, offering revenge against Vought and the Supes, which results in the foundation of the Boys. In the present, Butcher observes as Hughie Campbell and Annie January meet at the hotel, where they proceed to have sex. In the aftermath, Starlight asks Hughie why he did not take her to his place, and he admits to feeling ashamed of the idea of her meeting his father and quitting his job after Robin died.[a]

Queen Maeve—to discuss the situation regarding The Deep and Translucent. Homelander displays a photo of Hughie and declares that he is the one who killed Translucent, and blackmailed Popclaw and Ezekiel.[b] A-Train finally recognizes him, when Homelander zooms the image out to show Hughie shaking hands with A-Train the day he signed the settlement. Annie tries to defend Hughie, assuring the Seven that he is not responsible, but Homelander starts to blame Annie for their planned downfall and helping the Boys due to her relationship with Hughie; however, Maeve defends her, assuring Homelander that she will take responsibility for Annie's actions, calming him. The Deep arrives at his new apartment at Sandusky, Ohio, after being forced into going for a "sabbatical",[c]
where he is sexually assaulted by a fan, who inserts her fingers into his gills.

Meanwhile, Hughie admits he no longer wants to continue with the Boys, feeling that what they are doing is wrong, but Butcher confronts him over changing his mind for Annie. However, Hughie receives a call from A-Train who has taken Hughie's father hostage. The Boys realize they have been found out, for which Billy blames Annie, but Mother's Milk convinces him that she could not have done it since she had never seen him or the rest of the Boys, leading Billy to realize that Mesmer sold them out.[c] MM returns home to convince his wife and daughter to evacuate their home, while Hughie returns to his home to confront A-Train, convincing him to let his father go in exchange for Compound-V. The Female, who came with Hughie, surprises A-Train and breaks his leg with a crowbar, allowing her and Hughie to leave the apartment. Butcher goes to confront Mesmer after tracking him to the Subway and kills him despite the latter's pleas for mercy.

Homelander questions Stillwell about Butcher's late wife Becca, but she does not tell him anything. He goes to visit Jonah Vogelbaum, a scientist who was in charge of raising him during his childhood, hoping that he will give him information. Vogelbaum reveals that Homelander had impregnated Becca, which surprises Homelander as he believed that Supes were infertile. Vogelbaum says that Becca died of blood loss after the baby attempted to claw its way out of her before drowning in blood. Vogelbaum also apologizes for how Homelander turned out, calling him his greatest failure. It is revealed that Homelander was raised as a lab rat during his childhood and subjected to multiple tests, for which Vogelbaum is now remorseful, admitting he should have given Homelander a proper childhood with a mother to raise him and give him the love that he needed.

Deducing that Raynor actually accepted the deal and Butcher is the one who refused to agree given her refusal to take action against Homelander,[c] MM pleads with Butcher into agreeing the deal with Raynor in exchange for the safety of his family and Hughie's father. Butcher agrees and makes the deal with Raynor even if that means not prosecuting Homelander. Raynor arrives to the safehouse to take the Boys' families to safety. Raynor soon interrogates Stillwell for many of the crimes Vought has committed, but she is forced to leave early after the CIA receives footage of a SEAL assault team being killed in an explosion caused by a terrorist with superpowers named Naqib who survives and walks away unscathed, much to Raynor's shock.

Distraught with the truth about Hughie, Annie confronts him, asking if he has been using her and if he killed Translucent,[d] which Hughie silently admits. Thought Annie intends to deliver him to the cops, Hughie tries convince her that Vought will kill him now that he is aware of the existence of Compound-V. He proceeds to tell Annie the truth about the Compound-V and her powers, much to Annie's shock. However, she is later shot to the chest twice by Butcher with a sniper rifle. Though Annie survives, Hughie leaves her behind to escape with Butcher.

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 causing it to be in development hell for several years, the plans for a film were scrapped in favor of a television series.[1] On 2016, it was announced that the show would be developed by Cinemax, with Erick Kripke being hired to serve as 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 be producing 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 which was written by Rosenberg and Monahan and directed by Attias,[6] is titled "The Self-Preservation Society" which takes the same title of the Vol. 6 of the comic book series of the same name that covers the issues #31–38.[7]

Writing

Homelander's origins are revealed in the episode and remained almost the same from the comics for the television adaptation, as both versions where experimented in a lab and had their fake story fabricated by Vought, in order to cover their real origins from the public so they can be loved by the public. However one major change is the portrayal of one of Vought's scientists Jonah Vogelbaum. While on the comics Vogelbaum was the creator of the Compound-V, in the comics he serves as the lead scientist responsible for the creation of Homelander and the one who trained him during his traumatic childhood.[8][9] Kripke and the writers made this change to the story in order to make Homelander more complex thann his comic book counterpart and make the audience to feel some sympathy for him, by making the audience to understand some of his actions during the series. This is why one of the major characters from the comics was also changed for the television adaptation. In the comics James Stillwell is the CEO of Vought who is the one who is in charge of supervising the company's and the Seven actions. For the television adaptation the character was gender-swapped and was given the name of Madelyn Stillwell, though she retains some of the characteristics of the comic counterpart.[10] The main reason of this is to develop the relationship that Homelander has with Stillwell as a mother figure and lover that has been seen during the previous episodes, as he is constantly in the need of being loved as he never received any of that during his childhood for being raised as a lab rat.[11][12]

Another minor changes made for the television adaptation is the portrayal of the relationships of the characters of Butcher and Hughie. While in both adaptations Butcher have a relationship with CIA director Susan Raynor in the comics the relationship is still active, but in the television adaptation both are no longer a relationship since a long time ago and the two had moved one from each other though Butcher remain in contact with her though for professional purposes.[13] While in the chase of Hughie, his relationship with Annie is also adapted for the television series though some changes are also made. In the comic series both are unaware of the affiliations and took a long time to finally find out about it, while in the television series they found out about this quickly with Hughie having already being aware of this after recognizing her face in the episode "Get Some". In the episode, Annie finally discovers Hughie affiliance with the Boys and that he is the one who killed Translucent. This change was done as the writers recognized that it would be impossible for Hughie to not recognize Annie as Starlight, though they also did it as they knew that the audience no longer enjoyed the format of the protagonists that keep secrets from each other, particularly due to the Annie having a bigger and major role in the television series compared to the comics.[14]

Casting

The episode main cast includes

Jessie T. Usher as A-Train, Laz Alonso as Mother's Milk, Chace Crawford as The Deep, Tomer Capone as Frenchie, Karen Fukuhara as Kimiko, Nathan Mitchell as Black Noir, and Elisabeth Shue as Madelyn Stillwell.[15] Also starring are Simon Pegg as Hugh Campbell Sr., Haley Joel Osment as Mesmer, Jennifer Esposito as Susan Reynor, Shantel VanSanten as Becca Butcher, Alex Hassell as Translucent, Christian Keyes as Nathan Franklin, Alvina August as Monique Milk, Laila Robins as Grace Mallory, and John Doman as Jonah Vogelbaum.[16]
: 54:47–55:17 

Filming

The filming of the first season of the series 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 crew choose to film at the Parkwood Estate mansion and garden for the part where Homelander visits the scientist who experimented on him Jonah Vogelbaum which is located at the city of Oshawa.[18] The scene for the Deep trying to save a lobster while buying supplies in a store after being relocated was filmed in the McEwan's Gourmet Grocery Store.[19][20]

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.[21][16]: 55:54–55:59  It was announced that visual effects supervisor Stephan Fleet would be in charge of overseeing the development for the visual effects.[22] Fleet revealed that the process for the creation of the Deep's gills, they used prosthethics that were adhered to the skin of the Deep's actor Chance Crawford. This was followed by having the actor's body to be fully recreated from his torso to the chest by enhacing them through the use of visual effects, intending to capture the realistic look of the gills.[23] Crawford admitted that the process for the creation of the gills make him feel disgusted and nauseous.[24]

Music

The episode features the following songs which are "Jingle Bell Rock" by Bobby Helms and "All Out of Love" by Air Supply.[25]

Release

"The Self-Preservation Society" premiered on Amazon Prime Video in the United States on July 26, 2019.[26] It was released alongside all the episodes from the season which were released the same date the episode was released.[27] The episode, along with the rest of The Boys' first season, was released on Blu-ray on May 31, 2022.[28]

Reception

"The Self-Preservation Society" received critical acclaim from critics. Brian Tallerico from

Vulture gave the episode 3 stars out of 5. He praised the episode for showing Butcher's backstory and deemed the episode a solid one that works as the set-up for the season finale. However, he also considered that the episode failed in the writing and also suffered from tonal inconsistencies that he considered that marred most of the first season.[29] Greg Wheeler from The Review Geek gave the episode 4 stars out of 5. He praised the character development from the episode and the reveal of Homelander backstory, while also feeling surprised with the Deep karma given how he was in previous episodes, for which he stated that the "increased urgency and pacing to this episode really typifies how far we’ve come in Amazon Prime’s latest superhero show. The way The Boys tackles its characters is really the best part about the show and seeing more of Homelander’s past is certainly a smart move. The complete 180 turn with The Deep is really impressive too, especially given what his character was like early on."[2] Randy Dankievitch from Tilt Magazine considered that the episode managed to finds its two directions over how it wanted to take the narrative of the episode but still deemed it over dramatic similarly to the previous episodes, to which he commented that the episode "is another hour of The Boys that forgets a morally empty world doesn’t need to be a hollow one; the plight and struggles of awful people are wonderful fuel for the tragedy-laden stories it wants to tell (there’s a little show called The Sopranos you should check out – just replace superpower culture with Italian culture)."[30]

For a review for the Flickering Myth, Martin Carr praised the episode over its portrayal of the moral ambiguity and for finally allowing the episode to make multiple revelations in some things that were introduced in the previous episodes. He considered that no matter the intentions of both bands, the Seven and the Boys are not very different over doing questionable things to reach their goal and considered that Kripe was anticipating to something big for the season finale.[31] Darryl Jasper from the ScienceFiction.com considered that it was appropriate for the character of Annie to discover about Hughie's allegiance at the end of the episode and praised the episode for its pacing and anticipation for the season finale. He stated that the episode "not just the big reveals either; every conversation carries an emotional weight that reveals another layer to each character. From Hughie’s separate confrontations with A-Train and Butcher, to the tension and almost certain violence during Homelander’s dissection of Annie’s relationship, almost everything about this episode worked. If this momentum carries forward to the finale, this freshman campaign of The Boys may find itself in the conversation for best first seasons of a genre show."[32]

Notes

  1. ^ As depicted in "The Name of the Game".
  2. ^ As depicted in "Cherry", "Get Some" and "Good for the Soul".
  3. ^ a b c As depicted in the previous episode, "The Innocents".
  4. ^ As depicted in "Cherry".

References

  1. ^ Kit, Borys (February 10, 2012). "Columbia Pictures Drops Comic Book Adaptation 'The Boys' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on February 15, 2012. Retrieved May 3, 2022.
  2. ^ a b Andreeva, Nellie (2016-04-06). "'The Boys' Drama Based On Comic Book Set At Cinemax With Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Eric Kripke, Original Film & Sony". Deadline. Retrieved 2023-06-26.
  3. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (2017-11-08). "Amazon Orders 'The Boys' Superhero Drama Series Based On Comic From Eric Kripke, Evan Goldberg & Seth Rogen". Deadline. Retrieved 2023-06-26.
  4. ^ Barsanti, Sam (2017-11-08). "Amazon picks up The Boys comic adaptation from Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 2023-06-26.
  5. ^ Turchiano, Danielle (2017-11-08). "Amazon Greenlights Eric Kripke's Superhero Drama 'The Boys'". Variety. Retrieved 2023-06-26.
  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 6: The Self-Preservation Society". Goodreads. Retrieved 2023-12-02.
  8. ^ Cano, Ruddy (2021-11-03). "Why Homelander from the TV show is preferable to the one in the comic". We Are The Mighty. Retrieved 2023-12-09.
  9. ^ Pierre, Mekishana (2020-09-05). "The Boys: A Quick Reminder About Why Compound V Matters So Much". Popsugar. Retrieved 2023-12-09.
  10. ^ Egan, James (2020-09-16). "10 Ways The Boys TV Show Is Different From The Comics". WhatCulture.com. Retrieved 2023-12-09.
  11. ^ Milner, Sarah Bea (2021-02-19). "The Boys: Why Homelander Played Along With Vought's Lies About His Past". ScreenRant. Retrieved 2023-12-09.
  12. ^ Schedeen, Jesse (2020-10-13). "Amazon's The Boys: 13 Surprising Differences From the Comics". IGN. Retrieved 2023-12-09.
  13. ^ McMullen, Chris (2023-02-28). "All Differences Between Amazon's The Boys Series & the Comic". The Escapist. Retrieved 2023-12-09.
  14. ^ "The Boys – Comic and TV Show Comparison". MyCreativeRamblings. 2019-08-10. Retrieved 2023-12-09.
  15. ^ Darwish, Meaghan (2019-07-25). "'The Boys' Cast and Showrunner Tease R-Rated Characters, Action & More (VIDEO)". TV Insider. Retrieved 2023-07-27.
  16. ^ a b Rosenberg, Craig; Monahan, Ellie (July 26, 2019). "The Self-Preservation Society". The Boys. Season 1. Episode 7. Amazon Prime Video. End credits begin at 54:24.
  17. ^ Watson, Fay (2019-07-26). "The Boys on Amazon location: Where is The Boys filmed?". Daily Express. Retrieved 2023-07-01.
  18. ^ "The Boys at Parkwood Estate - garden - filming location". SCEENIT. Retrieved 2023-12-09.
  19. ^ "Where was The Boys Filmed? Guide to ALL the Filming Locations". Atlas of Wonders. Retrieved 2023-07-01.
  20. ^ "The Boys filming locations in Canada". Filipinosincanada.com. Archived from the original on October 28, 2020. Retrieved June 11, 2021.
  21. ^ Frei, Vincent (July 24, 2019). "THE BOYS". Art of VFX. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
  22. ^ Frei, Vincent (2019-08-27). "THE BOYS: Stephan Fleet - Overall VFX Supervisor". The Art of VFX. Retrieved 2023-07-02.
  23. ^ "Balancing Blood and Believability in Superhero Twister THE BOYS". VFX Voice Magazine. 2020-05-05. Retrieved 2023-12-08.
  24. ^ Stinson, Katherine (2020-09-08). "The Boys' Chace Crawford Felt Sick While Filming Season 1's Gill Scene". ScreenRant. Retrieved 2023-12-08.
  25. ^ Elvy, Craig (2019-07-26). "The Boys Season 1: Every Song On The Soundtrack". Screen Rant. Retrieved 2023-07-02.
  26. ^ Gartenberg, Chaim (2019-04-17). "Amazon's The Boys gets a new, NSFW trailer and a July 26th release date". The Verge. Retrieved 2023-07-02.
  27. ^ "'The Boys' Season 1 release date, trailer, cast, plot, renewal, and more". Inverse. 2021-05-09. Retrieved 2023-07-02.
  28. ^ 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.
  29. Vulture. Archived from the original
    on July 28, 2019. Retrieved 2023-12-10.
  30. ^ Dankievitch, Randy (2019-07-31). "The Boys Season One Episode 7: "The Self-Preservation Society" Falls Apart". Tilt Magazine. Retrieved 2023-12-10.
  31. ^ Carr, Martin (2019-08-02). "The Boys Season 1 Episode 7 Review - 'The Self-Preservation Society'". Flickering Myth. Retrieved 2023-12-10.
  32. ^ Jasper, Darryl (2019-08-06). "'The Boys' Episode 7 Review: "The Self-Preservation Society"". ScienceFiction.com. Retrieved 2023-12-10.

External links

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