Gen V season 2 review: "As strong as the first season, if not stronger"

There’s a big, looming question hanging over season 2 of The Boys spin-off Gen V, and it has nothing to do with how it impacts the final season of the mothership show (which it does) or how, like previous seasons of both series, it embraces our political moment (which it does). No, the big question is the shocking, sudden death of star Chance Perdomo, who died in a motorcycle crash in March of 2024, as season 2 of the series was gearing up for production.

While it's the least pressing question when someone as young as Perdomo suddenly passes away (he was 27 at the time), what showrunner Michele Fazekas and team have done with Gen V season 2 is nothing short of remarkable: it not only pays tribute to Perdomo from the opening frame to the conclusion, it also manages to continue the raunchy, anything-goes spirit of the franchise at the same time.

It's a nearly impossible line to walk, particularly because there's a morbid aspect to watching actors who knew Perdomo in real life talk about how his character Andre passed in the series. There are clearly real tears and real feelings coming from the cast as they discuss this aspect of the season, and his spirit is used as a motivating force to keep nearly every one of the main characters moving forward, even when they're stuck in grief. But the perfectly balanced scripts allow those moments of tragedy to be handled evenly with puppets, men crawling out of other men's buttholes, and a main character whose power is based on manipulating blood.

School daze

In fact, the only real hiccup in the otherwise excellent second season comes from picking up with Marie Moreau (Jaz Sinclair) and company in the premiere. When we left the students of Godolkin University, the superpowered school at the center of the series, in the season 1 finale, Marie, Emma Meyer (Lizze Broadway), Jordan Li (London Thor/Derek Luh), and Andre were all being held in a circular room with no doors or windows. By the very nature of what happened to Perdomo, they can't pick up from that cliffhanger, so instead they jump ahead a bit, leaving that particular plot thread feeling undone.

But even that gets used to its best potential to explain how and why the kids get out and back on campus for their Sophomore year. And when they do, they find a campus vastly changed by the events of the fourth season of The Boys. While Gen V season 1 dealt with a more liberal campus and burgeoning shades of conservative viewpoints through superhero supremacy advocates, season 2 finds Homelander in charge of the United States off-camera, and causing the campus sentiment to flip. Now, regular humans have to enter through a separate entrance, wear an "H" tag, and are considered an inferior species. There are those on campus who don't agree, but despite having crafted this season in the wake of Perdomo's passing over a year ago, once again the show feels timely and pressing.

It's also very, very funny. From a trad wife influencer superhero to a social chair who is almost literally a bee, the supporting characters and situations in Gen V season 2 continue to skewer society in a way no other show is able to. Well, no other show than The Boys. And even as the show fleshes out the world and piles on the cameos (when a character from The Boys showed up in season 1, it was a pleasant surprise; season 2 is essentially The Boys Season 4.5) it also doesn't lose focus on the main characters.

Missing Link

Sinclair holds the screen with main character energy as the show pivots even harder into her grappling with a “chosen one” style narrative. Contrasting that is the season's real stand-out, Broadway, who gets the most laugh-out-loud moments as well as heroic and emotional ones. Thor and Luh are a steady presence throughout as the bi-gender Jordan, and the series dives even harder into the contrasts between the two halves in a – no pun intended – surprisingly fluid manner. And Sean Patrick Thomas, a steady presence as always, steps up as Polarity, the grieving father of Andre, bent on revenge, while also acting as the adult in the room, literally and figuratively.

Interestingly, two other cast members have a harder time rejoining the fold: Asa Germann as the unbalanced Sam, and Maddie Phillips as the mind-controlling Cate. The two delved into villainy by the season 1 finale and were devotees of Homelander, doing his dirty work in The Boys season 4. The contrast the show plays with is that the world loves them, but we, the audience, do not. Of the two, Phillips gets a lot more to do and notes to play over her journey this season, by turns terrifying and hilarious. Germann gets some fun bits in the first half, but, versus his crucial role in season 1, the series hasn't yet figured out what to do with him, now that the initial conflict is done with.

The biggest addition is Hamish Linklater as the new school dean Cipher – and if you've ever seen Linklater before in roles ranging from Legion to Midnight Mass, he's the perfect new foil for the kids of God U. Per the name, the enigmatic teacher is the focus of most of the season's mysteries – and though you can likely figure out what's going on with him pretty early, it doesn't dull the impact when the other shoe drops. He also helps introduce some fascinating new additions to the whole mythology of the franchise that are sure to get fans talking.

But to get back to the Andre of it all, it's clear that the cast and crew repeatedly saying in interviews that his spirit infuses this season is more than mere lip service. Perdomo was a light on screen in every one of his roles, and one would like to think a season as fun and often very earnestly sweet and romantic as Gen V season 2 would be exactly what he would want to see. In between the exploding farm animals, of course.

For more, check out our look ahead at the most exciting new TV shows coming your way, or our list of the best Amazon Prime shows.