Gen V returns with Emma and Jordan being let out of Elmira thanks to Cate, under the condition that they’re compliant and fall in line with the university. Marie had escaped on her own from Elmira, and Andre died having a seizure related to his powers, so Jordan and Emma are alone at Godolkin University. Emma recognizes the new dean, Cipher, as someone who worked at Elmira. Elsewhere, Marie fights off Homelander Patriots, encounters Dogknott in a mediocre fight scene, and is saved by Starlight. After being saved, Marie refuses to help Starlight discover what the “Odessa Project” is and why Thomas Godolkin initiated it. Emma sees a video of Marie and finds her with the help of Jordan. The three have an emotional confrontation, which is made worse by Cate’s arrival. When Cate attempts to use her powers on Marie, Jordan blasts her, and the trio leaves Cate unconscious. 

Gen V and The Boys exist in a strange area, overlapping enough to have significant effects on one another, yet they manage to have independent stories. Their overlap has both strengths and weaknesses, such as the good worldbuilding established by the Starlighters and Homerlander Patriots leaking into this episode from The Boys. Still, especially as the season progresses, a major question looming over Gen V is its reason for existing. This justification sometimes seems to be to tell a mildly compelling story of teenagers with superpowers, and sometimes seems to be to have a breeding ground for more characters to appear in The Boys. Regardless, the highlights of this episode include Emma’s navigation of the ridiculous frat house scene and the introduction of Hamish Linklater’s Dean Cipher. On the surface, Ciper is yet another conniving suit-and-tie villain, yet the ambiguity of his powers and the electrifying charisma of Linklater elevate him to being extremely memorable.  

The main cast remains interesting enough to support the story without rocking the boat of what was established in season 1, filling recognizable roles and setting up clear dynamics for future episodes. Marie is a lone wolf in denial of her potential, Emma gets herself into silly situations with her powers, and Jordan is forced to put on a right face to avoid upsetting the school. These character dynamics sustain decent scenes, but they are not exciting or divergent enough from the first season or similar character archetypes seen in gritty superhero shows to be all that compelling. Cate Dunlap is in an interesting position, riding the high of the great villain twist that defined season 1. Adding a tangible moral conflict to her dark turn was a decent choice, enriching her dynamics with both Ciper and the main trio. Despite bleeding from the skull, it is clear that Cate is in a good position to be a key player later on, as Gen V hates killing main characters almost as much as they love showing the gory deaths of nameless ones. Still, the cold open of Godolkin caught in the middle of the reckless scientists and the elevation of Ciper to a primary antagonist were very successful in setting up for a decently engaging season.  

Rating: 6/10