Editor's Note: The below contains spoilers for 'The Boys' three-episode premiere.
The Big Picture
- A-Train's character arc from villain to potential hero is a surprising and satisfying journey in The Boys.
- His internal conflict and moral growth make him a complex and more sympathetic character than initially portrayed.
- A-Train's redemption storyline in Season 4 hints at a possible future where he becomes a true hero against corrupt superheroes.
Ever since I became a fan just in time for Season 2, I'd always encountered some resistance when convincing other people to watch The Boys from those who dismiss it as nihilistic. This might be true of the original comic series run, where characters are discarded with contempt, but I'd argue one character disproves this idea more than any other so far. Ironically, it just so happens to be the one who started everything in a horrific and bloody fashion. Very few fictional characters have left a worse first impression than A-Train (Jesse T. Usher), whose reckless killing of the person he loves drives Hughie (Jack Quaid) to discover the rotten underbelly of corporate superheroes.
The fastest member of The Seven immediately comes across as being unlikeable, yet he is now giving Queen Maeve (Dominique McElligott) competition as the only part of the team who still might have a heart. With the fourth season currently airing and the final story now approaching, I've recently found myself thinking the impossible and honestly rooting for the speedster to become a hero in not just name, but now in action.
The Boys
A group of vigilantes set out to take down corrupt superheroes who abuse their superpowers.
-
- Release Date
- July 26, 2019
- Creator
- Eric Kripke
- Studio
- Amazon Studios
I Started Out Hating A-Train (As Most of Us Do)
Few opening scenes have ever been as memorable to me as when Hughie lost his girlfriend in the blink of an eye to the antics of A-Train in the series premiere of The Boys. The first time I saw it, the moment was so shocking that I actually had to rewind and rewatch it twice over. People often say you never get another chance to make a first impression and A-Train certainly made an imprint with his first appearance, both literally and figuratively. After that opening scene, I never could have predicted he would become an even remotely likable character.
For the moment, though, he remained an outright villain to me, one who was indifferent to the harm he inflicted upon others. In case the opening scene did not make it clear enough, the pilot also doubles down by even showing A-Train laughing over the death of Robin (Jess Salguerio) later in the episode, and his behavior hardly improves from there. Even his genuine relationship with his girlfriend Popclaw (Brittany Allen) ends in her murder, despite how much they had loved each other, and his threatening of Hugh Campbell Sr. (Simon Pegg) makes him into a true enemy to The Boys for the first time. When he is not being either callous or destructive, A-Train can be unbearably awkward to watch, particularly with the darkly comedic scene where he is left completely unable to confront a kid in the hospital dying of cancer.
While he is far from the most despicable villain in The Boys, I felt little sympathy for A-Train in the first season, with one small exception: Watching him nearly succumb to a heart attack, the clear culmination of abusing Compound V for so long, made me pity him and I recall feeling relieved that Starlight (Erin Moriarty) saved his life, but my empathy still only went so far. He might not be as openly malicious as Homelander (Antony Starr) or pathetic like The Deep (Chace Crawford), but I still viewed A-Train as a villain in the second season. Even his exposure of Stormfront (Aya Cash) in the finale, arguably the only major good thing he does, is clearly an example of his self-interest and I felt little joy upon seeing him rejoin The Seven, as if nothing super important happened in between.
As 'The Boys' Went On, I Could See A-Train Becoming More Sympathetic
As Homelander begins to emotionally deteriorate and Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles) makes his debut, I gave little thought to what might happen to A-Train in Season 3. Honestly, I'd largely thought he might end up like The Deep, who picked his side and is now fully subservient to Vought. With the possible exception of Black Noir (Nathan Mitchell) getting his time in the limelight, however, few characters got as much development as A-Train and his trajectory really surprised me. Watching the speedster confront his own complicity in racial issues and the maiming of his brother was a pretty shocking turn around for someone who originally never cared about his family or his community. Unlike Black Noir, whose arc was cut short when he was killed before getting the chance to face Soldier Boy again, A-Train still has the chance to confront his own past and those of his people. Before he could help his people, I knew he had to face his own faults and was not sure if he was up to the task of self reflection.
Although it's clear we're meant to root for A-Train and his desire for justice, the show also rightly calls out his hypocrisy. Of all people, seeing Ashley (Colby Minifie) berate his actions as short-sighted for someone who has been involved in many deaths himself feels completely justified. Still, when A-Train finally murders Blue Hawk (Nick Wechsler) by dragging him across the pavement and skinning him alive, it proves one of the most satisfying moments in an episode full of them, and possibly the greatest fist pump since the team of girls beat the living daylights out of Stormfront. When the strain appeared to kill him, I truly was not sure if he had died and found myself, for the first time, hoping to be wrong.
Had the story of A-Train ended there, it would have been a nice redemption arc for him, but I still would have been sad to see him go. Once he did turn out to have survived, I was thrilled to know he still had the chance to do more good in the world. In the remaining episodes of Season 3, A-Train is recovering and has little else to do, with him and Deep remaining absent from the final battle. Despite this, he is clearly left horrified by Homelander killing Black Noir and his endpoint in this season now leaves A-Train in prime position to start a new life and become a true hero. I'd already loved seeing Maeve earn her happy ending and regain her youthful faith in superheroes, so asking “Why not A-Train?” became not so far-fetched. Given the erosion of Homelander over the past season, though, such a path could prove dangerous and not even the fastest man alive might be able to escape his wraith.
In ‘The Boys’ Season 4, I’m Finally Rooting for A-Train’s Redemption
Going into the fourth season, I had high hopes that we were witnessing the start of what could be called a redemption storyline for A-Train and the first three episodes did not disappoint. During the first two episodes, what struck me was how silent he was during his scenes. Clearly, he is going through a very hard time and has been contemplating his many choices. When the group kills Todd and his close friends, A-Train is perhaps the most disturbed by the level of violence and barely participates, only stopping them from escaping, showing he is not like the other horrible people on the team. Once he meets with Mother’s Milk (Laz Alonso) about turning informant and is berated by his brother, we finally get a glimpse of his damaged soul. By risking his life to save Hughie, his storyline has now come full circle.
As of the time of writing, only the first three episodes have dropped, so we don't know how the story of A-Train will finally end. Will he fully join The Boys as a member, rather than being a mole for the group? Could he survive into the fifth season, whether undercover or out in the open? How will he undermine the rise of Homelander? We know from the teaser trailer that he will discover how much his leader has started aging, so could that play a part in his decision to defect? All we can say for sure is that A-Train finally has the chance to be the true hero his image portrays him as being. Let's hope he makes good use of this golden opportunity.
The Boys is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video in the U.S.
"like this" - Google News
June 18, 2024 at 04:20AM
https://ift.tt/CZjnudQ
I’ve Always Wanted To Like This Character on ‘The Boys’ — and Now I Can! - Collider
"like this" - Google News
https://ift.tt/fJWVyEA
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update
No comments:
Post a Comment