01x02 - Inside 'The Big Ride'

[bunniefuu]

- Starlight's going full Reba

at a funeral with no body,

Homelander's pounding a

dead woman's breast milk,

and Black Noir's severing heads

and playing with bunny rabbits.

I'm Aisha Tyler and

we're slicing through

the Season Two premiere

of "The Boys"

tonight on "Prime Rewind:

Inside the Boys."

(music)

- Now, we've created a

special c*ck tonight

in honor of The Deep, guys.

It's called The Rock Bottom.

It's light rum,

pineapple juice,

and a very healthy pour

of dolphin tears.

Now, okay, I admit,

those are hard to obtain,

because dolphins are

notoriously upbeat.

They cry, like, once

every couple of years.

Can you get dolphin tears

on Amazon?

(dolphin chitters)

Well, you can make your

own rock bottom at home,

and then tweet us a photo

with the hashtag,

#DrinkTheBoys, and please,

ingest your dolphin tears

responsibly.

All right, now that

we've got a drink,

let's introduce our guests.

Tonight we've got the man who

signs the Seven's paychecks,

Stan Edgar, A.K.A.

Giancarlo Esposito.

- What a pleasure to be here.

Get me one of those drinks.

- Oh, yes, I promise you guys

the minute we can be

people together again,

I will bartend for everyone.

Drinks at my place.

And we've got the new corporate

powerhouse at Vought,

Ashley, played by

Colby Minifie.

Hi.

- Hi.

- It's thrilling.

- I wish we had one

of those drinks right now.

- I know.

- And our sweet zero

to supe exploding hero.

Hughie himself,

Jack Quaid.

Aw. That's adorable.

- Hi, everybody.

- How could that sweet guy

ever blow up a guy

in his an*s?

That came out so wrong.

- You never know.

It came out so right.

- Thank you for your support.

Hi, guys, well,

thank you for being here.

Or, you know, virtually

being here anyway.

What did it feel

like to be back

playing Hughie

again this season?

- It feels amazing.

It's just

incredible, I mean,

Season One was the best job

I'd ever had, period,

and, uh, me and the entire cast

became this great big family.

And the fact that we're back,

the fact that we're

expanding our cast,

the fact that, uh,

I don't know,

I just get to hang out

with everybody every day,

it was just so exciting.

And playing Hughie

he's just my favorite character

I've ever played,

so just to go even further

with him, I was just excited

at the fact that

we got a Season Two.

Last season was so expl*sive,

but also there were, like,

a lot of emotional moments,

and obviously, for this kind

of budding relationship

between Hughie and Starlight

during which Hughie was

a flat out liar the entire time.

Like just could not stop lying.

How has that affected Hughie's

relationship with Starlight

when we come back to you guys?

- Well, I mean,

you saw the episode.

Like when we come back

and we see Hughie,

he is just he's quarantining

before quarantining was cool.

You know, he is he's still

holding out just a little

glimmer of hope now that him

and Annie are texting,

trying to get compound V.

Trying to maybe expose Vought

for the monsters that they are.

He's thinking, okay, maybe

if I can somehow get this done,

and then, you know, when

Raynor's head explodes,

all those hopes just are

completely dashed.

And then Butcher comes back,

which is just the sh*t cherry

on top of the sh*t sundae.

Yeah, that makes sense.

Yeah, so, he's not

doing too hot.

- Giancarlo, tell us

about Stan Edgar

and his stake in Vought,

I mean, because

you know, he's engaged in some

pretty shady dealings.

- Stan is a very particular

and tricky guy.

He's a businessman,

and he knows what he wants.

He's protecting his

shareholders and his board,

and he has to educate

his superheroes

as to what this

organization really is,

and how they can continue

to be a part of it.

- One of the things I love

about this character

is that very quickly we realize

that there is something

more powerful than the most

powerful beings on earth,

which is corporate profits.

And Stan is really the guy who's

gonna makes sure he

defends the bottom line,

and he's fearless,

which makes him terrifying,

honestly.

- He is fearless,

and he can be terrifying.

He is looking out for the

interests of many, many people,

and so, you know,

when I was watching

this particular episode,

I felt as if,

wow, this is a cold guy,

but he has a lot

of responsibility.

- So, Colby, how has

Ashley changed now that

she is in what appears

to be at least at first blush

a power position at Vought.

- (chuckles)

Yeah.

So, um

Ashley was fired last year.

She definitely thought

that her job was over,

and then as soon as she has

a little idea with Homelander,

he shuts her down and

now she's afraid for her life.

So

(chuckles)

I think she's going

through a lot.

I think she's, uh she

was really excited

and now

she's absolutely crushed.

- Yeah, it really does feel

like he brought her in

specifically so that he could

run her into the ground.

- That's definitely

what's going on.

- Poor Ashley.

All right, let's dig a little

deeper into the episode.

Now, at the beginning

of the show,

Translucent's been

hailed as a hero

during this funeral, and his

death is being used specifically

to gin up support for bringing

the Seven into the military.

I wonder, does Hughie have any

regrets about k*lling this guy?

'Cause he's martyred someone

who he knows to be a

pretty bad person.

- I think, if there is

any regret, it's the fact

that this guy has a son

and a family,

and people that

maybe didn't know

just quite how creepy

he actually is.

But I think if there's

any regret in terms of

murdering Translucent,

I think it's that,

but I think the reason

he's watching that broadcast

with such sadness is just

because he finally gets

to see Annie again

and she's putting on this

persona of Starlight,

you know, the public

Starlight persona,

I think he's wondering,

okay,

is that who she really

is now?

Does she still care about me?

Does she even

think about me?

Is she doing okay?

Is this an act that

she's putting on so

that she doesn't get in trouble?

I think there's a lot

of mixed emotions happening

as he watches

that broadcast.

- Yeah, he does swallow

a little lump

when he realizes

the guy's got a kid

and the kid is sitting

in the front row.

You're like oops.

- Ooh, sorry.

Ooh.

- You know you're

at a good funeral

when there's a merch fair

right outside,

and even thought we couldn't

all be there in person,

we can still order the hottest

Translucent commemorative items

right from the comfort

of our very own home.

- From Voughtlife Classics,

we say goodbye

to one of the Seven's

mightiest fallen heroes

with our Tribute to Translucent

Invisible Hero Collectible Coin.

At just over 1.35 grams,

this coin's

breathtaking

invisible portrait

of Translucent

will instantly become the focal

point of any collection.

You can enjoy it from close,

and you can enjoy it from far.

Check, credit, or

money order available.

Order now.

(laughing)

So, during the premier,

Stan Edgar,

the CEO of Vought

gives Homelander, an, well,

illuminating lecture

on the history of the company.

And of course,

there's a Hitler connection.

How does this revelation

change things?

Were any of you guys surprised

by the Vought n*zi connection?

Was that a surprising storyline

for any of you?

- No, not at all.

I wasn't surprised.

It's Vought, of course

they're connected to the Nazis.

You know, uh

It reminded me of the U.S.

We used an ex-n*zi's

rocket technology

to help us get to the moon.

It just makes Vought so much

more hateable, which is great.

- Right, you're right.

We used Nazis to develop

our nuclear program.

We used them to develop

our space program.

You know, with very little

regret on the government's part.

There are a lot of companies

still operating out there today

with very strong historical

connections to n*zi Germany

and also with the body of wealth

that was built by the Nazis

or during World w*r II, so

what debt do these companies

owe society for profiteering

from fascism?

- Uh, at least a discount.

I would say.

- No discounts for any of you.

Ever.

- Come on, Stan.

- I mean, look, finally after

years and years it's coming out

that everything,

all of our existence,

most of our country is

created on some kind of lie.

And it's sad, but the folks

who are greedy, well, they lie

because they want more

for themselves

and to create a network that

they feel they can rule

better than everyone else.

So it's a crazy world,

but I'm happy to be

at the top

and not at the f*cking bottom.

(laughing)

Sorry.

- I don't know how much

of that was Giancarlo

and how much of that

was Stan Edgar.

(laughing)

- It's also our entire culture.

How much of our wealth

and how much of our

country and all of capitalism

and our constitution

is built on abusing people,

and built on an ideal

that white people rule

and everybody else is worth

three-fifths of a person.

You know, it's a question

that we really have

to contend with right now.

And Vought's a perfect

example of that.

- Well put.

Well put, Colby.

The one thing I will say,

I think about the complexity

of this question, I think it's

a question the show is asking,

I think it's a questions

that Vought proposes

and it think it's a question

the Stan Edgar character poses,

is that money really is the

driving force in this culture.

- Yeah.

- More than morals.

More than principles,

it's really money that rules us.

We live in a

capitalist society,

and money is king.

And now the question becomes

if we stop making money

our principal motivation,

who do we become?

And I think that's a question

we're asking ourselves

as a culture now.

I think that's a question

the show is asking.

- Um, and, I have to move

on to this next segment,

- Exactly.

- which is going to be a very

hard right turn, everybody.

Um, we are super-excited

that we actually,

we have Homelander

on the show tonight.

We're going to have him on in a

second, he's in the green room.

We're just going to check in

with him, see how he's doing.

- (romantic music plays)

- (moans)

- Oh, no.

- Do we not have, like, water

for our guests on this show?

Or okay.

So, Colby, tell me,

what does Ashley think

about how the women

of the Seven,

specifically the women

in the Seven are being

exploited based

on their gender?

They're definitely-- Starlight's

still in that ridiculous outfit.

Right? She's kinda given up.

Uh, and really, you know,

this whole kind of

like commercial

leveraging of like,

you know,

it's girl power time, guys!

What are Ashley's thoughts

on this situation?

- I don't think that

she really feels bad

about exploiting the women

in the Seven.

I think she's very much looking

at optics all the time.

Um, she has that line

in the Blindspot scene

where she's like we have

a differently-abled

member of the Seven.

We're going to poll really

well with Millenials.

I mean, she's

constantly thinking

about that kind of thing.

- Right, yeah,

there's that leveraging.

You know, Millenials care

about the environment,

so, you know, we're going

to get the Deep out here

with the fishies and

make them feel something.

You know, so we can get

our numbers up.

Um, I want to ask you, Jack,

I think through

this entire episode

we've seen Hughie really

step up and try to provide

a little bit of leadership

for The Boys.

He feels like, okay,

there's a power vacuum here,

I'm going to fill it,

I'm going to be

the moral leader of this group,

and we're going to make a plan.

And I'm going to be the guy

who makes it.

And then Butcher shows up at

the end of the episode

and kind of like

deflates his balloon,

so what does the return of

Butcher mean for Hughie now?

- I mean, uh it's not good.

It's not good because

when Butcher was around,

things were done a certain way,

and we saw at the end

of Season One that

when you do it Butcher's way,

sometimes he just

all out abandons you.

And just pursues

his own interests.

So, you know, Hughie went

and rescued his team.

I think that he's not

so much trying

to lead The Boys,

it's more so that

they're all he has.

He's trying to keep

his family together, you know?

He says at a certain

point in the episode that,

you know, his dad left him

for witness protection,

for the witness

protection program.

Robin left him in

just a gruesome way.

Um, his whole life,

he doesn't really

you know, he doesn't

have Annie anymore.

So everyone

in his life is gone

except for the team, and so

when they all start to go hey,

maybe we should go our

own separate ways,

Hughie's like, look,

we can finish this fight.

Everyone just needs to

stay together

so that maybe,

at the end of it,

we have hope of returning

to a normal life.

But in terms of

leading The Boys,

I don't think Hughie

is qualified at all.

He's been with them

for about, I don't know,

I guess like, it's been

like, what, six months?

Or a year at this point,

and, uh, I think if anyone

should lead The Boys

in absence of Butcher,

it should be Mother's Milk,

and Hughie could be, uh,

to put like

a Star Trek reference,

like a First Officer, you know?

He mans the ship when Picard's

going down to the planet.

- Yeah, I was thinking actually

Hughie could be like the bursar,

or the one guy on Star Trek

with the red shirt,

and the single bar that

always gets k*lled

like right at the beginning

of the episode. That's

- He's a red shirt

for sure, yes.

(laughing)

Oh.

Oh boy.

Laser Baby just

lit up the room.

You know what that means?

We have a surprise guest.

We're so excited

to have everyone's

favorite Vought writer

who suffered a serious loss

during Supe sex,

here right now,

Malcolm Barrett.

Malcolm, hi.

You look great, and

we respect you.

You're washing your hands,

you're not touching your face.

- Your producer was actually

screaming at me

for like 30 minutes

before it happened.

She's like,

"Yo! Take your sh*t off!

Take it off now!

Take it the f*ck off!"

- So, it's really exciting

to have you on the show.

Thanks for being here.

Before we get to

the questions I just want

to check in really quickly on

Homelander in the green room

and see how he's doing.

- (romantic music plays)

- Still okay.

- (moans)

Still on the breast milk.

- So gross.

- I mean it is.

Breast milk, apparently

it does a Supe good.

(laughing)

Malcolm, your character,

to me,

is like the perfect

example of like

just a maniacal kind

of P.R. writer

who has no sense of tone,

no sense of what's appropriate.

How fun was it

to learn and develop,

not just the way

that that guy spoke

but his whole

kind of demeanor?

- Uh, I love playing people

who don't know

what's wrong with them.

Um, and so, like that's

why I love that character

because I think he doesn't

necessarily know

all the ways and reasons

why he's kind of an as*h*le.

And so like, that's fun, right?

If you're going to play,

like, a really bad person,

you don't go like,

hey, I'm a really bad person.

'Cause most people don't think

like that.

Most people think

they're doing good

even when they're doing

very bad things.

And so I just did my best

to tap into that.

- He's such an earnest

personality.

There's so much

and

And, you know,

always the namaste.

You know, oh yes, there's always

that jackhole namaste move.

Um, but something really

terrible happened to this guy,

and I wonder how he's

able to hold on to his dignity

after a Supe snapped

off his schlong,

and unceremoniously

took his manhood.

How was he able to

still continue

to work around superheroes?

- You talking about my d*ck?

- I'm talking about your d*ck.

I'm talking about

I hope I'm not talking

about your d*ck.

- The one that got frozen off?

- If we're talking

about your d*ck,

then you need to file

a complaint.

- No, no, no, my character's.

- A claim.

- My character's.

- Your character's d*ck.

- I think he's a person who

believes he leads with love.

And so, um

I think that's what

keeps him going

even when things

go really, badly.

Like I think, at the end

of the day,

I think he thinks just being

a part of something that was

more special than him

even if it cost him his dignity

was more important than

never being a part

of something special at all.

That was way too earnest,

I don't want it to be that.

But it is, so

let's live with it. Let's go.

- You're in it, man.

You're just living

that method life.

It's just radiating off of you.

Just the false earnesty,

the ingenuousness.

It's adorable.

As actors, you guys

know that we get

to do something that

fans can only dream of,

which is that we get to read

the show scripts ahead of time.

We get to know what's

going to happen.

So I want to take you guys back

to when you read the script

for this episode

and talk about your

first impressions.

What was it like to see Vought

go from regular corporate evil

to full-on n*zi level evil?

Jack, tell me about that.

When you first read the script

and you realized

this was the turn that

the show was going to take,

and that Vought was going

to be a company that was

founded, you know,

during the n*zi regime.

What were your thoughts

about it?

- What I really liked

about the scene

was the distinction that

your character makes, Giancarlo

of the fact that Vought

isn't a superhero company,

it's a pharmaceutical company.

That's where the real money is.

And I think that that's

just so interesting

in a show that's

"about superheroes",

it's like, no, these people

are basically out there

to advertise a product

that people don't even know

they're getting sold yet.

So I thought that that

was so interesting

and cool and I think I read that

and I was just like,

oh, the show just keeps

getting more complex,

I love the fact that I'm on it.

- Yeah.

I think one of the

great things about the show

is its complexity.

It generates a lot of

thoughtful reaction,

a lot of vigorous

discussion online.

A lot of vigorous

discussion here.

We're going to go to

@Larrytron, who writes online

And I think that last phrase,

"Absolute power corrupting

absolutely"

is a big kind of central

theme of the show.

Has working on this show

Well, let's assume we still

remember how we related

to superheroes as a kid,

which is that we loved them.

You know what I mean,

we idolized them.

Do you still feel the same way

about superheroes now that

you worked on the show, Jack?

You want to start

with that one?

- Oh, man, uh

I certainly just can't

look at heroes

in anyway the same way.

I mean, I think that that

scene where A-train speeds

through Robin in

the first season I think

1000% single-handedly

did that for me.

- How about you, Colby?

Has it changed your

relationship with superheroes?

- I unfortunately didn't have

a giant relationship

to superheroes as a child.

I was deprived in that sense.

My favorite superhero

is, like, Mrs. Doubtfire.

That's as far as it goes.

(laughing)

In terms of, like, "The Boys"

and how it's written

and how it treats superheroes,

like, I am all about it.

- Malcolm, how about you?

Has your perspective on

superheroism changed?

- No, you know?

It hasn't changed at all

only because, um,

at the end of the day

for most people or

how I grew up

is that superheroes

are an ideal, you know?

It's not necessarily a reality.

So, you know, I think

there's room

for all types

of superheroes, and,

you know, I'm such a fanboy

that I'm excited

about living at a time

where we'll actually get to see

probably every version of every

superhero we've ever seen,

and to me seeing all

these incarnations

are beautiful, because

it shows the world,

and I love seeing

the f*cking dangerous

f*cking as*h*le superheroes.

- Giancarlo, has it changed

your perspective on it?

- It has, it's made me more

compassionate toward them.

I mean they're human.

I mean, I know they're

super and they're heroes,

but they have human emotions,

and this is what

I love about this show.

They're deluded, they lie.

They jerk off in front

of each other.

Even poor Homelander

is so deluded he thinks

he really wants to be

and can be this perfect father,

come back into this kid's life

and the kid's looking at him

like, "You're out of

your frickin' mind."

You know, and he doesn't get it?

Because what does he want?

It hit me, he wants love.

So it's completely

changed for me.

I feel like they've now

entered my life and my world

in a compassionate way

where I go,

"I want to be your therapist.

Let me help you."

- Yes. Guys, we've already been

through so much together,

and we're only one episode

in to the series.

So, I want to take a quick

moment for each of you to give

your character's most

sincere thoughts and prayers

to any other character

on the show,

a character of your choice.

We're going to start

first with Malcolm.

- Excellent.

Uh, thought and prayers

to, uh the Butcher.

For not getting to say "c**t"

for 45 minutes

out of the episode.

And, uh, to lazy black people

who now have to become

Ida B. Wells because their

white friend keeps calling them.

(laughing)

- I'm so I'm going to send

you a very strongly worded DM

on Twitter, Malcolm.

(laughing)

- How about you, Colby?

- Oh, man, I love that so much.

Um

My thoughts and prayers

are with Blindspot.

I'm, um I'm so sorry

about what happened

to your ears.

And, uh

here's a commemorative

Vought pen for your troubles.

- It seems like that's just

the right amount of sensitivity

for Ashley, the very most.

- How about you, Jack?

- Uh, my thoughts and prayers

go out to Translucent's ghost.

Um look

sorry that you died?

I hope that your ghost

roams this earth.

It shouldn't be too different

from how you normally operated

except for now you can't

perv out as much.

Uh I hope that your son

Maverick never finds out

just how much of

a creep you were,

but if he does I hope he also

finds out that a kid from Queens

blew up your entire a*s.

- When I start my punk band,

it's going to be called

A Kid from Queens Blew Up

Your Entire a*s,

so thank you for

the inspiration.

- Finally, Giancarlo.

- I don't know!

These are some wonderful

thoughts and prayers.

Look, I want to offer Homelander

my thoughts and prayers

for peace.

While Homelander thinks

he's the big cheese

and the big boss,

I pray for you, my friend.

You're just a cog in the wheel

being moved around

by none other than me,

Stan Edgar.

So I have some advice:

take a long walk off

a short pier,

in your superhero gear,

and I hope you can swim.

- Ooh, that was elegant.

That was like a haiku.

Hello.

- Wow.

- Now, guys, normally we

would give you

a first look sneak preview

of Episode Two,

but it's already out.

So what are you waiting for?

Go f*cking watch the show, man.

I'm not your mom.

Thanks so much to Giancarlo,

Jack, Colby and Malcolm.

I want to shout out

Ashley's new job

and thanks to the fans at home

for taking a Prime Rewind

to go "Inside the Boys"

fist first,

but like, in a gentle,

tender loving way

asking permission before

you go in fist first.

We're gentle lovers here and

we insist that you be, too.

Now, you know every Supe out

there is secretly

working on their memoirs,

John Bolton style.

Summer Book Clubs are

going to go really deep

for The Deep's Deeper.

Apologies to Agent Raynor

whose memoir got cut

a little short.

Hit us up with your ideas

for Supe memoir titles

@TheBoysTV using the hashtag

#InsidetheBoys or

#SupeThereItIs.

This has only been

the first episode of the season.

We have got seven more

episodes of "The Boys" mayhem

ahead of us, and we'll be

here after every episode

with surprise guests,

exclusive content

and a breakdown of all

the action from Gecko's arm

to Gecko's $1000

premium package.

So go watch "The Boys",

and then rewatch "The Boys",

and then live "The Boys",

but like safely.

Wear a seatbelt.

Goodnight, everybody,

thanks for watching.

Hey, Homelander, can I, like,

get you a cookie,

or you good?

- (romantic music plays)

- (moans)