Gen V: God U.
October 12, 2023 9:18 AM - Season 1, Episode 1 - Subscribe
Congratulations! You have been chosen for admission to Godolkin University! We're thrilled to be a part of your journey to discovering what kind of super you are! Since its founding in 1965, God U has produced some of the best and brightest superheroes the world has ever known, including three members of The Seven! And who knows? Maybe you'll be next!
(Content warnings: most of them)
(Content warnings: self-harm as a plot device, thermonuclear suicide, institutionalized brutality/imprisonment, dismemberment for shits and giggles, possibly the new Bury Your Gays land-speed record)
Enjoy this one-of-a-kind glimpse into the world of up-and-coming young superheroes, where the dorms are designed like prisons, students tear each other apart for Sports Day, and underperformers are spirited away without a trace.
Things to discuss:
-Early on, they show us that Godolkin and Red River were founded in the same year (1965). Coincidence? Or possibly just a byproduct of Dr. Vought's system, needing a place for the successes and failures respectively?
-We have a surprising number of Supe-containment facilities now, between canons: the Elmira Adult Rehabilitation Facility, Sage Grove, Room 42D (where they held Starlight once), the place where they held Maeve once, and now... "the Woods"? I'm wondering why they need so many, instead of just one. Presumably the Woods will be different from the others somehow.
-In-universe, the truth about Compound V was leaked roughly a year before the events of Gen V. Ostensibly Marie's sister would have heard about it since then.
-"Meditation on grief, delivered through seventy years of sitcoms"
(Content warnings: self-harm as a plot device, thermonuclear suicide, institutionalized brutality/imprisonment, dismemberment for shits and giggles, possibly the new Bury Your Gays land-speed record)
Enjoy this one-of-a-kind glimpse into the world of up-and-coming young superheroes, where the dorms are designed like prisons, students tear each other apart for Sports Day, and underperformers are spirited away without a trace.
Things to discuss:
-Early on, they show us that Godolkin and Red River were founded in the same year (1965). Coincidence? Or possibly just a byproduct of Dr. Vought's system, needing a place for the successes and failures respectively?
-We have a surprising number of Supe-containment facilities now, between canons: the Elmira Adult Rehabilitation Facility, Sage Grove, Room 42D (where they held Starlight once), the place where they held Maeve once, and now... "the Woods"? I'm wondering why they need so many, instead of just one. Presumably the Woods will be different from the others somehow.
-In-universe, the truth about Compound V was leaked roughly a year before the events of Gen V. Ostensibly Marie's sister would have heard about it since then.
-"Meditation on grief, delivered through seventy years of sitcoms"
I kind of had my doubts going into Gen V, and while this episode didn't completely win me over, it's did enough to keep me watching. I'm a fan now and I appreciate how the show continues the idea that super heroes are a business, and so much more that Godolkin is that development system to get people a pipeline into Vought and the Seven. We have Godolkin and then, I suppose, the folks like Twilight, who just go out and get noticed.
As an underdog, I was immediately on Team Marie. I think it's her initial outside status to this system went a long way to making her more likeable than most of the other characters. The Top 5, at least in this episode, earn it over time.
Count me as "Oh, Clarence Brown is in this?!!" to... "well, it was good while it lasted."
posted by Atreides at 11:42 AM on October 12, 2023
As an underdog, I was immediately on Team Marie. I think it's her initial outside status to this system went a long way to making her more likeable than most of the other characters. The Top 5, at least in this episode, earn it over time.
Count me as "Oh, Clarence Brown is in this?!!" to... "well, it was good while it lasted."
posted by Atreides at 11:42 AM on October 12, 2023
I'm enjoying this series. We only have a post here for the 1st episode but by now there have been 5.
The most glaring difference from The Boys is the absence of Homelander. Anthony Starr's portrayal makes everything else in the show revolve around him. Here everything is diffuse.
Marie... I must be a little slow but I finally made the connection on her surname, Marie Moreau, invoking The Island of Doctor Moreau, and our Supe Kids are similarly experimented on to make them something they weren't.
Emma, and to a lesser extent Jordan, are fan favorites on Reddit.
There are echoes of Harry Potter (supe school instead of wizard school).
They may have over-done (though over-doing is kind of this franchise's thing?) the idea that young people are obsessed with social media likes and follows. But the way superpowers are linked to self-harm is creative. It makes you think of problems of youth in a different context. Also the social media business is just an example of how everything in this world is commodified and exploited.
posted by Schmucko at 1:00 PM on October 13, 2023 [2 favorites]
The most glaring difference from The Boys is the absence of Homelander. Anthony Starr's portrayal makes everything else in the show revolve around him. Here everything is diffuse.
Marie... I must be a little slow but I finally made the connection on her surname, Marie Moreau, invoking The Island of Doctor Moreau, and our Supe Kids are similarly experimented on to make them something they weren't.
Emma, and to a lesser extent Jordan, are fan favorites on Reddit.
There are echoes of Harry Potter (supe school instead of wizard school).
They may have over-done (though over-doing is kind of this franchise's thing?) the idea that young people are obsessed with social media likes and follows. But the way superpowers are linked to self-harm is creative. It makes you think of problems of youth in a different context. Also the social media business is just an example of how everything in this world is commodified and exploited.
posted by Schmucko at 1:00 PM on October 13, 2023 [2 favorites]
I’ve been enjoying the hell out of this. Not that the show needed it, but compared to The Boys you can genuinely like many of these characters. They actually have compassion for each other.
On the other hand, there’s a scene in episode 5 that had me pause for laughter repeatedly, it being just so astonishingly fucked up. Anyone interested in talking about the whole series in here?
Matriculate in the University, Shinji.
posted by hototogisu at 4:06 AM on October 14, 2023 [4 favorites]
On the other hand, there’s a scene in episode 5 that had me pause for laughter repeatedly, it being just so astonishingly fucked up. Anyone interested in talking about the whole series in here?
Matriculate in the University, Shinji.
posted by hototogisu at 4:06 AM on October 14, 2023 [4 favorites]
Perhaps create a post that encompasses the entire season?
posted by Atreides at 8:58 AM on October 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Atreides at 8:58 AM on October 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
I'll put in a good word for Patrick Schwarzenegger, even though his part was brief. He's got his dad's eyes, and there are times when you really catch that and it's kind of chilling. The rest of it is very much in line with the parent show's tendency to drench random locations and people in blood; completely fitting that the primary protagonist is (as one person has put it somewhere) a "blood-bender."
-We have a surprising number of Supe-containment facilities now, between canons: the Elmira Adult Rehabilitation Facility, Sage Grove, Room 42D (where they held Starlight once), the place where they held Maeve once, and now... "the Woods"? I'm wondering why they need so many, instead of just one. Presumably the Woods will be different from the others somehow.
They seem to have different purposes; Red River seems to have been an orphanage that at least tried to train kids how to use their powers without killing people, Sage Grove for experimentation and elimination of supes that were unrehabitable, Elmira may just be a straight-up prison, and the places where Starlight and Maeve were held may have been single-cell facilities because they were more powerful than the average supe. Putting too many supes in one place might increase the possibility that they could escape or be broken out.
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:51 PM on October 21, 2023
-We have a surprising number of Supe-containment facilities now, between canons: the Elmira Adult Rehabilitation Facility, Sage Grove, Room 42D (where they held Starlight once), the place where they held Maeve once, and now... "the Woods"? I'm wondering why they need so many, instead of just one. Presumably the Woods will be different from the others somehow.
They seem to have different purposes; Red River seems to have been an orphanage that at least tried to train kids how to use their powers without killing people, Sage Grove for experimentation and elimination of supes that were unrehabitable, Elmira may just be a straight-up prison, and the places where Starlight and Maeve were held may have been single-cell facilities because they were more powerful than the average supe. Putting too many supes in one place might increase the possibility that they could escape or be broken out.
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:51 PM on October 21, 2023
there’s a scene in episode 5 that had me pause for laughter repeatedly, it being just so astonishingly fucked up
Just one?
This is one of those shows I have to watch alone, it's too fucked up for my wife and far too fucked up to watch with my teen. First episode was enough to entice me to watch more, we'll see how the rest of the season goes.
posted by jzb at 7:38 AM on October 22, 2023 [1 favorite]
Just one?
This is one of those shows I have to watch alone, it's too fucked up for my wife and far too fucked up to watch with my teen. First episode was enough to entice me to watch more, we'll see how the rest of the season goes.
posted by jzb at 7:38 AM on October 22, 2023 [1 favorite]
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posted by queen anne's remorse at 10:38 AM on October 12, 2023