The Boys Wasted This Character In Season 3, And Chapter Four Has to Fix That
Fans crave more of this criminally underrated character.
The Boys, a critically acclaimed superhero TV series from Amazon Prime Video, will return for its fourth season later this year. The show focuses on a team of misfits seeking revenge in a world where superheroes are far from the beacons of justice they are supposed to be. Based on the comic book of the same name, the show has managed to surpass the original in many ways.
One of the strongest aspects of the show is its colorful cast of characters. Both protagonists and antagonists are presented in a way that makes them multi-dimensional and interesting to watch.
One such character is the speedster A-Train, the first superhero we see on screen. In the debut episode of the first season, he semi-accidentally kills the girlfriend of one of the protagonists, Hughie Campbell, by running through her at hundreds of miles per hour under the influence of the drug Compound V, leaving only a bloody mess.
.jpg)
This event sets up the entire series and sets Hughie on a quest for revenge against him and his fellow superheroes.
As the catalyst for events to come, A-Train is present in all three seasons and undergoes significant changes as a character. After suffering a heart attack at the end of the first season due to his drug abuse, he eventually recovers, but still suffers from severe heart palpitations that threaten his entire superhero career.
In a twist of fate, he even ends up helping Hughie, the man whose life he destroyed, and the other Boys in taking down Stormfront, a Nazi superwoman and the main antagonist of season 2.
What upsets fans the most is that in season 3 A-Train is relegated to the sidelines, only appearing in a couple of arcs where he tries to rebrand himself and take on Blue Hawk, another racist superhero.
After what appears to be a major change in his character, allying with his nemesis to fight the greater evil, he is reduced to a third-tier character.
Fans feel that A-Train has a lot of potential for more good stories and character development, and hope that the showrunners will do better with him and Hughey in the upcoming fourth chapter of the story, which is expected to be released later this year.