RECAP: ‘Gen V’ Season 2 Episode 8 — “The Guardians of Godolkin”

To cap off a mixed season held up by its high highs, Gen V Season 2 Episode 8, entitled “The Guardians of Godolkin,” is a fittingly all-over-the-place finale. Admittedly exciting moments are offset by questionable evolutions in the Guardians’ character arcs.

In contrast, the ultimate wrap-up makes the season feel more like a trailer for the final season of The Boys than anything else. There’s a lot to get through, so one more time this season, let’s chat about what happened in Gen V Season 2 Episode 8.

Directed by Steve Boyum, “The Guardians of Godolkin” opens with the man Thomas Godolkin was controlling, Doug (Hamish Linklater), recovering under the watch of the Guardians. Deeply remorseful and physically hurt, Hamish Linklater is once again giving his all. He then reveals that the reason the elderly Godolkin appears so young after his healing by Marie (Jaz Sinclair).

In a flashback, Thomas Godolkin (Ethan Slater) is seen in the middle of a burning laboratory during the Odessa experiments, taking Compound V G1, the same strain that Stormfront and Soldier Boy took. This is a rare successful “have your cake and eat it too” moment because it provides relevant lore while also setting up for the next The Boys spin-off, Vought Rising.

Gen V Season 2 Episode 8 takes time to set up the next spin-off for The Boys.

Meanwhile, Gen V Season 2 Episode 8 cuts over to Godolkin himself, who is enjoying the newfound vigor of his body by chugging wine, eating decadent food, and making love with Jessica Bradley/Sister Sage (Susan Heyward). It appears that their relations have gone on for a while, a potential ret-con to The Boys season 4, where no such thing was even referred to. Regardless, she expresses trepidation when he makes his plans to announce himself to the University clearly. She claims there’s still work for both of them to do in the shadows.

Taking Doug to get medical treatment or perhaps another secure location, Polarity (Sean Patrick Thomas) listens sensitively as Doug mourns what Godolkin had made him do. Doug seems to light up when talking about Polarity’s son Andre (the late great Chance Perdomo), whose rebellious spirit and genuine heroism impressed him. This nice moment is cut short when a katana comes through the sunroof, killing Doug instantly. Bye-bye, Hamish Linklater… unfortunately. The owner of the sword reveals himself to be none other than Black Noir II (Nathan Mitchell).

On campus, Marie is debating what her next move should be. Emma (Lizze Broadway) expresses that the group needs to stick together, in very clunky dialogue from episode writers Justine Ferrara and Michele Fazekas. As Emma leaves the room, Marie apologizes to Cate (Maddie Phillips) for her distrust. Cate quickly accepts, only to realize the apology runs deeper: Marie ends up healing Cate’s powers entirely.

Now, this is a nice moment that is soured due to this season’s scattered focus not really centering the issues between Cate and Marie, other than a handful of scenes. Not that the moment is even allowed to sit, since Gen V Season 2 Episode 8 quickly moves on to the next thing. 

Gen V Season 2 Episode 8 moves too quickly between important scenes, ending up scattered.

Thomas Godolkin hops on a live-stream, not only announcing that he’s alive but also that all the rankings are now reset. Each student will receive an email to attend one of a series of seminars he will be holding. Concerned, Marie makes a separate live-stream, telling students not to attend these seminars. Her efforts are too late, as in a training area, Godolkin lets in his first group of students for “vetting”. 

Godolkin gives the first group of students being vetted a task: stop him before he pushes a red button on the other side of the room. As soon as the buzzer sounds, he uses his mind control to pit the students against each other, incapacitating or killing them.

Sister Sage looks on, unsettled, ignoring calls from Homelander. After the students are all on the ground, dead or broken, Godolkin reveals to Sister Sage that he’s controlling all of them to train himself to control Marie and, eventually, Homelander himself to run The Seven.

Maniacally, Godolkin manipulates the still-alive students into dancing as Sage looks on in horror. While the Wicked actor does a fine enough job as an over-the-top villain, Ethan Slater often feels more like he’s doing an impression of Hamish Linklater than bringing anything new to the table. Switching up our main villain’s actor this late in the game is a gamble that, sadly, is a bane to the forthcoming climax of Gen V Season 2 Episode 8.

Outside the quad, as the gang is deciding what to do, Jordan (Derek Luh and London Thor) breaks up with Marie. It’s a surprising development, not to mention terribly set up. The scattered, inconsistent storytelling of the series is really coming home to roost in Gen V‘s season finale, and that’s especially tough to see as this season started off with such vivid character writing.

Ethan Slater’s Godolkin feels more like an impression than owning the character.

Meanwhile, Polarity is in a cell where Black Noir II is geeking out about Polarity’s appearances in Vought Media films. Sister Sage dismisses him and tells Polarity that she thinks he was “stronger” before he was healed, as he had to think on his feet more and decide to use his powers at opportune times.

It’s an odd exchange, made more so by Sage leaving the door open for Polarity to escape. I’m always happy to see Sister Sage, as she was a major highlight in The Boys Season 4, yet it feels like she should’ve been in this season more. Let’s chalk it up to a missed opportunity.

And now, we arrive at the climax of Gen V Season 2 Episode 8, and the season as a whole. As a second group of students comes in, Cate, with her newly healed powers, convinces a guard to open the doors to the training room so that Marie can enter. As Marie arrives, so does Sam (Asa Germann), Emma, and Jordan, albeit out of the anus of fellow student Black Hole (Wyatt Dorion).

Here, what’s supposed to be an epic brawl ensues. The shaky cinematography mucks things up, as does the nondescript location. Still, we get to see the Guardians whipping ass and Emma finally being able to grow huge at her own command, a moment that’s bizarrely underplayed.

Gen V Season 2 Episode 8 is enjoyable TV, but it’s also unfocused.

Eventually, Emma’s friend Ally (Georgie Murphy) uses her pubic hair powers to tie up Godolkin while Harper (Jessica Clement) steals his powers and releases the students from Godolkin’s grasp. As the run away, Godolkin, in a last-ditch effort, starts controlling Marie, only for Polarity to show up and knock him back. Regaining control of herself, Marie explodes at Thomas Godolkin. A bit of an unsatisfying finish for a villain we just (for real, anyways) met, yet no less a spectacular bloodletting for the notoriously gory show.

After what’s happened, the gang flees, knowing they’ll be hunted by Vought. In what’s supposed to be a major moment, Annabeth (Keeya King) agrees to join the group on the run. It’s a moment that hardly registers because, despite how “important” she’s supposed to be, Annabeth has hardly even felt like a factor this season.

Before that can really hit home, on the run, the Guardians are met by two familiar faces —Starlight (Erin Moriarty) and A-Train (Jessie T. Usher) —who invite them to join the resistance. And with this odd, Marvel Cinematic Universe-esque moment, Gen V Season 2 Episode 8 and Gen V Season 2 come to an end.

Well, that was an odd finale. On paper, it hit enough exciting notes to be viewed as a great conclusion, but the fact that it took such a bumpy road to get there made it feel rushed and unearned. Like the season it’s a part of, Gen V Season 2 Episode 8 is enjoyable enough television that suffers from an unfocused, scattered nature, which prevents it from ever really getting a handle on itself. We could do worse, but we could suddenly do better. Hopefully, onwards and upwards to greener pastures when The Boys Season 5 arrives.

All episodes of Gen V Season 2 are streaming exclusively now on Prime Video.

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