I know Gen V is an extension of The Boys, the show it spun off from, but all of my favorite details are in what it does completely differently. The Boys’ infamous gore and nudity are still there, but the college-aged characters bring an added level of whimsy. It’s this tonal tweak that gives us elements like the puppet sequences from Sam’s point of view, or the interpersonal drama that feels straight out of Riverdale, and that’s a refreshing change of pace from The Boys’ high octane action.
A related and underrated strength is how Gen V handles real-world issues, often using its superpowers to provide a model for the problems of young adults. Marie uses her bloodbending powers by cutting herself, which reflects self-harm. Emma’s shrinking powers are controlled by her eating disorder; no analogy needed. But in Season 2, this trope falls apart thanks to Gen V’s strange attitude towards the shapeshifting Jordan Li. Even when it’s attributed to the villainous powers that be, it’s a disappointing step down from Season 1.
Jordan’s gender shifting adds a queer element to their relationship with Marie, but Gen V is starting to fumble the bigger picture.
In Gen V Season 2 Episode 3, bigender hero Jordan Li (who’s played by both Derek Luh and London Thor) is told by Head of Student Life Stacy Ferrara that they’ll need to deliver a speech about how happy they are to be back at Godolkin University. “I also put some stuff in there about the struggles of being a trans person in the world and how God U has welcomed you with open arms,” Stacy says. “Oh, and I worked in a word ‘transtastic,’ which I came up with myself.”
“I'm not trans,” Jordan says. “I'm bigender.” This short statement lays out what makes Jordan’s gender identity different from the real-world analogs of other Supes. Jordan isn’t trans. There wasn’t really a transitioning process for them; they just developed powers contingent on their gender-shifting ability.
That difference is highlighted in Season 1, when Jordan’s dad expresses why he’s still a little uncomfortable with their dual appearance. “I’m no bigot, and I get a lot of kids don’t have a choice, but you do,” he says in Episode 3. “You can be a boy forever if you want. Sometimes I think you change into a girl just to spite me.”
In Season 1, Jordan’s identity was handled with the care that Season 2 lacks.
Granted, all the reductive discussion of transness comes from Stacy, who is by no means portrayed as a good person. But drawing a line between Jordan and the trans community — even one that’s portrayed as offensive — is still reductive. Season 1 managed to show that even though Jordan isn’t trans, they still experience certain parts of the trans experience, like parents being hesitant to accept change and the challenges of coping with how others see them. In Season 2, the issue just seems to be that they’re not trans, they’re super.
Trans people everywhere work so hard to be able to do what Jordan can do instantly: make their appearance fit their identity. It’s nice that Jordan recognizes that privilege, but Gen V Season 2 felt like it had lost all the nuance it had already shown.
