Warning: Spoilers for Gen V episode seven below.
In Gen V’s Season 1 penultimate episode, “Sick,” the Suped-up students of Godolkin University are most definitely not alright.
A plan to expose Dean Shetty (Shelley Conn) has a bloody, unexpected end that could tie into the upcoming season of Eric Kripke’s The Boys in interesting ways, but the possibility of Homeland standing trial and a supe-killing plague being weaponized by opportunistic politicians must wait because Cate Dunlap is about to wage war on campus and no human is safe.
We spoke with showrunner Michele Fazekas about Shetty’s brutal death at the hands of her former protégé, how Cate’s choice has caused a rift in the supe crew, and how what Victoria Neuman’s scheming could mean for season four of The Boys.
Cate made a choice there’s really no going back from when she killed Shetty at the end of the episode. What’s her state of mind at the moment?
Well, I think they broke her. They put her in a position and just sort of squeezed her and squeezed her. This whole season, she had all these plates spinning, “I want to protect my friends. The way I protect them is to keep them from finding out what happened, but they keep finding out. Okay, now I’m going to erase their memory.” So, the goalposts keep moving. She knows what it did to Luke. [They’ve] put Cate in a position where she’s either going to destroy or be destroyed. I don’t even blame Cate for the choices that she makes.
There seems to be a line being drawn between Cate and Same (and their hatred of humans) and the rest of the supe crew. How is that going to play out in the finale?
I think both Cate and Sam have been manipulated by humans. Sam has been tortured and abused. In the world of The Boys, there’s that sort of Supe supremacy that does pit superheroes against humans, and I think Cate and Sam are very susceptible to that mindset.
What does that mean for Sam’s relationship with Emma?
It’s going to be hard. It’s not the best setting for a great relationship. This is [Sam’s] first relationship. In some ways, superpowers or not, it’s the trials and tribulations of what it’s like to be in your first relationship. What is it like to be in love with someone at first? What is it like when they break your heart? So it’s going to happen at this age, whether you’re a superhero or not.
But with Supes, the fallout is a little bit more catastrophic.
Yeah, people don’t really end up dead or maimed.
What’s it been like to see the fan reaction to Marie and Jordan’s relationship, and what does their future look like at the moment?
I really am so happy because I think there may have been some trepidation about that relationship. Not on the writers’ part, but on other people’s part. Essentially, it’s a queer relationship. And even Marie’s kind of like, ‘What does this mean about me?’ And Emma’s like, ‘Who gives a fuck?’
I’m really glad that people are on board for it and invested in it because I am too, and I like how it makes those characters ask questions about themselves. I think as we’ve developed these characters, it’s like, ‘Oh, yeah, I understand even more why Marie and Jordan are drawn to each other.’ Even though they started out hating each other, there’s a similar [view of] the world as very black and white. There’s a good thing to do, and there’s a bad thing to do, and you know exactly what that is. They’re really similar in that way. So yeah, I’m happy that people are on board with it.
We see Neuman walk away with Shetty’s virus at the end of the episode. Is she the bridge to bringing this storyline into season four of The Boys?
I cannot answer that question. What I will say is Neuman probably suffers from the hubris that a lot of politicians suffer from, which is, ‘Well, if I have something, it’s fine. If other people have it, it’s terrible. I’m totally capable of handling this.’ I think a lot of politicians are like, ‘I’m the one who can fix everything.’ It’s like, can you really?
What’s her real interest in Marie?
Neuman knows that when there’s someone who she feels can help her, she needs to recruit them to her side. There is a reason she thinks Marie can help her, and it’s not just because they were both orphans at the same Vought-run orphanage.
Of the two, who is the more powerful?
I think Neuman has a better understanding of her powers and what she can do. I think Marie, maybe her only weakness is she doesn’t know the extent of her powers. That’s essentially what Neuman told her. ‘You don’t know what you could do.’ I think there’s even further that Marie could go.
The Boys loves its dick scenes and it seems Gen V does too. Is there a penis requirement for each season of these shows?
[Laughs] There is no penis requirement. One thing I learned coming into this universe is straight dudes love penises. They love penises. They love talking about them. They love seeing them. Eric says they’re the most hilarious thing. I don’t think I really understood that until I came onto the show. That being said, both of those scenes — the scene with Emma where she’s hanging off of a gigantic penis, the scene where Marie explodes a penis — they came out of real stories. Emma was basically coerced into having sex with that dude, which is something that I think a lot of women [can relate to]. And then Marie was basically almost sexually assaulted by Rufus and there’s no sweeter revenge on a would-be rapist than blowing his dick off.
The writer’s room is working on season two at the moment. Are there characters you want to spotlight next season?
It’s an interesting question. I’ll sort of answer it from a different way which is, what I like to do is once you’ve established a show, you look at your characters and ask, ‘Who haven’t I seen in a scene together? Who haven’t we seen interact that much? What happens when we put them in scenes?’ So I’ll give you an example. Jordan and Emma, we’re like, ‘I want to see them hang out more together. There’s something fun about that.’
So that’s kind of what we’re doing. Who do we want to put together and what would happen? We’re not fishing romantically at all. It’s just like, ‘What would their relationship be? Would they be sort of bickering with each other? Would they totally dig each other?’ That’s what we’re playing with.
Amazon’s ‘Gen V’ streams new episodes on Fridays.