Gen V season 1 episodes 1, 2, and 3 recaps and review

Open Go TV / October 1, 2023 / Reviews

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Gen V follows Marie Moreau after she joins Godolkin University and gets caught up in a conspiracy involving other super students. The episodes are streaming on Prime Video.

Episode 1 recap: God U.

When Marie Moreau was 12 years old, her powers presented for the first time. However, unable to control them, she ended up killing her parents and alienating her younger sister. Her power to manipulate blood makes her a monster within moments.

She is sent to the Red River Institute where she lives a mundane life while hoping to get adopted. Given her history, that is unlikely but she does get into Godolkin University for Superheroes on a scholarship.

She meets her roommate, Emma, who has the power to turn herself tiny and has her own YouTube channel. Marie gets her first glimpse of Luke Riordan, or “Golden Boy”, the top-ranked student in the university.

When the class schedules are out, Marie notices that she didn’t get into Professor Brinkerhoff’s class which is a staple for anyone wanting to get into crime-fighting. She goes to the professor’s office and meets his TA, Jordan Li, the second-ranked student and a gender shifter.

She attempts to make her case to Professor Brink but he tells her that the performing arts school is just as prestigious. Later that night, Marie sees a young super running away from some officers and she stops him with the help of Andre Anderson, Luke’s best friend.

Professor Brink meets Luke the next day and tells him that he’s joining The Seven soon. Andre invites Marie to hang out with them that evening and Emma convinces Marie to go. A guy asks Emma to turn small when they’re hooking up, and she goes to the bathroom to purge herself which makes her smaller.

Marie meets Andre, Luke, Jordan, and Luke’s girlfriend, Cate. They all go to Vought Tower and then enter a party where Cate shows off her power to “push” someone to do whatever she wants just by touching them.

They all get high in the club and while Andre is hitting on someone using his powers on a coin, he ends up slicing a woman’s throat by accident. The others run away but Marie manages to save the woman and is all over social media the next day.

Professor Brink calls her into his office and gives her a pep talk before expelling her because it would be bad press if people found out some of their best students were high on drugs that night.

Luke has a recurring dream where his younger brother Sam calls out to him from somewhere in the woods. Luke believed that Sam killed himself a few years ago but his most recent dream convinces him that Sam is alive.

Luke goes to Professor Brink’s office, and Marie shows up a little while later to fight for her spot. She walks in and sees Luke embracing the professor and burning him alive with his powers. Marie says that she’ll keep quiet about this, but he goes after her.

They run into Jordan and they fight Luke off so that Marie can get away. Marie sees Andre and Luke shows up soon after but is talked down by his best friend. He whispers something into Andre’s ear and then flies up into the sky and commits suicide.

Episode 2 recap: First Day

Everyone is processing Luke’s death as Ashley Barrett talks to Dean Indira Shetty and the Board of the University on how to deal with the situation. They push forward the story that Luke was a drug addict and how Marie and Andre are the most popular choices to be the heroes in this report.

Someone brings up the fact that Jordan was the one who actually fought Luke but Ashley says that they don’t poll well with several demographics so they shouldn’t get any attention. Ashley then asks Indira if the incident had anything to do with “the woods” and she says it is under investigation.

Marie goes back to her room and snaps at Emma for everything that has happened so far. The next day, Marie finds out that she’s broken into the top 10 rankings at the University as a freshman which draws a lot of attention.

Andre and Marie are doing promotional media for the Golden Boy situation and Marie gets her first taste of the PR side of being a supe. Emma makes friends with Justine, a fellow student at the performing arts school who is an aspiring influencer.

Marie is invited to audit some junior classes thanks to her new status, and Jordan catches up with her after class to ask for a favor. They ask Marie to tell the truth in her live interview later about how Jordan was the one who fought Luke.

Andre and Cate are still wondering why Luke would kill himself as they watch his parents and character get dragged in the news. Emma gets stoned with Justine and tells her how her powers work.

Indira talks to Marie in an attempt to forge a connection with her. The young boy is being experimented on in an underground facility, and there are images of woods plastered all along the walls.

Cate and Andre check out Luke’s old room and see that it has been cleared out and cleaned. Emma sees a video of Justine telling everyone about her powers and she is mortified.

Andre thinks of the last thing that Luke said to him and finds a phone hidden in a statue of Andre’s father, the former supe, Polarity. Luke records a message telling Andre that he believes his brother Sam is alive and is being kept in a facility underground called “The Woods”.

Andre skips the interview so Marie gets all of the focus. The interviewer mentions that they reached out to her younger sister for a comment but the response they got was that she didn’t want anything to do with Marie.

Andre goes into Professor Brink’s office and finds some files on his computer about the “Woods”. He gets a picture of Sam in a cell and then hides as some soldiers arrive and take the laptop away.

He follows them down a stairwell to a secret entrance but is caught. Cate shows up just in time to help him but she gets a seizure from pushing too much.

Episode 3 recap: #ThinkBrink

Luke and Cate visit Sam in Sage Grove Hospital and Luke calms his brother down after the truth about Compound V is released to the public. An officer fires a taser on Sam and he retaliates, killing the officer. Cate uses her powers to put Sam to sleep.

Luke gets the news a few years later that his brother killed himself and Luke asks Cate to make him forget how his feeling but she says he must go through this grief.

Cate finally returns to consciousness with Andre sitting beside her looking worried. Andre wants to do something about the facility they found but Cate begs him not to do anything impulsive. They end up making out and sleeping together.

Marie returns to her room and finds Emma on the floor, too tiny to even move. She helps her get back to size and wants to talk about it but Emma pushes back. A memorial gala is being held in honor of Professor Brink and Indira invites Marie as her guest for the night to win over trustees.

Justine tries to apologize to Emma but she has someone recording it so Emma walks off. She then immediately runs into her mother who has a ticket for the gala and tells Emma that she’s going too.

Marie wants to apologize to Cate but Cate is cold towards her. Justin’s parents show up and he takes on his male form in front of them.

Everyone attends the gala where Indira shows Marie off in front of all the trustees while Emma’s mother wants to make a deal for a reality show exploiting her power. Andre is attending with his father who is always putting pressure on him to be on top.

Justin’s parents are showing off about his childhood and he switches to his female form to spite them. She tries to tell her father that she’s still the same Justin but her father shows his bigotry.

Marie and Emma run into each other in the toilet and Marie asks Emma if they can be real friends instead of fighting. Emma then steps outside and Andre follows her. He runs into Cate who uses her power to get into the party.

Andre tells Emma about the facility and then asks her for help sneaking in. She agrees and turns little so that she can get into the facility. Marie walks past Justin and Cate drinking and tells them the truth about how she killed her parents. Cate says that her brother went missing because of her powers.

Emma talks to Sam and he says that he knows all the security codes so she can return with help. However, an alarm rings and a guard rushes in after the floor electrocutes Sam. Emma doesn’t want to see Sam get hurt so she jumps onto the guard and kills him by going through his ears.

Andre tells her father about the facility and he is told to keep quiet about it. Andre then goes to Cate, Marie, and Justin and tells them that he sent Emma to check on Sam. Emma is faced with trouble after more guards arrive soon after.

Review

Much like The Boys, this series highlights social issues with clever use of the superhero concept so brilliantly. The topic of trans rights, eating disorders, and self-harm are all showcased using different superpowers and they don’t shy away from telling the truth.
All the characters are well-written, especially within the context of the universe as many of the supes are horrible by default. The lead students here still have a conscience but they aren’t entirely clean and shiny.
So many other subtle references are especially a hoot given the timeline of the series. The crimefighting institute is named after Lamplighter, even though he is established as a child murderer, and the performing arts school is named after the Crimson Countess, who became a washed-up carnival performer.