Posted in: Amazon Studios, TV | Tagged: buffy, star trek, the boys, The X-Files

The Boys: Kripke on What Star Trek, Buffy, The X Files Have In Common

The Boys' Eric Kripke on genre shows reflecting our times and a key trait shared by Star Trek, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and The X-Files.

As filing on the fifth and final season of Showrunner Eric Kripke's The Boys rolls on, Kripke has been keeping details on what's to come pretty guarded – and understandably so, But one topic that the showrunner has been offering some very interesting insights into is how the line between the show's reality and our reality has become eerily blurred over the course of the previous four seasons. During a recent conversation with Salon, Kripke was asked for his thoughts on a show's ability to use its creative space to tackle issues relevant to current society and if that has the potential to offer viewers a "false security" when compared to how those issues play out in the real world.

"It feels like there are two questions there. One is, look — the thing I love most about genre and why I really only want to be in this space is because you can say subversive things about the world that you just can't get away with in a straight drama. It would either be too earnest, it would either be too boring, too wonky . . . But there's something about the fantasy and the action and the fight scenes – there are lots of spoonfuls of sugar all around it that we get to have as an advantage when we're telling the story," Kripe shared. "You can watch a takedown of late-stage capitalism and the risk of democracies falling into fascism and be entertained and laughing as you're doing it. It's difficult to do that in a straight drama."

In terms of viewers developing a "false sense of security," Kripke responded that it's not within his power to control what individuals take away from a work. "When I watch it, I see the subtext of it, and I see [that] someone is making a point and warning us that something like that is possible," he added. Following up on his previous thoughts about genre shows being able to convey difficult yet honest messages, Kripke sees an advantage to viewers being able to glean meaning about the world around them in fantastical settings. "I think there's something actually healthy about a little bit of distance between the viewer and the subject, where they can look a bit of a different world that maybe they'll see things that they're not noticing if they're just watching the news. They'll just have a perspective that gets them a little more clarity," he explained.

While he sees the advantages that distance can bring, Kripke makes it clear that quality genre shows still need to reflect the world their viewers are living in—and that's what makes them timeless.But anyone who is reading or watching any good science fiction and saying, 'Oh, this is just fantasy.' They're not looking at it closely. Anything good – and I mean any, name it: 'Star Trek,' 'Buffy, the Vampire Slayer,' 'The X Files,' anything — it's all talking about the world that we're currently living in, and at least for me, that is what is so appealing,' Kripke added.

Here's a look back at Kripke's Instagram post announcing the first day of filming was underway and revealing intel on the first episode of the final season: Episode 501: "Fifteen Inches of Sheer Dynamite" (written by Paul Grellong and directed by Phil Sgriccia).

The Boys Is "Punk Rock": Eric Kripke "Working Hard to Not Sell Out"

"We're gonna look at the chips we have on the table right now. I live in absolute terror of becoming the thing we've been satirizing for five years," Kripke shared during a recent conversation with Collider, explaining why he continues to be cautious about expanding the show's universe too much, too soon. "The thing about 'The Boys' is that it's punk rock, and it hurts extra hard when punk rockers sell out. I'm really working hard to not sell out. We do these shows because we really care about them and we're passionate about them, and they can tell fresh stories that we can't tell in 'The Boys' and not just be about rapid expansion but be very careful and mindful about the choices we're making and being able to defend why we're making them. I worry about that every single day," he added. "I just want people to say, maybe it's for them, and maybe it isn't for them, but gotta hand it to them, they maintain a consistent level of quality."

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!