Boyd in 3D

Has a sort of twist that isn't gonna be that shocking if you're a fan of dark comedy/horror and have seen this type of concept in the past, not a bad episode by any means though.

A story of superficial love gone wrong is soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo predictable. Neither of the millennial characters are even remotely likable, which fits in with this terrible century of crybabies.

Moving away from the main show a bit for this latest episode of Diabolical, for a tale of the perils of social media, with a sting in the tale.

Boyd (Eliot Glazer) is disappointed in his life, especially compared to the lives people appear to be having on social media. Following a quick spell on a Vought face app, he's invited to join a trial of a new drug, one that will make him appear to others as his ideal form. Strong, handsome and confident, he finally approaches his next-door neighbour Cherry (Nasim Pedrad) whom he has had a crush on. All goes well, until she discovers and takes the drug herself, with an unexpected outcome.

Written by Ilana Grazer and her brother Eliot, who also plays the lead the story of this one was nicely done. With the story escalating and then resetting for a happy ending, before pulling the rug out from underneath the audience. (In a way that seems to have upset quite a number of the reviewers, but I felt was in keeping with the tone of "The Boys"). There are guest roles for Kumail Nanjiani and Emily Gordon, as Vought scientists and for Colby Minifie, who reprises the role of Ashley from the main show, as the lead pair become celebrities.

The animation style is basic, but charming and is somewhat similar to their work on the 2020 feature "Wolfwalkers".

What it has to say about the effect of social media is, perhaps, already a little dated, given the speed that the internet moves at but this was a decent, if perhaps slight, addition to the series.

Beautiful very deep episode that does not focus much on fun but more on the plot and on the banal but valid morality that it wants to teach throughout its duration.

All the episodes of this series are presented in a distinctive style, and here we get Walt Disney, although its hard to place an exact inspiration, it could be from anywhere from the early 1960 to the late 1980. It's competently done, and heavily characterised, which is particularly important in a short piece like this.

The plot is a social commentary on social media, and the writing is tight and disciplined, cramming a surprising amount of character, nuance and arc into the short runtime. I'd peg this as the most strongly written and conceived episode of the series. The voice talent is also very appealing and well matched to the characters, so we can jump straight into their story with little preamble.

Without spoilers, it's a compressed love story between average-boy-next-door who feels that he's not good enough for average-girl-next-door, as judged by social media standards. His solution and their subsequent relationship enjoy all the consequences of social media obsession. It's a sort of Cliff Notes version of themes explored in Black Mirror episodes like Nosedive and Fifteen Million Merits.

As those are among the best episodes of Black Mirror, it's a smart choice for a theme. And the presentation here is well executed, and genuinely effecting, with a strong and sharply parabolic emotional story arc.

So dense is it, that there are actually four acts, and the fourth is... well, this is The Boys, doing Black Mirror. You should know what to expect. Whether you enjoy the inevitability of the conclusion or not - and I didn't - you're going to feel strongly about it one way or the other, and that's high praise indeed for a short one-off animation.