Starlight and Stormfront don't have to deal with any hardball questions relating to diversity. Homelander tries to make a point of the Seven's diversity by outing Maeve, but the girl power-infused campaign cannot hide the overt whiteness - not to mention that Stormfront is harboring a secret that will also burst this campaign. When the public finds out in the following episode that superheroes are made not born, #HeroesSoWhite begins to trend after analysis reveals 92 percent of people with powers are, in fact, so white. This is not the inclusivity levels Ashley was boasting she wanted in the Season 2 premiere.

After all, this is the first time three women have been in the Seven, albeit three white women with different hair colors and distinct costume styles. Maeve leaves before the big unveiling citing a family emergency thereby putting a dent in the big event. 'We're going positive, we're going female, thoughtful but upbeat,' former publicist Ashley (Colby Minifie) and now vice president for superhero management, exclaims before the big 'Girls Get It Done' press junket. The second season expands on this tension further when the unfiltered Stormfront becomes the newest member of the Seven. Girl power is how it is presented to her, despite how uncomfortable this barely-there ensemble makes her feel. She is told it is empowering to bare her body and that 'choosing' to wear impractical thigh-high boots with a towering stiletto is feminist. The earlier costume rebrand is part of Annie's battle against corporate coercion as she fights to retain a piece of her personhood. 'Be original' is her advice in the Season 1 finale, which means Annie needs to channel 'the annoying goody-two-shoes asshole that you are.' Maeve doesn't want to see another woman make the same mistakes she did. For once, Vought hasn't spun a tall tale. She once looked up to her but realizes the stories of bravery peddled are likely fabricated by the industrious marketing team. 'As long as you're trending, right?' she snarkily remarks when she sees Annie dressed down in civilian plaid, incorrectly assuming she is acting the victim to gain sympathy (and fans).Д¬alling her out on what she now perceives to be marketing BS, Annie refuses to let her peer have the last word. Consequently, she reads Annie's empowering speech at the 'Believe' Expo as a way to stay in the spotlight. So why is it her job to protect the starry-eyed girl-next-door? Maeve's cynicism runs as deep as her long stint in the Seven. The Boys covers a spectrum of workplace toxicity including this depiction of a woman who has survived and experienced a cornucopia of sexism and harassment. Annie is a reminder of the optimism - and naivetГ© - she once possessed, which is why she has been so hard on her.Д¬aught between a mentor role she doesn't want and feeling like old news, Maeve's ego is impacted by her younger counterpart, but she also knows that niceties will not get you anywhere at a company as corrupt as this one. 'I started giving pieces of myself away and I guess I gave everything away.' Maeve has been towing the company line for so long and bowing to Homelander's every dangerous whim that she has forgotten why she joined the Seven. After Annie tells her coworker she isn't in the mood for her signature 'bottomless casual cruelty,' Maeve surprises her with kindness. The bathroom is traditionally used as the one safe workplace space to vent or cry, but in the glistening Vought tower, weakness is not permitted, even in private.Д«ookending the season, the plush bathroom is the backdrop for a more heartfelt and understanding conversation between the pair. In the pilot episode, Queen Maeve's (Dominique McElligott) first piece of advice to the newest member of the superhero squad was to 'Never let them see you like this.'ДЄnnie has just been sexually assaulted by the Deep (Chace Crawford) and rather than ask why her mascara is smeared all over her face, Maeve looks at her colleague with tired disdain. Before Stormfront unexpectedly replaced the not-so-dearly-departed Translucent, the relationship between the Seven's two women had shifted from combative to empathetic.

Girl power meme