Jen V just gave us a big tease that Cipher is actually a good guy and he might be the world's first true superhuman. Welcome back to Screen Crush. I'm Ryan Ery and this is all of the Easter eggs, references, and little things you might have missed in season 2, episode 4 of Gen V. Quick disclaimer, guys. This show is really political. It's a modern satire of the time we live in right now. So, we are going to talk about the political commentary in this show and what the creators intended with it. We're not actually trying to get on a soap box and say what we think. or just interpreting the satire in the show. Be nice to each other in the comments. Remember, everyone has a mother.
We open with VA News hosted by Firecracker. And she says, "We're about to enter the Gatrix." And a conservative political commentator referencing The Matrix while referring to a transgender person is probably a nod to Lana and Lily Wowski, the trans women who created the Matrix trilogy. You know, since VA wants Jordan to make being by gender easier to understand by calling themselves trans. But notice when they show Kate, she's listed as a real woman as a way of implying that Jordan is not a real woman, that instead she is fake. This ties into the recurring theme of this episode I'll talk about in just a bit.
Outside the school, we see statues of alums a train and Crimson Countess. And inside we see that giant portrait of Homelander with resist graffiti. Now, I didn't mention this in the last video, but the graffiti being yellow is of course a nod to Starlight's costume, just like the yellow shirts, signs, and hoodies that her supporters wear. Now, last episode ended with Jordan taking the blame for Kate's death. And now we see how VA Spin Machine has gone into full force by calling them a liar and keeping up the cover story that the Starlighters are responsible. Now, at the rally, people were cheering for Jordan's faux trans identity. "It's transtastic." But now, influencer Justine is using a dog whistle criticism of trans people, claiming she's upset that Jordan was the wrong gender when they entered their bathroom.
This school, everything is so fake. And that is the theme of this season so far. It's real versus fake. How we actually feel versus how we appear to feel. Our entire culture is in a constant state of flux where the truth is always changing depending on your personal algorithm. And social media can literally warp your perception of reality depending on what filters you apply to your Instagram photos. So this theme fake versus real is especially relevant for young people today who are constantly being targeted by brands and corporations who are feeding them [ ] to sell them things. Now this whole conversation about what's real or not real or digital versus real life is one of the reasons I love doing our live shows.
So we had a whole live show tour over the past year or so and it was a lot of fun. We went to different cities. We had some sellout crowds. You know we did some cool stuff we just can't do on the channel. Like I did exclusive breakdowns. We had meet and greets guests. The best part was meeting you guys face to face, taking your questions, and just being in the same room with you. I feel like on YouTube, we never really get to be who we are cuz we're always like reading from a script. And just being in the same space as you guys and geeking out together is what makes these shows special. And that's why I'm very happy and also a little sad that our very last show of the tour is going to be at New York Comic-Con and City Winery on Friday, October 10th. So, tickets for this are on sale now. You can find them below. And I really hope you can make it. It's so much fun.
We tried to schedule the show for a time when people would have been walking around Comic-Con all day and their feet would hurt so then they would come see us. And we're also going to be wrapping up a story that we told like through all the live shows that involves Paul from Heavy Spoilers. It's goofy. It's fun. It's stuff you don't get to see on the channel. Again, ticket links are below. I really hope you guys can make it.
Now, back to Gen V. Think about how smartphones have ruined our ability to be ourselves in public. People are less inclined to dance because the video might just get posted to the internet for the world to see. Therefore, we all walk around like we're personal influencers and we're portraying a fake self. And in The Boys, we see the main characters try to use this false reality to weaponize against VA, like Marie's social video. But VA is always ready to reshape reality to fit the narrative that they want to be told. Case in point, the kids have to project false emotions to the public and hide how they really feel.