Marie and Cate are heading towards Cipher, hoping that Godolkin is their savior. At the same time, Polarity found a way to stop Cipher without Marie’s help. Can the two sides reach each other in time? Gen V has been building towards the showdown in “Hell Week” for several episodes, so it needs to live up to the hype. Otherwise, this could be a real mess for The Boys spin-off.
Gen V — “Hell Week” Recap
Annabelle (Keeya King) wakes up after suffering from a nightmare where Marie (Jaz Sinclair) was covered in blood. She quickly checks with Jordan (London Thor, Derek Luh) and the others, but no one has seen her. Sam (Asa Germann) confirms that Cate is gone, too. Putting the pieces together, Jordan realizes where they’re going. Annabelle and Jordan will drive, while Sam will “jump” with Emma. Annabelle asks Jordan about their relationship with Marie, but Jordan questions if they even have one anymore.
Marie parks and starts walking to Cipher’s house. Cate (Maddie Phillips) asks to fix her again, but Marie does not think it’s possible. She tells Cate she does not trust her, and instead she should wait at the car. Cate refuses and walks into Cipher’s house with Marie. They go inside the vault, but Cipher and Godolkin are missing. Instead, they find a weakened Polarity (Sean Patrick Thomas), who believes he can stop Cipher.
In a bunker, Cipher wonders how Polarity broke the connection. In his anger, he starts whipping Godolkin with a belt, wondering if they should end it all now. Before he smashes his head with an oxygen tank, his phone alerts him about the people in his house. Cipher reveals that Sage predicted Marie’s return, and now they need to “make a sacrifice.”
Polarity is confused about the plan to help Godolkin fight Cipher, worrying that Godolkin could actually be worse. As he tells Marie to stop, Polarity has a seizure. She grabs his hand and uses her powers to bring him back. His tremors disappear, but both Marie and Cate suffer nosebleeds. Polarity is feeling healthy for the first time in years.
Sam arrives on campus with Emma. He hides her behind a bush to get dressed, but before they leave, Rufus (Alexander Calvert) demands that Sam participate in Hell Week as a senior member of the frat. He gives Sam a pledge (who is expelled out of the rectum of another frat member) and tells him it’s non-negotiable.
At the same time, Greg (Stephen Thomas Kalyn) shows up and is thrilled to see Emma. She tries to tell him they’re in trouble, but before she goes further, he agrees to help. Greg will search in the air while they search the ground.
Polarity tries to convince Marie to get Cate her powers back. Marie blames Cate over and over again, telling her it’s all her fault they’re in this mess. However, Polarity tells her to stop. People do the wrong thing when they’re in the “Vought Machine,” and if anyone is to blame for Andre’s death, it’s him. Marie still refuses.
James Gunn Can Greenlight a Creature Commandos Game to Wipe Out the Stain of Kill the Justice League
However, the phone in Cipher’s office starts ringing. He asks her to come to finish their lessons, but Marie refuses. Cipher tells Marie he only cut Annabeth’s throat to force her to use her powers to their full extent. He hangs up but knows that Marie heard the seminar doors closing. She heads over with Polarity and Cate.
Meanwhile, Annabeth and Jordan arrive on campus. As soon as they get out of the car, Annabeth has a vision of the room and, with Jordan’s help, realizes they need to go to the seminar building. Emma and Sam search the student union, and he apologizes for feeling jealous of Greg. She tells him it is okay, as Greg arrives at the student union to tell Emma he saw Marie. The men try to one-up each other, but Emma runs to help Marie, causing them to chase after her.
Marie stands outside the building and knows that Godolkin is inside. Everyone else arrives at the same time, making Marie furious. She tells everyone to leave so she can go fight Cipher, but Annabeth tells her about the vision. For the first time, she also admits she saw a similar vision the day before their parents died.
Even with that admission, Marie tells everyone she needs to go. When Jordan tries to stop her, Marie lifts her friends into the air using her blood-bending powers. She offers to give Cate back her powers on the condition that she use them to push everyone away. Cate refuses, telling Marie she will never use her powers on her friends again. Marie drops them and walks into the hall with Polarity.
Cipher waits inside and begins bickering with Polarity. However, after they throw weapons at each other, Cipher realizes where Marie is heading. Polarity keeps him from the elevator, and soon Sam, Jordan, and Greg arrive as backup. However, Cipher jumps between everyone in the group except Polarity. They beat each other up and throw themselves through walls.
Emma, Kate, and Annabelle look for a way downstairs to Godolkin. Marie finds him alone in the basement and offers to heal him in exchange for his help. She fixes his burns across his entire body and passes out from the effort. The women find her passed out as Godolkin (Ethan Slater) rises, fully healed.
“Am I not allowed to say that?”: Batman: Caped Crusader Star Hamish Linklater Has Revealed His Pick for James Gunn’s DCU That Just Might Come True
Upstairs, Polarity throws Cipher into a wall, breaking his arms and back. He gets ready to strike a killing blow when suddenly Cipher starts repeating, “I’m not him, I’m not him.” He says his name is Doug and that Cipher has been possessing his body. He tells Polarity there is no Cipher; there is only “him.”
Downstairs, Cate puts together that Godolkin is actually Cipher after all. She tells the others they need to leave. They run out of the room with Marie. Outside of the building, Godolkin takes over the pledge, killing him for being in the bottom 2% at God U. He moves on, ready to carry out his mission.
Is “Hell Week” worth watching?
No, despite being the penultimate episode of Gen Z‘s second season, “Hell Week” does not work. Unfortunately, this is one of the weakest episodes of the season, despite the big reveal at the end. We called it last week, so the twist in question was not surprising. Instead, the execution was quite disastrous in the lead-up, making most of the episode pointless.
“Hell Week” is mostly here to clean up lingering plotlines, but that assumes we care about the other plots in place. Sam being in a frat has not mattered and continues to be pointless window dressing (it also makes no sense that he would just get bounced into membership despite being in an asylum for most of his life).
The real issue, above all else, is Marie. The character is completely unhinged, and no one calls her out on it. Even Polarity enables her behavior, even after she threatens to kill everyone. There’s only light pushback to her plan. If anyone had actually pushed through the logic and facts they have, the Godolkin reveal would not have been a surprise to them either.
“Held my hand and helped mend my heart “: Despite Hate For Ethan Slater Romance, Ariana Grande’s True Feelings After ‘Wicked’ Proves She’s Above It All
Whether we chalk it up to poor direction or a poor performance from Sinclair, Marie is downright irritating in this episode. The writing does her no favors, but the reactions of others are also off. “Hell Week” never gains its footing in the episode, and as a result, the entire thing crumbles on itself. The final three minutes of the episode are fantastic, but that does not help us recover through the remaining thirty-five minutes of dreck.
Gen V releases every Wednesday on Prime Video. “Hell Week” aired on October 15, 2025.
