Since season 1, Hugh has been painted as a fairly timid, well-meaning determine who prefers compromise over the discomfort that comes with standing up for what’s proper. This mindset is mirrored when he urges Hugh to simply accept Vought’s compensation after Robin’s loss of life as a substitute of combating again, making an attempt to dissuade him from doing something he would possibly remorse. This tendency towards inaction will not be the results of complacent spinelessness, however the immobilizing worry of being an everyman in a world dominated by supes — Hugh is aware of that he lacks the energy or braveness to reside on the sting, and prefers the humdrum of immersing oneself in protected pastimes over the adrenaline-rush of subverting the norm. Though foundation-shaking braveness is important for change, not everybody can rise to such a problem, particularly amid trials and tribulations of their very own.
To see such a person, who solely ever selected passive gentleness, endure so intensely is fairly powerful to observe, as it’s extra jarring than the audacious humor and stunning model of violence that the collection has sincerely embraced to date. Your entire Compound V storyline that leads Hugh on an unwitting, distressing homicide rampage underlines the present’s tendency to favor visceral shocks with no inherent depth or that means — that is tragic struggling only for the sake of it, meant to numb viewers as a substitute of organising narrative stakes which have a tangible impression. No quantity of tactile bloodbaths can erase the uneasy notion of a grieving son having to kill his father after the latter suffers a lifetime of trauma inside minutes, together with the glib life lesson tacked on to such a heartbreaking, sorrow-inducing act.
Despite the fact that Hughie insists he has made peace with this resolution, this life-altering occasion is sure to come back again and hang-out him.