Warning: content is not appropriate for children.

Ashley Barrett is a supporting character in the extremely successful series by Apple TV, ‘The Boys’. I have loved this series right from the beginning. It has a mix of action, drama and comedy. The elements of comedy are often quite dark and twisted, another reason why I like it so much 😆. Most of the characters have comedic moments but none are quite as funny as Ashley Barrett, played bu Colby Minifie. It feels like her character is innately funny, she gets all the best one liners and her comedic expression really stands out. It doesn’t seem to matter what the situation is, if its Ashley, its funny as hell. I’ll be going through Ashley’s scenes from season’s 3 and 4 and breaking down those scenes to figure out what makes it so funny and observe the excellent performance by Colby Minifie, who has truly nailed this character completely.

The Characters Progression

At the start of season 3, Ashley is growing into her new role as CEO yet she is stuck between a rock and a hard place as she discovers that she has very little power due to Homelander being Homelander. It’s already a funny situation because she is supposed to have authority and attempts to use it but then has to back track and adapt to the whims of… well Homelander mostly. In this scene, you can see how conflicted Ashley is in her role as Starlight confronts her about the strange disappearance of Maeve. Ashley acts like a professional bureaucrat, lying in the interests of Vought even though she knows Maeve is locked up in an underground cell. Still, she is CEO and she will act accordingly.

Colby Minifie plays the character sincerely, and the emotion in her face is palpable. She pauses and changes from scared Ashley to doubling down as a CEO. This shows a complex character who is in a tragic scenario of either being a leader, who could be killed at any moment by a psychopathic superhero boss, or being a human being who can help Starlight get to Maeve. I think the character really wants to be an effective CEO and technically she does the right thing from her point of view which is to do her job, despite Maeve’s grave situation.

A Supporting Character Has Freedom

Most of the main characters have to be written very carefully. There must be a balance between their personalities and how much you can bend them comedically. Ashley being non-integral to the storyline, has immense freedom to say the funniest stuff and get away with it. It doesn’t compromise our perception that she is a real person or not, as we are not really expecting a serious dramatic arc from her, even though she does have an arc, its a minor arc that is over-shadowed by the main plot. This allows writers to have fun with the character. Ashley is like an extra thing at the side that we can have fun with, not an important column that supports the story.

Can I get a what what? – Ashley Barrett

This scene is hilariously funny. A-Train murdered another supe at Herogasm (an orgy for supes) and had a heart attack in the process. Ashley comes in and like a pro, starts manipulating the narrative to keep Vought out of the shit. She drip-feeds the new narrative to A-Train deliciously through tone of voice and facial expression. A-Train gets onboard with the subtext. Then she drops the bomb about A-Train having been given the super heart of Blue Hawk, a racist supe who paralysed his own brother. Then without any consent or control from A-Train, announces the commencement of a biographic movie of A-Train’s life. There’s not much he can do about it either as his name is commercial property of Vought. There’s a strange mix of power and identity and A-Train is painfully, a submissive part of it.

Here’s another example of Ashley acting like a CEO and then having to suck up to Homelander. She probably believes that disagreeing with Homelander will lead to her being fired or even murdered. Her behaviour is awkward funny and completely understandable.

Ashley is smart and she needs to be. She is a boss but cant be too bossy. To be fair, everyone around Homelander is a sycophant. Homelander knows this and to prove the point, he asks The Deep to perform fellatio on the A-Train. Again, what makes this scene even funnier is when it cuts to Ashley’s excited expression!

Ashley’s Expressions

The makers of ‘The Boys’ must have noticed how great Colby Minifie’s comedic skill and timing is and found a way to exploit them wherever they could. This actress has an incredible gift of almost voicing how the audience must feel about whats going on in a scene. And she can voice it in a way that makes the scene even funnier. For example, when The Deep is asked to eat an Octopus, called Timothy (lol), Ashley brings more fun to the scene just by her reaction.

Ashley Pandering

As CEO, Ashley has to do a lot of pandering to keep the huge egos at Vought at bay. She does it very well but also very funnily to the audience who can see how much effort she is putting into quelling any insecurities that they might have. However, we see glimpses behind her mask as she struggles to maintain a straight face.

Noir 2, the replacement for dead Noir who can speak, struggles with his new role and hopes to get clarity from Ashley who bends a sympathetic ear until Homelander squashes it.

Despite the pandering, Ashley doesn’t tolerate idiots, especially The Deep, who has been depicted as a bit of an idiot throughout the series. The Deep walks up to Ashley to persuade her to include him in Ryan’s, Homelander’s son, introductory video. Her answer is priceless.

People who think they are smart make me want to eat my own shit! – Ashley Barrett

Ashley’s Hair

Trichotillomania is a mental condition where you pull out hair due to stress. Despite Ashley being in a position of authority, she has no real power and has to deal with the stresses and insecurities of the other supes, which has caused this serious condition. In this scene we see her pull a chunk of her hair out from pandering to A-train’s need to rebrand himself and remain a relevant figure in the Seven.

The hair pulling theme continues throughout the series including a masochistic scene where Ashley, during sex with film director Adam Bourke, (a character, loosely based on Zack Snyder apparently) is in the men’s toilet during the premier screening of Vought’s latest feature film, ‘The Dawn of The Seven’, when Ashley asks Adam to pull her hair out! And when he does, he lets out this delightful whimper, like a part of his soul shrivelled up and died.

The hair-pulling theme culminates when Homelander orders her to take off her wig! A surprise for all of the characters and the audience! When she pulls it away and reveals her bald head with a few wisps of hair, it’s sad and tragically funny.

Ashley Humiliated

When smart-ass supe Sage joins the team, it pushes Ashley out of the loop, however, she is still a CEO but resembles a mascot instead of a leader. Poor Ashley!

You should do a floater in his toiletCameron Coleman

After the humiliation, she returns to her office and complains. The camera humorously pans left to reveal news reporter Cameron Coleman tied up and naked on the floor.

Did I give you permission to talk you fucking prom night dumpster baby? – Ashley Barrett

Ashley actually takes this suggestion seriously and revenge craps in Homelander’s toilet. Unfortunately she is caught by A-Train who is also committing high treason by stealing Temp V for Hughie Campbell.

Ashley in Uncomfortable Situations

There are quite a lot of hilarious and uncomfortable situations that Ashley finds herself in. One of which is when she goes to tell the good news to Homelander that despite his arrogant speech he made during his meltdown on live TV, people admire him for being honest.

She is asked to leave a meeting because Homelander is about to order the death of any employee that has dirt on Vought, which is most of them. The Deep reminds Homelander that Ashley should be at the top of the list.

The final twist in Ashley’s story is when she hears through the door that she is on the list of people to be killed, she runs to Homelander’s room to inject V to turn herself into a superhero so that she might survive.

And this is the last we know of Ashley. We will have to wait till 2026 to find out what becomes of her. Holy moly!

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