Warning: MAJOR SPOILERS ahead for The Boys season 5, episode 7!***The Boys ***have lost one of their own.
Series creator Eric Kripke has acknowledged *The Boys *season 5’s most heartbreaking death yet as the series finale of the superhero show looms. In the final episode, Butcher and Hughie are captured while on a mission at Vought Studios. The psychic who kidnapped them reads their minds and informs Homelander of where Frenchie, Kimiko, and Sage are located. Frenchie hides Kimiko and Sage in a location Homelander can’t see through, attracting his attention when he draws near. Homelander kills Frenchie, who slowly dies in Kimiko’s arms.
In an interview with ScreenRant’s Tatiana Hullender, Kripke unpacked Frenchie’s death in The Boys’ penultimate episode. He explained how, going into the series finale, the group will have to pull together despite the terrible loss of one of their own. Without spoiling what happens, Kripke explains how the final episode will explore the theme of continued perseverance, even in the face of incalculable loss. It’s a lesson that will be integral to the ending, and to the aftermath of Frenchie’s death.
ScreenRant: Lastly, the death of Frenchie in episode 7 is the biggest heartbreak yet. How does it up the stakes for the finale?
Eric Kripke: I can’t say much without spoiling it. What I will say is that it’s the biggest blow the Boys have suffered, and it’s just as they’re heading into the finale in their final battle with Homelander. The question really becomes: can they stand back up and pull together? Because there can be no victory without sacrifice. There can be no wins without losses. I think people feel that in their bones, and I think everyone’s experience with victory is that it never is easy. When they feel something’s too easy in TV and movies, the audience smells something false there. My hope is, heading into the finale, that it’ll feel earned. The message, if the show has any message, is to keep getting back up. And that’s what the Boys have to do.
Frenchie has been a member of the Boys since the very beginning, acting as an integral part of the team from start to finish. This included his ingenuity and wit being important elements of the group’s many plans, including his ability to replicate the Supe virus. However, his biggest attribute was his relationship with Kimiko, whom he saved and got close to back in season 1. The pair ended up saving each other, something they acknowledge before Frenchie dies. It’s because of everything he’s done that he’s such an integral part of the series.
But, with Frenchie now dead, The Boys’ core heroes have been shattered. He’s the first permanent member of the team to die after Ryan killed Mallory at the end of *The Boys *season 4, and the only main character on the team to die in the whole show. His death just before the final hour will no doubt cause a ripple effect in the final episode, but one Kripke says will play into the important themes of hope the show has been exploring. Even though he’s gone, the group can still come together to avenge him.
So far, it seems like the next course of action will be depowering Homelander. It’s unclear if Kimiko has the same ability as Soldier Boy now, nor if the Boys will be able to get close enough to him for her to use it. Now that Homelander has killed the President, essentially making himself the most powerful person in the US, he’ll be much more difficult to get to. The Supes on his side are going to be just as hard to fight, despite there only being one episode of the series remaining.
Even so, the show appears poised to deliver a meaningful ending that follows up on the impact of Frenchie’s death. The Boys are no doubt going to do everything they can to avenge him, something that will lead to a fitting conclusion that ties into the final season’s core themes. As ***The Boys ***approaches the end, it can honor the group’s fallen friend with what the core heroes do next.
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2019 - 2026-00-00
Erin Moriarty, Karen Fukuhara, Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Eric Kripke