Entertainment
All 10 Deaths in ‘The Boys’ Season 5, Ranked
Spoiler Alert: This list contains spoilers for The Boys series finale.After five seasons that only kept getting less and less of fans’ love, Prime Video’s The Boys has finally come to an end. Though rushed, the conclusion was at least somewhat satisfying, but that doesn’t detract from the fact that the final season of this superhero series that audiences had grown to leave has been at best, divisive; and at worst, downright generally disliked.
One of the elements that best represents the kind of mixed bag that the fifth season of The Boys was is its death scenes. Whereas some of them were true standout moments, bringing a satisfying sense of closure to some of the series’ most beloved characters, others felt like cheap cop-outs with enough plot holes to make Swiss cheese jealous. But when all is said and done, The Boys will always be remembered as one of those action shows that kept people hooked throughout, and they had the death scenes to show why. This list will only count major character deaths, meaning the deaths of characters who had a more-than-meaningful impact on the narrative.
10
Black Noir II
Played by Nathan Mitchell
It’s really not difficult at all to point out what’s not only the worst death in the final season of The Boys, but may even be the most ridiculous death in the entire show. The death of the original Black Noir (Nathan Mitchell) at Homelander’s (Antony Starr) hands back in season three was one of that season’s most affecting moments, a conclusion for one of the show’s coolest villains which had proper build-up and felt like it made sense for Noir. Black Noir II (Mitchell) may not have been one of the best villains in TV history, but he was at least a compelling replacement. The way he went out is nothing short of shameful.
The Deep (Chace Crawford), a character who the show has never pretended is anything more than comedic relief, is the one to take out a character arguably more powerful than him with… a mic cord and a knife? A hyper-strong character who can fly, making use of neither of his abilities, going out like any random mortal was definitely among the season’s most pathetically poorly written and poorly executed moments. Any potential that Noir II might have had went straight into the gutter with this death scene.
9
Oh Father
Played by Daveed Diggs
Daveed Diggs‘ Oh Father was one of the new additions to the villain roster of the final season of The Boys, arguably the most important of the bunch. So important, in fact, that the character plays a key role in the finale, being one of the last lines of defense between the Boys and Homelander. His dynamic with characters like Starlight (Erin Moriarty) and Homelander himself was fascinating, but in the end, it’s tragically ironic that the show’s loudest character went out with such a whimper.
In full Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness fashion, Oh Father dies by having his screaming powers redirected inwards, quite literally blowing his mind. The only issue? The whole thing plays out in a way so rushed that it inevitably brings up plot problems. Even if this special titanium ball gag could somehow contain the entirety of Oh Father’s scream and somehow not rip MM’s (Laz Alonso) arms off in the process, how could MM have known that this was a special ball gag? A death at Homelander’s hands would have felt like a much more fitting ending for Oh Father.
8
President Steven Calhoun
Played by David Andrews
Steven Calhoun (David Andrews) becomes President of the United States at the end of the show’s fourth season, after conspiring with Homelander and the rest of the corrupt superheroes. Right off the bat, the show makes it abundantly clear that this isn’t a man we’re supposed to take seriously. Through and through, Calhoun remained Homelander’s puppet all the way until the end.
Loyalty to Homelander became only a part of the equation in Season 5. In order to really be on his good side, his followers had to firmly believe he was their God, and Calhoun’s inability to do so was what brought him his death. It’s a fitting moment, but the fact that its aftermath doesn’t really go anywhere interesting retroactively takes away plenty of points from the scene. Ashley (Colby Minifie) doesn’t really do anything particularly mind-blowing as President, and Homelander’s further approach to power barely leads anywhere shocking.
7
The Deep
Played by Chace Crawford
The fact that Chace Crawford’s Deep, one of the most inept and ridiculously dumb characters in the entire show, made it all the way from the pilot to the series finale is hilarious and admirable in equal measure. But of course, he was the kind of villain that had to go, and no one felt like a more fitting hero to bring about his downfall than Starlight.
The Boys has always been one of those action shows that are fast-paced from start to finish, and the fight between Starlight and Deep is no exception. There’s some delicious irony to Deep being taken out by those he has hurt the most over the course of the series, the inhabitants of the ocean; but the writing of the scene puts a bit of a stain on the whole ordeal. Namely, Starlight had no way of knowing that the sea had turned against Deep. So, her taking him to the beach to have their final confrontation and then actually throwing him into the ocean felt like the sort of stupid decision that, under better-written circumstances, Starlight would have never made.
6
Terror
Played by Bentley Alexander the Bulldog
Every good show needs a good boy, and The Boys‘ was Terror, Billy Butcher’s (Karl Urban) loyal English bulldog. He has never been one of the series’ most prominent characters, but over the course of this fifth season, he started showing up more frequently. When fans saw that the show was spending so long building up the importance of Butcher and Terror’s relationship, they should have been able to predict that the dog’s life was in danger.
Sad though it may have definitely been, Terror’s death unfortunately felt like more of a plot device used only as a turning point for the narrative. It’s actually Ryan’s (Cameron Crovetti) rejection of Butcher that sends him off the deep end, and Terror’s passing is only used as a catalyst to make the anti-hero realize he has nothing left and send him on the final stretch of his Supe-killing crusade. It’s a noble death, but not all that impactful in the grand scheme of things.
5
Firecracker
Played by Valorie Curry
Introduced in the penultimate season of The Boys, Valorie Curry‘s Firecracker immediately became one of the show’s most entertaining and compelling characters. Season 5 did a phenomenal job of expanding her complexity and diving deep into her nuances. But in a show like this, when a character starts to receive a lot more development than before so close to the finish line, it’s typically a surefire sign that their days are numbered. Such was the case with Firecracker.
Firecracker’s death was one of the most dramatic moments of the season. It felt like her dynamic with characters like Oh Father and Starlight still had a lot of gas left in the tank, but that only made her death at Homelander’s hands all the more shocking. It felt like a fitting ending for her, and it also served as a potent turning point for the show’s main villain, showing just how unstable he had become.
4
Frenchie
Played by Tomer Capone
Saying that Frenchie (Tomer Capone) is one of The Boys‘ best non-Supe characters would be an understatement. He’s right there in the title of the series, one of the beloved characters that fans got to spend five full seasons with. Anyone with eyes, however, could have seen the writing on the wall from pretty early on in Season 5 that there was practically no way the Frenchman would make it out of this whole ordeal alive. Thankfully, the writers allowed him to go out like what he always was: a true hero.
Frenchie dies doing what he does best: saving Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara). It’s a deeply touching moment, one that Tomer Capone and Karen Fukuhara act the hell out of. Frenchie’s final words to Homelander, “I bet you’ve never danced a day in your life,” are a phenomenal way of sealing the character’s arc. In more ways than one, Frenchie was always essential to the show’s heart and moral compass, and his excellently-executed death scene is one that fans won’t soon forget.
3
Homelander
Played by Antony Starr
Over the course of these five seasons, Antony Starr and The Boys‘ writing team have been building up Homelander as one of the greatest, most fascinating, and most genuinely terrifying villains in the history of modern television. His final confrontation against Butcher, Ryan, and Kimiko is the heart-racing sequence that the entirety of The Boys has been building up to, and his actual death scene is perhaps the most satisfying moment the show ever delivered.
Staying mostly true to the essence of the comics, Homelander’s de-powered death scene was the cherry on top of a final season that was otherwise a pretty shapeless cake. Watching him beg for his life, debasing his own ego and showing himself as the true pathetic loser that he had been since Season 1, made his killing at Butcher’s hands an immensely cathartic moment that made millions of fans around the world go “finally!” Though it’s a little silly that a Homelander powered-up with V1 struggled against Butcher and Ryan, whereas he managed to overcome powered-up Butcher, Hughie (Jack Quaid), and Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles) just two seasons ago at Herogasm, the villain’s death is an incredibly satisfying scene in and of itself.
2
A-Train
Played by Jessie T. Usher
The Boys introduced many great new Supes in Season 5, but to no one’s surprise, the oldies were the ones that stole the whole season. And as far as stealing the season goes, one has to commend Jessie T. Usher and A-Train, and how the actor made his character’s sacrifice to allow the Boys to escape from prison in the season’s first episode loom large over every episode that followed. This is the kind of death that sets the tone for an entire final season. The writers made it abundantly clear right off the bat: No one is safe this season, so say your goodbyes to all your favorite characters just in case.
A-Train’s demise was poetic from start to finish. His selfless decision to help the team, his decision to steer clear of a pedestrian — standing in contrast to how he ran Robin (Jess Salgueiro) over in the series’ pilot — and his entirely fearless final words to Homelander all felt like exactly the right way to eliminate who had become one of the show’s most beloved characters.
1
William Butcher
Played by Karl Urban
Every main character of The Boys is important and has had their fair share of time under the spotlight, but if the show ever had a pair of protagonists, it was definitely Hughie and Butcher. As such, it only feels right that the true climax of The Boys‘ finale is a harrowing showdown between Butcher, who’s hell-bent on killing all Supes, and Hughie, who refuses to see his friend become the same kind of villain he had sworn to destroy.
Practically every fan of The Boys agreed that if there was one character who had no way of making it out of the finale alive, it was Butcher. After everything the character had done and put his team through, an emotionally stirring death scene felt like the only fitting outcome for him—and an emotionally stirring death scene he indeed received. Was “Blood and Bone” one of the best episodes of The Boys? Not really. But Butcher’s death ticked every box it needed to: It was cathartic, emotional, narratively fitting, well-written, and properly built up to. It may just be the best death scene in The Boys.
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