"You were never my bro... bro."
This week's episode of The Boys featured another major death, and once again, a member of The Seven was taken out by one of their own teammates - but Homelander wasn't the one responsible.
Tension had been building between The Deep (Chace Crawford) and Black Noir (Nathan Mitchell) since the beginning of the season, but Noir's decision to commit "fish genocide" in retaliation for his podcast co-host murdering theater director Adam Bourke (in the gnarliest way imaginable) was the final straw for the "Lord of the Seas."
When Noir taunts Kevin about the oil spill that resulted in the deaths of millions of his aquatic pals, Deep snaps and begins to strangle his fellow Supe with a cord before plunging one of his own knives into his neck.
This second Black Noir was nowhere near as formidable as his predecessor, but some fans have still questioned whether it's believable that The Deep - who has never really demonstrated much in the way of brute strength or fighting ability - would be able to prevent Noir from taking flight and struggling free of his predicament.
"I think Noir was like, 'Ha, ha, I got you back.' I don’t think he thought The Deep would take it to that level because he didn’t want to die," Mitchell explains to Collider. "I think if The Deep hadn’t caught him off guard in that way, I don’t think he would have been able to take him. Because he was sitting and because he wrapped those cords around his neck, it was a perfect storm. I don’t think he thought that The Deep would escalate to death in that moment. I don’t think that’s what he was thinking. It was more like, “You get me, and then I get you.” You get caught up in this cycle of revenge with each other, and you lose sight of your relationship and what’s important and how far you’re actually taking it."
Crawford was asked how he felt about his character's actions and his final words to his former friend.
"I was so conflicted. I was like, 'Oh, that’s really funny.' And, as an actor, you get to have that snap moment. Honestly, though, that’s when it felt real. I was like, 'Oh, no, we’re losing people.' And also, Nathan [Mitchell] is always so amazing. And the way it happened, I was like, 'How are we going to do that and pull it off?' And we did somehow. I remember seeing it in ADR and I was like, 'Oh, wow, it looks really crazy and really dark.' It was sad. It was sad to shoot it. It was a really sad day because the podcast stuff was so much fun and so funny with the whole manosphere thing and the whole thing with Nathan. It was just a really intense bare-hands way to do it. It wasn’t Homelander doing it, it was The Deep. So, it was sad. The Deep is gone. He’s really gone off the end and snapped. He’s killed one of his best friends."
The Seven have taken a few hits at this stage, but with Homelander now practically immortal after injecting the V-One at the end of Wednesday's episode, it probably won't make much difference to the final fight - if indeed a showdown between the Supe group and The Boys is on the cards.
In the fifth and final season of The Boys, it's Homelander’s world, completely subject to his erratic, egomaniacal whims. Hughie, Mother's Milk, and Frenchie are imprisoned in a "Freedom Camp." Annie struggles to mount a resistance against the overwhelming Supe force. Kimiko is nowhere to be found. But when Butcher reappears, ready and willing to use a virus that will wipe all Supes off the map, he sets in motion a chain of events that will forever change the world and everyone in it. It's the climax, people. Big stuff's gonna happen.
The Boys stars Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Antony Starr, Erin Moriarty, Jessie T. Usher, Laz Alonso, Chace Crawford, Tomer Capone, Karen Fukuhara, Nathan Mitchell, Colby Minifie, Cameron Crovetti, Susan Heyward, Valorie Curry, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Jensen Ackles, and Daveed Diggs.
Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, James Weaver, Neal H. Moritz, Pavun Shetty, Phil Sgriccia, Michaela Starr, Paul Grellong, David Reed, Judalina Neira, Jessica Chou, Gabriel Garcia, Ori Marmur, Ken F. Levin and Jason Netter serve as executive producers.