From the first episode of The Boys‘ fifth and final season, showrunner Eric Kripke has made it clear that no character is safe. Fans of Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson’s comic books of the same name (on which the Prime Video superhero satire TV series is based) have also been bracing for impact; while the show doesn’t always follow the comics to the letter, it’s generally a pretty faithful adaptation, at least thematically. And, given that the corruption of power, nihilism, and the inevitable violence that results from the combination of the two are some of the comics’ biggest themes, it was basically guaranteed that the TV series’ conclusion would be pretty gnarly, even if we couldn’t be exactly sure what Kripke would keep and what he would change. But even with all that context, “The Frenchman, the Female, and the Man They Call Mother’s Milk,” the seventh episode of The Boys season five (and the penultimate episode of the series overall), was still pretty heart-wrenching.
Let’s get this out of the way up front: In “The Frenchman, the Female, and the Man They Call Mother’s Milk,” Frenchie (Tomer Capone) dies. He dies in the comics too, but not in quite the same way as on the show. Frenchie is a key part of the titular Boys, a group of vigilantes dedicated to taking down corrupt superheroes and the megacorporation that sponsors them. He was introduced in season one, episode two, and he’s been a mainstay ever since. So it was always going to hurt if he died on the show, but the particular way in which he died—sacrificing himself to protect Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara), the woman he loves—was especially brutal. (In the comics, Frenchie and Kimiko die together. Still tragic, but a different kind of tragic than a heroic sacrifice.)
Frenchie is the first member of the Boys to die on the show, but according to Kripke, killing off at least one of the group was inevitable. As Kripke told the Hollywood Reporter, “We knew we had to kill off one of the Boys. You can’t have a shot at victory unless it costs your heroes something that’s really hard. […] For narrative momentum, your heroes have to pay a steep price—because that’s how it works in the real world.”
But what makes it even worse is that Kripke specifically chose Frenchie as his sacrificial lamb because it would hurt the most. He said, “[The way we decided] was going through each character and deciding what was going to be the most heart wrenching. I think we knew early on it was going to be Frenchie. In so many ways, Frenchie and Kimiko are the heart of the show. Despite what killers they are, they’re both so emotionally sweet. We knew this would have real maximum destruction, and I think it had to happen. They would not have a chance of winning if Frenchie doesn’t sacrifice himself.”
In an interview with TV Insider, Capone admitted he wasn’t surprised about his character’s fate. “I think somewhere deep inside, I knew it was coming, I knew it was inevitable. I didn’t wanna believe that, but my instincts didn’t fail me,” he said.
Capone is right; Frenchie’s death makes sense and, in many ways, it felt inevitable, but that doesn’t make it hurt any less. And based on Kripke’s comments (and the final outcome of the comics), Frenchie might not be the only Boy to die before the show ends next week. If history is any indicator, Kripke certainly has some more twists in store for us before The Boys takes its final bow.
The Boys‘ series finale airs May 20 on Prime Video.
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