The Boys showrunner explains [SPOILERS] death and why Kimiko talks like that

‘No victory comes without sacrifice’

The Boys showrunner Eric Kripke set the stakes for the show’s final season by killing a major character in the first episode of season 5, and bodies have continued dropping ever since. With just a few episodes remaining, it's clear that nobody is safe from an increasingly unstable, messianic Homelander (Antony Starr). Even so, the leader of the Seven's latest kill may catch audiences by surprise.

[Ed. note: This article contains major spoilers for The Boys season 5, episode 7]

After so many supe deaths (Firecracker and Black Noir both meet their makers in recent episodes), the bloodshed comes home for the Boys in the show’s penultimate entry when Homelander finds the team’s headquarters. As a last resort, Frenchie (Tomer Capone) exposes himself to a lethal dose of radiation to stop Homelander, which allows Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) and Sage (Susan Heyward) to escape.

“We knew there needed to be sacrifice,” Kripke tells Polygon. “No victory comes without sacrifice. Without it, it doesn't feel authentic. For as crazy as it is, the show underneath it all has an emotional honesty. Heading into the finale, and heading into the final battle, carrying loss but still having to move ahead felt very appropriate.”

Kripke says the show’s writers decided to kill off Frenchie about a month into working on season 5. That’s why the character got to shine in episode 4, when his altered brain chemistry let him save the team from rage-inducing super fungus.

“Beware of the episodes where they really put one character forward, because from a showrunner perspective, that usually means they're on death row,” Kripke says.

Before dying, Frenchie manages to win over a new ally by persuading Sage to use her genius to help him imbue Kimiko with the ability to take away a supe’s powers. Frenchie’s appeal to Sage’s emotions reminded her of her own love: Thomas Godolkin (Ethan Slater). After the mind-controlling supe died at the end of Gen V, Sage has been trying to cause chaos and retreat to a bunker to wait out the coming war between supes and humans in solitude.

“She genuinely was touched by Frenchie not wanting to let Kimiko die,” Kripke says. “She's by and large given up. I don't think she's working on a new plan. She had a plan and it kind of blew up in her face. Now she really is just binging Love Island and licking her wounds. But she does do this thing for Kimiko based on the conversations you saw in that episode.”

The relationship between Kimiko and Frenchie evolved a lot over the course of The Boys’ run. Kimiko started the show practically feral, but eventually used sign language to communicate through Frenchie. In between seasons 4 and 5, Frenchie got sober and Kimiko got therapy and began speaking. All the other characters are surprised by the change, and what Kimiko has to say.

“A running joke for us was she probably says fucking awful shit to Frenchie all the time, and he never just passes it on,” Kripke says. “Part of the notion of giving her a filthy mouth was we kind of figured that's how she always would've probably expressed herself. Kimiko is really funny. Even before she had a voice, she was funny. She has such a big heart and can be scary. We were just trying to get all of those same colors into somebody who could speak.”

Kimiko’s aphasia was caused by trauma she experienced as a captive of the Shining Light Liberation Army. After regaining her voice, Kimiko dreamed of escaping from her violent life and starting a family. She’s decided she’s willing to do whatever it takes to defeat Homelander, but Frenchie’s death adds extra weight to her journey.

“After suffering this terrifically traumatic setback, will she regress to who she used to be, or will she take the steps and continue the healing that Frenchie helped her with?” Kripke can't tell us just yet, but the answer will be revealed in the series finale.

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The first seven episodes of The Boys season 5 are available to stream now on Prime Video.