[Editor’s note: This piece contains spoilers for The Boys‘ season-five premiere.]
Jessie T. Usher kept the secret of his The Boys‘ departure from his castmates for a whole year, which was no easy task, he tells The A.V. Club. It wasn’t until they started reaching out after reading the scripts that he revealed the truth. The actor has always been a prominent part of Prime Video’s gnarly superhero satire, but was told well in advance by series creator Eric Kripke that his character wouldn’t survive the final season’s bleak premiere, although the death wouldn’t be in vain. At least speedster Reggie Franklin, a.k.a. A-Train, goes out as a hero instead of the narcissistic villain he started as in what Usher believes is a poetic arc for a TV show that enjoys killing characters off in grotesque ways. “My response to Eric was that I was glad they cared enough about A-Train to give him this momentous send-off, where he finally has a moment of resolution, and he can stare down the monster and tell him he’s not as scary as he thinks he is.”
By monster, Usher obviously means Antony Starr’s tyrannical Homelander, who frequently tormented A-Train when they worked together as part of Vought’s superhero team, The Seven, although A-Train eventually grew tired of all the bullying and evil machinations. In season four, his well-deserved redemption arc turned him from Homelander’s ally to foe. Their rivalry comes to a head in “Fifteen Inches Of Sheer Dynamite,” when he drops in at the last minute to save The Boys from Homelander’s wrath during a prison escape, despite telling Starlight (Erin Moriarty) he wouldn’t step up to help. By the end of the hour, Homelander takes revenge by snapping A-Train’s neck, but not before A-Train gets to call his old pal out as, among other things, a “pathetic loser.”
Starr tells us that he’s a huge fan of how this closing scene is written and constructed because “it’s a great moment of weakness for my character, even though it doesn’t seem that way, and a great moment of strength for Jessie’s character.” And in a move completely unlike Homelander and A-Train, the actors take a quick second to gush to each other about how much they’ll miss their working dynamic:
Usher: And I just have to say, Antony’s one of the greatest scene partners of all time. He’s very giving and knowledgeable. [Turns to face Starr] I was very happy to share that moment with you, sir.
Starr: Me too. And that’s the only time it’s ever been said that I’m knowledgeable.
Usher: You’re just not in the room when we’re saying that about you. [Laughs] No, really, this guy nailed it. He stuck the landing of this big moment.
Starr: Turns out I’m the greatest actor on the show. [Laughs]
Well, Starr isn’t wrong. His performance as a seething madman is almost triggering to watch. And the streak continues heading into the final season, which wades deeper into Homelander’s vicious psyche. A-Train’s death looms large over Homelander, along with those whose lives he saved, especially Hughie (Jack Quaid). Episode two explores this further, with Homelander in denial that he’s mourning (even though he caused the goddamn problem in the first place). After A-Train’s almost comical funeral hosted by Vought, he says to himself that he was left with no choice. “I loved you,” Homelander whispers with equal parts anger and sadness. Starr says he wanted to play this loss in a way that displays vulnerability but also signifies that “this is going to gnaw at him in season five because A-Train went out with integrity, which is what Homelander wanted to strip from him. Let’s just say he doesn’t move on easily.” And isn’t that a scary thought?
On the other side of the situation is Hughie, who joined Billy Butcher’s (Karl Urban) anti-Supe crusade in season one specifically to eliminate A-Train for killing his girlfriend. In season four, the two reluctantly joined forces to defeat their common enemy, with Hughie forgiving A-Train. “It was a huge moment of letting go for him when he did that,” Quaid says, noting that A-Train sacrificing himself for Hughie becomes a driving force. “What’s great about the rest of season five is that, as an actor, I can feel Hughie’s growth. It’s the first time I’m playing him with little to no fear now. I often wondered when The Boys would get to the point where he would not be so shocked by everything around him anymore, but more so mad that it’s happening.”
As it always tends to do, Hughie’s inherent goodness affects Butcher, who initially won’t care that A-Train gave up his life to help them get out of Freedom Camp 47. “He’s the leader, so he thinks they have to sustain losses to win the war, but thematically for him, season five then becomes about what he’s willing to sacrifice, and A-Train brings up that question,” Urban says. An interesting dilemma for him comes through the mere fact that he’s a Supe now, too, which helps Butcher understand A-Train—who was once addicted to Compound V—in a way he couldn’t before. “Butcher ostensibly died at the end of season four because he gave himself over to the V-powered organism, so he’s cold and ruthless yet trying to hold on to his humanity,” the actor adds, saying he wanted to play Butcher as someone who’s still holding onto a sliver of hope, which explains episode two’s solemn closing scene with his character and his pet dog. “There will be points throughout the season where it seems like all hope is lost, though,” he warns. “But that’s why you can see why he keeps Hughie around. Someone like him, who could forgive A-Train, can keep him from going over the threshold. So, yeah, it’s going to be a fun ride with them.”
Saloni Gajjar is The A.V. Club‘s TV critic.
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