Caution: This article contains SPOILERS for The Boys season 5
The showrunners for The Boys had hinted that there would be some epic character deaths in the fifth and final season. However, fans were still stunned to see who was the first major character to buy it. The season premiere had A-Train (Jessie T. Usher), the former member of the Seven who’d worked hard to redeem himself, helping Hughie (Jack Quaid) escape the Seven.
A-Train was using his superspeed to battle Homelander (Antony Starr) when a woman walked into his path. In a callback to the first episode of the series, when A-Train literally ran through Hughie’s girlfriend, this time he slowed down to avoid the woman. That left him vulnerable to attack by Homelander. Showing no fear, A-Train lashed out with a wicked speech to his former ally that actually made Homelander cry. That didn’t stop him from snapping A-Train’s neck.
Speaking to TV Line, Usher explained that he always felt this was likely the end for A-Train and even approached showrunner Eric Kripke back when filming season 4 about the possible fate.
“Every decision he made dug his hole a little bit deeper, so I went to Eric Kripke and said, look, I personally don't see a reasonable way out. Like, I don't see him surviving ... what he's doing right now in any shape or form. What are we going to do because, you know, we're all expecting to do Season 5? And he was like, 'To be honest with you, I don't know. We're not going to deal with it in Season 4, we're going to just deal with it in Season 5.' In that moment, I knew that that was the start of the end."
As the article states, the showrunners and Usher agreed to keep his departure secret so the rest of the cast didn’t know until they read the season 5 premiere script. Karan Fukuhara, who plays Kimiko, was so devastated after reading the script that she texted Usher only for him to inform her he’d known about this for a year, and she was amazed at how “nonchalant” he was about it.
Usher said he was actually happy about his character’s arc from a selfish scumbag to a true hero whose last moments were saving someone else.
"I love the fact that he makes a conscious decision and he understands what comes with that. I just like that, from the Blue Hawk storyline all the way until now, that's sort of where he is. He's like, let me weigh my options and then I'll let you know what I'm willing to do. And even in this moment, he's willing to die to save the only thing that he sees continuing [this fight]."
It likely was the only real outcome for A-Train as his turn from a self-absorbed jerk to redemption was well done, yet he was not a guy who'd live happily ever after. The loss of A-Train is a blow to all the characters, even Homelander. It also proves that no one is safe and the death toll is likely to rise before The Boys ends.