As expected, the series finale of The Boys was a wild ride that wrapped up several major plotlines. The biggest was the team finally taking down Homelander in a brutal fight in the Oval Office, stealing away his powers, and Butcher putting a crowbar through his head. That was followed shortly afterward by Hughie being forced to kill Butcher when the man was set to unleash a supe-killing virus.
Another major death was one that fans had truly waited for: The Deep (Chace Crawford). The aquatic “hero” had already been through a lot in the final season as he was blamed for a massive oil spill, which, ironically, was one crime he was innocent of. That didn’t stop a shark from warning the Deep that if he ever set foot in any body of water, he was a dead man (which prevented the Deep from saving a drowning man).
Starlight (Erin Moriarty) gave the Deep one last chance to give up and try to do the right thing for once, only for him to refuse. They fought on the beach with Starlight blasting the Deep into the ocean, where, true to their word, a pack of sea creatures proceeded to tear him apart.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, creator Eric Kripke discussed how the writers knew from the beginning there would never be any “redemption arc” for the Deep, and this was always going to be his fate.
“He was never going to have a redemption arc. I think his behavior in the pilot was really unforgivable, ultimately. And then he just proceeded to do terrible things. Now we very specifically gave him opportunities. We were giving him opportunities all the time. Just make the right choice, dude! You could honestly go off and be happy if you just accepted your love for Ambrosius, for example.”
Next to Homelander, the Deep was easily the most despicable character on the show. He proved it in the pilot, assaulting Annie and added onto it with one horrendous act after another. He sold out friends, killed others, willingly went along with everything Homelander asked, and what few decent qualities he had (such as truly loving ocean life) were overwhelmed by his selfishness and twisted desires. Every time the audience was about to feel sorry for him, the Deep pulled some action that made them despise him more.
Kripke summed up that the Deep’s refusal of Annie reaching out to him was the nail in the coffin, as trying to be a good guy wasn’t in his DNA.
“At the very, very end, Annie gives him one last chance to just accept responsibility for the sh— sh— you have done. Don’t be a baby, take responsibility. He has this Braveheart-like cry of “No!” So he’s been given plenty of chances, but he’s too oblivious and scared and believes this myth of his own machismo, and it costs him.”
Even if fans are already debating the merits of the finale, they’re almost unanimous in praising how the Deep met his end. It’s perfectly poetic, killed by the very ocean creatures he had been championing and ripped to shreds in a painful way. The Deep was never a character fans could root for or sympathize with and deserved his fate. That’s one part of The Boys that stuck the landing nicely.
The Boys streaming on Prime Video.
Add us as a preferred source on Google