Why did Homelander kill Firecracker? ‘The Boys’ creator spills on that heartbreaking twist
Contains spoilers for 'The Boys' Season 5 Episode 5: 'One-Shots'
One of the most gut-wrenching moments in 'The Boys' Season 5's fifth episode was Firecracker's (Valorie Curry) death at the hands of Homelander (Antony Starr) in the final minutes of the episode. It was a major twist to an episode that already saw a slew of deaths during Homelander and Soldier Boy's (Jensen Ackles) mission to Los Angeles to know more about the whereabouts of the V-One compound. During the mission, the latter reveals his physical relationship with Firecracker, but adds that her moral compass in acknowledging Homelander as "the true god" was wavering. The move effectively sealed the supe's fate as Homelander brutally kills her in the same episode — a move not many saw coming.
In the final minutes, an emotional Firecracker tries to explain that she sacrificed everything for Homelander, including selling out her soul by vilifying the pastor whose church she grew up in. She goes on to say that she's been a constant source of support for the evil supe in all his actions. Initially asked to "pack up and leave," she stays to plead her case and loyalty towards Homelander, only for him to kill her by bashing her head against a metal eagle. The episode ends with a shocked-looking and dead Firecracker stuck to the statue.
"Valorie 100 percent made that scene what it was," showrunner Eric Kripke said. "That moment where she’s on the news, and choosing to sell out this man who practically raised her … the script, for sure, was there as a blueprint. What it basically said in the script was: She takes a beat. Is she really going to go through with it? She goes through with it. But what Val did with that brought you inside of her heartbreak; you could see it killing her own soul. And that was some of the best fucking acting this show has ever seen. And I agree, it’s just a heartbreaking, beautiful moment. And we always knew we would have an episode where she completely gives up everything she holds dear, and that was going to be the episode where Homelander kills her."
He continued, "Because for us, it’s like, everyone who’s in his orbit — or everybody who is in a certain public figure’s orbit — they give up every single conviction they’ve ever had, and then he destroys their careers. They end up just getting thrown out into the world. There’s this breed of people espousing Trump’s message who are more hardcore than him — the Marjorie Taylor Greens of the world. [When we wrote the episode], her sort of banishment hadn’t happened yet. But we were like: But it’s only a matter of time before it does. So we were like: Let’s write that. Because, I mean, Firecracker had it coming." While Firecracker's death is solely on Homelander, the major theory is that Soldier Boy has his own angle here. With the ancient supe back in the fold, there is a possibility he could be using his son to kill the rest of the Seven, make a case to be the leader, and form his own supe team. That's pure guesswork at this point, but it's hard to ignore a pattern that's forming.
