In the penultimate episode of The Boys, fans endured the most devastating death to date. Frenchie (Tomer Capone) became the first member of the justice-seeking group to meet his end. I wasn’t convinced that he was officially gone for reasons that relate to the now-cancelled spin-off series Gen V. Sadly, we learned in the finale that he really is dead.
However, he still appears in the series finale in a pivotal moment that changes everything. Was this how I wanted to see him again? No. But the conclusion of his character arc was fitting since it includes Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara). However, after hearing his final words via a will that he wrote while in the Freedom Camp, it seems that the show decided to shift the character more closely toward his depiction in the comics. It was strange to do posthumously, especially given the tender nature of his return.
Frenchie’s Return Changed the End of ‘The Boys’
As has been the case with many characters in other shows as well as this one (hello, Madelyn as an angel), Frenchie returned in The Boys series finale as an apparition seen by Kimiko in her most challenging moment. While she tries to harness her newfound abilities to blast Homelander (Antony Starr) and strip the Compound V from his system, she can’t bring herself to do it. She believes that, like Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles), her power was fueled by her rage. However, she can’t muster up anger, only sadness at the loss of her love.
Frenchie appears to remind Kimiko that her powers don’t come from rage; they’re simply within her. She smiles when she sees his face and hears his voice, even if it’s only in her head. She summons her power and blasts Homelander, finally turning the Supe into nothing more than a lowly, cowering human. Butcher (Karl Urban) finishes the job, which is one of the most brutal deaths in the finale. He and Ryan (Cameron Crovetti) are caught in the crossfire and stripped of their powers as well. But this isn’t how I expected to see Frenchie return.
As theorized at the end of the second-to-last episode, I thought that having Marie (Jaz Sinclair) so close meant that she would resurrect Frenchie. She proves in Gen V that she has the power to bring people back from the dead. She saved a young man who was bleeding out in a bar, her sister whose neck was slashed, and Thomas Godolkin (Ethan Slater), who had been clinging to life for decades. Why not Frenchie?
That theory was proven wrong. The episode begins with Marie mere feet away while the group is digging Frenchie’s grave. Why doesn’t she use her powers to bring him back? While a possible explanation is that Starlight (Erin Moriarty) told her to give up the fight, that doesn’t cut it.
Why Doesn’t Marie Save Frenchie in ‘The Boys’?
The most likely answer is that Frenchie absorbed such a lethal dose of radiation that his red blood cells were destroyed. As fans of Gen V know, Marie has the ability to manipulate blood. So, it’s possible that she couldn’t do anything about his cellular breakdown. Even more importantly, since he had radiation poisoning, resurrecting him wouldn’t remove that from his body. He would likely have died later from the effects of the radiation, anyway.
However, this decision was most likely so Frenchie could say goodbye. Thanks to his conversation with Kimiko before Homelander arrives, when he agrees to move with her so they start a family, his loss cuts him deeper. His valiant act to save her and Sage (Susan Heyward) painted him as a hero. And his final words to her felt like an official goodbye. Bringing him back would have cheapened that moment.
That being said, it would have been nice for The Boys to address the reason why Marie couldn’t resurrect him. Even a single line during her heartfelt conversation with Starlight about meeting your heroes would have worked. This, to me, is a huge plot hole that was left unanswered. A simple explanation would have reassured fans that this storyline was at least considered and ruled out for a specific reason.
Frenchie Was The Heart of ‘The Boys,’ But Different in the Comics
Frenchie’s death on The Boys is compelling because, after we learn his fate, we hear the words he left behind in his will. Admittedly, he likely wrote these at his lowest point in a Freedom Camp, a time when he lost all hope and needed something to keep him smiling and laughing. But his last words to the group, except Kimiko, were about his secret peeks at their a**holes. All of them, including those who had no idea he had somehow seen theirs in various circumstances.
Frenchie’s vulgar and crass words fit the tone of the show, but not this version of Frenchie. In fact, these words better match the hardened version of Frenchie who exists in the comics. In the comics, Frenchie is prone to violent outbursts. He’s not as much a part of the group, and chooses to speak mostly in French, which causes a divide between him and the others. For obvious reasons on the show, he simply says a French word or phrase here and there, most notably when he calls Kimiko “mon coeur.”
In The Boys comics, Frenchie is more like Butcher, and he’s into the fight. In The Boys TV show, up until his death, he is more reserved, willing to help, and puts his life on the line. He’s less excited about it, though, and more purposeful. While he’s a former military man in the comics, he’s an underground arms dealer in the show. The connection between Frenchie and Kimiko, however, exists in both versions of the story. The deeper romantic relationship on the series softens him. However, even when he’s introduced, Frenchie never seems like a Butcher-type character. He’s always more like MM (Laz Alonso) with a different but still morally sound edge.
That’s why his final written words on the show don’t seem to match his character. His joking letter suggests perhaps he didn’t expect the will would ever be read. Maybe being stuck in a Freedom Camp for so long caused him to revert to the person he was when Butcher first knew him, long before fans ever saw him on the show. While we got to know the softer Frenchie, he may have been a very different person before, the kind of person who would take pleasure in looking at people’s buttholes and shocking them at an important time.
Still, this doesn’t even come close to the unhinged version of Frenchie from the comics. But it’s a subtle homage to the source material for the character who was the beating heart, the coeur battant, of the show. Although Frenchie is different on the TV series, he becomes one of the most liked and relatable members of The Boys. Giving him this comedic moment is a reminder of how much Kimiko and this mission changed him. Although Frenchie wasn’t resurrected as I hoped, he still had a proper sendoff that paid tribute to both versions of him.
