In the penultimate episode of The Boys Season 5, The Deep (Chace Crawford) hits rock bottom—and it’s both heartbreaking and hilarious. After years of sycophantic loyalty to Homelander (Antony Starr), the aquatic antihero finally realizes his devotion was never reciprocated. Crawford promises that the character’s long-awaited comeuppance is “going to be sweet,” and Episode 7 delivers on that promise in spectacular fashion.
Homelander’s Cold Shoulder
The episode opens with Homelander casually dismantling The Seven, leaving The Deep desperate to cling to relevance. In a painfully earnest plea, The Deep asks to take over the team, only to be dismissed with a chilling “all the best.” Crawford explains that this moment was the final wake-up call: “He finally realized, ‘Oh, he doesn’t love me the way I thought he did.’” The actor notes that working with Starr was bittersweet, knowing their on-screen dynamic would end. “It was the toughest, knowing that we would never work together again,” he says.
Banned from the Ocean
The Deep’s humiliation deepens when he’s confronted by Xander the hammerhead shark—voiced by none other than Samuel L. Jackson. The shark bans him from the ocean, a moment Crawford calls “the worst moment of his life.” The actor recalls laughing during ADR when he heard Jackson’s iconic voice: “They had already recorded it, so to hear Samuel L. Jackson’s voice was so fucking funny and amazing.” The scene, shot with a green tennis ball, was later enhanced with stunning visual effects.
A Heroic Fail
Perhaps the episode’s most absurd sequence finds The Deep stranded on a dock, shouting directions at a drowning man because he can’t enter the water. Crawford says creator Eric Kripke pitched the idea with “dying laughter.” The moment underscores The Deep’s tragic flaw: his inability to stand up for himself. “It’s just one more massive fuck-up for The Deep,” Crawford says. “It tees some other stuff up too.”
As the series hurtles toward its finale, Crawford hints that The Deep’s arc has been building since the beginning. “His comeuppance is going to be sweet,” he teases. For fans who’ve watched the character grovel, betray, and fail, the payoff promises to be both cathartic and darkly funny.
For more on satisfying character conclusions, check out our list of HBO Shows That Nailed Their Finales. And if you’re a fan of shocking twists, don’t miss X-Men '97 Season 2 Teases Eson the Celestial.
