“Why are we still here? Just to suffer?”
For the video game nerds out there, the words of Kazuhira Miller from 2015’s Metal Gear Solid V have never resonated more with me than in last week’s episode of The Boys. We’re now well into the fourth season of Prime Video’s popular TV show, and still, we’re stuck rehashing the same story beats of Frenchie’s past. And as someone who just wants the best for our poor, tortured, romantic French boy, this needs to stop.
In its first three seasons, The Boys has fleshed out Frenchie’s past and backstory quite a bit. The show has spent a considerable amount of time dealing with his Lamplighter trauma and his failure to protect Mallory’s grandkids, and we even see him confront his past when Little Nina comes back into the picture.
These story beats were handled well. The Lamplighter incident was wrapped up nicely, giving Frenchie the opportunity to face up to what he’s done, while also confronting Lamplighter himself. The Little Nina arc was perhaps a little less interesting, but it was still an important point of growth for Frenchie as he needed to reckon with his past and also accept that he was no longer beholden to his trauma.
I’d also be remiss if I didn’t mention Kimiko’s part in all this. Through the first three seasons, the two have been inseparable especially as they’ve helped each other through their own trauma and ghosts of their past. I didn’t even mind that Kimiko ended up friendzoning Frenchie because y’know, boys and girls don’t all have to fall in love with each other. Sometimes they can just be best friends. Both characters have shown immense growth, but with The Boys season 4 and the introduction of Colin, it feels like the showrunners have just taken Frenchie right back to where he started.
Colin is a new character created for the show. He serves as Frenchie’s new love interest in season 4 but there’s a catch: his entire family was murdered by Frenchie while he was still working for Little Nina. And to make matters worse, Frenchie has relapsed and gone back to drug use again. And not only that, he’s also pushing Kimiko away yet again.
And I guess my question is, why? Why do we need to see Frenchie hit rock-bottom yet again?
While the season’s first four episodes have certainly been entertaining and I’m very much glad to have The Boys‘ comical crassness back on my screen again, I can’t help but feel like Frenchie’s storyline, in particular, is just meandering. It’s clear that this is meant to be an emotionally heavy season for the main cast; Starlight’s dealing with her own faith, her past mistakes, and being a Supe; Hughie’s dealing with his dying father and the return of his estranged mother; Kimiko is struggling with getting her speech back and facing her past in Shining Light; MM’s just trying to hold everything together; Butcher is just straight up dying.
And Frenchie? Well, he’s been dealing with his trauma for three seasons at this point, and I guess the showrunners couldn’t just have him be well-adjusted and mentally healthy while everyone deals with their own problems. And so the solution is to just rehash his past, once again.
It’s honestly a pretty sore point in an otherwise fun season. As of episode 4, Colin has since learned of Frenchie’s true identity and has proceeded to beat the crap out of him before leaving. It’s worth noting that actor Elliot Knight is only credited for the first four episodes of season 4, which means that we may very well never see Colin again. And if that’s the case, then what was the point of it all?
After three and a half seasons of pain and trauma, Frenchie’s more than paid his dues. The boy deserves to finally be free of his past, and fingers crossed that he’s finally able to put all that to rest by the end of season 4.
