The Boys’ Firecracker Star Has 1 Regret About Season 5 As She Says Goodbye To The Series

Warning: Spoilers for The Boys season 5, episode 5, “One-Shots”Firecracker delivered one last Truthbomb in The Boys season 5 before her devotion to Homelander exploded in her face, but Valorie Curry’s biggest regret upon leaving the hit Prime Video series has nothing to do with her character’s actions in episode 5.

Despite the growing doubt engendered by Homelander’s (Antony Starr) self-proclaimed rise to godhood, Firecracker still held the party line and proclaimed her own church to be seditious Starlight-loving blasphemers. The public proselytizing wasn’t enough for the villainous authoritarian, however, and his staunchest supporter met her end via the wing of an eagle statue for not believing in her heart that Homelander was America’s lord and savior.

Curry’s powerful performance made it impossible not to sympathize with Firecracker, even though she was simply lying in a cruel and terrible bed of her own making. But while the actor was quick to point out that her character didn’t have much of a choice in a recent interview with ScreenRant, she was also very candid about the aspect of Misty Tucker Gray’s life that she most wanted The Boys to explore further.

I would’ve loved to spend more time with Annie and explore that relationship history. If I spent more time with Annie, I might’ve had more blood in my mouth!

The Boys season 4 introduced a long-standing enmity between Annie January and Misty, whose early religious upbringings eventually took them down very different paths. While Firecracker’s hatred of everything Starlight stands for is still prominent in the propaganda she spread in season 5, there was no longer much opportunity for them to cross paths. Despite this, Curry explained that “that was the really formative background for me in creating that character.”

The season 4 scene in the apartment was one of my initial audition scenes. That was so much of where Firecracker came from, and I think having a little bit more time with that, or coming back to that in some way, would’ve been really cool.

A Deeper Look At How The Boys Framed Firecracker’s Demise

Perhaps the most tragic element of Firecracker’s final episode is that she chooses to sell her values down the river instead of turning on Homelander, and yet she still pays the price for her supposed betrayal. However, Curry revealed that her view of the situation was that there was never any choice possible.

Valorie Curry: I don’t think she chose Homelander. I think she felt totally powerless in that moment. When she sits down to do that scene in Truth Bomb, she does not know what she’s going to do. She never believed Homelander was God, obviously! But what she realizes in that revelation is that he’s totally insane. So, what is she going to do? Because she’s in too deep now.

I think one of the moments of pause when she can’t get the words out is her looking around herself in this studio. She’s thinking, “Where am I going to go? What am I going to do? How am I going to get out of here?” She felt like she literally couldn’t do anything. Of course, we as viewers know, “Well, you can.” There’s a price to pay for that, but you can. As soon as she makes that pivot and continues with that monologue, she f–king hates herself, she hates everyone in the room, and she hates Homelander.

That newfound hatred of Homelander is precisely what leads to her death, despite her desperately clawing her way back to survival. Perhaps she could have stayed alive if she had accepted his rejection silently, but after everything she’s given up, there’s no other avenue without the false idol she’s built up.

Valorie Curry: She means it with every fiber of her being when she looks into the camera and says, “America deserves Homelander.” She knows exactly what she means when she says that. That’s why, when she goes into the room that she eventually never leaves, she’s angry that he fires her. She has just chosen survival over her beliefs – and not only that, she still holds her religion in her heart, which means she’s denying Christ. She’s going to hell! That’s why she says, “I gave you my soul.”

She’s angry, and she can’t help but have that outburst when she could have walked away and gotten a job at Arby’s. Once the outburst gets his attention, then she’s in spin mode. She’s in spin mode, and I think it works too well. It reminds him too much of his humanity, and he can’t tolerate that.

The Relationship With Soldier Boy Was Fun While It Lasted

Jensen Ackles, who plays Soldier Boy in The Boys, emphasized his character’s callousness when telling ScreenRant that “Honestly, I don’t think he cared” about Firecracker’s death. But if it’s any consolation, it seems that she didn’t care right back. Curry shared that Firecracker only started something with him because, “She just wanted to feel good. She’s had a hard time, and she’s been very lonely.”

Valorie Curry: She’s theoretically on the inside, but she is still such an outsider there. At this point, she spent a year getting kicked around like a dog – although, who kicks dogs? Bad people like Homelander would kick dogs. I think part of it is a bit of revenge f–king his dad. She says, “Oh, that’s terrible. Who would do such a thing?” But really, she just wants to feel good. I was so happy for her when she had her orgasm. When I read that, I was like, “Yes, girl, just get that. Just use him.”

But then it becomes this space where she gets a little too comfortable, gets a little too relaxed. He is very free to express not just his doubt, but his disdain and contempt for Homelander and this whole God thing. For just a moment, she slips and feels like, “Oh, so I can too.” But no, she cannot.

While their onscreen relationship leaves a bittersweet aftertaste, Curry and Ackles had a delightful time together behind the scenes. “We had fun,” the actress added. “The gun scene was ridiculous!“

I love getting a moment of that with Firecracker because I think that is so much of who she is, and the way that she feels powerful and empowered is the ease with which she can seduce a man. It’s easy for her. She looks at him, and she’s like, “That’s a simple one, and he’s going to get the job done.”

New episodes of The Boys season 5 drop Wednesdays at 3am ET on Prime Video.

Check out our other The Boys season 5 coverage here:

Release Date

2019 – 2026-00-00

Showrunner

Eric Kripke

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