This Is the Wildest Moment in ‘The Boys’ So Far — and No, It’s Not Herogasm

On the surface, The Boys is a show about superheroes and yet, it lacks the CGI grandeur and spectacular battles that we’ve come to associate with the genre. This is an intentional choice, though, because at its core, The Boys is a show that’s more interested in human drama. It imagines a version of our world where superheroes are real and meditates on the psychosocial implications of it. By doing so, the show reaches often disturbing but always fascinating conclusions. For instance, superheroes would probably be an acquired property of corporate companies, the most powerful man in the world would probably be a validation-hungry sociopath, the fastest man alive would probably have to contend with younger and faster racers to retain his spot, the superhero who can talk to fish…well, that would just open a whole new can of worms.

The Boys has its own version of the Justice League called The Seven, and the Aquaman equivalent of it is Deep (Chace Crawford). Similar to Aquaman, Deep can breathe underwater, swim at super speed, and yes, he can also talk to fish. And that’s a fascinating superpower if you think about it. Humans have been wondering what goes on in the heads of dolphins and lobsters for a while now, and to have an interspecies translator who could make this communication possible would be amazing. It would open up a portal to a whole new dimension of questions — what kind of relationship would it form between humans and fish? Would humans and fish live in peace? Would seafood still be on the menu if we could understand them? Justice League isn’t interested in exploring these questions, but The Boys is. But when the show returns with its answers, you can’t help but wonder if some questions are better left unanswered.

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Deep Has the Most Disturbing Moments in ‘The Boys’

The Boys has never attempted to restrain its violence and sex. If anything, the show amplifies these graphic scenes by introducing the superhero equation into the mix. Be it Homelander (Antony Starr) getting pleasured by his own doppelganger or Popclaw (Brittany Allen) squashing her landlord’s face while receiving oral sex, The Boys always offers an admirably fresh approach to disturbing its viewers. And yet, out of all the brilliant supes, it’s the Seven’s most useless member who has disturbed us the most. Since the first season, The Boys had dipped its toes in the idea that Deep has an unconventional relationship with aquatic animals, but it’s the third season that truly drowns itself in the idea.

In Season 3, Episode 7, Deep, in a very calculative and deliberate manner, talks to his wife, Cassandra (Katy Breier), about their withered sex life, and coaxes her into spicing their love life by introducing a new partner. This new partner isn’t entirely new though — she’s been around the couple… in their aquarium. Yes, it’s a tentacled mollusk named Ambrosius. Cassandra reluctantly agrees and in the very next scene we see a dark, slimy mollusk on top of Deep’s nether regions, and it’s accompanied by a rhythmic sound of moist mouth clicks. The threesome that Deep promised, however, never came to pass since it turns out that he is more sexually interested in the mollusk than he’s ever been in his human wife. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen Deep getting tickled by tentacles. In Season 3, Episode 5, Starlight (Erin Moriarty) catches Deep red-handed receiving fellatio from an octopus.

Jokes about water-based superheroes and their questionable bond with fish isn’t all that revolutionary. It’s the sort of joke that a whacky show like Family Guy briefly envisions and giggles at before moving on to the next thing. The difference here is that The Boys asks you to take the ‘gag’ seriously by taking it to its logical conclusion and introducing complex emotions into the mix. Though there is always a healthy dose of levity attached to these scenes, they also have a layer of drama, anchoring the surreal event to reality.

Deep’s Fondness for Marine Life Has Made Him the Butt of the Joke on ‘The Boys’

Deep has always displayed a deep affinity for fishes. He has a tender spot in his heart for fishes trapped in zoos and seafood stores, and sometimes, he feels so strongly about it that he drives to his local aquarium and kidnaps a dolphin, hoping to set it free in the ocean. But unfortunately, the only thing stronger than his compassion is his stupidity, and the next thing you know, the dolphin has flown through the van, landed on the road, and been flattened by a speeding truck. In another instance, Deep tries to rescue a lobster from a seafood store after hearing its plea. He asks the guy on the counter for that particular lobster, and it’s taken out of the aquarium. But Deep seems to have forgotten that the only reason a fish ever gets out of their aquarium in a food store is to get chopped. Before he could protest, the lobster he just promised to rescue gets stabbed and killed by the staff. Everyone in The Seven is aware of the feelings harbored by Deep, and this has made him a punchline of the group. Talking to his therapist, Deep shares that during a party, A-Train (Jessie T. Usher) placed a blowup dolphin on Deep’s bed, and it had lipstick around its blowhole.

Homelander is also of Deep’s unorthodox attractions and being the sadistic jerk that he is, he uses this knowledge to torture Deep. Welcoming Deep back into the Seven, Homelander throws him a dinner party with specially curated food. And when the food arrives, Deep becomes uncomfortable as he realizes it’s all seafood. Deep already knows something’s up, but he can’t quite put his finger on it, that is until he is brought a Korean delicacy selected specially for the aquatic hero — Timothy the Octopus. And this puts Deep in a rather tough space since Timothy is a close friend of his. Deep tries to protest, but it’s an order from Homelander himself. Deep has no choice. So, Deep reluctantly picks up his tentacled friend with chopsticks as Timothy begs for his life and eventually resigns to his fate and prays to his creator while he inches closer inside Deep’s mouth. And no one can hear this but Deep. He hears Timothy scream and cry with every bite. In the end, Deep swallows his friend, and though he gets his Seven membership back, it’s obvious that he hates himself for what he’s done.

Deep Seems to Actually Care For His Aquatic Friends

All of it is unsettling as it is, but what makes matters more complex is the fact that Deep seems to love and care for his aquatic friends quite sincerely. Deep listens to caged lobsters and dolphins. He sympathizes with their pain and captivity and often makes an active effort to free them. It’s entirely another topic that his heroic rescues often get messed up by his trademark stupidity but in any case, you can’t deny that there is heart in his actions. At the same time, the aquatic creatures he talks to seem to reciprocate Deep’s attraction towards them.

And this puts the viewer at a tough spot because on the one hand, whatever scene Deep shares with aquatic creatures are always weird, wrong, and disturbing, but on the other hand, you do recognize the genuine feelings Deep holds for sea creatures. He considers them his real friends, the only ones who don’t try to exploit him. There’s no disputing the fact that Deep is an absolutely horrible human being, but the show has added fascinating facets to his personality and background that makes his story a delight to follow. Essentially, Deep is placed at an interesting crossroads, and he is constantly followed by abject self-loathing. On one hand he is a human being, but on the other, there is a part of him that belongs to the sea. Dismally though, the latter part of him has to suffer to fit into the world of the former.