When Nathan Mitchell and Chace Crawford take the screen in The Boys Season 5, it feels like the viewer has been momentarily transported to a slasher-buddy comedy for a much-needed change of pace from Butcher and Hughie’s moral crusade against Homelander’s sacrilegious takeover.

“We’re really showing the shadow side of brotherhood,” Mitchell told DECIDER during a recent Zoom chat. “And when ego and insecurity and the need to be number one in someone’s eyes kind of takes precedence over your relationships with the people who are important to you, that can easily lead you down the wrong path.”

**Major spoilers for The Boys Season 5, Episode 6 below!**

The Boys Season 5, Episode 6 takes these brothers to a point of no return when Noir exacts his revenge on The Deep for Adam Bourke’s death by breaking a Vought oil pipeline and causing a “fish holocaust.” The Deep may have dashed Noir’s acting dreams, but causing an oil spill is unforgivable in The Deep’s eyes, leading the supe to murder Noir in cold blood.

Mitchell sang Crawford’s praises as we discussed the end of Noir’s journey with Vought and The Seven. Mitchell has played the silent but deadly supe since the Prime Video series premiered in 2019, but it wasn’t until Season 4 that he began having speaking lines after Vought silently replaced Noir with an actor when he had been murdered. Now that he could talk, Noir became The Deep’s partner in crime as two of the lowest supes on the totem pole in Vought Tower.

“I was so excited because just watching him over the seasons, he’s such a great actor,” Mitchell said of the former Gossip Girl star. “To get to bounce off someone with that much skill, it’s a joy every time I get to do it.”

Keep reading to see what Mitchell had to say about Noir’s journey, that “grotesque” eel scene, and what to expect when The Boys series finale premieres.

DECIDER: Did you know that this is how Noir’s story was going to end? What did you think when you first got these scripts?

NATHAN MITCHELL: I did not know until Eric [Kripke] called me. You know, I think it was like halfway through Season 5, and we had a talk and it’s like, ‘Hey, man, it’s time to go.’ There are a bunch of people who are obviously departing this season. And he had hinted before that might be Noir’s ending. And when I read it and saw how it unfolded, I found it really fitting because Noir’s story, Noir Two, with Seasons 4 and 5 with The Deep, it’s really about brotherhood and this toxic family structure that Homelander has created. This brotherhood, this bond that they have really kind of falls apart and becomes this like tit-for-tat and one upmanship until it gets to the point of death.

How did it feel to see Noir’s life end at The Deep’s hands?

It felt like that was the way it’s supposed to go. We’re really showing the shadow side of brotherhood and when ego and insecurity and the need to be number one in someone’s eyes kind of takes precedence over your relationships with the people who are important to you. That can easily lead you down the wrong path.

What did you think about Noir’s general direction this season? He was starting to pursue acting and actually pursue his passion on the side of The Seven.

I thought it was great. And if you look at Noir One and Noir Two, there’s a parallel there, right? They both have ambitions to be an actor, to step outside of the constraints of their role, and they are both held back and sabotaged by the people who are closest to them. You know, in Noir One’s case, it was Soldier Boy, and in Noir Two’s case, The Deep, right? It’s really meta when you think about it. […] it’s a really kind of full circle cyclical thing.

What did you think about Adam Bourke’s death? Can you walk me through your experience filming that scene with the eel, what was that like?

It was quite grotesque. It was funny because it’s such a crazy scene that you’re kind of like, ‘Okay, would anyone even want to do this?’ You know, like, have an eel just shoot up through their butt and have their butt explode with blood. How many scenes or shows can you say that about? It was so fitting because we’ve been with Adam Bourke since Season 2, and the fact that we come back around and we’ve seen him through like all these arcs of his career. He’s been a movie director, he’s been a teacher at, Godolkin University, and now he finds himself in off Broadway theater, and to see how far he’s come and fallen and then still have this relationship with new Noir. I think it’s really apropos and and it’s hilarious. It’s grotesque. It’s funny, it’s sad, you know, the animatronics and the detail that went into making the eel and like, there’s this whole setup with the blood going into the body, the mannequin body that they have and having it like, squirt out at the right time and having the eel like flip and flopping. It was properly, properly gross.

Can you tell me a bit about your experience working with Chace?

When I found out Chace and I were going to be scene partners, I was so excited because just watching him over the seasons, he’s such a great actor. He has such great choices, such great timing, and he’s so specific with what he does. Deep is not a great guy, but you can have moments of empathy for him. And like, you know, there’s humor that’s there and you can laugh at him. You can have fun watching the character. And so just to get to bounce off someone with that much skill, it’s a joy every time I get to do it. And the fact that we’re friends and we just had this good bond, it just makes it even better.

Was there anybody else in the cast that you wish you got the chance to share more scenes with?

I wish I could have done more scenes with Antony. You know, I think the Homelander-Noir dynamic, Noir One and Noir Two is really interesting. And I think there’s a deleted scene from Season 4 that really illuminates Noir’s direction at the beginning of Season 5. You know, and we see Noir scared shitless by Homelander into really getting into character. And Noir sees how off his rocker Homelander is becoming. And he really gets a sense of how easily Homelander could kill him.

I know this is the end of Noir’s journey kind of on the show, but is there anything you can tease about the series finale?

There’s so much I could tease. I think that everything comes to a head in a really fitting way. Things that have been building since Season 1 and we see some payoff for in the finale. And I think the story ends in the right way.