Sister Sage is burning bridges in this week’s episode of The Boys, but Susan Heyward is calling it “the most epic kind of quiet quitting.”

The Boys Season 5, Episode 6 shows Sage, the smartest person on Earth who successfully discovered the cure for cancer, suddenly struggling to replicate V-One for Homelander. Heyward says it’s all part of the supe’s exit strategy.

“She’s always been someone who wasn’t really interested in helping anybody,” Heyward told DECIDER in a recent chat, adding that Sage’s childhood wounds go “so deep,” we’re still seeing the impact now as she prepares to abandon humanity to live out the rest of her life in peace in a remote bunker.

Sage is prepared to jump ship by the time she convinces Ashley (Colby Minifie) to read Soldier Boy’s (Jensen Ackles) mind, confirming her suspicions that he actually supports Homelander’s plans. Instead of biding her time and playing along for the sake of her own survival, Sage cuts out her Vought tracker and switches sides to join Butcher and The Boys, who may just be her last hope in stopping Homelander once and for all.

“I feel like she’s done like the most epic kind of quiet quitting ever since she realized that, ‘Okay, now we’re talking about immortality. We’re talking about something that’s never gonna end,'” the actress said. “I think she’s been ready to find whatever exit she can.”

Sage might be the smartest person the planet but she’s learning this season there’s power in numbers. This means aligning herself with the likes of Ashley, Soldier Boy and The Boys, even if she feels like she’s surrounded by idiots. But with just two episodes left in The Boys, it remains to be seen how they’ll be able to stop Homelander once and for all.

Keep reading to check out DECIDER’s discussion with Heyward about Sage’s unlikely alliances, her penchant for lobotomies and her exit strategy.

DECIDER: I would love to hear what you think is going through Sage’s mind in this week’s episode.

SUSAN HEYWARD: I remember thinking that in that first scene she has with Homelander. She said, “All empires must fall.” So I’ve always kind of imagined that she was going for the ride, but with the understanding that one day the ride needed to end. And so I feel like she’s done like the most epic kind of quiet quitting ever since she realized that, okay, now we’re talking about V-One. We’re talking about immortality. We’re talking about something that’s never going to end. I think she’s been ready to find whatever exit she can, and she’s ready to go to the next place that doesn’t have to do with staying in the same place forever, because that sounds like torture. 

I just want to clarify, too, the episode begins with her testing attempt number 35 of the V-One. Do you think she’s purposely sabotaging his plan?

Yeah. Well, I feel like she’s always been someone who wasn’t really interested in helping anybody. I think the wound from her childhood went so deep that she was like, F you, F you, F you, F all of you, she’s not actually interested in helping anyone. So, like I said, a performance of quiet [quitting], of like, ‘Yeah, I’m sorry, it’s not working. I don’t know what’s going on.’

What was it like sharing scenes with Colby Minifie? This is such a fun and unexpected alliance.

You know, I knew Colby before we started working on this, and I thought it was really great to get to work with someone as talented as her, as fun as her, and also get this two women who have aligned with fascism for totally selfish reasons. Firecracker, she does have beliefs about other people. She really thinks she’s helping some people and representing some people. I don’t think Sage and Ashley are, they are for self-preservation. [Colby is] also so funny and so it was great to have some scenes also with someone who doesn’t have the physical, the physical danger of a Homelander or Soldier Boy. Their powers are either mental or telepathic.

I have to ask about the lobotomies. What did you think when you first saw that, especially with that scene in the previous season with The Deep (Chace Crawford), the lobotomy foreplay?

I feel like we all know a woman who dumbs herself down in order to get some intimacy, in order to get some validation. So for me, it made total sense that being as smart as she is, being as disappointed with humanity as she is, she needed to have something that could turn her brain off so she can have a good time. So I think that’s always been something one to have a good time and to be able to try to connect with people. Otherwise she sees too much and she knows too much to really be connected.

I was also really struck by Sage’s decision to still call Soldier Boy for help, almost with Bombsight. What did you think about that? And also, what is your experience working with Jensen?

He’s so funny and calm. He has the ability to bring out some of the naughtiest improvs that I have to work really, really hard to keep a straight face, and usually he cracks me. I felt like Sage is at a point where she’s forced to collaborate with people the way she was forced to collaborate with Ashley. It’s not something she likes to do. She likes to work alone, and I think she has so much trust in the animosity that she can put between Homelander and Soldier Boy that she’s like, all right, I gotta roll the dice. I can’t keep doing it alone.

What can you tease about Sage’s finale? What do you think about it?

One of the messages of the show has always been what can of bunch of regular people do to stand up to one person with too much power, and she’s been pushed all season to stop working by herself, stop keeping secrets so she gets the opportunity to see just how far she can go, how far she’s able to work with other people, and we’ll see what she decides.

This article has been edited for clarity.