The Boys star was elated with that Kimiko-Frenchie kiss: "I do ship Kimchie"

The fourth season of The Boys ended with the sociopathic superhero Homelander effectively in charge of the United States. Our heroes are scattered to the winds and mostly captured. It's a downbeat way to end things, and we can only hope that it turns around in the show's fifth and final season.

But there were a couple moments of joy in there. Namely, Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) and Frenchie (Tomer Capone) finally shared a kiss after four seasons of romantically dancing around each other. "I did a cute little gasp when I read it [in the script]," Fukuhara told Entertainment Weekly. "It took the entire season to get to that point."

"On the day when we were filming that kiss, I didn't realize how beautiful it would be. I was blown away. I didn't know how they were going to shoot it in the script. It just said they lean in for a kiss. I knew it would be special, but I didn't know it was going to be this backlit beautiful thing. I was so happy that they got their moment in that way. It was beautifully shot."

The kiss was a very long time coming, some might say too long. Kimiko and Frenchie connected almost immediately in the first season, with Frenchie very quickly learning sign language so he could communicate with the mute Kimiko. The second season ended with the pair heading out to go dancing together, which seemed a clear sign they were becoming an item.

But in season 3, they were back to being platonic. And in season 4, Kimiko pushed Frenchie to start up a relationship with Colin (Elliot Knight), an old friend of his. “I thought, ‘Oh okay, it’s actually not going to happen,’” Fukuhara remembered. “I was quite disappointed because I do ship Kimchie. I've always wanted them to get together, but was okay if they weren't going to be."

A lot of people were disappointed with Frenchie's relationship with Colin, for a variety of reasons. Predictably, there were those who were upset about bisexuality and homosexuality making appearances in their superhero show. "I was very sad about it," Tomer Capone said of this reaction. "I try not to give it too much focus because I know it comes from insecurity that people feel about themselves, about their ego, about their machoism, about whatever it is. On the other side, I got so many beautiful people writing me about a strong character like Frenchie being bisexual. I get a lot of people telling me that it really helped them with feeling good about themselves. Haters are going to hate. I want to see them get out from the keyboard and come mess with Frenchie."

More reasonably, I think some fans were irritated by what they saw as a pretty obvious stalling tactic before the endgame that was Frenchie-Kimiko. I mean, what are we doing here? After the Frenchie-Colin relationship fell apart (Frenchie killed his family back when he was working as a mercenary, whoops), Frenchie and Kimiko finally got together...and then were pulled apart almost immediately after Homelander's goons captured and separated them. Kimiko, who has been mute this whole time, finally shouted "No" while Frenchie was dragged away. It was a powerful scene that was a long time coming.

It sounds like Kimiko will finally use her voice in The Boys season 5

"I think it was written perfectly," Fukuhara said of Kimiko's first word. "I thought, 'If our show is going to do this, that's also going to be a really, really crucial moment for the series.'...Her not being able to speak is coming from childhood trauma. It's not a physical attribute," she explains. "So it would make sense that, in this time of dire need, the only thing that could possibly save Frenchie in that moment is her voice — and that's the one thing that she doesn't have."

Now that Kikimo has found her voice, it sounds like it will stick. Fukuhara told EW that she's mulling over how she'd like Kimiko's voice to sound in the upcoming fifth and final season.

"That's actually something that I think about on a daily basis. I am excited and also a bit nervous because I feel like all four seasons are leading to that moment. There's a lot of anticipation and excitement towards it, especially from the fans. So I want to do it justice. We'll see when that moment is."

Finally letting Kimiko talk sounds like a great development for the final leg of the show. Unfortunately, we probably won't see it for awhile. The Boys season 5 is confirmed, but if the show sticks to the pattern it's established, we likely won't get to watch it until 2026. But hey, if they want to prove me wrong and air it in 2025, I won't complain. In the meantime, the first four seasons (plus the spinoff Gen V) are available to watch on Amazon Prime Video.

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