The Black Noir Scene That Went Too Far On The Boys
The Seven in "The Boys" are recognizable in more ways than one. Original creator Garth Ennis depicted a team of superheroes that not only parodied the likes of the Justice League but also made them far more insidious. The Deep (Chace Crawford) is a stand-in for Aquaman while Homelander (Antony Starr) is clearly an allegory for if Superman turned bad. While these connections are more obvious, one of the more mysterious figures is Black Noir (Nathan Mitchell). Unlike other members of the Seven, who experience doubt and moral quandaries, Black Noir is immovable. Vought depends on Black Noir to take care of problems when they arise, and even Homelander can't see anything wrong with his performance.
Black Noir has no qualms with violence and executes every mission exactly how Vought expects. He is a frightening depiction of someone truly loyal to a cause, no matter how brutal it is. But even with this commitment to Vought's cause in mind, there is one scene where Black Noir takes this a step over the line.
Watching Black Noir disembowel Kimiko was hard to watch
Black Noir fills the role of Vought's "company man," and he does it very efficiently. He shows no sign of remorse and enacts brutal violence as long as it benefits Vought. Some fans on Reddit consider this violence to be excessive. "[He eliminates] people he understands are the 'bad guys' but he goes a bit extra violent on it," commented u/jwishfulThinking.
One of the most uncomfortable scenes is the fight between Black Noir and Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara). They are two of the most powerful Supes, but Black Noir gets the upper hand, stabbing Kimiko in the foot before disemboweling her in one of the most graphic depictions of violence in the series to date. When Frenchie (Tomer Capon) goes to her body, Kimiko appears to be a corpse with her organs spilling out.
This brutality is heartbreaking for Frenchie, who has come to care for Kimiko. It is also disturbing for viewers. Kimiko was only trying to protect her friend, and Black Noir is a mindless killing machine whose only loyalty is to the corporation he works for. Kimiko survives due to her regenerative abilities, but she was very close to dying in one of the most violent ways possible. No one else would have been able to walk away from that fight.