The Boys Honored By PETA For An Insane Reason
Did anyone call this? We didn't.
Warning! SPOILERS follow for season 3 of The Boys.
Yes. You read that correctly. The controversial animal rights organization PETA is honoring The Boys. Is that weird enough for you? No? Okay, wait. PETA is giving members of the cast and crew of The Boys an award for one the grisliest and most disturbing scenes in the series — and if you’ve seen the series, then you know there’s a long list of grisly and disturbing scenes. That’s still not nuts enough for you? Okay, how about this: The Boys is getting an award from PETA — the same organization who famously criticized former President Barrack Obama for killing a fly — for a scene in which The Deep (Chace Crawford) eats a live octopus as it’s begging for its life. Yup.
As Comic Book reported, PETA is giving the “Tech, Not Terror” Award to actor Chace Crawford, The Boys‘ VFX team, and creator Eric Kripke for what the organization called “the cruelty-free and thought-provoking scene” in which The Deep eats the live octopus — his friend, Timothy — whole. PETA praised the show first for using a computer generated octopus rather than a live one, and second for “helping viewers see every octopus as an individual like Timothy, not as an entrée or as entertainment.”
Season 3 of The Boys premiered on Amazon Prime Video last week, and as is customary, the streaming service put the first three episodes of the new season up on the same day. In episode 3, “Barbary Coast,” The Deep finally succeeds in what he’s been trying to do for almost the entire series up until now: to win a spot back on The Seven. In a celebratory meal, Homelander (Anthony Starr) forces The Deep to eat Timothy in front of him in order to prove his loyalty. The aquatic supe pleads to Homelander to not make him do it, saying Timothy is begging for his life, but ultimately does the deed. He’s also urged on by his wife Cassandra (Katy Breier), who is earlier annoyed to find The Deep staring at Timothy while she’s having sex with him.
The day after “Barbary Coast” aired, TV Guide decided to have a little fun with The Boys‘ cast and crew during interviews, asking for everyone’s tributes to Timothy. Trying to hold back laughter, Crawford said, “He was very articulate. He was as good of a friend as you could have, 60-feet below the surface. He was a good listener. We’d have long chats about our different upbringings because we were very different creatures.” Sitting nearby Claudia Doumit and Jensen Ackles could barely contain their snickering. You can see them, and others from the cast and crew of The Boys, pay tribute to Timothy — accompanied by Marguerite Szabo, Stefan Litrownik, and Rinat Arinos singing “Goodbye for Good.”
Just three episodes in, it’s clear The Boys‘ third season is upping the ante on the creative gore. In “Payback,” the season 3 premiere, the size-changing supe Termite (Brett Geddes) unintentionally kills his lover in an epically gross and bizarre fashion. At his partner’s request, Termite shrinks down to a small enough size that he can enter his partner’s penis. While inside, Termite sneezes which triggers his change to full size. The change forces his partner’s entire lower half to explode, killing him instantly. Eric Kripke confirmed the scene was inspired by the Marvel fan “Thanus” meme in which it was argued Paul Rudd’s Ant-Man should have killed Josh Brolin’s Thanos by shrinking, entering the Mad Titan via his purple butt, and then changing to giant-size.
