Written by James Gunn
Directed by James Gunn (eps 1-3, 6 and 8), Jody Hill (ep 4), Rosemary Rodriguez (ep 5) and Brad Anderson (ep 7)
Peacemaker: "Eat peace, motherfucker!"
Following the title character's abrasive introduction in The Suicide Squad and the somewhat antagonistic role he had in that film, I'd be lying if I said that I was eagerly anticipating his HBO Max series but over the course of eight episodes, I soon became a convert to both the idea of this show and it's less character.
Last time Peacemaker (John Cena) was seen, he was in a coma, courtesy of Bloodsport (Idris Elba) and as punishment for disobeying her, Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) put him in the care of Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland) and John Economos (Steve Agee) in order to either help save the world to make him into a future patsy. The show does present both options for Christopher Smith upon waking from his coma.
Saddled with a team also comprising happy go lucky psychopath, Vigilante (Freddie Stroma), first team leader Clemson Murn (Chukwudi Iwuji) and new recruit, Leota Adebayo (Danielle Brooks), the latter revealed to be Waller's daughter very early on, Peacemaker finds himself going up against the Butterflies as they have their own plans for humanity that are not as black and white as their first appear to be.
For a group of antagonists, they're an interesting bunch, able to possess humans, which we see them do with various characters such as Detective Sophie Song (Annie Chang), who became a host body for their leader Goff. Murn himself was later to be revealed as a rogue member of the race, opposed to their plan and overall as a character got a rather nice character arc, even if he didn't quite make it to the finale.
The main characters definitely have some strong arc and there's none stronger than the title character himself. We see Christopher Smith openly question his militant stance for peace while his relationship with his racist father, Auggie Smith/White Dragon (Robert Patrick) undoubtedly motivated a lot of his behaviour. Ultimately while Peacemaker can be set in his ways as a person, his experiences throughout this first season alone start to shape him into being a better person, so there might be hope for him yet.
Then there's Leota herself, who for the most part tried to see the good in Peacemaker and formed a rather believable friendship with him while struggling to get out of her mother's shadow and maintain her marriage to her wife, Keeya (Elizabeth Ludlow). She's easily one of the best characters on the show and also the one who truly brought about the downfall of both the Butterflies and Task Force X.
As for Emilia Harcourt, she started the season being openly hostile to everyone, only to truly step up as a leader by the finale. Vigilante and Economos aren't quite as developed as the others but both characters do have their moments and the more said about Peacemaker's pet eagle, Eagly, the better. As for Judomaster (Nhut Le), there's potential with the character and hopefully the second season will explore that as he's likely to encounter the gang yet again.
- The episodes are A Whole New Whirled, Best Friends For Never, Better Goff Dead, The Choad Less Traveled, Monkey Dory, Murn After Reading, Stop Dragon My Heart Around and It's Cow Or Never.
- The Justice League were referenced several times and in the finale we got to see to both Aquaman (Jason Momoa) and Flash (Ezra Miller) with body doubles standing in for Superman and Wonder Woman.
- The penultimate episode implied that Peacemaker himself was bisexual, which genuinely surprised me. We can thank John Cena for that development.
- Like with many shows, this one had flashbacks of Christopher's childhood and accidental killing of his brother, Keith.
- The title sequence might be one of the best ones seen in a DC production with Wig Wam's Do You Wanna Taste It being a catchy theme tune for the series.
- Chronology: Five months following the events of The Suicide Squad.
Peacemaker's first season was something that I had very moderate expectations about and it was a show that turned out to be far better than expected. James Gunn had his fans with The Suicide Squad but this for me was even better. A true testament in giving a character a second chance with fantastic results. I will definitely watching the second season.
Rating: 8 out of 10
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