Peacemaker Season 2
By Sioph W. Leal
Peacemaker is back and this time the threat isn’t an alien invasion of extraterrestrial Butterflies but ARGUS now led by Rick Flagg Snr (Frank Grillo) who is determined to face Peacemaker (John Cena) and enact his own justice following the murder of his son at Peacemaker’s hands. To add further complications, Peacemaker discovers an alternate dimension that seems to be the perfect world. His family is intact, he’s a hero loved by all, has a chance at being with Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland) and has no traumatic past to deal with. It’s his dream world but the problem is that it isn’t his.
The first season was about Peacemaker coming to terms with the difference between his ideals and who he actually is while this season is about what he wants and if he can reconcile with his past. There’s some changes this season to make Peacemaker fit into James Gunn’s new DCU seamlessly like the Justice Gang replacing the Justice League from the previous seasons ending and auditioning new members with patron Maxwell Lord (Sean Gunn), including Peacemaker. It all fits together well and provides some of the funniest moments from the first five episodes screened for review. Even with the changes, this season of Peacemaker still feels the same and has a lot of violence and bizarre situations that balances it being hilarious, vicious and just a good time. All of that works in perfect tandem with the character development of Peacemaker as he tries to fight for what he wants but overall, the characters feel lost without a sense of purpose since most were fired from ARGUS. It's intentional and works for most of them because we see them trying to do something.
Leota Adebayo (Danielle Brooks) and John Economos (Steve Agee) show the most with this. Adebayo continues to be the heart of the series and is shown more of her personal drive to make something of herself, reconcile with her wife and is Peacemaker’s best friend and closest confidant (after Eagly, of course). The scenes they have together are funny, witty and heartwarming as they are each other's biggest champions and call each other out for their mistakes and bullshit. Surprisingly, one of the more interesting developments comes from Economos. All season he is trying to keep his job at ARGUS and be there, at a distance, for his friends but his fear and black and white way of thinking often get in the way. There’s a lot of growth that can’t be discussed because of the embargo but he becomes one of the most endearing characters alongside Adebayo who will, undoubtedly, remain a fan favorite.
There’s a lot more on the group dynamics with the season focusing on ARGUS, the separated 11th Street Kids, the different relationships in the other dimension but none feel convoluted. There’s some familiar faces that pop up and add to the dynamics of both dimensions and all groups that seem like they will come to a head in the final episode. New characters like Red St. Wild (Michael Rooker) who is Eagly’s arch-nemesis and determined to bring him down, Langston Fleury ( Tim Meadows), a bird-blind ARGUS agent paired up with Economos and Sasha Bordeaux (Sol Rodríguez), an ARGUS agent with close links to new director Flagg Snr. The new characters in ARGUS bring more depth to the series and a bluntness that ties in perfectly with the rest of the season.
Season 2 is more outrageous and violent than the first season but just as funny. The focus on the inner workings of ARGUS and the conflicting aims of Flagg Snr in his quest for revenge and Peacemaker’s desire for redemption work great and you can see the point of view of both men meaning none are a villain. There’s complexity to the characters that Gunn and the actors tie together great and even though the show shifts from an extraterrestrial threat to a government agency, it doesn’t lose anything. The weakest part is, unfortunately, Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland) whose character feels lost. There is some relevance to it but other than a few random barfights, the only thing the character has going on is more of a will-they-wont-they with Peacemaker and illusions that something happened with Rick Flagg Jr. It’s a little disappointing that is all she has to do in the first five episodes and it doesn't seem that will change much in the final three. A big chunk of Peacemaker’s plot is also this relationship but it's not all there is. He has a lot going on with the other dimension, his past traumas, the friendship with Adebayo and the desire for redemption which is the difference between the two.
Discovering an alternate world where life is everything he wishes it could be, Peacemaker is forced to face his past and take the future he wants into his own hands. It’s an exciting continuation of Peacemaker’s story filled with absurdly funny moments mixed with over the top and chaotic violence that work perfectly for this universe. In the first five episodes screened for review, the show elevates from the previous season in every way possible to make it a fun watch that brings an exploration in the possibility of redemption and how trauma defines the characters.
Peacemaker season 2 premiers Thursday, August 21st at 9pm on Max. The first five episodes were screened for review.