Peacemaker: It’s Cow Or Never

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

The season finale sees Peacemaker, played by John Cena, and the gang go on one final do or die mission to defeat the butterflies.

This may have been one of the strongest seasons of TV I have seen in a long time, for the most part the series was pretty great, there were a couple of mistakes and slips here or there but widely it was near perfect, this is quite rare.

I thought the finale was able to deliver on everything it was setting up, it gave us crazy action and sweet character moments in just the right amount, whilst also teasing out some unresolved issues for season 2, I am glad the show is giving itself a reason to keep Robert Patrick around.

My one downside would be that the episode feels a little rushed and could have done with being about half an hour longer, I just feel like if it had some extra time could have really nailed every single emotional moment and given us more time during the big fight scene.

Overall, a damn near perfect season finale, season 2 has big shoes to fill.

Pros.

Cena

The emotions

The battle

The use of the theme song

The set up

Cons.

It could have done with more time

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Peacemaker: Stop Dragon My Heart Around

5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

With enemies closing in, the team must decide who they are fighting for and unite in order to defeat the butterflies.

I think this episode was perfect, it was clearly everything the series has been building towards, even the stuff I didn’t like and criticised at the time. All of the emotional through lines converge here and we finally get to see Peacemaker, played by John Cena, and his dad, played by Robert Patrick, come to blows with it being an emotionally charged scene nailed perfectly by Cena.

Moreover, we also get to see Harcourt, played by Jennifer Holland, become team leader in a magnificent slow motion sequence. I think this is well deserved and is the culmination of Harcourt’s arc as she finally feels part of the team, in terms of emotional pay offs this one certainly feels satisfying.

I appreciate that this show is able to balance both really silly and crass moments with emotional intensity and never have the two negatively impact each other, it is a sure sign of good writing. I thought in this regard the Peacemaker flashback was particularly effecting.

All of this sets up one hell of a finale in the next episode, I really hope Gunn can nail the landing.

Overall, easily the best episode of the show yet.

Pros.

Harcourt finally getting what she deserves

Peacemakers’ childhood flashback

The emotion

Cena

What it sets up for next time

Cons.

None

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Peacemaker: Murn After Reading

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

The police circle in on Peacemaker, played by John Cena.

I found this episode to be frustrating, not so much in what was happening as in how they got there. I found the planting of the diary in the last episode suspect, as in I don’t think the character would have done it, but I also found the fact that a secret government agency was unable to stop a determined detective equally baffling and poorly thought through. Clearly these things happen for story reasons rather than anything resembling logic or consistency.

However, that said the show is still very good and even this episode manages to have a number of standout moments. Chief among these is the slow breakdown of Peacemaker himself, as he is starting to come undone at the seams, this has been brewing over the course of the season but it is really starting to come into it’s own in this episode. Cena does a good job nailing the emotional beats.

Moreover, I think the possessed Song’s, played by Annie Chang, police takeover scene might be one of the best moments of the entire series, it perfectly establishes the threat and is also incredibly cool visually.

Also things are moving forward with the White Dragon, played by Robert Patrick, plotline which promises interesting developments in the next episode.

Overall, a weaker and more frustrating episode on the whole, but it still has some fun moments.

Pros.

Cena nailing the emotion

The Song takeover scene

Teases for things to come

Cons.

It feels a little contrived narratively

Some of the character decisions don’t make sense for them

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Peacemaker: Monkey Dory

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Peacemaker, played by John Cena, and co hit a bufferfly processing plant and Murn, played by Chukwudi Iwuji, has his secret further exposed.

I thought this was a decent episode yet probably the weakest yet. Mainly this comes down to the betrayal at the end of the episode that just doesn’t land. Adebayo, played by Danielle Brooks, was tasked with betraying the team from the start of the series and finally does here, however it doesn’t stick the emotional impact and instead just feels done for plot reasons. This episode goes out of its way to suggest that Adebayo is getting sick of Peacemaker and so is ready to betray him, yet this just doesn’t track at all based on the other episodes.

I also don’t really find the investigation into Peacemaker all that interesting. I thought there were so many better things they could have done with the Robert Patrick White Dragon character other than have him be a rat against his own son. Also we all know that the investigation into our leads will go nowhere as they are working for the government so the detectives will just be shut down and it makes no ends who they ask for help.

The ending leaves the series in an interesting place and I am keen to see where the next episode goes, hopefully it will pay off more of the set up here.

Overall, a weaker episode that doesn’t quite nail the humour or the emotion.

Pros.

Cena

The gore

A few sweet moments

Cons.

The betrayal feels hollow

The police investigation side plot

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Peacemaker: The Choad Less Traveled

4.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Peacemaker’s dad, played by Robert Patrick, turns rat so Vigilante, played by Freddie Stroma must get himself sent to prison in order to take care of the problem.

I thought this was probably the best episode of Peacemaker yet, it was certainly the most emotionally raw and I appreciated the show for going there. Though the show might seem crass and silly on the surface underneath there is a lot of depth. I think Vigilante’s breakdown when he realises he’s made the situation worse for his friend, and Peacemaker’s, played by John Cena, dance at the end of the episode where he relives his childhood trauma were both moving and depressing in equal measures.

I thought the prison fight scene wherein Vigilante tries to get the racist gang members to each say something that they are thankful for that a black person has contributed to America before proceeding to beat them up when they don’t was so in keeping with the show. This scene really proves to be a great encapsulation of the show, if you like the sound of it and think it would be funny then you will like it, if it sounds annoying then you won’t. Personally I thought it was great.

My two little issues with this episode, and the things that stop it from getting top marks, are the final twist reveal which shows that Murn, played by Chukwudi Iwuji, has been a butterfly along and the continued waste of Judomaster, played by Nhut Le. In the case of the Murn reveal I found it to just come out of nowhere, there was little to no set up for it and it just feels like a twist for the sake of it, and with Judomaster the character continues to be underused to a point of annoyance.

Overall, an incredibly strong episode only let down by a few strange choices

Pros.

The emotion

The prison fight scene

Vigilante

Cena

The jokes

Cons.

Judomaster

The twist ending

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Peacemaker: Better Goff Dead

3.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Peacemaker, played by John Cena, and company must assassinate their first butterfly.

I enjoyed what this episode did with Vigilante, played by Freddie Stroma, it took the friendship set up between him and Peacemaker in the previous episode and really developed it and added in quite a lot of dimensions. I thought the torture scene between the two was not only funny, but also quite illuminating.

I like the continued romance between Peacemaker and Harcourt, played by Jennifer Holland, I think the two make a good pairing and have strong chemistry. However, I would like to see Harcourt get more focus and have her character expanded out beyond just being a badass and a love interest for Peacemaker. As I have said in previous reviews we know very little about the supporting cast and need more.

Judomaster, played by Nhut Le, is fairly bland as far as minor baddies go. Clearly he won’t be the big bad of the show and is just being used as an obstacle our heroes can chase for a few episodes, that’s fine. However, what isn’t fine is that I didn’t buy Le’s performance at all, I understand the show is supposed to be a comedy but I didn’t find his character in any way threatening, even when he was torturing Peacemaker.

Overall, another good episode

Pros.

Peacemaker and Vigilante

The sweet scene between Peacemaker and Harcourt

The torture scene, for the most part

The comedy

Cons.

Judomaster

The side characters need more development

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