Tag: DC TV

Peacemaker’s fourth installment indicates that the series plans to take a hard left with its main character in terms of his identity on the antihero spectrum. While making the somewhat-established ruthless mercenary have feelings isn’t surprising, Episode 4 is quick to make it perfectly clear that John Cena’s Peacemaker may have more emotion to offer than anything else. 

This episode revolves almost entirely around the characters’ psyches concerning killing. On one end is Vigilante, who at times truly does not understand why he or someone else should not kill any given person. On the other end, arguably, is Adebayo, who is struggling with feeling like she is not cut out for the job after she could not kill someone during the Goff altercation. Harcourt offers a small bit of her insight into murder. 

Perhaps Peacemaker is supposed to fit somewhere between these characters. The character has seemingly taken a big leap from where he was in The Suicide Squad. As much as Peacemaker is clearly trying to redeem his character in the long run, the series itself has not seen much if any of the cold-blooded mercenary. Instead—with the aid of his brother’s death and Rick Flag flashbacks—the killer has actually been relatively peaceful. He showed issues with being used as a ruthless tool, and Episode 4 highlights this more. Peacemaker has major issues with Murn’s order for him to kill kids without being told the specifics of why. So the character has maybe shown cracks in his demeanor, although he certainly did not start this series without any.

The episode picks up immediately following the assassination of the butterflied Senator Goff and his family. While the leftovers from that event certainly suggest that there are world-ending implications to Project Butterfly, Peacemaker feels humorous and relaxingly off-task. One of the best quotes comes from Murn: “Every time I turn around one of you is doing something fucked up!” 

Plenty of the distraction comes from basic conversations between characters such as Peacemaker’s and Vigilante’s conversation about how “if it walks like a duck…” it must be a duck or at least a duck in a human costume. Vigilante spends a significant amount of time somewhat ironically thanking Peacemaker for “allowing [him] to be tortured,” so that he could become stronger. Peacemaker also takes the time to yell at the elderly neighbor about how Batman causes more people to be killed than he saves by not killing his enemies. 

However, a substantial part of the side-tracking this episode comes from Auggie Smith’s—Peacemaker’s father—arc. While Project Butterfly seems more urgent than before, much of this episode is spent with characters trying to keep Peacemaker from ruining everything by talking to his dad. He does, in fact, do just that, which then leads Vigilante to “break into” jail to try and kill Auggie. That also goes sideways, and Auggie is now set on a path to be a more tangible threat to Peacemaker this series.

The focus on Peacemaker’s dad is an odd counterbalance to the overarching Project Butterfly plot, but it brings with it much more emotion and potential character development than the more traditional story brings. Peacemaker’s mini-breakdowns over his role as a killer are accentuated by memories of his father forcing him to kill people in their basement, as well as having some mysterious role in his brother’s death. His total failure at being a psychopath is emphasized by his unwillingness to kill his white supremacist supervillain father. Vigilante makes that point clear, and Adebayo delivers a solid miniature monologue about how everyone wants to believe that their parents are inherently good—but that just isn’t the case with Auggie. 

Aside from nearly the entire cast having a crisis of faith over whether or not they are competent enough to do their job, Vigilante is the highlight of every scene he is in. The guy is completely and murderously insane, yet you feel like you could hug him. As much as the series wants to double-down that he is a clinically-certified psychopath, his “I think I might have made things worse” to Harcourt once he gets out of jail is brimming with some kind of emotions. The character is a wonderful mix of incompatible parts that turns out so charming. Judomaster, on the other hand, awakes and escapes from Task Force X custody only to beautifully fight Peacemaker in the parking lot, get shot, and become unconscious in Task Force X custody once more. At the very end, it’s revealed that Murn himself is a butterfly, meaning the Project Butterfly plot should start to kick into high gear. 

Peacemaker’s fourth episode further extends the series upward momentum. Again, the action was lacking overall and the pace does not scream “there’s a really important potentially apocalypse-level threat going on.” However, every bit of distractedness and feeling of being off-task is brilliantly and fluidly merged into Peacemaker’s unstoppable humor and signature style. Episode 4 also left no doubts that the series plans to get emotions and dig deeper into what exactly makes a Peacemaker, or even, what exactly makes a killer? 

Peacemaker’s comedic tone and its take-nothing-serious attitude are immediately in full force at the beginning of its premiere episode, and the series’ amazing opening credits promise that that will underlie the entire show. With that, it is successful, and it is sure to please a wide-ranging audience with those elements alone. Still, the first three episodes of Peacemaker left some to be desired with a sometimes-dragging pace. The series mostly makes up for it with its characters and the excitement and pace pick up as the series progresses. 

Where Peacemaker excels most is its desire and fearlessness to allow itself to be the joke rather than just making jokes. In The Suicide Squad, that is essentially what the character of Peacemaker brings to the table, though with a bit more grit than the series is so far generating. Peacemaker is driven by general incompetence, and the series feels somewhat like it exists in some bootleg underbelly of a superhero universe. A universe where generally ordinary but demented people dress up in colorful costumes and casually assimilate into society. From what Peacemaker shows, there is nothing flashy or elegant about the lives of these superheroes—the titular hero lives in a cluttered mobile home—and it adds to the feeling that the series takes place in a reality closer to our own. 

The one thing that Peacemaker nailed before it even began was John Cena’s casting. It’s hard to put a finger on it, but there’s something about him and his performance that is Peacemaker and feels effortlessly so. Cena allows himself to inhabit a character that is the butt of the joke but also portrays genuine bravado yet cluelessness at the same time. Peacemaker does not spend time trying to convince anyone that the titular character is some worthy hero, and the series even attacks the character for being racist within the first few minutes. The character also encapsulates the series’ intended tone, so even if other elements aren’t matching it, Cena’s Peacemaker rightfully anchors it all to keep it from losing its heart.

While there is some controversy over the direction the series decided to take Freddie Stroma’s Vigilante, the character is possibly the best part of Peacemaker so far. While his scenes were sparing over the first couple of episodes, his character is being consistently built into the foundation of the series. His flamboyant, upbeat personality that overlaps with a clearly deranged and murderous individual is a Peacemaker-level character at its finest. Cena’s Peacemaker is otherwise surrounded by a bit more serious and grounded characters, so Vigilante’s personality is a strong addition that compliments Peacemaker’s in a way that others cannot. 

Still, the supporting cast feels integral to the series to the same degree that Peacemaker does. Jennifer Holland’s Emilia Harcourt is often the most serious character of the series but can come across as one-note. Danielle Brooks’ Leota Adebayo is a welcome addition to Peacemaker’s Task Force X that underscores the premise that the team often is not exactly inspiring or competent. Steve Agee’s John Economos mostly seems there to exchange insults with others, and Chukwudi Iwuji is undoubtedly the most formidable and intriguing member but has yet to reveal much about himself. The reluctant team aspect is reminiscent of The Suicide Squad in some senses, but the group’s dynamic has room to evolve and improve. The team plays as (mostly) the level-headed backbone of the Project Butterfly plot, in stark contrast to Peacemaker who ironically is often the most incompetent around. The team, though, is not immune from the series’ desire to make fun of itself and not take things so seriously. As serious as they can be, they also suffer from silly mishaps and poor decision-making skills. Robert Patrick’s Auggie Smith or White Dragon is featured prominently in the first two episodes, and it is made clear that the white supremacist villain will have a substantial role to play other than being the source of Peacemaker’s daddy issues. 

However, the series is surprisingly slower than expected. The first episode in particular felt rather mundane and drawn out, serving as a basic primer without much-added excitement. After that, the series picks up with Episode 3 easily being the best and well-paced of the three. Episode 3 is also the first episode where the overarching “Project Butterfly” really comes into play, though the series is still rolling out the details. The effect is a show that is currently more of a mystery than an action-thriller, but there’s every reason to assume that that will shift. For now, though, Peacemaker falls significantly flatter than maybe it intends to. The humor still carries and drives the series, so it is not left without its fun and heart, even in its blander moments.

All in all, Peacemaker is full of plenty of promise. The first three episodes seem to have set up most of the major players and elements of the series, even though most of Project Butterfly remains under wraps. Hopefully, the show can utilize its strong cast and collection of characters to propel the series to greater heights as the story picks up the pace and the action—hopefully—follows suit.