Peacemaker
I can't believe that I didn't mention this in my last "Peacemaker" post. One of the coolest things about the show is the opening credits. The cast does a choreographed dance to "Do You Wanna Taste It?" It's perfect and it makes the credits un-skippable. So click the video before and give them a watch before you dive into to the post itself.
"Better Goff Dead"
Leota Adebayo: "We don't need to know how much she enjoyed having sex with you."
Christopher Smith: "What if it's a clue?"
Leota Adebayo: "It's not."
Christopher Smith: "Fair. I was just trying to slip it into the conversation, hoping you'd notice. It's my bad."
Peacemaker is tasked with is first real mission for Murn. He is to kill Senator Royland Goff, who is believed to be a "Butterfly." Peacemaker shows hesitance when he is told he may have to kill Goff's wife and children if they turn out to be "Butterflies" as well. During the stakeout of Goff's residence, things start to go awry when Vigilante shows up and they run afoul of Goff's bodyguard, Judomaster.
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| Bloody butterflies. |
Christopher Smith is having a crisis of conscience. Peacemaker's motto is brought up multiple times throughout this episode. He's supposedly ready to pursue peace no matter how many men, women and children that he has to kill to do it. But when push comes to shove, he doesn't seem like he is ready to kill women and children, even if one is kind of ugly.
You knew that this show was going to create a change in Christopher Smith, but it is happening a lot sooner than I thought it was going to. It feels like Peacemaker's time with the Suicide Squad and his murder of Rick Flagg has really impacted him. That and his reunion with his awful, racist dad. Peacemaker wants to be the killer that he was raised to be, that he believes himself to be, but it is pretty clear that deep down he is not.
It doesn't help that Murn won't give Peacemaker any detail on what a butterfly is or what their plan is. So, he's basically wanting him to murder potentially innocent women and children with zero information. It's a lot for anyone to deal with and Smith is spiraling. Just look at how freaked out he is when he finds out the sniper rifle they want him to use to do the deed doesn't have the dove of peace on it and he has to draw it on himself. Things come to a head with Chris when it is revealed that the entire family are butterflies and he has to kill them. Smith has a full on panic attack until Vigilante steps in and does the job, except for Goff. Cena kills it here and honestly, after watching more of this, I'm kind of upset that he didn't get any Emmy love this year.
Vigilante has an even bigger presence here and kills it. I was cracking up at the beginning of the episode when he was trying to unsuccessfully hide from the team. Harcourt shooing him away was fantastic, like he was an annoying animal that wouldn't leave. We will talk more about Vigilante in the next episode.
There is some serious moments in this episode, but the show doesn't skimp on the action and comedy that have become is trademarks. Cena and James Gunn hit Peacemaker's absurdities hard, whether it is his belief that climate change isn't real or his not so smooth interjections of how many orgasms he's providing into casual conversations or when he's allowing Vigilante to get tortured by Butterfly Goff. It's these ridiculous moments that make the more sincere moments like the aforementioned panic attack or getting Harcourt to lower her walls a little hit that much harder.
The action is balls to the wall here too. Whether it's the Judomaster beatdown of Vigilante and Peacemaker or the ending battle between Vigilante, Peacemaker and Goff. The fight choreography is stellar, both brutal and funny at times. And we finally get a look at a butterfly as it flies out of the hole in Goff's face. And it looks like a... butterfly.
Grade: A-
"The Choad Less Traveled"
Auggie's Neighbor: "Batman doesn't kill people."
Christopher Smith: "Because he's a pussy!"
Auggie's Neighbor: "He's a dark creature of the night."
Christopher Smith: "He's a jackass! Who wrestles with murderers dressed like clowns and throws them in prison, so they can break out of prison and then murder more people!"
After taking out Goff, Peacemaker finally finds out what Butterflies actually are. They are insect-like aliens that will take of people's bodies in order to invade the Earth and based on the ARGUS computer, they are close to achieving their goal. Smith claims to have killed the Butterfly, but in actuality he is keeping it in a jar in his house. But Peacemaker has bigger issues on his brain. Daddy issues when he finds out that his dad is in prison due to Economos. His BFF Vigilante decides to do something about those while Adebayo tries to show the team her worth.
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| Big man on campus. |
I never in a million years thought that I would be loving Adrian Chase aka Vigilante on "Peacemaker." But leave it to writer/director, James Gunn and actor, Freddie Stroma to prove me wrong. Up until this point, Chase has kind of been played for laughs. He's this socially awkward guy who thinks he's helping but is maybe harming more than anything, but with this episode Adrian Chase becomes much more three dimensional. I think what really made me fall in love with him is when he lays some real talk on Chris about his dad, Auggie. It's obvious that Chris knows that his dad is a bad person with really harmful, dangerous views. But, he's worked his entire life for his approval, so he's having a hard time reconciling these things.
Chase does really care about Peacemaker. He really considers him his best friend. It's why he's so easily manipulated by Adebayo to get himself thrown in jail for the purpose of killing Auggie to help Chris. Stroma shines in every scene he's given her. When he's in the car pretending he's not upset that Chris let him get tortured or when he's trying to act like he's not Vigilante. My favorite Vigilante scene is when he sits down with Auggie and his band of racists and asks them what their favorite thing African Americans have contributed to culture is and calls them sister fucking redneck racists. He then goes on to lay the beatdown of their lives on them. It's amazing.
Aside from being Waller's daughter, it has been unclear as to why Leota is on the team and what skills she brings to it. And her teammates are beginning to question that. Harcourt is still not happy with her for not pulling the trigger on the bodyguard in the last episode. Leota is trying to prove her worth. She manipulates Chase into trying to kill Auggie to stop him from spilling the beans about their covert op to the police. But that, turns out, is exactly the wrong move. When Judomaster and Peacemaker are having their rematch in the parking lot, she shoots Judomaster even though Chris says he had it. Judomaster lives, but Leota is shaken. There is clearly something to Leota that the show hasn't shown us yet and I'm interested to find out. I love the growing friendship between Leota and Chris. The chemistry between Cena and Brooks is great. It's going to make the moment she inevitably betrays him sting that much more.
We can't forget about our main character who is dealing with capital D daddy issues this entire episode. They eventually send him spiraling. Just look at how Chris reacts whenever someone mentions that Auggie and Chris' relationship is mentioned in his file. He can't stand the idea of someone having a picture of their relationship that he isn't cultivating or doesn't fit his mental picture of it.
During his drugs and alcohol fueled spiral, we see snippets of Chris' relationship with his father through the years. He sees people that he killed, some of them because he was trying to please Auggie. There is a man tied up that he stabs to death, Rick Flagg and his own brother, who Auggie mentions earlier in the episode. The episode ends with the reveal that Murn is also a butterfly.
Grade: A
Next up, Auggie tries to cut a deal while the team goes after a factory connected to Butterflies and Auggie gets released from prison while the police search for the team.
How are you all liking "Peacemaker?" Clearly, I'm loving it. I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
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