Spoiler Warning: Episode 5 of Peacemaker’s sophomore season is out now, so if you haven’t seen it yet, fire up HBO Max, watch it, and then come back. We’ll still be here.
Last week left off with Christopher Smith preparing to meet with Emilia Harcourt in a public park to ask her a question before making a pivotal decision. However, it was a trap, with the meeting surrounded by ARGUS agents led by Rick Flag Sr, who will seemingly stop at nothing to get revenge for the death of his son (as seen in 2021’s The Suicide Squad).
This week’s episode opened with a flashback to three years ago (adding a bit more concrete to the DCU timeline) and the funeral of Rick Flag Jr, with Harcourt and Rick’s father agreeing to deliver justice to the man responsible for Flag’s death.
Three years later, things are a bit more complicated. Peacemaker has genuinely put in the work to be a better man and atone for his past sins, with Harcourt considering him a genuine friend, while still wanting revenge for the death of Flag, not to mention the pressure of being blackballed by Amanda Waller following the events of Season 1, where all of Waller’s dirty laundry being made a matter of public record. All in all, Harcourt’s inability to pay her rent, not to mention the dissonance of befriending a man she fundamentally loathes on a cellular level is tearing her apart from the inside.
Harcourt’s arc in the episode is of someone on a tailspin, pursuing two opposite goals, sabotaging herself from both sides. She agrees to help Flag take down Peacemaker, but also warns him by using their safeword, “Copasetic,” to tip Smith off to Flag’s plan. She’s borderline incredulous when Peacemaker asks if he meant anything to her, implying that they had some kind of drunken sexual encounter in the recent past, but goes out of her way to save his life when Agent Bordeaux (who is a revealed to be a cyborg with marksmanship that would make Deadshot blush) goes for a killshot against their target. However, Peacemaker doesn’t know about Bordeaux’s superpowers, so when he’s taken down and beaten unconscious by Harcourt, he takes it personally, a sign that their relationship, friendly or otherwise, is ruined forever. He doesn’t know that she actually saved his life.
Harcourt has to reconcile her twisted feelings towards Peacemaker, but she doesn’t want to kill him. It’s no longer a binary case of revenge, not after everything they’ve been through together.
When Peacemaker is brought into ARGUS custody, Flag’s plan seems to be to “disappear” him, but not before beating the ever-loving tar out of the man who killed his son. While part of me would absolutely love to see an episode-long fistfight between John Cena and Frank Grillo (while shirtless, and sweaty,oiled-up abs glistening in the sun, while Cena grabs a fistful of Grillo’s immaculate hair and… uh… What was I talking about again?), Peacemaker can’t bring himself to fight back against Flag’s onslaught of blows. When Flag says, “That boy was a better man than you could ever dream of being,” Peacemaker can only say, “I know, sir.”
It’s unclear just how far Flag was willing to go. Would he have actually beaten Peacemaker to death? Thankfully, we don’t find out, as Economos puts the arrest on ARGUS record (at Harcourt’s request), much to the chagrin of Bordeaux, but to the surprising approval of Agent Fleury (Tim Meadows). After the 11th Street Kids show up to bring Peacemaker home, Flag says to Bordeaux that everything is going according to plan, that he only wanted to seem unhinged to cause Peacemaker and his crew to underestimate him. As such, he tasked Judomaster with following Peacemaker home, and he only ordered Bordeaux to kill Peacemaker because he knew Harcourt would save him. I don’t know if I fully believe Flag has the level of restraint he claims, but he’s definitely smarter than the average zaddy.
While the 11th Street Kids are away, Red St. Wild (Michael Rooker) enacts his plan to murder Eagley, whom he has deluded himself into believing is the Prime Eagle, and that killing him is the only way to absolve America of its sins against the Native Americans… Or something. He’s a weirdo. Nevertheless, after failing with poison, Red St. Wild actually succeeds in shooting down Eagley with an absurdly oversized rifle… Or so he thinks. As it turns out, he shot the wrong eagle, Eagley and really is the Prime Eagle, able to command a flock of eagles to rip Red St. Wild to pieces. I suppose it’s possible he might return, alive but badly mangled, but I wouldn’t bet on it. I’m pretty sure that’s a wrap on Red St. Wild. Michael Rooker previously played Savant in The Suicide Squad. I wonder who he’ll play next time he pops up in the DCU?
When he returns to the cabin, Peacemaker writes a letter to Adebayo and the rest of the 11th Street Kids and enters the portal, closing it behind him (but not before Judomaster secretly follows him through). He’s made his choice. He’s given up on the DCU and decided to live in the “Best Universe Ever,” taking the place of his doppelgänger that he accidentally killed in the season premiere.
This ending sequence is beautifully scored to November Rain by Guns N Roses. ARGUS arrives to find an empty cabin, as the 11th Street Kids have taken the portal device and gone underground. I admit I shed a tear seeing Adrian weeping over the loss of his best friend. Combined with the beauty of one of the greatest rock songs of all time, the sense of finality is palpable, and it would be one hell of an ending if the episode ended then and there. However, There’s still three episodes to go.
The episode ends with Harcourt revealing the truth about why she knocked out Peacemaker in the park (Cyborg ARGUS agents don’t miss their killshots, it was the only way to save his life). From Peacemaker’s POV, her beating him up was the straw that broke the camel’s back and made him want to abandon his entire universe. But she grabs the device and says that they need to use it. When Economos asks why, she says, “Because we’re going to get Chris back.” The adventure isn’t over. In fact, it’s just beginning. Harcourt’s determination rallies the troops, with Adrian, tears still running down his cheeks, flashing his now-iconic smile and saying, “Maybe I can meet another me in there.” Even Economos, though reluctant to put himself in inevitable danger, falls in line behind her as they go to parts unknown where they can activate the portal device without ARGUS interference.
The End. Well, until next week.
Zak’s Notes (I’m Zak)
I know a lot of people are expecting the “Best Universe Ever” to be Earth-X, and while that’s certainly a possibility, I really hope it’s not. Or at least, I hope the gang don’t realize it until after Peacemaker decides his fate. I think Chris needs to choose the responsibility of his hard life in the DCU over the ready-made paradise of the “Best Universe Ever.” If he knows that it’s Earth-X, a universe where Nazis won World War II, that decision becomes a whole lot easier. However, if Peacemaker chooses the difficulty of living with the consequences of his actions on Corto Maltese instead of getting a clean slate AND THEN learns that the supposed “Best Universe Ever” is actually a Nazi hellhole, then the show can have it both ways, culminating in a delightful bloodbath of Peacemaker eviscerating Nazis after achieving a degree of self-acceptance. Another way they could handle it would be for Peacemaker to introduce Adebayo, who is Black, to his family, and then being forced to choose either handing her over to the authorities or fighting back against his Nazi father and brother to protect one of his dearest friends. Still, I think so many people are expecting an Earth-X revelation that I think this won’t be the case.
Adrian crying in Adebayo’s arms was an emotional highlight of the entire DCU thus far, especially since he senselessly sees her as a rival for Chris’s affection. November Rain is one of the more popular songs used in the series, but it’s a genuine rock epic. Okay, this isn’t really related to the Peacemaker show, but I have to share:
At the 2023 funeral of Lisa Marie Presley, her friend Axl Rose performed a version of November Rain. It was a haunting solo performance, just him and his piano in front of the funeralgoers. I remember the first time I heard it, I thought it was just absolutely beauiful, and then it hit me like a ton of bricks: Had he been alive in 1992, Lisa Marie’s father, the King of Rock and Roll himself, Elvis Presley, would have sang the heck out of the song, probably just like Axl did in 2023, solo behind a piano, like his iconic version of Unchained Melody from 1977. Elvis was a tremendous talent with so much he could have given the world. We only got a fraction of what he was capable of giving us, but it was enough to change the culture forever. Bringing it back to Peacemaker, Chris ends the episode giving up on his universe, choosing to start over in another dimension, even though he still has so much he can offer to the DCU. Sure, the Justice Gang think he’s a joke, and lots of people think he’s a racist super villain, but his friends love him and his good heart, and there’s still a lot of good he can do in the world.
In the end, he will need to choose to live with the pain of the things he did. Maybe nobody else will ever forgive him. Maybe they shouldn’t. But if he can forgive himself, he might find that the DCU isn’t “the best dimension ever,” but it’s home, it’s where he belongs, and it’s where he needs to stay if he wants to face his problems instead of running away from them.
Related: Peacemaker Theory: Who Is Harcourt 2’s New Boyfriend?
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