Warning: This review contains spoilers for episode 7 ofPeacemaker.The penultimate episode ofPeacemakerthat none of the episodes that preceded managed to really do. It largely stood still. The HBO Max program has been quite impressive in the fact that it it doesn’t really waste all that much time. As it waspointed out last weekPeacemakerdoesn’t do the kind of time-wasting episodes that other series tend to have to do in order to fill out the story.
Yes, there was at least one particular storyline that was closed, but even that seemed more like a time-waster than anything else. Yes, it was set up as something that needed to happen to allow the character to move on with his life, but in the grand scheme of things, it was done in such a way that didn’t seem to have a great payoff and isn’t going to matter in the broad spectrum of what’s going on with the show. On the other hand, even whenthis episode ofPeacemakerwastes it’s time and gets sort of stuck in the mud, it does so in an entertaining way that doesn’t make its audience roll its eyes or tap its watch, waiting to move onto the next plot point. In short, one of the weakest episodes of the season is still better than most episodes currently on television or streaming.
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Daddy Issues
Since the first episode of the season, family hasplayed an important part inPeacemaker. That hasn’t always meant a traditional family either. Sure, there are spouses and parents and siblings involved, even if they’re only mentioned, but the team that has been fighting the bad butterflies have also become a family. The other theme that has run throughout the season and is culminated in this episode is that parents tend to screw people up in some way, shape or form. Sometimes a person’s mother is Amanda Waller and that person is convinced to do things that they wouldn’t ordinarily do.
That’s especially the case when the audience finally learns exactly how a youngPeacemakerkilled his brother. It turns out that theHBO Max Showmakes it very clear that a young Chris Smith was not, in any way, really at fault. This wasn’t a situation where the kid lost his temper and went after his brother. In fact, both kids seemed to be having a very good time, laughing and smiling before things took a turn for the worse. That is of course, a weird twist when it comes to this particular character.
When people wereintroduced to Peacemaker inThe Suicide Squad, he was a cold-blooded killer who was still plenty of fun. Yes, it’s possible that the audience simply didn’t see the whole character because they were getting him through the lens of what he was showing others who didn’t know him very well. But there are still some serious changes to the way he carries himself and why. It’s hard to reconcile the HBO Max version of Peacemaker with the big-screen version.
It’s clear that James Gunn wants what the man has become to be blamed on his father. And certainly, the showdown between the two has been coming since the very first episode. Butwhen the White Dragon finally showed upand started blasting away the fight itself just didn’t have the kind of payoff that it felt like it needed. Of course, everything that came before it was actually quite good. The racists hunting Peacemaker and his crew down in the woods was some great stuff. The scene simply didn’t pay off like a real showdown between father and son who were at odds for most of their lives.
Standing Still
It was pretty clear early on in the episode that James Gunn didn’t want any real confrontationbetween the Butterfliesand Peacemaker’s gang before the season finale. That meant filling the episode with other content such as the showdown with the White Supremacists. However, that apparently wasn’t enough to take up all the time. So there was also a scene that was entirely pointless where Judo Master took on a couple of dude bros outside a convenience store.
Certainly, the scene showed just how good he is at fighting people, but the audience obviously knew that. After all,Judo Master managed to more than hold his ownagainst Peacemaker and company. There really wasn’t a need to show that he can also take down two guys that are just going to get some beer at a bodega. It didn’t advance the plot at all. In fact, he showed up again later in the episode to actually go up against the main characters again. It’s not very often that Gunn has had these kinds of pointless moments but he definitely put one in this particular episode. There is of course a chance that will have a payoff in the finale in some way, but it seems extremely unlikely.
It’s a testament to the show that for the most part, this particular hard left turn that didn’t really play into the rest of the plot was still enjoyable. It was still funny and entertaining and definitely managed to stick in the general plot and tone of the show. The same can be said about the trip to the veterinarian’s office in order to make sure Eagley was patched up. That scene took entirely too long in a show that has just one more episode to go. While he did it well, Episode 7 ofPeacemakerwas a weird time to try and fill out the personalities of several of the characters. The one thing that made that work the most is the continuedhilarity that is Vigilante, who seems to vacillate between misunderstood and borderline just regular old stupid. Even being rather dumb, he was the hero of the show in this particular episode, both by fighting off the White Supremacists and delivering several lines that were amongst the best of the series.
It’s not a stretch to say thatPeacemakerhas yet to have a “bad” episode. But in a batch of very good episodes, this stood out for what it didn’t and couldn’t do precisely because its inability to really hit the mark stands out.
