Peacemaker Season 2 Finale Review - ‘Making the World Better’

Full spoilers travel for Peacemaker Season 2, Episode 8 - “Full Nelson.”

After what has been a amusive yet simultaneously dense season, and surely an uneven 1 successful presumption of pace, James Gunn’s Peacemaker Season 2 comes to an extremity with the weakest occurrence of the bunch. While “Full Nelson” – which is the longest conception of the play astatine 58 minutes – resolves the large quality threads of the season, it lone efficaciously does truthful for 1 of them, that of the Chris/Harcourt relationship. Everything else, from Rick Flag Sr.’s existent program to Adebayo’s matrimony and vocation to that full Nazi satellite happening – retrieve them? – gets abbreviated shrift successful this finale, contempt its extended moving time. Also, each that speech astir this play mounting up the Superman sequel Man of Tomorrow… well, I conjecture it kinda does?

First the good: John Cena arsenic Chris Smith/Peacemaker and Jennifer Holland arsenic Emilia Harcourt person been large each season, and the Moonlighting-style volition they/won’t they crippled yet comes to a cathartic spot here. Gunn, who wrote the full play and is backmost to nonstop the finale, yet takes america backmost to that “night connected the boat” that we’ve been proceeding astir for the past 2 months, wherever Chris and Harcourt seemingly hooked up successful a drunken infinitesimal that astatine slightest 1 of them has seemed to regret.

Gunn, ever a maestro erstwhile it comes to weaving popular euphony into his narratives, reveals that the nighttime successful question saw the 2 getting drunk and commiserating implicit Harcourt’s occupation concern earlier happening upon a “rock cruise” by the early-’90s duo Nelson. This is textbook James Gunn, and it works perfectly to merchantability the thought of Chris and Harcourt having a existent infinitesimal of connection, adjacent if it’s successful the unlikeliest of places. It’s cleanable and the actors erstwhile again merchantability the improvement these 2 person undergone since they archetypal met, and it’s made each the amended by the information that it turns retired that the “night connected the boat” wasn’t immoderate random hook-up. No, it was conscionable a speedy buss and a look and a feeling. Way amended than a random hook-up.

I besides similar however the near-ass-kicking that Harcourt is acceptable to springiness that random dude extracurricular the Big Belly Burger is thwarted due to the fact that of Chris, and however his outlook connected beingness – “Look astatine the moon! Look astatine the stars!” – serves to exemplify wherefore Harcourt mightiness autumn for the large lug. Between that and being caught up successful the magic of Nelson, however could she not?

Of course, Harcourt and the 11th Street Kids usage that precise aforesaid Chris-vibe to bring him retired of his funk aboriginal successful the episode, erstwhile he’s astatine his lowest and nether the content that he’s “cursed” due to the fact that of each the atrocious things that person happened astir him. “I judge successful miracles due to the fact that of you. I saw an eagle hug a human!” Ads (Danielle Brooks) cries, and it’s not successful a comic way. It’s successful a “Man, these guys bash each emotion each other” way. But it inactive comes backmost to Chris and Harcourt, the second of whom yet admits that, yeah, of people the nighttime connected the vessel meant thing – “It meant everything.”

Unfortunately, not overmuch other successful the occurrence comes unneurotic arsenic good arsenic Chris/Harcourt, with Frank Grillo’s Rick Flag Sr. truly coming crossed arsenic benignant of a messiness of a quality astatine this point. Did I miss something? Why was helium having a jolly-good clip with the remainder of the unit astatine Lex Luthor’s aged bid halfway portion his A.R.G.U.S. men were retired determination getting their faces eaten disconnected successful Candyland and the such? (And sure, the different dimensions encountered by those mediocre guys successful the QUC were cool, but we kinda saw excessively overmuch of them successful the trailer for this week’s episode.) I recognize that Rick Sr. has a grudge to carnivore against Peacemaker and that helium mightiness precise good ne'er forgive him for sidesplitting his son, but his descent from a bully feline successful Creature Commandos to neutral/good successful Superman and present outright villain successful this finale surprises me. I similar Grillo arsenic Rick Sr. excessively overmuch and it’s hard to bargain that helium would enactment the mode helium does here.

John Cena's Peacemaker hits a partition successful the play finale.

Which isn’t to accidental that his program to fastener distant metahumans connected that extra-dimensional situation satellite (Salvation successful the comics) doesn’t marque consciousness for the character. And surely this has to beryllium wherever Peacemaker the show’s transportation to the Man of Tomorrow movie comes in, with Rick Sr. present hanging truthful tightly with Lex’s aged henchmen and admitting that helium doesn’t similar the billionaire villain but “he is the smartest antheral successful the world. Why not usage his encephalon to marque the satellite a amended place?”

Then there’s the country betwixt Ads and her woman Keeya (Elizabeth Faith Ludlow), which is good played but besides feels similar excessively little, excessively late, arsenic the problems the mates person faced conscionable didn’t get capable country to respire implicit the past 8 episodes. And arsenic for Freddie Stroma’s Vigilante and Steve Agee’s John Economos… well, again, they had immoderate amusive moments this play (and this episode), but that’s astir it. Of people this is John Cena’s amusement archetypal and foremost, but an ensemble formed similar this conscionable needs a small much attention.

Speaking of fun, getting to spot Foxy Shazam execute the season’s rubric way backmost connected that aforesaid “rock cruise” is beauteous cool, adjacent arsenic it’s intercut with the montage that sets up the group’s instauration of Checkmate, the caller super-spy org that they’re going to beryllium running. That said, I’m not definite that I’ve afloat followed the thread that led to the determination to conscionable up and motorboat their ain covert ops group? It comes successful that infinitesimal erstwhile Harcourt and the remainder are pleading with Chris to get backmost connected track, but still.

And portion we didn’t spell backmost to the Nazi satellite astatine each this week oregon get a sojourn from David Denman’s Keith Smith, we person to presume this isn’t the past we’ve seen of that character. It is simply a spot of a letdown that that peculiar communicative is near truthful open-ended here, and besides that Gunn didn’t grace america with 1 past large enactment country this week. Instead, Chris being stranded by Rick Sr. connected Salvation has to walk for our large QUC twist, and there’s nary denying that the imaginable of Chris having to fend for himself Cast Away-style with thing but the Foxy Shazam garment connected his backmost and his ingenuity is an enticing set-up for Season 3.

Thoughts From the Quantum Unfolding Chamber:

• Always beryllium arrogant of your freckles similar your ma taught you!
• Man, Vig is so mean to his mom.
• Speaking of Vig, looks similar each that speculation among immoderate fans that the incorrect Vig came backmost from Earth X was, well, wrong.
• I conjecture I was incorrect excessively astir Michael Rooker returning arsenic an alt-version of Red St. Wild. Well, there’s ever adjacent season!
• And truthful the 11th Street Kids are joining forces with immoderate erstwhile foes successful the instauration of Checkmate, including Sol Rodríguez's Bordeaux, Tim Meadows' Fleury, and Nhut Le's Judomaster.
• Eagly and Economos, man!
• It’s been a portion since I’ve done play reviews similar this. I forgot however amusive it could be. Hope to spot you soon connected different show!