Peacemaker Season 2 Review

A great adventure that fumbles the final hurdle

Plot: After the success of 'Project Butterfly,' Christopher Smith/Peacemaker (John Cena) struggles to establish himself as a hero while dealing with the fallout of his past actions, but after stumbling upon an alternate world where his doppelgänger is living his dream life, he is left to decide whether to confront his past or begin anew.

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I remember when James Gunn's The Suicide Squad came out and debuted a (mostly) new team of anti-heroes in what was a very entertaining action/comedy. But when he announced a follow-up series, starring the man-child Peacemaker, I wasn't entirely convinced he was the character to back. Then the first season dropped, and I was so glad to be wrong. Peacemaker was an absolute delight with bloody action, plenty of comedy, a great cast and a script that helped propel Christopher Smith into an incredibly damaged, yet likeable character you couldn't help but root for.

Thankfully, everything that made season 1 great is back in full force with season 2, which is enhanced by a deeper, more personal tale that somehow manages to raise the stakes, with bigger emotion, great action, and plenty of laugh-out-loud moments. Peacemaker is back with a vengeance.

With the multiverse being such an overused plot device in current superhero films, you'd be forgiven for thinking that Peacemaker might be a convoluted and inconsequential tale, but Gunn manages to streamline his vision, delivering an exceptional tale from it that pits Christopher's down-trodden and unsuccessful life against an alternate version of what appears to be his very best life.

It's all told incredibly well, and done in such a hilariously chaotic way, that it recaptures the magic of the first season, paving the way for more emotion in its characters as they come to terms with their own problems and learn to grow.

This time around, there are a few newcomers to the party with a relentless Rick Flag Sr (Frank Grillo) learning about his son's death and going on an all-out warpath to detain Peacemaker, which is juxtaposed by Tim Meadows' quirky Langston Fleury, who continually drops many golden lines. The 11th Street Kids are back with Harcourt (Jennifer Holland) and Adebayo (Danielle Brooks), both excelling in their roles, whilst Freddie Stroma returns as the scene-stealing, happy-go-lucky Vigilante.

The eight-episode season is well paced and continues to build momentum until it all comes to a satisfying head in the penultimate and best episode, 'Like a Keith in the Night', which does a great job capturing the best moments of the series, with over the top action, excellent comedy and the more emotional moments that hit the characters harder than ever before.

The biggest misstep of the series comes at the final hurdle, with the series finale seemingly dropping previous episode hints, and coming across as an overlong epilogue, one that both sets up future projects and jumps the gun with certain characters' development, making decisions and actions that feel out of place from what's come before. It wasn't enough not to get on board with, but certain characters' goals and transitions felt like they leapt to a new place, which didn't seem fitting from what came before. It still had some good moments, especially highlighting the challenging relationship of Harcourt and Smith, but it made the series end on a whimper rather than a bang, even with its tantalising cliffhanger.

In a Nutshell

Despite a disappointing finale, season 2 of Peacemaker is an absurd and hilarious time. It builds on season one and delivers a deeper, more personal tale for Christopher Smith, which lets the best of John Cena loose. The group is still excellent, and most episodes deliver a hefty amount of bombastic action and brilliant laugh-out-loud moments. It's great to see this anti-hero back in fine form and the DCU continuing to fire on all fronts.

4/5