Overall season grade / thoughts
ELI: 🤩 In my last review, I went on record and said that if the show closed out strong, then it would be the best thing that the DCEU has ever produced (Along with the first WONDER WOMAN movie), and that’s what it did.
AARON: 🤩 – I remember you saying that and 100% agree. I’m thankful that Warner let James Gunn’s lovable freak flag fly creating one of the best TV shows of 2022. I loved watching Peacemaker (John Cena) go from a “shower” to a “grower” during S1.
Favorite episode(s)
AARON: It’s so hard to pick just one. I’m going to cheat and say two episodes were my favorite in a season FULL of TV perfection. E7 STOP DRAGON MY HEART AROUND, and E8 IT’S COW OR NEVER.
- E7 – This was the moment audiences were waiting for – Peacemaker vs. White Dragon (Robert Patrick). The A story with the alien invasion was front and center for the first 6-episodes, and E7 allowed the B story of the Peacemaker’s growth to come full circle. It also gave Vigilante (Freddie Stroma) a chance to continue to be the Scottie Pippen to Peacemaker’s Michael Jordan. And most importantly, audiences learned that “raccoons are f*cking hardcore, man.”
- E8 – James Gunn ends his epic TV series with one hellova landing. It has surprise cameos 🧜♂️,, epic alien battles, and commentary on what we ALL went through during the pandemic. Gunn did this by servicing the story that he wanted to tell and didn’t care about any larger universe that it might be attached to (take note, Zack Snyder). And we learned that Peacemaker has one weakness – “overestimating Eagly’s abilities.”
ELI: I loved both those episodes, but I’m going with E6 MURN AFTER READING. It was a difficult choice between this one and the pilot. Still, this one does open up with my favorite singular scene in the entire season, which is the show and tell presentation catastrophe. It ends with that rather brutal sequence of Goff murdering everybody in the police force and turning them into butterflies. This was the episode where everything came to a head and presented several cases in which our heroes would have to rise above a LOT of adversity.
Season MVP
ELI: It’s Peacemaker. How could it not be? John Cena owns this character in a way that J.K. Simmons owns the J. Jonah Jameson character. It does not make sense for anybody else to play the Peacemaker. Ever. Even as a comic book fan, if you are reading a comic book with the Peacemaker in it you’re probably reading it with Cena’s voice in your head. That’s a hell of an accomplishment right there.
AARON: Damn, man. We are once again aligned in this love fest towards PEACEMAKER. Yes, John Cena as Peacemaker. Although Vigilante had the funniest lines and moments in a season full of insane characters, I didn’t think Cena could carry an emotional show on his oversized shoulders. Boy, was I wrong. Audiences go from not caring about Christopher Smith/Peacemaker to loving him. That’s all thanks to John Cena embodying this lovable superhero and taking him “Home, Sweet Home.”
Favorite quote from the season
AARON: It’s less of a quote and more of a monologue. It’s when Peacemaker says, “Shut the f*ck up and listen, man. I’m giving you a list of people you could have done.” What follows is possibly the best improv scene in John Cena’s career as he names random people that could’ve been framed instead of his father.
ELI:” Okay, so that’s MY turn… Which one of you dumb, sister-f******, tiki-torch-carrying, Sloth-from-The-Goonies-looking, pieces of s*** wants to go next?”
From Vigilante in E4. He has so many different lines to quote throughout the season. He’s by far the most quotable character in a show filled with them.
Final thoughts
ELI: I know of three STAR WARS fans who were hyped for THE BOOK OF BOBA FETT (Not counting contributors to this website), and like most of the world, they were extremely dissatisfied with what that show had to bring. I say this because ALL shared different variations of the same sentiment.
They all seemed glad about the consistency and the surprise of PEACEMAKER. It washed out the disappointment of THE BOOK OF BOBA FETT, week after week. That speaks to the appreciation that this show has built up throughout eight episodes more than anything else. Season 2 will be VERY anticipated, and that’s saying a lot considering that NOBODY could predict that this was going to be THIS good.
AARON: What he said. And Yes. Yes, I do “really wanna taste” a season 2!
PEACEMAKER S1 is available on HBO MAX.
