This is not the ending to the second season of PEACEMAKER I was expecting. With that said, it was entirely earned, though. Throughout the course of two seasons, James Gunn has taken a throwaway character, Chris Smith (Cena), and turned him into something the rock band Hardcore Superstar describes as “Someone Special.”
What this season has really been about is redemption and learning to value yourself. Each of the 11th Street Kids wants to be good. They’ve gone from making despicable choices to easily becoming major players in the DCU future.
The scene-stealing performance this week has to go to Adebayo (Danielle Brooks). I never thought a show like PEACEMAKER could make me cry. However, that’s precisely what happens when she says the bittersweet line, “I know you love me, and I don’t know if I can say that about anyone else in the world.” That, right there, is the magic of the show. It went from being ridiculous —THE BOYS or INVINCIBLE, with its violence and humor —to a heartfelt saga of growth.
With all this praise, I do have a few nits about the finale.
- The execution was off. It had strange, quiet moments with no background music, and it was extremely dialogue-heavy.
- A lot of musical montages. Audiences get to hear and see almost the entire “Oh Lord” song by Foxy Shazam twice in the episode. That’s a lot of screen time!
- DCU set-up takes priority. While the character’s salvation was love, and it took center stage, the series sadly ended on a cliffhanger, focusing on the setup for future DCU movies.
I loved the PEACEMAKER series and the emotional conclusion for all of the 11th Street Kids. The emotional gut-punch finale worked on several levels, but its execution was uneven. And after how fantastic this show has been, I expected Gunn to deliver a checkmate. Instead, we got a stalemate.
It’s available on HBOMax.
