Chris Sheridan
The following recap contains spoilers for Peacemaker S2E1, “The Ties That Grind” (written & directed by James Gunn).
We’re back with Peacemaker Season 2! I absolutely loved Season 1, and we seem to be off to a strong start with the opening to the second season. I will say that while Gunn’s Superman isn’t necessarily required viewing, it does offer some context to some of the events in “The Ties that Grind.” It’s also a damn good movie, so you might as well check it out.
A couple of important things that come up in the Season 1 recap include Peacemaker/Chris (John Cena) in his youth accidentally killing his younger brother in a fight orchestrated by his white supremacist father Auggie (Robert Patrick) for the amusement of his racist buddies, and Chris eventually shooting Auggie in the head. There’s also the reminder that Peacemaker and his friends saved the world from the Butterflies, and a retcon of last season, where Peacemaker approaching the Justice League is replaced with the Justice Gang from Superman.
We open on Eagly nudging Peacemaker to be let out, but as it’s snowing outside, Peacemaker opts to let him out to fly in the Quantum Unfolding Storage Area, a large warehouse of doors that’s larger than the space it occupies, accessed via a door in the bedroom. Once inside, Eagly flies off and shortly starts crying out to Peacemaker. He follows the noise to a case of helmets, which were made by his father. Across from it is a door, which Eagly is pecking at. Peacemaker cautiously enters it, finding himself in a room with plaques and news clippings. Suddenly, Auggie (who, again, was killed in S1) greets him: “You look like you’ve seen a ghost!” Peacemaker frantically makes his exit, before we’re greeted by a brand new opening title sequence! Set to Foxy Shazam’s “Oh Lord,” we’ve once again got a bombastic dance number from the cast. I don’t think it’s quite as good as S1’s opening with Wig Wam’s “Do Ya Wanna Taste It” but it’s still a great opening in its own right and as I rewatch the episode to do this recap, it’s quickly growing on me.
Peacemaker exits his house the next morning to be driven to a job interview by Leota Adebayo (Danielle Brooks). The interview is for the Justice Gang, and on the way, Adebayo does some flexing about how badass she is (she even has business cards!). Peacemaker asks about Emilia Harcourt, with whom Adebayo hung out with recently, but unfortunately his love interest hadn’t asked or said anything about him. Peacemaker also airs out some concerns about the Justice Gang’s negative gossip about him—all he’s ever wanted is to be a hero, not a joke—but Adebayo reassures him that he’s a superhero following the Butterfly events and the Justice Gang should be “doing backflips” to get him to join.
Prospects are already grim, however, as Peacemaker approaches the building, as a woman wearing a rabbit outfit runs out in tears. Once in the room, Peacemaker sees Maxwell Lord (Sean Gunn), financier of the Justice Gang, Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced), and Green Lantern/Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion) behind glass. Lord turns on the microphone for introductions, and what follows is a hilarious sequence of Peacemaker outlining his qualifications while the trio interviewing him exchange increasingly hurtful comments towards Peacemaker (and disinterested conversation amongst themselves), not realizing that the microphone is still on, and has been all day. As they argue over the A/V issue, Peacemaker leaves.
Harcourt (Jennifer Holland) is in a session with her therapist, and it’s not going well. The therapist summarizes his notes, and concludes that Harcourt has a “severe form of toxic masculinity.” Harcourt looks at him in incredulity. “I have a vagina.” The therapist counters that the insinuation that only men can have toxic masculinity is “a bit sexist.” Clearly, this guy sucks. They argue loudly, culminating in Harcourt calling her therapist a c*nt and unloading her frustration at being unable to find a job at any of the intelligence agencies, before the therapist has her escorted out. In her car, Harcourt furiously punches her dashboard, bloodying her fist.
Arriving at her apartment, Harcourt finds Peacemaker waiting for her. They walk up to her apartment, and Peacemaker notes the multiple past-due bills on the kitchen island. He takes a hand towel, wraps it in ice, and applies it to Harcourt’s bloodied fist. Peacemaker says he stopped by to ask how the interview went, but Harcourt presses him for any other reason he was there. Peacemaker cautiously asks about “what happened on the boat.” We can clearly surmise that they had sex, and Harcourt calls it a “f*ckup” and puts an end to whatever they were.
Distraught and angry, Peacemaker returns home, starting by hitting the bong before moving onto a ziplock bag labeled “for a rainy day.” It’s cocaine, and he snorts it with vigor. Almost immediately, there is an orgy in the house, and it is very graphic, set to Hardcore Superstar’s “Guestlist.” It’s both funny for how wild it is, but also kind of sad for how much Peacemaker is clearly hurting. He stumbles to the bedroom and prepares to enter the QUSA.
John Economos (Steve Agee) has been stationed outside Peacemaker’s house to surveil him. He suddenly gets a call from Vigilante/Adrian Chase (Freddie Stroma), who is clearly desperate to connect with his friend, and has called every day. Vigilante expresses concern for Peacemaker, but the conversation is cut short by an alert on Economos’s surveillance. At the same time, he receives a call from A.R.G.U.S. agent Sasha Bordeaux (Sol Rodriguez) instructing him to investigate at the behest of Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo). Upon doing so, Economos sees the orgy from outside(?) as well as Peacemaker about to step into the QUSA. Later, Economos shows Adebayo his picture, and she doesn’t know what she’s looking at, but agrees to try to get some more information.
Peacemaker decides to revisit the timeline he stepped into at the beginning of the episode. Stepping outside of the house, a car approaches: it’s Keith (David Denman), who here was never killed and has grown up. Peacemaker is in a state of shock, given that he accidentally killed his brother when they were kids. Auggie steps out of the front door to greet them, and he’s significantly more cordial than he was in the original timeline. He apparently doesn’t harbor any hatred towards his sons (although he may or may not still be a white supremacist). The three sit down for a drink, and Auggie and Keith banter while Peacemaker remains shellshocked. Keith remarks that Peacemaker “blew it” with his ex, who is now with a “jarhead.” Peacemaker pretends to know what he’s talking about, before breaking down in emotion after Keith leaves.
Harcourt enters a biker bar to drown her sorrows, and it’s well under a minute before some skeezy bikers come onto her. She’s having none of it, delivering some choice insults that cause them to turn aggressive. She holds her own for a little while, but is soon violently overpowered by sheer numbers and thrown out of the bar.
Peacemaker decides to snoop around the house, and comes across “his” room, with posters of alternate versions of regular bands, and, most importantly, a loving photo of him and Harcourt. He’s interrupted…by Peacemaker, in his uniform and with a gun to “our” Peacemaker’s head. Peacemaker smacks the gun out of Peacemaker 2’s hand, and manages to escape into the QUSA with Peacemaker 2 in hot pursuit. They brawl in the QUSA, with Peacemaker 2 mostly taking the upper hand, but Peacemaker manages to activate his counterpart’s jetpack to send him blasting straight up into a spike, killing him. Peacemaker cradles Peacemaker 2’s dead body, looking around, before a cut to black.
Our boy is back! And a lot of sh*t happened to him in just the first episode. James Gunn is already cooking with S2 of Peacemaker, and John Cena continues to put in a terrific performance as Peacemaker. There are also a lot of seeds planted with our team splintered but inevitably bound to be pushed back together. A.R.G.U.S. appears to be the main antagonist so far, and I’m particularly interested in what the alternate timeline is going to be with Keith and Auggie alive there. In any case, we’ll see you in the next one for whatever it holds.
Songs
“Don’t You Ever Leave Me”–Hanoi Rocks
