In the first draft of this post, I started it off by describing the events of the show, as I’ve done in previous recaps, but somehow that just doesn’t feel right. I’d be spending hundreds of words just repeating what happened (which normally I’m OK with), but I have some things to say about Peacemaker as a whole that I’d rather express.
With that in mind, I will be referencing major events from the show, so a spoiler warning to anyone who hasn’t watched the finale yet.
“A Good Act Does Not Wash Out The Bad…”
For most of Peacemaker, I was a bit on the fence. It didn’t deliver on much of what I was expecting (which is fine), but it also didn’t really deliver on things that it seemed to promise (which is not fine).
For a show where the main character, the person we’re supposed to root for, is the villain from the movie he premiered in (The Suicide Squad), it’s weird that we don’t get any sort of redemption. I’ve touched on this a few times in my previous recaps, and it holds true straight through the finale.
What’s worse is that it seems like Peacemaker would find redemption in some way, even pleading for it in the second episode when he’s crying in bed that no one likes him because he always pushes people away. He is self-aware enough to understand that his terrible behavior makes people not like him, but he doesn’t do anything to change that terrible behavior.
It’s fine for a show to not have a strong character arc. It’s also fine for a lead in a show to be a bad guy. But those two things can’t really exist together. Even Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer had a believable arc from “arch-nemesis” to “member of the team.” If Spike had gone from trying to kill Buffy in one episode to handing her stakes in the next, that would have seemed awkward. And that’s what I feel Peacemaker is in the transition from The Suicide Squad to the series.
Did Peacemaker Deliver?
This is my biggest problem with the series: Peacemaker never atones for his crimes. Everything “good” he does throughout the show is self-serving and doesn’t show any sort of character growth.
It could be argued that violating his oath by stopping the butterflies showed some kind of growth, but I’m still not even convinced that it was the right move. He had his chance for peace, the one thing he said he’d “kill any man, woman, or child” to achieve, and he turned his back on it. Does that mean he’s no longer willing to kill for peace? If so, this could have been clearer.
There was also a bunch of plot points that just didn’t make sense to me. Like, what was the point of the diary? Supposedly, it tied Peacemaker to the death of the woman in the first episode, the death of Senator Goff and his family, and the massacre at the Glan Tai factory. But didn’t Waller give Adebayo the diary to plant before all of that happened? If so, does that mean Waller was aware of every step the mission would take them and exactly how Peacemaker would react? Or did Adebayo fill in the diary with details after all of those things happened? If she did, then wouldn’t her betrayal of Peacemaker go even deeper than just stuffing a diary under his entertainment center?
And besides, at the point the diary came into play, it wasn’t even important. The entire police department was infected by butterflies who were aware of Peacemaker’s involvement in everything that was happening. If they wanted Peacemaker to be Public Enemy #1, they just had to say so.
Clearly, the purpose of the diary was for Adebayo to betray Peacemaker in some way, but that could have been done in some way more logically.
Finding Peace With Peacemaker
Let me just be clear: I didn’t hate Peacemaker. There were a lot of aspects about the show that I enjoyed, like the acting and the alien invasion angle. But I feel that James Gunn is being given a lot of latitude with what he’s done with the show just on the virtue of him being James Gunn.
I did enjoy the Justice League cameo at the end of the episode. I liked seeing Ezra Miller and Jason Momoa reprising their roles as Flash and Aquaman even if it was only for thirty seconds. And Viola Davis showing up as Amanda Waller was a nice little surprise. I’m glad that WB and DC are making more of their film universe, even though it got off to a rocky start compared to the MCU.
As far as DC adaptations go, Peacemaker was honestly better than most; but that’s really not saying much. It had a few enjoyable bits but got in its way with the overblown attempts at humor and unnecessary side plots. Eight episodes were just too much for a show like this (every episode was less than 50 minutes and still stuffed with filler).
I’m glad that so many people enjoyed Peacemaker and that it’s getting a second season, but that’s probably not something I’ll invest time in.
