James Gunn’s Peacemaker had an impossible task in season 1: It had to make us care about John Cena’s Chris Smith. The season succeeded in doing that and put this low-level DC villain on the map. Now, season 2 is somehow even better.
I have seen the first five episodes of the season and often, when given screeners, we, as journalists and critics, are “okay” with the idea of not finishing the season. This is one of the few times where I found myself angry that I only had five episodes. Meaning that I have over a month to wait for more of Peacemaker.
That’s, to me, the easiest way of explaining how good I find this season to be. Chris is still on his healing journey after killing his father (played by Robert Patrick) in season 1. He’s not perfect, he still has to overcome his own trauma from growing up, and the rest of the 11th Street Kids have a lot of work to do on themselves.
And, unlike season 1, the “big bad” of season 2 is a little more complicated than aliens trying to destroy the world. But even when Adebayo (Danielle Brooks) is trying to figure out her love life and Harcourt (Jennifer Holland) refuses to talk to her friends about her emotions, the show is still thrilling. Mainly because we care about these characters and their well-being at this point.
The testament of a good show is whether or not you care about the characters more than the bigger picture. With Peacemaker season 2, we’re lucky in the sense that both of those aspects are thrilling this time around. And it is all because of this amazing cast and creative team.
Friendship, love, and being there for each other
Gunn has a unique ability of weaving in important character work with scenes that feed into the overall arch of the season as a whole. Season 2 of Peacemaker is hard to talk about. Not because it isn’t a good season but rather because I want everyone to experience it the way that I did.
At the show’s core is the 11th Street Kids. While season 1 had them all learning about working with each other, season 2 highlights how much they each care for each other. And the best part is seeing how Adebayo is constantly there for her friends. Her relationship with both Chris and Harcourt is so sweet because she clearly cares about their well-being and they feel the same towards her.
Gunn uses that love and appreciation that these characters have for each other and comes back to it when the overall story feels overwhelming (in the best of ways). I think if we didn’t care about Adrian (Freddie Stroma) and Economos (Steve Agee), their back and forths wouldn’t be nearly as funny as they are.
Overall, the season is just so much fun and I am so emotionally invested in these characters at this point. So watching season 2 and seeing just how good Peacemaker is in the DCU makes this one of the best things I’ve seen this year.
Avoid spoilers at all costs, go on this journey as Gunn and company wanted you to, and enjoy season 2 of Peacemaker because it f*****g rules.
(featured image: HBO Max)
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