Peacemaker - Season Two Episode Five Review

Hello

everyone and welcome to the concession stand here on the KB radio network.

I am your host Kevin Reed and this is the review.

of dc studios peacemaker season 2 episode 5 entitled back to the suture hello everyone i hope that this episode finds everybody doing just swell

out there in the world uh this is i guess you could say the halfway point i think we have four maybe three more no three more episodes left.

in this season so we're officially past the midway point of the season and we're starting to pick up a little steam here as we approach the finale of season two of peacemaker this episode picks up right

after the cliffhanger of episode four where we saw that hardcore had set up a meeting with peacemaker and it was a trap

or ambush if you will orchestrated by rick flagg senior and argus but before that we got a flashback in the cold open of this episode where we went back to the funeral of

rick flagg junior and in case you don't know and been watching this show and been completely lost

not knowing what was going on uh this goes back to the suicide squad when peacemaker killed rick flagg jr um and i forgot what country they were in but anyways he killed them uh after uh uh rick flagg jr discovered

that you know uh project starfish was uh a cover-up by the government was going to expose it,

Peacemaker.

uh under the orders of amanda waller uh neutralized in this case killed rick flagg jr in season one of peacemaker was pretty much chris dealing with the guilt of that decision and carrying that around with him and

so we pick up in this episode episode five at the funeral hard court is there she's mourning and rick flagg senior arrives

And this was very interesting because

Rick Flagg Sr.,

played by the great Frank Grillo,

really didn't show much emotion,

but we know that Rick Flagg

Sr., in this case,

is not an emotional person in that sense.

So it was interesting to see that and pretty much the spark that started this flame in his hunt to get...

peacemaker and we get the origin of you will of the vow that harcourt made to make peacemaker pay for killing rick flag jr because they did have a relationship prior

to that uh early demise of that character so it's it's kind of a conflicting thing because we learned

through season one that they actually developed a friendship that turned into a relationship that turned into a hookup that happened on the boat and we don't know exactly what happened on that boat but we do know that their relationship deepened and

you can read between the lines that they pretty much did the boom shoo on that boat when they were when they both were drunk whereas as Peacemaker left that.

encounter having feelings deep feelings for hard court and hard court on her and having feelings but due to her hard layer persona and the fact that she knows

what peacemaker has done in his past really can't commit to peacemaker but at the same time can't let go of those feelings that she has for him and so you have that dynamic

working out uh or playing itself out and that is one of the best parts of this show i must say no it's not the punchy punchy smash smash that is fun

you know that's really what you come to watch this but that is a a real big dynamic of the show you know the character conflict the internal conflict that these characters have i

should say so it's it's fun to see this play out and where it would ultimately end uh hopefully when we get to the end of this show.

So we get through our,

of course,

our dance sequence.

of an intro that i don't enjoy as much as i did for the last i think i mentioned this on past uh reviews but i don't know today really hit me you know watching it again i don't like this one even though it's well choreographed it is actually choreographed better than the first season but i just it's

something about it i'm not connecting with it you know i know at the end because i have a funny feeling that the way that

It's choreographed,

and if you pay attention to the pairings of who's dancing with who,

that it tells a story,

pretty much tells the story of the season,

but I haven't deciphered it yet.

I'm not that smart.

So it hasn't really got there yet.

I'm pretty sure by the end of this season,

it probably will click.

It just haven't yet,

but nonetheless,

it's fun.

It fits the tone of the show.

if you enjoyed the

uh intro from last season as well and so we get past this title sequence and then we link up in present time where harcourt is sitting on the bench at this park waiting on chris now we

find out that she wasn't expecting chris to come she gave him a code word she gave him a code word to not show up.

That is a trap.

it is an ambush but he came anyway because like i said chris is he needs to know he needs to know that what he felt was real what happened on that boat was real it wasn't just a drunken encounter that it was actual affection

for one another and does harcourt feel the same way and so this is the only opportunity he felt.

that he can get that answer so he comes to the park with all of these argus agents uh uh staked out uh you have judo master with the sniper rifle ready to take the shot it's just a whole bunch of things going on but i i like how it played out you

know it could have came off as cheesy and stupid even though it was cheesy the way because in reality he would have been taken out immediately but it's a TV show so you roll with it

but i like the way it played out in this sequence and i like the interaction between uh john cena and uh jennifer holland here it's really good really good scene um he acts as hardcore

is was it real was it real and she's angered at this point because he showed up you know she told him not to come in their code,

but he showed up anyway.

And

She tells him,

like,

no,

I was drunk.

It shouldn't have happened.

And this,

that,

and the third.

It was just the way it all played out.

And he took it literal.

He couldn't read between the lines.

And this is the part about Peacemaker or the character of Peacemaker that infuriates me.

Because he is smart.

The character is smart.

Chris

Smith is a smart character.

But

He does things intelligently.

He plays things out.

It comes off as wild and brash,

of course,

but he has a plan.

And he does things his own way,

and it seems to work out.

So he is a smart guy,

but it's like,

man,

you can't read the room.

You know,

it's simple stuff like that that just kind of like betrays the character in a sense.

it infuriates me because you gotta be smarter than that dude you can't you can't fly off the handle like he does and just take things literal and and that's that but that's besides the point uh they have their interaction now he's disappointed he's hurt uh

the arcus agents come in to apprehend him he uh beats up a few about to shoot another and uh

Uh,

the character...

Oh,

my God.

Why is her name escaping me now?

the female character that in the comics she's linked to bruce wayne why am i sasha sasha she she comes in and she has cybernetic enhancements now i don't i don't recall her character having that in the comics she could i

just don't remember but i thought it was cool it's cool that she has that like okay that'll work uh but uh

she has to drop on peacemaker she's about to shoot him um uh hard court hard court comes in knocks peacemaker out uh they apprehend him and bring him back to argus so in

peacemaker's mind hard court betrayed him betrayed him now this is the part where i'm you know that rant i went on about peacemaker's intelligence here this is where i get upset he feels that

hardcore betrayed him but the whole nucleus of this if you start at the beginning she told you not to come that should let you know right then and there that okay she did this to protect you because you was about to die and now he claims he had a way out later on we find out later on in the episode he said he told uh daniel brooks character that he had a way out he had it all work.

out and Harcourt came in and knocked him out and blah blah blah no no he was about to die and he didn't he didn't know that she really she really just saved his life and

I'm like

I don't know and he took that through the whole episode we never got a resolution to that yet you know we probably get it next week it looks like judging by the little preview for next episode but it's

it just kind of left me like come on man you gotta be smarter than that dude i mean come on use your head use your brain and so we're back at august uh rick flag senior tells everybody to leave the room take the cuffs off uh turn off the recording equipment leave me leave me and him in here uh i'm gonna interrogate well

the interrogation turns into a straight up beat down you know and

I like

I like the first few more.

I like the whole scene,

but the first few moments where there was actual dialogue when you had John Cena portraying his character of a peacemaker apologizes some sorts to Rick Flagg Sr.

by telling him that I understand.

I understand you're angry.

I understand what you did.

I mean why you feel the way you do because of what I did and

I liked your son,

you know,

I had respect for your son and you know

I'm looking at this

And i'm like if if if I was rick flagg senior,

I don't want to hear this

I don't want to hear that.

I would have beat you half to death too.

It doesn't exactly what rick flagg senior did uh beat him half to death now,

it would have been

Interesting to see what would took place if peacemaker would have fought

back he he allowed rick flag senior to beat him the way he did you know because deep down he he feels he deserves this you know i killed your son you know i'm supposed you're supposed to do this to me and so and he didn't fight back as but uh it was all part of rick flag senior's plan and

all the while you have economals he had booked

peacemaker into custody you know so it went over the wire that way the police would have to apprehend him and take him to jail so argus let him go because they couldn't release him to the police in the condition that he was you know all bloodied and and cut up you know from the beat down that rick

flagg senior gave him so it felt stupid at the time and then rick flagg senior said well

this was part of my plan there's all this all this is playing out the way i wanted to play out what i loved about all this normally whether it's movies or television shows we we get we get the reveal of a character's plan later on or at the end of the plan uh

yeah this is the way i wanted it to go i wanted to go like this this is i was and it went like this and you did exactly what i wanted and stuff like that.

Here it was real-time reveals

By Rick flag and he explained it to Sasha like yeah,

I wanted this to happen

I knew you was gonna kill I knew you had the fatal shot,

but I knew hard court was going to stop you

And that's what she did.

I knew that Economos was going to book him.

That's why we released him.

All that worked out.

Now he has Judo Master follow Peacemaker.

Because at the end of the day,

yes,

he wants Peacemaker.

He wants to kill him for what he did.

But he also wants that interdimensional door.

And so he...

he has all this laid out and i'll sat there like oh that's brilliant that's funny that's funny how that worked and it's small it's subtle but it played big dividends for this season you know at least the continuation of this season and i

i don't know why it just it just played out so well to me anyways uh now we get to a part of the episode that i just i'm glad this is over

And I hate to say this because I love Michael Rucker,

but I hate this as a,

this was a,

I don't understand why this character was in the show.

I don't understand why we had this here because it was pointless.

It went nowhere.

It did nothing.

It did absolutely nothing.

Michael Rucker as this eagle hunter.

And,

uh,

We get to this part where he finds the eagle,

he finds the eagle,

he hunts him down,

eagle he fights back,

he calls on the other eagles,

because he is the alpha eagle,

and they all attack

Michael Rooker's character and kills him.

And that was that.

And I'm like,

what was the point of this character?

This was such a monumental waste of time.

It made no sense to me.

I don't know,

man.

Maybe in these next three episodes coming up,

we'll get something to spawn out from that,

but I don't see how because he's dead.

This was just pointless.

I don't know.

But it is what it is.

Anyways,

yeah.

I'm glad that it's over.

I'm glad I didn't like the character last week because of the racial appropriation of it all.

And I didn't like it this week because it just served zero purpose.

If there's one bugaboo about this entire season so far,

the first five episodes,

which I enjoyed,

but...

that was it and those that character was the one character that i sat back and was like what is this for who is this for because it's not for me all right so uh peacemaker

he he decides to do the extreme he uh opens up another portal and he decides he's gonna go live his life in this other dimension where everything is sunny and

rainbows you know with his brother is still alive his father is still alive uh he has a actual relationship with harcourt and uh he's celebrated as a hero is the perfect life there and so he decides to go there and he opens the portal um after he left

a uh note for everybody and and walked through unbeknownst to him

judo master was following him of course and he tries to call uh tim meadows character uh i keep uh flurry uh calls flurry to tell him about the portal and this that and the third but he can't get through because of the portal and i guess the radio

waves or whatever the case uh and he couldn't get through to him flurry couldn't hear and so he follows peacemaker into the dimensional portal

Just then,

we have Daniel Brooks'

character come in,

Vigilante come into the cabin,

and the door closes behind them.

And they look on as

Peacemaker is essentially trapped in this other dimension.

But he did leave behind the little space age briefcase that can open up the portals.

So,

you know,

that that sets up the 11th street gang to go behind him and find him and bring him back home so that's all set up for the next three episodes um while in this other dimension um chris

links up with his brother his father they got to go fight a kaiju and now if you know about this kaiju this is the same kaiju that superman fought in the movie

yeah we're the same kind of kaiju and so uh you have that there a little a little nugget uh to link these movies together to make everything can canon if you will and

while he's there after defeating the kaiju he goes to argus that version of hardcore is there they smile at one another and they run into each other arms as it cuts to black this was a good episode

This was a really good episode aside from the eagle hunter thing,

but

Besides that I really I really like this episode

Because it's set up so much going forward.

It sets up these final three episodes and

In case you're not in the know,

I guess i'll let everybody know james gunn has said that these last three episodes

Of peacemaker is huge

oh the first five which we just watched were all screened for critics these last three wasn't screened for nobody he because there are major spoilers uh

for the dcu moving forward it's supposed to set up the man of tomorrow the new uh superman lex luther movie that comes out in 2027.

All that's going to get set up.

within these next three episodes and for other properties throughout the dcu this is what james gunn says so there are major implications in these next three episodes and my god i can't wait even without all that i

am excited for these next three episodes you know with the story that's being told here with pete smaker and his uh growing need to be accepted you know and that's basically what it is.

yes he has a sketchy past but he wants to move on he wants to be a hero he wants to be celebrated and uh do the right thing for the right reasons and it's like his

past is killing him his past is holding him down so much in this universe and his only vindication is to go to another one and

you know is trying to find that balance here in this universe but uh it's so much you know stacked up against him here so um how are we going to come to a resolution with that how are we going to come to a resolution with his relationship with hardcore will she finally bend

the knee if you will and go ahead and uh confess her feelings and and succumb to her feelings that she has for chris

And they can actually be a real couple.

And can Rick Flagg Sr.

forgive Peacemaker,

you know,

and allow him to be the hero that he is trying to be,

the better man that he's trying to be?

It's a lot.

There is a lot there to play with within these next three episodes.

And not to mention,

not to mention.

Will there be some repercussions for our

Peacemaker killing the Peacemaker from the dimension that he's in?

You know,

what's going to happen there?

Either way,

whether he stays in that dimension,

there's a problem.

If he comes back to ours,

it's a problem.

So he is literally between a rock and a hard place.

man i i feel bad for old john cena here in this uh uh show it this this is some good stuff man there's a lot of questions a lot of questions to be answered oh and one of the biggest questions to be answered i

think i think and i think we're going to get one get it answered real soon there's a growing conspiracy theory or a rumor or a

uh well i'll just stick with that uh about that dimension if you notice it is it is the most whitest dimension known it is it is snow white in that dimension it just feels funny something isn't right they have murals of a peacemaker and uh the white dragon and his brother you know that

It just feels awful.

you don't see any black people no brown people no nothing no no no diversity at all in that dimension

And a lot of theories are that that dimension,

that dimension is a white only world of Nazis.

So it is like,

OK,

if it's that,

then it'll make that decision a tad bit easier to switch back over to ours.

But we're going to find out next episode real quick because of Danielle Brooks character.

when they go

to find chris and bring him back she's going to and so that's going to put a monkey wrench in in that dimension it's going to be very interesting to see how this plays out so i like i said there's a lot of questions going in to these final three episodes that i can't wait to see get answered but uh

i'm enjoying this if you can't tell this is a fun show really good uh i believe the next episode

is directed by james gunn as well as written he wrote all the episodes but he directed uh episode six so um this should be really fun actually i think he directed six and eight so he

he directed uh two of the last three and so we we're we're in for a show but i'd like to know what did you think of episode five of peacemaker did you enjoy it are you are you invested

in this show are you excited for the next three episodes that's supposed to set up this larger dcu moving forward let me know by email email the show kbradiopodcast at gmail.com you can also search for this show on all social media platforms just search for the kb radio network also don't forget about the five stars the reviews and sharing this show if you're listening on apple podcast Spotify,

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where...

you are currently listening to the concession stand here on the kb radio network everybody thank you for joining me for this review of peacemaker season 2 episode 5 back to the suture want

you all to know that i love you continue to love everyone and until we speak again you all be blessed

Peacemaker - Season Two Episode Five Review

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