SPOILERS FOR THE PEACEMAKER SEASON FINALE

“It’s Cow or Never”

The week where we discovered that Peacemaker had been renewed for a second season on HBO Max, we got an excellent season finale for an excellent first season of Peacemaker. Everybody from James Gunn to John Cena to all of the remainder of the cast brought us 8 excellent episodes of superhero television and it absolutely deserves a renewal.

Among the violence and the Gunn-isms, the characters of Peacemaker all had great journeys for their arcs. It went deeper than just Chris Smith too. Yes, John Cena was tremendous and Chris was the main developing character, but there was so much more here. First, Harcourt developed into the leader that she would become. Adebayo came clean with her background and connection to Amanda Waller and found out how to make amends with her teammates and shining the light on her mother’s orgnaization. Economos found some personal strength after a lifetime of being a loser who had a terrible self-image. Vigilante….

Okay, maybe not as much character development for Adrian Chase’s Vigilante.

Of course, the biggest news coming out of the episode is the shocking cameos that appeared at the end of the episode. Early on, when Adebayo was on the phone with her mother, she made a snide reference to her mother about calling in the Justice League. Then, at the end of the show, the Justice League actually showed up. Not only was it the Justice League, but it was Jason Momoa’s Aquaman and Ezra Miller’s Flash. Superman and Wonder Woman were there too, but not in their famous actors. Peacemaker’s reaction to the late arriving JL was perfectly in character. And the whole Aquaman f**ks fish comes back in a big way.

Viola Davis also made a cameo in the finale as Amanda Waller to drop an F Bomb of her own.

Despite being shot in the head last episode, Robert Patrick returned as a delusion that Peacemaker would see and interact with. Patrick showed back up at the end of the episode showing that he was going to be tormenting his son’s psyche well into season two.

This has been a fantastic season of television. It grew each week, building my anticipation for the next week’s show. John Cena showed off some acting chops that I did not expect. Sure, I knew he had great comedy timing, but his work here was exceptional. I wonder how much of Cena’s performance could be attributed to James Gunn pulling it out of him. He brought Dave Bautista into the acting world by casting him as Drax in Guardians of the Galaxy. He has now brought John Cena the most significant role of his not WWE career.

Here is to more Peacemaker!

SPOILERS FOR PEACEMAKER E7

“Dragon My Heart Around”

Thursdays have become Peacemaker day.

Another great episode for Peacemaker on HBO Max. This show has had absolutely no weak spots. Even episode 5, which was a step down from the epic episode 4, was still a fantastic episode. There is a finale due next week that, if it nails it, could make this not only one of the best DC Comics TV shows, but one of the best overall super hero TV shows of all time.

That is amazing when considering the level of character that Peacemaker started off as. James Gunn took this D-level villain (maybe) and turned him into one of the most complex and enjoyable characters on TV. So much of that is because of the brilliant work by John Cena, who has been able to show so much of his acting chops. Not just his comedic timing, which has always been his strength, but also some of the most emotional moments you could imagine.

The episode brings Chris face to face with his father, Auggie. This confrontation is built so well, first with the flashback to the moment Chris’s brother died, where Chris punched him in a bare-fisted fight that was being promoted and taking bets on by Auggie. As the brother died, Auggie straight up blamed Chris for killing his brother.

As Auggie, or should I say White Dragon, has come after his son to murder him. His verbal abuse of Chris in this moment, and his attempted killing of Eagly, led to Chris shooting his father in the head, killing him. John Cena was just great during this scene. And you just hate Robert Patrick’s Auggie.

We also lost Murn to the butterfly-possessed police force. With his death, the show started to elevate Harcourt to a leadership role among the crew. There is still plenty of tension with the team, especially after Adebayo revealed that she had planted the diary at Peacemaker’s and that she was the daughter of Amanda Waller. However, they were all able to put any tension aside to head out to try and kill the cow that created the food the butterflies eat.

The show gives us another fabulous scene with Chris praying for the life of Eagly. When Eagly wakes, stands up and hugs Chris, Adebayo saw it and was inspired by the “miracle.” That eagle hug was one of the exceptional emotional moment, right up there with Chris’s pain over his father and his brother.

This was an epic penultimate episode of Peacemaker and next week’s finale can’t get here soon enough. James Gunn and the cast have been sensational and have been a highlight every week.

SPOILERS FOR PEACEMAKER EP. 6

“Murn After Reading”

Peacemaker, after last week’s episode which was good but not as outstanding as the previous week, is right back at it with an unbelievably great episode. So much happened! It was just fantastic and I can’t wait for the next chapter.

Last week we left off with Murn standing over Leota after she discovered the butterfly in his head. Surprisingly, he does not try and kill her and, after Harcourt arrived, explained his background as a butterfly. Turned out that the butterfly was not supporting the takeover of the planet unlike Goff, the butterfly that Peacemaker had captured and was holding inside a glass jar.

Peacemaker’s home is under attack by the police after an arrest warrant is issued for Chris Smith when Sophie Song went to a judge with the evidence that cleared Auggie. Auggie was released from jail and he went back to his home to get into his old armor so he could kill his son.

This scene was interspersed with a scene of the newly possessed Sophie Song (who was taken over by Goff when it got out of the jar *Thanks Vigilante*) leading an army of butterflies into the police station, taking over everyone in their path in one of the best montage sequences you are ever going to get. Teh shot of Song walking through the door with the butterflies around her was so bad ass.

This was a horror-filled scene and it was so awesome with the montage style of a scene.

John Cena has brought so much to Chris Smith, Peacemaker. The little tidbits they are dropping with his origin and the death of his brother (apparently at Chris’s own hands) have been extremely compelling. Cena has brought so much to this character, a character that felt as if it did not have that depth to him. And he plays the piano.

By the way, Eagly kicked some serious ass today!

I loved this episode. It was just behind episode 4 for me. So much happened and it was still filled with plenty of character and human moments.

Two episodes remaining for Peacemaker.

SPOILERS FOR PEACEMAKER EP. 5

“Monkey Dory”

I wrote in the first review of Peacemaker that I wondered if the opening credits would get old as the series progressed. I am here to say that it, 100% DID NOT get old, and I loved it still. I have spent time watching it on YouTube too.

Last episode was my favorite of the series. This week, the episode was still great, but I did not love it as much as I did last week. It seemed to ignore the issues that Peacemaker was dealing with at the end. It started with Chris with a hangover, and Eagley trying to help his friend out (that was awesome). The depression that Chris seemed to be in just disappeared. Again, I was into the episode, but that felt a little jarring.

Once into the episode, the team went into a Butterfly stronghold, the one discovered by Leota last week, to bring it down. It was an awesome scene where Peacemaker put to good use one of the helmets he took from his father’s workshop- the one with X-Ray vision. He could see the Butterflies in the people’s skulls which allowed him to shoot away.

We then came across the missing gorilla from last week’s news report as the gorilla attacked the group and was wrecking the shit. This was a chance for Peacemaker to finally accept John Economos, who saved them from the gorilla by using a chainsaw from behind (to the envy of Vigilante, who had held the chain saw earlier, wishing he could kill people with it). They had a confrontation in the episode over Economos’s frame job on Chris’s father and Chris gave a long (LONG) list of people he could have framed instead of his dad. That was both fun and excessive.

Yet, it seemed as if we had some team bonding after the successful chainsaw murder of Charlie the Gorilla.

Leota, however, has been having a lot of guilt over what she has been doing during this job. Her conflict is fascinating, especially since she is the daughter of Amanda Waller. She and Peacemaker are very similar in a lot of ways and they are creating a friendship of mutual respect and connection (but Leota is still doing things that she hates).

Leota ended up back at the office where she put on Peacemaker’s X-ray helmet just to mess around and she accidentally sees the Butterfly in Murn’s head, leading him to chase after her out into the street.

They left off here at a “scream-out-loud” cliffhanger moment.

Episode five was great. I just think that episode 4 was SO awesome that it was never going to reach that level. This is still the series that I am currently looking forward to more than anything.

SPOILERS FOR PEACEMAKER EP 4

“The Choad Less Traveled”

I really enjoyed episodes 1-3 of Peacemaker, but, holy cow, I loved episode four.

“The Choad Less Traveled” had a beautiful balance of humor, character development, character depth and a kick ass fight. I loved every minute of it.

Vigilante is an awesome character. His confrontation in the jail with the white supremacists is a top highlight of the episode. Vigilante’s delivery of his lines was perfect and hilarious. He had a certain swag in the scene and you could tell he was having a ball. However, Vigilante was more than this. We saw him angry over the torture from last episode, reflective about the failure to kill Peacemaker’s father, and how much of a friend he is to Peacemaker.

But we also got a great deal of character development from Peacemaker. We see some flashbacks to his youth as his father made him into a killer and we learned about the mysterious death of his brother, and that Chris had some kind of connection to what happened. John Cena does an amazing job, revealing a depth of acting that I do not think we have seen yet from him.

I am very excited to find out more about the backstory of Peacemaker and to find out what happened to his brother (who we see having a seizure in a flashback).

Judomaster gets out of the restraints that he had been placed in by John, gives him a little pay back and then ends up in a brawl in the parking lot with Peacemaker. Peacemaker showed off some of his classic John Cena moves in this fight (including a powerbomb onto a car hood that is just epic). The fight ends early with a gunshot from the gun of Leota, who goes through her own issues over killing someone (even though she does not kill Judomaster. Oh, and Judomaster, just before being shot, told Peacemaker that he does not understand the Butterflies.

Oh, and we discovered that Clemson Murn is a Butterfly. Wha? It takes the entire storyline that we have had over the first three episodes and turned it upside down. Motives are now in question and it could go in any direction. Twist.

Peacemaker episode four was so tremendous. It made me all the more excited for what is coming next.

SPOILERS FOR STATION ELEVEN E9

“Dr. Chaudhary”

We find out in this year one flashback episode the fate of Jeevan Chaudhary and how he got separated from Kirsten and how he became a doctor.

Of course, it all came back around to that graphic novel. Concerned that it was causing too much of a distraction for the young Kirsten, Jeevan took the opportunity to toss it into the woods. Kirsten was mad at the action and Jeevan went out to retrieve it. Unfortunately, he does not make it back, because he gets mauled by a wolf.

Earlier, Jeevan had contact with someone on a radio and he had told them that he was doctor. This led to them trying to abduct him when they were on a scavenging mission. One of these people found Jeevan and returned him to their home. They had a set up with a whole bunch of pregnant women, preparing to give birth to a bunch of post-flu babies, and they needed the help of another doctor.

Sadly, Jeevan had to have his foot amputated from the wolf attack and he had to take time to recover. The rest of the time in this story was very heart-warming and filled with hope. Even the loss of one of the pregnant women could not dull the feelings of hope of all the births.

We also got to see Jeevan in the year 20. He actually has become a doctor and has a family of his own.

SPOILERS FOR STATION ELEVEN EP 6-8

6: “Survival Is Insufficient”

7: “Goodbye My Damaged Home”

8: “Who’s There?“

I decided that I would combine a few of the write ups, mainly because I did not want to pause to write these in-between the episodes because I was so involved. So much for the idea that I would not binge this whole series this weekend. I should have known.

Starting with episode 6, Kirsten went out on her own and the rest of the Travelling Symphony wound up heading to the Museum, after being invited several times. Kirsten went to finish the deal with the Prophet/Tyler. She nearly succeeded in her attempt too as she had a knife to his throat. Tyler, however, told her that the people at the Museum were dangerous and not to be trusted and that he could show her the way.

Meanwhile, the rest arrived at the Museum, only to be quarantined and held captive. Sarah collapsed after the long trek. In a later episode, we discovered that Sarah had a heart attack and that she was clinging to life. It was clear in her discussion with Kirsten that she believed that she was going to die.

The Red Bandanas attacked Kirsten, Tyler and the kids on their travels, but Kirsten killed them all with her fancy knife tricks.

She was shot with poison and so she wound up back in the first 100 days of the flu pandemic. We get the answers to what had happened to Frank?, what play were the talking about?, what was Jeevan talking about when he said they left one day too late?.

We see the events that take place in Frank’s apartment through the eyes of “ghost” adult Kirsten who could only be seen by young Kirsten. It was weird, I know, but it was an intriguing framing device to see the things that happened to get Jeevan and Kirsten out of the apartment. Apparently, Jeevan wanted to leave the day before but Kirsten wanted to put on a play, based, of course, on Station Eleven, the comic book.

This led to a delay in leaving and as they were putting on the play, a home invader arrived and killed Frank with his knife. After an extended battle with the intruder and Jeevan, the intruder was killed and they had taken Frank to his bed forever.

Jeevan was showing some signs of losing his grip on reality as he was beginning to talk to himself, and, at least it looked like, answering himself. At this point, we do not know the ultimate fate of Jeevan, as this is the one major plot point still unresolved from the past.

Kirsten and Tyler arrived at the Museum and, surprise surprise, it was the old airport that Tyler had left after faking his own death. Clark was still here as was Tyler’s mother.

With Kirsten and Tyler in hazmat suits, they were not recognized by anyone. Clark made them act a scene to prove that they were actually actors. They performed a scene from the comic book, something that Clark eventually remembered.

Tyler was able to run fee around the airport because he knew all the tricks and hidden places from his time there before. He took Kirsten to see Sarah. He also was setting up bombs around the Museum.

Kirsten put all the pieces together, telling Tyler who she was and how she was connected to Arthur. She also had figured out his real identity, which was some great detective work from her. It did not prevent Tyler from continuing on with his angry plans. I have to say, the one thing that was missing in these episodes between Kirsten and Tyler was any anger from her to Tyler over the bombs that killed Gill. I needed that scene.

Anyway, Tyler’s mother, who had been tipped off by Clark’s partner Miles (in the world’s WORST wig and fake beard), who thought he recognized Tyler. She went and found him during his terrorism and spoke with her son for the first time in decades.

Every time I look at Tyler, I picture NXT wrestler Cameron Grimes.

There was a lot of wrap up in these three episodes and I am not sure what is next. I guess we still need to know what is going on with Doctor Eleven (aka the Astronaut) and we need to find out what Clark will do after his museum exploded. However, a lot of the story seems to be over. It does not feel like we will ever get an answer to how the flu started, which is fine with me. There were some hints dropped that the flu had ended and no longer a problem, though it devastated the world right off the bat.

Two more episodes remaining, I believe and I am interested to see where it takes the story next. My guess is we will get some resolution with Jeevan. Will that tie in with Doctor Eleven? We’ll see.

SPOILERS FOR STATION ELEVEN EPISODE 5

“The Severn City Airport”

I wasn’t sure the purpose of this episode until the final shot when I had a huge AHA moment.

It was another episode where we did not go to see the main characters of our story and spent time in the first few days after the flu struck. The main character we were with was Clark. Clark of all people? It was really unexpected. We then met Tyler, the son of Arthur whom we had only heard mention of before. So I thought, okay, we’ll meet this kid and his mom and whatever.

The episode was fine. Overall a little dull. A group of survivors, led by Clark, set themselves up in a little community inside an abandoned airport. Things seemed to be going well.

The final shot of the episode showed what the real purpose of the episode was. It was to provide an origin story for The Prophet. Shockingly, Tyler turns out to be The Prophet.

*BOOOOOOM*

It felt like a toss away episode, and then it was not.

I really thought Tyler was on his way to commit suicide when we saw him walking toward the airplane with a gasoline can, flicking a lighter. I was not sure about some of the character choices the kid had made along the way. I was not sure why he did what he did. Then, he set the airplane on fire to fake his own death and left the community.

This was a twist that I did not see coming and it rescued an episode that was fine, but featuring a character that I would consider second tier.

Oh, and his mother gave Tyler a copy of the graphic novel, solving that potential mystery. Obviously an inspiration for him as he grew up.

SPOILERS FOR STATION ELEVEN E4

“Rosencrantz and Guildenstein Aren’t Dead”

So we went back to 20 years later and met up with the Travelling Symphony. We were here for most of the time with the exception of a couple of flashbacks to see some moments with Kirsten and Jeevan after they had left Frank’s place.

The Travelling Symphony were on the road, heading for their next show, and we get a sidetrack to a former member of the Symphony, the old director Gill.

The episode focused in on Alex and how she was starting to come under the influence of The Prophet. Alex gave us the first thrill of the episode as she went running downhill through a minefield to get to Gill. I was absolutely holding my breath as she took off.

With the dynamic of the group, Gill’s return made a huge effect on the group. Not only Alex but also with Lori Petty’s Sarah. We got some amazing music with Sarah on the keyboard.

Alex is clearly in a downward spiral and on a collision course with The Prophet. Then, when the children, who had been taken from Gill and his people, returned strapped with bombs… holy cow. I was anticipating someone blowing up all episode because of a mine, but it turned out to be from a bomb vest instead.

The graphic novel made its way back into the story here as well, making me wonder what connection that comic has to the overall storyline.

It is a very good episode and it continues to weave the mystery of what exactly is going on. It still gives me LOST vibes as well as The Walking Dead, especially with The Prophet filling the Governor or Negan role.