This review contains spoilers for Episode 4 of Peacemaker, “The Choad Less Traveled,” which airs on Jan. 20 on HBO Max. To catch up, check out our spoiler-free review of the three-episode premiere.
Peacemaker slows down a bit in its fourth episode to work on fleshing out its characters more. The result is somewhat uneven, as attempts to make Peacemaker and Vigilante more sympathetic don’t quite feel earned and a final twist has little impact. That said, the team’s dysfunction still keeps the series fun and entertaining.
“The Choad Less Traveled” picks up right after the disastrous assassination of the Goff family, with the Project Butterfly team speeding away with the senator’s superpowered bodyguard, Judomaster, who is somehow not dead despite the beating he sustained. The primary difference between superheroes and vigilantes is that superheroes work with the cops to send their enemies to prison while vigilantes just kill them, a point driven home by Peacemaker and Vigilante eagerly pulling out guns and offering to execute Judomaster.
It’s surprising that not even Harcourt accepts that solution, particularly since the decision to try to keep Judomaster captive given her lecture on hard choices just a few minutes later. But Peacemaker fighting with his dad’s nosy neighbor about why he’s better than Batman because he’s killed all his supervillains continues the theme in a hilarious fashion, an in-universe version of an argument fans and critics of the Dark Knight have been having for decades.
After chiding Peacemaker for hesitating to kill an entire family, Murn promises to finally explain what butterflies are later that night, but of course events conspire to string the mystery along even further. Peacemaker learns about the terrible bit of improvisation that got his dad arrested for his own crimes and, against the wishes of the rest of the team, goes to visit him, unintentionally but extremely predictably spilling details on their mission. Even though she’s not sure if she’s cut out for this line of work, Adebayo shows she’s inherited some of her mother’s manipulative ruthlessness as she slickly convinces Vigilante to kill Auggie.
Robert Patrick continues to deliver the best performance of the show in his callous dismissal of his son and his smooth handling of Vigilante’s attempts to goad him into attacking him. Even in the face of what seems like a full-on alien invasion, Auggie looks like the most dangerous character. It also seems inevitable we’ll eventually get to see him in the extremely imposing White Dragon costume on display in his lab while Peacemaker giddily loots his selection of helmets. Those weak points in the armor Vigilante points out feel like obvious foreshadowing to be used in a future confrontation.
Considering the flashbacks showing just how much abuse Auggie put Peacemaker through and that he doesn’t seem to actually share his father’s racism, it’s baffling why he has such filial loyalty. But considering that he’s a murderous jerk, it’s also hard to care too much about his trauma and attempts to break free of that cycle. It’s a testament to John Cena’s charm that his redemption is working as well as it does, showing how much he feels trapped by his life as a killer. Given the option to kill the butterfly from the Goff mission or turn it over for inevitable dissection, he chooses to get high with it instead. It’s a weirdly touching gesture — one man who most people consider to be a monster unwilling to pass that judgment on what seems like a monster until he has more evidence.
The first Suicide Squad film gave detailed intros for all the main characters and then added on Slipknot just to blow him up to demonstrate the power of the Amanda Waller’s bombs. Murn has always felt like the Slipknot equivalent in Peacemaker since most of the rest of the team appeared in The Suicide Squad and the other newcomer, Adebayo, has received extensive character-building scenes. Murn hasn’t been developed much besides having a dark past, and though the weird lines about how he’s never shared anything with anyone mostly just seemed like him being an entirely closed off tough guy. However, it’s finally confirmed that that’s the case because he’s a legitimate alien.
This is played like a big reveal, but in any secret invasion plot there’s pretty much got to be a mole, and Murn is the least surprising person for it to be. What’s potentially more intriguing is Judomaster’s line that “the butterflies are not what you think.” Are they at war with each other? Seeking refuge from a greater threat? Given what we now know about Murn, whatever he reveals might also disclose more of his agenda. Also, here’s hoping we get more of Judomaster in general. His fights and insults are consistently hilarious.
from IGN Reviews https://ift.tt/358z0K1
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