No one is ever going to look at Peacemaker and think these characters are mentally healthy. But this week a few different characters are trying to do murders as a way of entertaining or satisfying themselves. But not Vigilante. He doesn’t murder prostitutes because “their lives are hard enough already.”
This review may contain some spoilers for Peacemaker Season 2, Episode 5.
The 11th Street Kids continue to struggle to catch a break as ARGUS closes in on Peacemaker. Harcourt did what she could to appease Rick Flag Sr., while working in her and Chris’ secret word for when something is a trap. More of us need to have a secret word for when things are a trap.
This opening sequence is one of the best of the season so far. Chris is often made to look like a himbo throughout the show, but we occasionally get reminders like these that he’s actually very good at what he does (he has a very particular set of skills, if you will). He knows he’s walking into a trap and knows all the tactics ARGUS will be using. We see him using obstacles and people as cover, but it’s also clear he’s not putting those people in danger. He knows they can’t risk a shot if he’s standing close to a civilian.
Finally, through, it comes to a showdown with Chris surrounded by ARGUS agents, and we finally get some much-needed information on Sasha, Rick Flag Sr.’s right hand. She’s not just probably-horny for Flag, she’s also a dangerous cyborg. Harcourt has to spring into action here, and takes Chris down to ensure that shooting him is no longer a viable option.
We get a lot of insight into ARGUS politics here. Once they bring Chris in, Harcourt quickly asks Economos to get Chris’ arrest in the system. He’s hesitant, but when we cut back to Chris, Flag Sr. is wailing on Smith, who is offering no resistance–which is very telling about where Chris is at in his journey. When Economos does book his friend, Sasha and Flag are both clearly disappointed. Interestingly, Fleury seems to be siding with Economos on this, and I’m really interested to see where his arc goes.
All of this is a final push for Chris to “permanently” retreat to the fantasy dimension, but it also does a lot to establish the mission for the 11th Street Kids and for ARGUS–the stakes are clear as we go into the last chapters of this season.
Meanwhile, John Economos and Langston Fleury are getting all the best lines this season. Chris and Harcourt are in such serious stakes that they don’t get to say goofy stuff nearly as often, but Economos’ resistance to taking action is making for a lot of good lines.
For all the development we get with Harcourt, Chris, and Flag, I do wonder about how the show is treating Adrian Chase, aka Vigilante. The show seems to be flanderizing him this season. He, generally speaking, acts like an eight-year-old child. He’s always been a bit clueless, but the spider facts and the constant fear of being left out, it all feels like he’s becoming a parody of an already chaotic character. Even this episode, which has a touching moment between him and Adebayo after he finds out that Chris is hiding away in the fantasy dimension, serves this narrative.
With that said, this might be the best episode of the season so far, between two great action sequences and plenty of character development across the board, and it leaves me excited for the last three episodes of the season.
