Peacemaker Season 2 has matched, if not surpassed, the quality of the first season. After a more subdued, comedy-centric second episode, Peacemaker Season 2 Episode 3, entitled “Another Rick Up My Sleeve,” brings the heat, canonizing a surprising film in the pre-James Gunn DC Films Universe while fleshing out the alternative universe Christopher Smith (John Cena) finds himself in.
Peacemaker Season 2 Episode 3 opens with a massive bombshell of a lore drop. Three years before the events of the episode, Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland) wakes up in bed with none other than Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman). It seems the two are having an affair, due to Flag still, to his own admission, being with June Moon (Cara Delevingne).
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Not only does this somewhat canonize the 2016 Suicide Squad film, directed by David Ayer (A Working Man), it also presents an interesting conflict for Harcourt. Can she and Chris ever have a true romantic connection when he killed her old flame?
Before the audience can ponder this, there’s a quick montage of scenes from The Suicide Squad leading into the title intro. After the obligatory weekly dance sequence, Chris wakes up, hungover in the alternate universe we’ve been seeing all season.
Chris is a big shot in this alternate universe.
Most of Peacemaker Season 2 Episode 3 will be set in this alternate universe, so this recap will first focus on what’s going on there before jumping back to the rest of the 11th Street Kids. Chris sees that he and this world’s Harcourt have been texting. She’s worried about getting her heart broken again. Nevertheless, she tells him to meet her at her workplace at 12.
Since it’s 11:35, Chris is in a rush, only to be stopped by his brother, Keith (David Denman). Keith is making sure Chris is alright, while Chris walks the tightrope between trying to put his brother at ease while also figuring out where Harcourt works. He eventually gets the information out of his brother that Harcourt works at ARGUS. To get there, Chris throws on snazzy clothes and takes the “Peace Cycle,” a badass motorbike souped-up with all kinds of weapons.
As he drives through the city streets, it’s clear he’s quite popular. In a hilarious moment, a child is so happy to see Peacemaker that he starts hysterically crying, leaving Chris with no idea of how to react. Chris does know how to react when a woman flashes her breasts at him though—with a huge smile.
James Gunn knows how to write his jerks with hearts of gold.
Writer/showrunner James Gunn sure knows to write his jerks with hearts of gold. From what we can glimpse in this joyride through the city, it’s comforting to see that Gunn is using the multiverse not for cameos but for presenting a world where Chris has the admiration he thinks he deserves, centering character over cosmic shenanigans.
People really must like Chris, since he’s able to get through ARGUS security quite easily. As he spots Harcourt, he also sees another familiar face: Rick Flag, once again played by Joel Kinnaman. This Flag is practically seething with jealousy at Chris’s very presence, although Harcourt is happy to see him.
The two take a nice walk through the city, where Chris, his brother, and his father (Robert Patrick) are immortalized in murals. Their walk is backed by “Road to Nowhere” by the late, great Ozzy Osbourne, adding a significant pathos to the proceedings.
Emilia lays bare that she’s open to reconnecting with Chris. The main thing holding her back is her lack of commitment and his infidelity. She can sense that Chris has changed, and the two have quite the tender moment, until an explosion rocks them back.
Peacemaker Season 2 Episode 3 ups the action.
As it turns out, the Sons of Liberty, a domestic terror group, is taking over and planning to blow up a government-run facility in the town square. The Sons of Liberty have some basis in the DC Comics universe as Superman villains, noted for their militaristic approach to nationalism. In this universe, it appears that they’re as anti-big government as possible.
Fans of Creature Commandos and Superman will note a billboard for the fictional band The Mighty Crabjoys that Chris uses to climb over to the hostage situation. In an extremely well-choreographed action sequence courtesy of returning director Greg Mottola, Chris takes an axe to one of the Sons of Liberty’s heads and then proceeds to lay waste to as many of them as he can.
In a very John Wick move, he hits perfect headshots on a handful of them before throwing his gun at the last one. That’s not to mention him sticking a pencil in each of a goon’s earhole, scrambling their brains the academic way. He’s able to dismantle the bomb they’ve planted with ease. Just to add insult to injury, Keith, with a jetpack and his full “Captain Triumph” guard, destroys the fleeing stragglers’ helicopter.
The alternate universe seems… off.
Peacemaker is celebrated as a hero and goes home, where he receives an encouraging text from Harcourt. His brother once again tries to affirm that Peacemaker is okay, mentioning in particular the pills that he used to be on. These pills were glimpsed earlier in the episode when Chris was trying on his alternate self’s clothes. Chris assures him he’s fine, then sneaks off back into his own universe.
Before we get back to the rest of the 11th Street Kids, there’s an elephant in the room that must be discussed. This alternate universe seems… off. Nearly all civilians glimpsed are white. Combined with knowing that Peacemaker’s father in the main timeline is an unrepentant racist, could it be that the Smiths are as insidiously jingoistic as ever in this universe?
Did their mission succeed, and we’re seeing what their “utopia” looks like? This could very well be a case of not casting enough people of color as extras, but something tells me that James Gunn has a gut-punch of a reveal coming.
Tim Meadows as Langston Fleury remains the show’s best new character.
Now, back to the rest of the crew. Harcourt, Adebayo (Danielle Brooks), Vigilante (Freddie Stroma), and John Economos (Steve Agee) all wake up incredibly hungover. Economos gets a call from Sasha Bordeaux (Sol Rodríguez) that ARGUS is planning on raiding Chris’ house, with or without them. ARGUS adds a new member to their team: eagle hunter Red St. Wild, played by Michael Rooker. The team descends on the house, and the two storylines converge. Roll credits.
Once again, despite Tim Meadows’ best efforts as Langston Fleury, the show’s best new character, the ARGUS storyline is dragging. Thankfully, that’s the only part of the episode that does.
Peacemaker Season 2 Episode 3 is a great entry in the show. It boosts up the action and wisely centers on Chris’s moral dilemma whether or not to remain in the alternate universe. The momentum is building slowly but surely, and I’m excited to see where this goes next week.
Peacemaker Season 2 Episode 3 is streaming now on HBO Max, with new episodes every Thursday.
