Another episode of Peacemaker has landed on HBO Max, continuing the story of a black-ops squad that must work together on a mission to eliminate Butterflies who overtake human hosts. The episode picks up from the previous one as Adebayo discovers Murn is a Butterfly, and he chases after her. We find out Harcourt and Economos knew this information as well. Murn explains the Butterflies wanted to dominate Earth, and he was the sole dissenter who had to stop them. Chukwudi Iwuji performs this scene phenomenally, setting up an episode that may be one of the best of the series.
Once the most rewatchable opening credits sequence of all time concludes, we have Peacemaker talking to a classroom full of students. The scene is brilliant, with Peacemaker’s insulting nicknames for the students and his sudden fear that one of the students may be his illegitimate child. The issue with the scene is the tone jumps quickly from funny to a severe traumatic flashback in Peacemaker’s child and back to funny right after. Both sequences are executed well, but the tonal shift is a bit too abrupt for them to mesh.
Detective Song arranges for Auggie’s release and gets an arrest warrant for Peacemaker. The Goff Butterfly tries to communicate with Peacemaker and Vigilante by drawing a peace sign on the jar. With this and Judomaster’s failed attempt at revealing a secret about the Butterflies, it remains possible that Murn is lying about the Butterflies, and they do come in peace. The unpredictability of this story is fascinating, and we then have a thrilling scene where Peacemaker, Vigilante, and Eagly have to escape from Song and the other police officers.
This leads to a shocking idea where the Goff Butterfly takes over Song’s body. It is a surprising development in a story that continues to get crazier and crazier. Locke helps Peacemaker and Vigilante escape as he gets ahold of the diary Adebayo planted in his home. The episode does an excellent job of keeping every existing storyline interesting. It’s an exceedingly well-paced show as Auggie dons his White Dragon armor, planning to kill his son, and Peacemaker realizes the team is hiding information from him, including Adebayo.
The Butterflies attack the police station, turning every police officer into a Butterfly. James Gunn uses Reckless Love’s “Monster” perfectly during the sequence, and as the villains get stronger, the bond between the heroes becomes more nuanced. Harcourt draws a dove of peace for Peacemaker, and we discover that Peacemaker, who was once a ruthless government killer, no longer wants to kill. Harcourt gives him her first name, Emilia, and we get a beautiful scene where Peacemaker plays the piano to heal himself. The episode finishes with Locke, now controlled by a Butterfly, incriminating Peacemaker using the diary.
I love this episode because the show, which has already been excellent so far, is getting more and more insane. Every police officer has become possessed by a Butterfly, and it’s a show that has kept us guessing what will happen next and what the motivations for every character are. Filled with twists, turns, laughs, and excellent work from Cena, this show gets better every week.
SCORE: 8/10
As ComingSoon’s review policy explains, a score of 8 equates to “Great.” While there are a few minor issues, this score means that the art succeeds at its goal and leaves a memorable impact.
