Do you really wanna, do you really wanna taste it? (Yes, you really do.)
Two things you need to know before reading this:
Peacemaker was just renewed for Season 2.
It has perhaps the greatest opening title sequence of all time. It’s top 5, easy. I mean, just look at this:
I’m not sure what the best part of it is: the stellar choreography or the complete dedication with which everyone involved throws themselves into it. Look at that deadpan. JUST LOOK AT IT.
The credits sequence is ridiculous, stupid, and monumentally watchable, and is therefore a perfect representation of the show it precedes. I wasn’t expecting much from Peacemaker, really. I’m not all that much of a DC stan, despite genuinely enjoying both Suicide Squad movies.
Ok, brief aside. Yes, Suicide Squad is a train wreck, but Margot Robbie is magnificent in it. I also just enjoy viewing it through the lens of knowing the Squad was originally supposed to be rescuing Bruce Wayne, not Amanda Waller. Imagine being the crew who had to assemble something coherent after that tiny plot detail got yanked. “Ok, new directive folks, small thing, we’re just changing the object of the entire mission, nbd.”
Anyway.
The Suicide Squad had its share of enjoyable moments and the character of Peacemaker was the source of many of them, but I flat-out hated him for the thing he did to you-know-who, a character (and actor) I really enjoy. I went into the show with what wasn’t complete apathy but something resembling it.
I assumed it would be violent and dumb and it is definitely both of those things. Chris Smith, aka Peacemaker, is a simple man. He likes glam rock and nice guns and hot babes and he makes no apologies for any of that. Given that, he could have been if not boring, at least nothing more than the straight man at the center of the action. In fact, in other hands, that’s likely what he would have been. But the writing on Peacemaker is deft that in between all the dumb is an earnestness that quietly sneaks up on you until you suddenly discover you’re in an eagle’s gentle embrace.
When you’re introduced to Peacemaker, he’s just a goon that’s really good at killing people, and between his melon-sized biceps and deep-voiced declarations about freedom, it’s easy to write him off. In fact, the show wants you to write him off. One of the first things he does is hit on his attractive teammate — because of course that’s what this dude would do — but when he reminds her he just got out of prison and speaks candidly about just wanting to scratch what may be a mutual itch, it hints at an unexpected self-awareness. With each new episode, the audience is forced to confront their own expectations as Chris reveals more about who he is beneath the costume: a disillusioned kid just trying to make his dad happy.
Peacemaker grew up being taught that violence is love and if he does it well enough, he may one day have a good relationship with his racist father. Chris is acutely aware that everyone hates him, understands why they do, and is devastated by it. But who is he if he stops trying to be what his dad wants him to be? What does he actually value? What does he believe? You go into Peacemaker expecting wisecracking shooty bang and get a story about a man recognizing that he’s unhappy with his life and wondering if he’s brave enough to change it. There is also wisecracking shooty bang, but it’s kind of not even the point.
Something happens in Episode 7 (“Stop Dragon My Heart Around”) that is cheer-out-loud worthy, not because it’s a cool fight or spectacular effect or anything else you might expect from a superhero show, but because it’s so important for Chris as a person. Over the course of seven episodes, Peacemaker took me from not really knowing Chris Smith — and not really wanting to — to being glad I was with him for such an important moment of personal growth. I want the big lummox to be happy or at least not hate himself quite as much because you know…he deserves that. Definitely not something I was expecting from someone who listens to Bang Tango and shouts “FREEDOM” as he’s banging that skank from the bar.
I have no idea what’s coming up in Season 2, but you bet I really wanna, I really wanna taste it.