**This review may contain some SPOILERS***
Returning for a second season as part of a very soft reboot, “Peacemaker” is an enjoyable ride thanks to the returning characters and their strong bonds they formed from last season. Despite that, just as the season gets to the point where it needs to kick the story up a notch and do something meaningful, it instead ends mostly on a yawn. (A yawn while smiling though.)
The plot is shockingly bare bones. Peacemaker’s arc is telegraphed from the jump, yet it takes till the fifth episode to finally get him where he was obviously heading. After a great twist that the entire internet saw coming, the story shocking wraps itself in the next episode. And just when it looks like the real payoff is about to drop, it doesn’t. While all the character arcs do wrap up in a satisfying and emotional way, the cliffhanger ending is buzzkill. Not because of what happens, but because there’s been no announcement on any upcoming project where there will be any type of resolution.
Getting back to the characters, it’s definitely Peacemaker’s show and it’s definitely his story. While it’s mostly predictable, it all works because of a fantastic performance by John Cena. He brings everything to this role that it needs. Shifting from humor to action star, to being an emotional wreck, he nails it all and keeps you sympathetic with him even when he makes the wrong decisions. Harcourt also shines, thanks to a strong performance from Jennifer Holland. She not only brings back the tough as nails aspect of the character, but also really gets to dig into her vulnerable side. But even though there’s some interesting plotlines setup for her, they mostly end up being irrelevant to the overall story and instead her time is used for the closest thing the show has to a love story. The rest of the main cast doesn’t end up with all that much to do. Adebayo’s story never gets out of first gear (and yet somehow finishes really strong,) while Economos ends up just being there to be a wet blanket. Vigilante also ends up with a flat storyline, which doesn’t evolve much past his newfound love for animal trivia. Rick Flag is also hard to read here. The vengeance aspect of his story makes total sense, but then he takes a detour that seems uncharacteristic. Some of the supporting characters are also setup to have more of an impact than they end up delivering on. Judomaster, Fluery, Bordeaux and Red St. Wild come in with some fanfare but mostly get pushed into the background till they’re needed.
There’s shockingly little action this season, with the fight between Peacemaker and The Sons of Liberty being the only real standout. (In fact, neither Peacemaker nor Vigilante spend much time in their costumes.) The early episodes are somewhat graphic in a way that would make “Game of Thrones” blush. There are a couple small cameos and one huge one, but nothing that really feels like its fleshing out this new version of the DC Universe. In fact, most of the cool stuff that gets teased ends up really going nowhere.
Rising up from the old DCEU and into the new DC Universe, “Peacemaker” sticks with what worked in season one. While this includes following a group of lovable misfits, it lacks a major narrative push. The humor is till hit or miss, and the action is strong but practically nonexistent. The character arcs wrap up in a satisfying way, even some of the weak ones, but just when the main plot looks like it’s about to takeoff, it wraps up and the show ends on a bit of a whimper.
*** out of *****