After killing his father and rallying his team, Peacemaker and company hit the road to finally squash the Butterflies once and for all. The main target: a wide-eyed, adorable, eldritch monster known only as “the Cow” from whom the Butterflies get their food. If they can destroy it, the world is saved; if they can’t, I for one welcome our new alien overlords. A single flap of a butterfly’s wings could change the future in Peacemaker’s season finale, “It’s Cow or Never.”
The episode kicks off with a solid minute of fart jokes. Peacemaker is still a bit angry with Adebayo for planting that diary and betraying his trust, and rightfully so. Alas, that must be put aside for now. Once they arrive outside the Butterflies’ HQ, the team plans their attack. After a lot of bad ideas, they decide the best approach would be to plant Peacemaker’s Sonic Boom helmet in the barn. Since it can activate just by voice command, a simple microphone within the mask can destroy the objective while the team remains at a safe distance.
If only plans worked out perfectly in TV shows…but then where would the drama come from?
In order to get the helmet in the barn, they send Eagly to drop it from above, but since he’s a bird who doesn’t understand English, he drops it in the woods nearby. The episode kills time before the big showdown with more of those wonderful and meaningful conversations I love so much as the team searches for the lost helmet; this time they’re about ants and fish.
In these scenes, Peacemaker begins hallucinating a ghost of his father. I think the show thought that I would think that Auggie was still alive, maybe? But it’s pretty obvious from the get go that this is an example of the hallucinating-a-dead-loved-one trope. It’s a little played out, but at the same time, Robert Patrick is a pretty good actor, so I see the appeal of keeping Auggie around in one form or another.
Peacemaker’s season 1 finale is the best episode of the show so far
Once they find the Sonic Boom helmet, the episode starts picking up. They go with Plan B: have Econ disguise himself and sneak the helmet into the barn. The jokes here are kind of lame — we see that hand-on-the-shoulder bit coming from miles away — but after Econ is questioned about the color of his beard, he delivers a personal monologue that’s both sad and funny. I laughed, and then I felt bad for laughing.
Shortly after that, their cover is blown and the Butterflies swarm. Finally we get a fight sequence, and I was genuinely impressed by the scope of it. Things get really fun once Peacemaker and the team run out of bullets and have to fight hand-to-hand. From the stunt choreography to the timing, there’s clearly a lot of effort put in. It gets even better once the Butterflies turn the tables and Vigilante and Agent Harcourt get brought to their knees. This forces Adebayo, the character who has most questioned whether she belongs with the group, into action. Her impulse decision to rush in and rescue them clears any doubt in her mind that she belongs on the team. It’s a nice, complete character arc and I love it.
Once she and Peacemaker get down under the barn to face the Cow, they are confronted again by Goff, who reveals the Butterflies’ “evil” plans: knowing that American politics are corrupt and stirring the world to the brink of extinction (the show falls just short of naming names but you get who they’re referring to), their plan was to take over the key decision-makers and set the world right.
Okay, cool. Now, if I could just pop a tiny hole in the story here: if that’s the case, why did they only possess one politician? Why not send a Butterfly over to Mitch McConnell’s house and call it a day? Maybe even the Butterflies are picky over whose brains they eat.
At any rate, Peacemaker declines Goff’s offer to join forces, because after all, humanity requires free will so it can forge its own path. And so Peacemaker and Adebayo kill the Cow, mending their personal rift and ending the Butterflies’ plans for world domination. Afterwards we get some pretty amusing cameos (and silhouettes that pass for cameos) as well as a heartwarming epilog. Additionally, Adebayo drops a bombshell that is sure to cause trouble in season 2.
Season 2? Wait, I thought this was the finale. Ah, but of course, haven’t you heard? Peacemaker has just been renewed for a second season! Oh after all the effort I put in to see it fail.
I jest. But seriously folks, Peacemaker and I had a rough start, but it has come a long way since then. If the last couple of episodes — and especially this finale — are any indication, the show has overcome its growing pains and will hopefully continue to be an entertaining — if occasionally annoying — treat in Season 2 .
But please, James Gunn, from me to you, give the characters something to actually talk about next time.
Grade: B
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