Episode 4 of Peacemaker season 2 begins with one of the best opening scenes in the series so far. Honestly, it's perhaps the most memorable for impact, characterization, and lore-dripping details. We see young Chris, his older brother, Keith, and their father, August, hunting in the woods and encounter the strangest creature they've ever seen. Auggie shoots it down, and it crawls on the forest floor in pain, leaving a trail of its vibrant guts.
What happens in season 2 episode 4
What on Earth, or not from this Earth, is it? I would assume it's an imp, a being from the "Munchkin dimension," as Alternate August jokingly referred to them back in episode 2.
However, it could be something else entirely, as it doesn't look like any comic book imp or mite I've ever seen. Regardless, there's already a confirmation of weird magical creatures in the DCU, though they've yet to be deeply explored. I suspect the door still has more to do with advanced tech than magic, though. But who knows, maybe it's a form of magi-tech that even Auggie and Chris didn't understand.
Auggie blasts the creature's head clean off, which one of the boys tried to prevent, and Auggie smacked him viciously for it. We're not to forget that Auggie's abuse of his sons started really early. Eventually, the three discover the portal the creature was running to and the device that created it.
Meanwhile, John is trapped in a band of weirdos, including Jip Jagger, Red St. Wild, and Langston. The only sensible one is the hardass Sasha Bordeaux, but she's still after Peacemaker as much as Rick Flag Sr. is, so that doesn't make John's job any easier. Well, wait, protecting Peacemaker isn't his job; capturing him is, technically. Still, we obviously know he thinks of him as a dear friend, albeit reluctantly, and would feel immense guilt for standing aside and letting them take Chris in.
When a team of ARGUS agents storms Chris's house, John does everything he can to stall ARGUS's pursuit, even going as far as to knock Red St. Wild unconscious before he could take a shot at Eagly. Red St. Wild isn't aware that John was the one who gave him a concussion, having been told that it was a second eagle, but now the eagle hunter is even more emboldened to kill Eagly. As if his passion for killing animals weren't wrong enough.
At the same time, Chris escapes through the back and is briefly chased by Rip Jagger. After a quick battle, Jagger is defeated but left alive. Chris manages to get Leota as a getaway driver and heads to a secret hideout.
Back at Chris's home, ransacked by ARGUS agents, Sasha orders John to hack open the door that leads to the Quantum Unfolding Chambers. The interdimensional energy readings are off the charts, so there's no doubt about it being the door. Only technically, it's just a door. At Chris's second secret home base, he's setting up the device that can create and move this specific portal. John's busy pulling excuse after excuse out of his rear, but eventually runs out, and commits to unlocking the QUC. To his relief, he was too late, as Chris reopened the Quantum Unfolding Chambers just in time at the second secret home base.
That was a short bolt of action for the episode, and from there, things slow down again. However, this is where the most interesting character revelations begin to show. Chris spills the beans to Leota about what he's been doing in the QUC. It seems all too crazy to believe, even for a universe where dimensional imps, intergalactic butterfly aliens, and god-like beings exist.
Despite all of that, Leota thinks the QUC could be showing what Chris wants to see, but he's convinced it's real and that he belongs there, not on crappy Earth-1. I mean, sure, who wouldn't want to belong in a universe where their family is alive and loves them? Virtually any comic book hero would be tempted to stay in a reality like that.
I'm still holding onto the theory that Chris will eventually have to choose which reality is worth saving. In which does being a hero matter more to him? The universe where he's worked hard to build lasting relationships with friends and a potential lover, or the universe where everything's mostly perfect?
Speaking of that troubled (and reluctant) love interest, Harcourt is later approached by Rick Flag Sr at her apartment. He offers her a deal, knowing she'd do anything to get within the government's good graces and start earning enough money to cover rent again. All she has to do is bring in Peacemaker.
The worrying thing is that she doesn't immediately tell him no. She keeps the window wide open and later commits to setting up a sting operation with ARGUS to capture Peacemaker. However, when Chris receives the invite text from Harcourt, something is off in his expression.
He may already know or have a feeling that Harcourt hinted at a trap. This may not make a ton of sense because ARGUS would immediately know something's up if Peacemaker doesn't show. Chris, wanting to believe he has a chance with Harcourt, is probably too trusting of her to suspect a trap. Assuming this showdown happens and a bloody fight ensues, then Chris's trust would've been broken by Harcourt, and he feels that the alternate Harcourt is the better choice.
Still, it's hard to believe Harcourt would do this after everything they've been through, and what Peacemaker has done to save the world.
In the last second, we see the first dedicated magic ritual in the DCU as Red St. Wild performs a Native American-inspired dance and draws a hawk-shaped blood sigil in the dirt to locate Eagly. Yeah, a burner phone or VPN isn't helping with that. It's cool to see magic in the DCU, though. Even if it is practiced by a crazy eagle-hunter.
Episode 4, "Need I Say Door," directed by Peter Solett, was another great episode. It features some of my favorite scenes from the whole series so far. However, nothing has yet to top Eagly's massacre from episode 2 for me. At this point, I wish the Quantum Unfolding Chamber was elaborated on a bit more, but hopefully, there's time left in the season to explore its origins.
Episode verdict: A-
New episodes of Peacemaker release every Thursday night on HBO Max.