Peacemaker Season 2 Review

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**SPOILER REVIEW**
• 0:00:00 - Introduction 
• 0:04:01 - No-Prize Time 
• 0:10:05 - Paramount, Netflix, and Comcast express interest in acquiring Warner Bros 
• 0:13:47 - Question of the Week 
• 0:14:41 - Peacemaker Season 2 Review 
• 0:53:06 - Sign off 
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Executive producers: John Starosky, Zachary Hepburn, Dustyn Balcom, Miggy Matanguihan, Nathaniel Wagner, Levi Yeaton, Austin Wesolowski, AJ Dunkerley, Nic Abanto, Scott Camacho, Gil Camacho, Adam Speas, Dean Maleski, Devin Davis, Joseph Kersting, Josh Liner, Mike Williams, Oscar Galvez, and Paul Graves
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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Superhero T-shirts. I want them, you want them, weall want a good superhero T, especially with the

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(00:30):
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OldGlory.com because you deserve greatsuperhero merch. On with the show. This is a
DynaMic Network Podcast. Hi and welcome to theDynaMic Duel Podcast, a weekly show where we

(01:11):
review superhero films and debate thesuperiority between Marvel and DC by comparing
their characters in stat-based battlesimulations. I'm Marvelist Joe. And I'm his twin
brother, Johnny DC. And in this episode we'regetting back to the reviews. It's been a while
since we've done a review. We're trying to hammerout a lot of Duel episodes and lead up to the show's
finale. But I know a lot of people have been waitingfor this peacemaker season two review, so we're

(01:36):
definitely going to talk about that. Yeah, I'vebeen dying to talk about this show for weeks now. We
pushed it off in order to get a lot of spookyHalloween-esque duels in the month of October.
But now we're finally reviewing it and I have a lotto say later on in this episode. Before that, we're
going to break down the comic quick and movie newsfrom the past week, of which we have just one news
item and that is the talks about the upcomingpotential acquisition of Warner Brothers and DC

(02:02):
Studios by another studio. As always, we list oursegment times in our episode description, so feel
free to check out the show notes if you want to skipahead to a particular topic. Guys, our
artificially intelligent Duel Simulator, AJ9K,has a quick message for our listeners, so listen
up. Why hello there. Do you want even more from thispodcast? Then become a part of the dynamic duel

(02:25):
community on Patreon, where you can choose fromthree tiers. The Dynamic 2.0 tier gives you access
to our Discord chat server. The Fantastic Fourtier gives you two bonus episodes each month and
the X-Force tier makes you an executive producerof this show. Lastly, the Diner Mike podcast
network tier lets you create your own podcastusing this Monte Carlo simulator. Johnny and Joe

(02:46):
will help you develop your show, provide graphicsupport and consultation, and get you simulation
results. Pitch the twins your ideas via email atDynamic Duel Podcast at gmail.com. Check it out at
patreon.com slash dynamic duel. Pip pip cheerio.Thanks AJ9K and thanks to everyone who supports
the podcast. Be sure to tune into the other shows inthe Diner Mike podcast network this week,

(03:09):
including the console combat podcast, wherehosts John and Dean simulate battles between
popular video game characters. In yesterday'sepisode, they reviewed the Super Mario Brothers
movie. Over on the Max Destruction podcast, hostsScotty and Gilly pet your favorite action heroes
from film and television against each other. TheMacho Twins are taking a quick break for the month

(03:29):
of November, but they'll be back in December withsome Christmas season duels. On the Central World
podcast, host Zachary Hepburn speculates onfights between fan favorite anime and manga
characters. In his next episode, Zach isrevealing who would win between Shigyo Kageyama,
aka Mob from Mob Psycho 100, and Tatsumaki thetornado of terror from One Punch Man. But with that

(04:00):
out of the way, quick to the no prize. A no prize is anaward that Marvel used to give out to fans. Our
version, the Dynamic Duel No Prize, is a digitalaward that we post on Instagram for the person we
feel gave the best answer to our question of theweek. Last week we asked you guys, what scary story
this episode was your favorite and why? And ofcourse in our last episode, we told you guys six

(04:24):
short scary stories as narrated by Nightmare fromMarvel and the Phantom Stranger from DC. They were
original stories written by Jonathan and myselfand we hope you guys enjoyed them, but which one did
you guys find the scariest? Let's find out by goingthrough our honorable mentions and our no prize
winner. Yeah, we got two honorable mentions. Thefirst one goes to Alex Albro who said, Hey guys, my

(04:48):
favorite story was definitely the story ofGreyhaven with the breathless boy and the silent
citizens and everything that the ghost trend wasthere the whole time. And to be honest, I never saw
it. It was pretty cool surprise. Also, you just youdon't know who lays down the fog and it just felt
real. It's really good story. Honestly, thescariest thing though is this win streak that DC's

(05:08):
on feels like Marvel's just a step behind in therace to January. Maybe next month we can be
thankful for the comeback. I fully expect thisThanksgiving holiday to be sitting at my dinner
table and saying I am thankful for Marvel making acomeback in the month of November. Yes, it's going
to happen. I mean, it's going to be a lie, but youcould say it. Yeah, and the Greyhaven story that

(05:32):
Alex referred to was the veil of fog, a story aboutthe hero Nightshade. It was a pretty good story. It
had an interesting twist where everyone in thetown of Greyhaven, including this little boy that
she befriends is actually a ghost, which getsrevealed when she fixes this lighthouse that
burns through the fog. And it turns out the entirepopulace is made out of fog, basically. So the way

(05:53):
Joseph and I approached both of our stories were alittle bit different. In the Phantom Stranger
Horror Anthology series, there is always a lessonor a morality tale to be told. So I wanted each of my
stories to sort of have that lesson since PhantomStranger was my narrator. And I thought something
along the lines of the road to hell is paved withgood intentions would be a good moral lesson. So

(06:15):
that's what inspired the veil of fog. Yeah, with mystories, I was just going for good like
campfire-esque tales in the vein of scary storiesto tell in the dark or tales from the crypt. Great
answer, Alex. Our next honorable mention goes toNate, who said, Hey, it's Nate here. And I just want
to thank House of Mystery for giving me thoseamazing bedtime story for my nieces. And I even

(06:39):
found myself falling asleep to those. So thank youfor that. The one, though, that really kept me up
was Crypt of Shadows. So I think the wind goes toMarvel for giving me nightmares. I totally agree,
man. Yeah, the House of Mystery tales were boring,and they put you right to sleep. The Crypt of
Shadows stories, on the other hand, weredread-inducing and hopefully kept a lot of people

(07:02):
awake at night. Yeah, I won't deny it. I thoughtthey were actually really scary. I mean, maybe not
the Ghost Rider one. That one was more exciting,maybe. But the other two, yeah, they had some
really good imagery associated with them. Yeah, Isaid they were scary, not as scary as the House of
Mystery stories, but scary. Sure. Yeah, I thoughtthey were more scary, too. Great answer, Nate. But

(07:26):
the winner of this week's No Prize is Noah Terry,who said, My favorite scary story would have to be
the Manitou, because it's just super creepy in themoral dilemma. And also, your guys' storytelling
is just top notch. And just a great story,spine-chilling, amazing Halloween tale. Just

(07:48):
loved it. Thanks. Thanks, Noah. I had a lot of funwriting that one as well. That one was actually
inspired by my favorite horror film, The Cabin inthe Woods. That film deals with the sacrifice of
five archetypal youths, and I kind of ran with thatfor my Manitou Raven story. That story wasn't like
Cabin in the Woods at all. It was more like EvilDead. Manitou is very Evil Dead-esque. That's

(08:13):
definitely not what inspired it, though. Like, ifyou notice, the characters were the archetypes of
the soldier, the virgin, the harlot, the scholar,and the jester, essentially. And they were each
killed by the four Hellenistic elements of earth,fire, water, and wind, plus shadow. That
essentially was the framework for my story. I knewI wanted to get those elements specifically in

(08:36):
there. Well, the Ghost Rider one was based off of apopular, scary story where a woman thinks a guy is
chasing her in his car, but really, he's trying towarn her about the killer in the back seat. That's a
pretty common one, actually. I just spun it withGhost Rider. And then the many angled ones is
actually a riff on my favorite short horror story,The Bookie Man, written by Stephen King. And then

(08:58):
the Crimson Lands one was just a zombie tale,because I wanted to write a Jennifer Kale story. I
thought it'd be cool to set it in the swamp, and itwas kind of reverse engineered from wanting to
have zombies in the swamp, but not have them betraditional zombies in the sense that they were
controlled by necromancy, but instead by BlackTom Cassidy, who could control plants. Yeah,
having Black Tom Cassidy be the villain who justdestroys man thing, I thought was a stroke of

(09:23):
genius. Yeah, I wanted to get in a lot of villainsthat we haven't used yet in Duel's, including
Black Heart, Black Tom Cassidy, and Shumagorath.And that was really cool, too. That's actually
something I wish I would have thought to do with mystories. Yeah, mine were better. I mean, we're
giving the no prize to Noa Terry, who said that mystory was better, which means that I not only won

(09:44):
the team duel, I won the story contest. So there inyour face. What are you trying to prove, man? What
are you trying to prove? I'm better than you, bro.Great answer, Noa Terry. You and this week's no
prize. If you, the listener, want a shot at winningyour own no prize, stay tuned to later on this
episode when we'll be asking another question ofthe week. And now that that's done, on to the news.

(10:11):
Okay, years ago, as everyone may remember, AT &Tsold Warner Brothers to the head of Discovery,
David Zaslov, who merged the two companiestogether with the intention of flipping the
studio, as it were. Many of us who followed thestory, including myself, were kind of hoping he
would sell to Comcast Universal to make them morecompetitive against Disney and their theme

(10:36):
parks. But it looks like Paramount has emergedrecently as the studio most interested in
acquiring Warner Brothers Discovery. WarnerBrothers Discovery has a lot of debt. So what David
Zaslov has done is talk about splitting thecompanies in two, just to make it more attractive
to buyers. But it looks like Paramount wants thewhole enchilada, and they offered an initial bid

(10:59):
of $57 billion, which David Zaslov rejected,because you always reject the first offer. It's
about $24 a share. Warner Brothers Discovery iscurrently trading at about $22 a share. So I think
it was a smart move. I think they could get more. Sowhile Paramount is working on a follow up bid,
Netflix has also entered the arena, activelyexploring a bid and even hiring a bank to put

(11:25):
together an offer. And with Warner BrothersDiscovery, suddenly the bell of the ball, even
Comcast owners who own Universal have talkedabout potentially putting in a bid. Now that's
less likely to happen, even though I would love forit to happen. Forbes recently came out with an
article saying that there's less than a 10% chanceof approval of Comcast acquiring Warner Brothers

(11:48):
because of the potential antitrust issues thatwould come with Comcast getting more of a monopoly
on internet services. The Paramount deal, Forbesis giving a 30 to 40% chance of approval for the
acquisition. It's just that Paramount as a studiois smaller than Warner Brothers, so they would
need to acquire a lot more money to buy it.Interestingly enough, Forbes is giving Netflix

(12:12):
the highest likelihood of approval between 50 and60%, although Netflix is not interested in
acquiring all of Warner Brothers, just the partsthat they can use essentially. Like I'm not even
sure Netflix would want something like DC Comicsthe comic company. No one does. I mean, I would.
We'll put together a bid. I'm poor. But it's reallyinteresting to see all of these players suddenly

(12:37):
come out of the woodwork for an opportunity to get ahold of Warner Brothers content library, which is
massive, and again includes DC Comics and DCStudios. There's been a lot of rumors as to whether
or not James Gunn would stay on board if WarnerBrothers were to be acquired. But it looks like at
least if Paramount makes the acquisition,they're very much interested in James Gunn

(12:59):
staying on board. Yeah, it would suck for DCStudios to just undergo this reboot only to have to
do it again almost immediately. Actually, thatwould make me laugh. I would be very upset. I would
be very upset. I don't know which of these threewould probably upset me more. I don't love really
any of them. They all have their potential pros andcons. I think what DC Studios has going now is good.

(13:24):
I mean, Warner Brothers is having a fantastic yearat the theaters. So I would say don't change
anything right now, but we'll see how things go. Dowe know when we're expected to hear something? I
think we'll hear something before the end of theyear for sure. And then it'll take a year or two to
get everything sorted out with the governmentpotentially. But considering the three suitors

(13:45):
interested in Warner Brothers, that brings us toour question of the week. Which company would you
most want to acquire Warner Brothers and DCStudios? And why? Yeah, I don't know how business
savvy a lot of you guys are, but basically I think agood way to approach this question is to look at the

(14:06):
existing buyers, see what existing librariesthey have in terms of content, and then think about
which of those libraries would incorporate DCStudios most easily. I think that's how I would
approach it at least. Record your answer atdynamicdool.com by clicking on the red
microphone button in the bottom right hand cornerof the screen, which will prompt you to leave us a
voicemail. Your message could be up to 30 secondslong. And don't forget to leave your name in case we

(14:31):
include you on the podcast. We'll pick ourfavorite answer and award that person a dynamic
duel note prize that we'll post to Instagram. Besure to answer before November 8th. But that does
it for all of the news for this episode, so let's goahead and move into our main event where we review

(14:54):
the HBO Max DC television series, PeacemakerSeason 2. Okay, Peacemaker Season 2, written by DC

(15:17):
Studios head James Gunn, is the third entry in DC'snew cinematic universe, following creature
commandos and Superman, also written by Gunn.Season 1 was a spin-off of James Gunn's film The
Suicide Squad, in which Peacemaker betrayed theSquad and later dealt with the ramifications of
his actions in Season 1 of his HBO series, whilealso saving the world from a secret alien

(15:41):
invasion. I loved The Suicide Squad and Season 1 ofPeacemaker, both had a terrific blend of action,
comedy, and heartfelt themes, as did creaturecommandos. With the success of Superman, I had
fairly high expectations for Peacemaker Season2, especially when James Gunn revealed that this
season would be setting up the story for theSuperman sequel, Man of Tomorrow. So did

(16:05):
Peacemaker Season 2 meet those expectations?Sadly, no. Not even close for me personally, for
reasons I will get into in this spoiler review. Ifyou haven't seen Peacemaker Season 2 yet, but want
to and lead up to Man of Tomorrow, stop listeningnow to avoid spoilers. Now, as I mentioned,

(16:26):
because of James Gunn's creative momentum withcreature commandos and Superman, my
expectations for Peacemaker's sophomore seasonwere sky-high, and maybe that's my fault for not
checking my expectations. I will admit that. Ikeep telling you. You do. You do. You think I would
have learned 10 years into this. But with creaturecommandos and Superman, Gunn had set a newish

(16:50):
tonal standard for the DCU, a reverent yetrespectful to the source material, heartfelt yet
humorous and fully character-driven. So myanticipation centered on how he would evolve
Chris Smith's story within the DCU's refreshedcontinuity. The promise of exploring new
dimensions this season, both literal andthematic, had to be convinced that it was going to

(17:15):
top its predecessor, Season 1. Now, at its core,Peacemaker Season 2 aimed to tackle identity,
guilt, and redemption, which are fitting themesfor a hero defined by contradiction, like
Peacemaker, who's willing to kill for peace. Theinterdimensional realm known in the show as the

(17:35):
Quantum Unfolding Chamber opens this gateway notonly to alternate realities, but also really into
the fractured psyche of Chris Smith himself,because he's forced to confront ghosts from his
past, the Earth-X version of his father, brother,and even himself. So the show initially plays like

(17:56):
this surreal therapy session, which isinteresting, but these rich themes of duality and
self-confrontation, I think lose focus amid theuneven pacing and just narrative clutter. What
could have been a poignant reflection onaccountability just gets buried beneath all of

(18:17):
the season's truly unnecessary subplots andtonal detours. I totally agree. I actually
thought we were going to spend much more time inEarth-X and kind of explore that where there was
going to be a lot more consequences, I think for allthe Nazis that lived there. There wasn't nearly
enough action in this season overall. No, no. Thatbeing said, I don't think I went in with any

(18:38):
expectations regarding this particular season,and so I think I liked it a little bit more than you
did save for the final episode, which I thought wastotally and utterly pointless. They should have
ended the series on episode seven, which I thoughtwas a much more fitting cliffhanger. They should
have ended it on episode 10, where they had a fewmore episodes to flesh everything out. Oh. I

(18:59):
agree. The last episode is bad. We'll get to that.But my personal biggest gripe is that the show,
like you mentioned, completely dropped the ballin exploring Earth-X, which I thought presented a
politically timely setup that the show,frustratingly, never explored beyond
short-lived surface-level irony. Even in thecomics, Earth-X is a world where Nazis won World

(19:23):
War II, which I think as a concept could have andprobably should have encompassed the entire
season. Like, I would have loved to have seen Gunnintroduce the freedom fighters, characters like
Uncle Sam, Phantom Lady, Black Condor, Ray, andHuman Bomb. That would have been a huge surprise,
but instead I found myself more surprised thatthat didn't happen. Yeah, Earth-X was almost

(19:45):
treated as an afterthought secondary to Chris'spersonal dilemma, which was interesting, but
also somewhat of a retread. From season one? Yeah,it was. They didn't need to do that. It made me feel
like James Gunn really didn't know what else to dowith the character, when really, like the Earth-X
storyline, exploring fascism and things likethat would have been perfect for the character of

(20:07):
Peacemaker, who is a fascist. Yeah, he'd have toweigh his own personal ideals around fascism with
the world of Earth-X. Which would have been reallyinteresting. As I was watching this season, I just
recognized so much like that that it should haveeither been expanded upon or cut entirely to make
room for what should have been expanded upon, likeEarth-X. Things like the Justice Gang's sudden

(20:32):
early cameo felt arbitrary, serving very littlenarrative purpose, and I thought it teased a
larger DCU integration that never materialized.There were so many superfluous jokes and
characters, like Red St. Wild, and indulgentmoments like Foxy Shazam's musical number
undercut the narrative tension instead ofreinforcing it. And if not more Justice Gang or the

(20:56):
introduction of the Freedom Fighters, or heck,even the Suicide Squad, I figured we'd at least get
live-action cameos from the creature commandos.Like, what's the point of having a shared
cinematic universe if outside characters can'tmake significant contributions to the story?
Instead of getting characters we as DCU fansreally want to see, James Gunn leans into

(21:16):
characters he's invented, like, Audubio. Whomight love, don't get me wrong. But I don't love
characters like Langston Flurry, or especiallyRed St. Wild. I get wanting to work with Tim Meadows
or Michael Rooker, but you shouldn't write dumbparts just to include them, because that time we
should be better spent. I don't know, I liked TimMeadows. I think I could watch a whole series just

(21:40):
based on that character. What? Bird blindness?Yeah, his bird blindness is hilarious. It is
hilarious, but it's also unnecessary. Like, ifyou're going to have jokes, have them serve the
story, I would say, you don't need to startinventing characters. There's already a huge
stable of DC characters to use, and I really lovedthat Hughes to Sasha Bordeaux. I forgot that she

(22:03):
was going to be in this season. She wasn't probablymaximized as well as she could have been, but, you
know, it's characters like that that I would loveto see more of. What really turned me against the
show, however, was the finale's cliffhanger,like you mentioned, in which Chris was trapped in
the dimension of salvation, leaving the seasonfeeling incomplete rather than open-ended. It

(22:25):
felt lazy, and with no plans for a season three thatpossibly means that the salvation storyline from
the comics will be picked up in Man of Tomorrow, asJames Gunn has teased, but I don't know how you
could do both salvation and Brainiac. If you'renot familiar with the storyline of salvation from
the comics, basically, Amanda Waller finds thisplanet, and she sends all of the supervillains

(22:51):
from Earth there. And basically, thesupervillains have to find a way back to Earth.
It's a great storyline. It sounds like Lord of theFlies meets DC supervillains. It was like that
exactly. It was that awesome. And we didn't get anyof that. That's why I wanted like three more
episodes of this season. I just feel like JamesGunn is juggling too much as a studio head. He's a

(23:13):
writer, and maybe he shouldn't be an executive,because as he's juggling so much, he's dropping
balls, which is not great this early into acinematic universe. Luckily, for everything
wrong with the season narratively, Peacemaker'scast of characters still makes the show worth
watching. Let's talk more about them in ourcharacter breakdown. Starting with Christopher

(23:36):
Smith, aka Peacemaker, played by John Cena. Now,before I saw Peacemaker on screen, I never really
wanted to. Like, there's a long list of charactersthat I would have rather seen adapted to live
action. But since the Suicide Squad and thesePeacemaker seasons, I've become a real fan of the
character, and especially of John Cena'sportrayal. He has made Peacemaker way more

(24:00):
relatable than I would have thought, and I hopeJohn Cena never stops playing him. No, John Cena is
to Peacemaker as Ryan Reynolds is to Deadpool. Iagree. They're just so endearing and really fill
shoes that no one else can fill. And I'm not a bigwrestling guy. Like, I didn't really follow John
Cena's career prior to him being cast asPeacemaker. I'm still surprised about how much he

(24:22):
nails the role. He is a really good actor. I wouldargue probably even better than The Rock or Dave
Batista. I would agree with that, yeah, for sure.Probably the best wrestling actor ever. Although
I haven't seen that new movie with The Rock playingthe MMA fighter guy. Oh, that's fair. Yeah, I
haven't seen that either. Apparently he's prettygood in it. So maybe we spoke too soon. Yeah, I heard

(24:45):
he was good. Now we're season one of Peacemakerforced Chris to reckon with guilt and morality.
Season two pushes him into self confrontation,literally, through the quantum unfolding
chamber, Chris faces alternate versions of hisfamily and himself, forcing him to question
whether redemption is possible, or just anotherdelusion. The death of his counterpart shakes

(25:09):
him, but also tempts him with the idea that maybeanother reality, one where he's not the screw up,
is the only place he belongs. His arc becomes aboutlearning that peace isn't something he can find by
escaping his past or reality. It's something hehas to make within himself, even when surrounded

(25:29):
by ghosts of who he could have been. The tragedy inthis season is that by the time he realizes that
he's once again trapped, this time not by guilt,but by the consequences of his past actions,
because he killed Ric Flagg Jr. and his dad hasaccess to the salvation dimension. Moving on to

(25:50):
Amelia Harcourt, she was played by JenniferHolland, who is James Gunn's wife. She's a
fantastic Harcourt. She pulls off the badassery,the sexiness and the chemistry with John Cena very
well. Like honestly, I'm not sure why as an actressJennifer Holland doesn't get more work outside of
this role, because she should. Yeah, in real life,she seems very much like a non-Harcourt type

(26:13):
person, so it kind of speaks, I think, to her rangeand skill as an actor that she pulls off this gruff
badass so well. Now, Harcourt's story this seasonis about divided loyalties and buried affection.
After season one, she's disillusioned with Argusand unsure of her place post-government work,
intentionally getting into bar fights just to hitand feel something. She resists her feelings for

(26:38):
Chris, seeing them as a liability, but hisdisappearance forces her to confront the truth
that her cynicism is really just armor. Herreluctant alliance with Ric Flagg Sr. shows how
easily she slips back into the system shedespises, but her ultimate decision to defy it and
risk everything to bring Chris home shows realgrowth this season. Harcourt begins as someone

(27:02):
who believes connection makes you weak and ends assomeone who realizes it's the only thing that
gives strength, her strength specifically,meaning. Yeah, I was really impressed with her
character growth this season. Like when she madethat call, just a matter of factly, that they were
going to go get Chris from the other dimension, Iwas like, okay, so she is in love with him and she is
willing to make these sacrifices for him and she'snot a total ice queen. Yeah, when Audubio got that

(27:28):
huge smile on her face, so did I. Yeah, I thought itwas a really interesting surprise when it was
revealed. That whole moment kind of brushed pastme when I first saw it, but right after that I
started thinking about the implications of whatthat actually meant and how she would hold a grudge

(27:48):
against Peacemaker for killing one of her bestfriends slash lovers. Yeah, that was a great
retcon that I thought added a great bit of conflictto her character. Yeah, and context. For sure.
Moving on to Leota, Adubio, she was played byDaniel Brooks. She delivers probably the
strongest performance of the show. She works sowell with both the comedy and drama throughout the

(28:13):
series. Next to Peacemaker, she's probably myfavorite character within the 11th Street Kids. I
agree, except again in that final episode whereeverything was just way too fucking dramatic and
simultaneously boring. The rest of the episodes,I thought Adubio was great. I felt truly horrified
for her on Earth X when she was being chased. DanielBrooks just gave a great performance. For sure.

(28:37):
Now Adubio starts this season still weighed downby the moral compromises she made for her mother,
Amanda Waller. This season reframed her as theconscience of the group, the one who tries to
anchor Chris as he unravels. When she follows himacross realities, it's not just loyalty. It's
sort of almost penance. And her experiences onEarth X, where minorities are hunted, push her

(29:02):
from passive guilt into active conviction. Shefinds her voice again, not as an agent executing
orders, but as a friend willing to defy authorityfor what's right. She reclaims her integrity
after her betrayal, and she learns thatredemption isn't just about saying sorry, it's
about what you stand for when no one's watching.Yeah, I thought it was a great continuation of her

(29:23):
arc from the first season where she kind of startedout as this kind of bumbling idiot and grew into
this super badass who was made for this shit anddecided that's where her calling was. Right,
exactly. She started off not wanting to be a spy andto realizing that's exactly what she was born to
do, although struggling at it. To end, creatingCheckmate, where they all could work together.

(29:46):
Now, explain Checkmate. Checkmate is sort of likeit's like shield in DC Comics. It's a clandestine
organization, the structure of which is rankedlike pieces of a chess board. Oh, kind of like the
Hellfire Club. Exactly. But what a rip-off.Better. I will say that Checkmate is a better name
than Hellfire Club, though. Yeah, for a chessthemed organization, absolutely. Yeah. Moving

(30:11):
on to John Economos. He's played by Steve Aggy, whois perfect as economists. I love seeing how he
handles conflict as a character. It feels verytrue to the actor. I don't know if that's an insult,
but he does it really well. It's just comedic gold.Yeah, the fact that he's a coward. Yeah, it was
funny to see him get stabbed in the hand and be like,holy shit. And then just totally unravel with all

(30:36):
their secrets. As much as you want to hate him forthat, it's understandable and at least
consistent for who he is. Right. Yeah. Now,Economos continues as the team's reluctant
straight man. But this time, his arc turns inward,continuously lying as a double agent of sort
within Argus while remaining loyal to the 11thStreet Kids. When he's literally stabbed by Aggy

(31:00):
on Earth X, it's almost like a metaphor for thetruth cutting through a self-deception. By the
end, his loyalty to Chris and the team isn't aboutjob security or fear anymore. It's about choosing
family. Economos starts the season trying tojustify his usefulness to Argus and ends up
realizing his worth has nothing to do with thebureaucracy that exploited him. Moving on to

(31:24):
Adrian Chase, a.k .a. Vigilante. He's played byFreddie Strowma, who's kind of like the DCU's
answer to Ryan Reynolds, though he wasn't as funnythis season as he was in the last, I thought. I did
not get all of the animal trivia obsession. Justserved as an example of all the useless filler
jokes that I thought permeated this season. Iagree. Yeah, the animal trivia thing got old

(31:48):
pretty quickly, although I really did like thejoke when Steve Aggy was like, how many eyes does a
spider have? And he was like, too. He was like, yousaid that so confidently, I actually had to look at
my phone. Now, Adrian's relationship with Chrishas always been rooted in hero worship. But this
season, Adrian's loyalty becomes less aboutblindly following Chris and more about

(32:12):
protecting him from himself. Though in the end,killing Aggy probably put a wedge between him and
peacemaker, more so than what we saw, though, whoknows if that will ever be explored further. I
don't think it'll affect their relationship toobad. I mean, Vigilante was just doing basically
what he thought he had to. I did love that it wasrevealed that he was like secretly a millionaire

(32:32):
with all this drug money hidden in his basement. Hejust refused to do anything with it. Spending
blood money will curse you for generations. Thelast character on this list is Ric Flag Sr., who is
played by Frank Grillo. He plays a great tough guywho appears in control, but he's teetering on the

(32:53):
edge. I didn't know he was going to end up as like themain antagonist of the season. But I thought he did
a good job with the role. Yeah, it makes sense. So Imean, it covers up a plot thread that has been
existing since the Suicide Squad in having thatwhole retribution for the murder of Ric Flag Jr. I
really don't like what they did with his characterin the last few episodes, though, where he really
became a stooge to Lex Luthor, which seems out ofcharacter. I know that his motivation was to get

(33:17):
back at peacemaker at any cost. But he also seemedto be enjoying himself with the Lex Luthor part.
But that kind of makes sense to me. Like, it makessense that Lex Luthor would turn someone like Ric
Flag Sr. into his stooge. It's in character for LexLuthor, if not Ric Flag Sr. I guess it makes me
respect Lex Luthor more as a formidable villain,but it makes me respect Ric Flag Sr. less and he's

(33:41):
the antagonist of this show. That's fair. He endsup not being the strongest villain. And maybe
that's another reason why he felt so disappointedby the final episode. And plus, he seemed terribly
inconsistent with his appearance in the CreatureCommando show. Oh, and that he didn't have white
hair. Well, not just an appearance, just in termsof how he acted. Like, I couldn't imagine the
animated version of Ric Flag Sr. like, laughingand drinking with his buddies while people were

(34:06):
getting killed. Maybe? Maybe you're right. Butlet's go ahead and move into our story highlights.

(34:29):
The Dynamite Podcast Network presents ConsoleCombat, where video game legends brawl every
Monday. Dynamic Duel, where comic book titanssmash every Tuesday. Max Destruction, where TV
and action heroes battle every Wednesday. AndCendro World, where anime champions clash every
Thursday. Join us as we speculate on the matchesand armed with the power of mathematical

(34:53):
simulations, discover who will emergevictorious. Visit dynamicpodcast.com, where we
settle the debate and settle the score. Episodeone was titled The Ties That Grime. Well, using his
quantum unfolding chamber, also known as the QC asstorage, Chris Smith, the peacemaker, discovers

(35:17):
a doorway to an alternate reality, Earth X, wherehis father, Augie Smith, is alive and a superhero.
Six months later, Chris struggles with not beingtaken seriously as a hero and being rejected by the
Justice Gang. Hardcore remains unemployed due toAmanda Waller's influence, while Argus director

(35:37):
Ric Flagg Sr. distrusts John Economos' reports onPeacemaker. Chris revisits Earth X and learns
that his brother Keith is also alive there. Aftermeeting his alternate self, the two fight in the
QC, ending with the Earth X peacemaker, mortallywounded and dying in Chris's arms. Great setup to

(35:57):
the show. I thought the final scene where the EarthX peacemaker dies, just seeing John Cena's acting
performance on that was definitely harrowing. Itwas just like a, oh, shit, moment. Yeah, this was
the episode with the Augie scene. Yes. Yeah, whichis a hell of a way to kick off the first episode of
season two. I gotta say, I didn't think that wasnecessary at all. I did think that parts of it were

(36:21):
hilarious. And also I was really put off by someparts of it. Like there was a lot more dudes jorkin'
their dork than I would have liked in a streaming TVseries. Can you imagine being a fan of Superman and
being so excited about this universe and wantingto watch more, only to see that in episode one?
There was a hilarious part, though, where aspeacemaker was going through the kitchen on his

(36:44):
way to the portal, there were a bunch of peoplehaving sex in his kitchen, but there was one guy in
the background who was just eating a sandwichwatching everybody. You know, James Gunn has
talked about his creative process before, wherehe says basically as a writer, you just need to
write and not really have an emotional reaction towhat you're writing because it just needs to get
done as the head of DC studios. It sounds like hereally has no one there to say, hey, James, this

(37:10):
might not be a good idea. And I kind of wish he did.Like where was Peter Saffron to be like, maybe
don't do an orgy in episode one. Fun fact,actually, I had to pause it a few times during that
scene because my wife was convinced that she wentto college with one of the actresses in the scene.
And I was like, whatever, no, it's just someone wholooks like somebody you went to college with. And

(37:33):
no, it turns out because she looked it up in the endcredits that, yeah, the one who like took a dump and
then didn't wash her hands in the second episode isan acquaintance of my wife's. They hung out a few
times during college, but she was like telling methis and I'm like, what the fuck am I supposed to do?
Should I avert my gaze now? Or like, what'shappening? I'm just going to keep watching the
show. That is a profound moral conundrum that Inever would have expected you to be in. For sure.

(37:58):
Moving on to episode two, it was titled, a man isonly as good as his bird. Argus agent Langstrom
Flurry is assigned as a condom as handler, as flagsenior grows suspicious out of by a warrants Chris
that he's being monitored and urges him tosurrender the QC. Adrian Chase Vigilante helps
Chris dispose of his counterparts corpse during arooftop party with Chris, Adabayo, Harcourt,

(38:24):
Adrian and Economos, the 11th Street kids. Flurryleads a raid on Chris's home, but is attacked by his
bald eagle, Eagle Lee, later a drunk Chrisreenters Earth X and messages that universe is
Harcourt, who was the former lover of the Earth Xpeacemaker. I have to say that so far, these two
episodes, I thought were great. And I was totallyon board with the show. I liked the direction it was

(38:46):
going. I was really interested in seeing where thestory was going to go. But then again, I also
thought like a majority of the remaining episodeswere going to take place in Earth X. Well, how did
you know that? Was the season spoiled for you? No, Ididn't know it was Earth X at the time. I just
thought it would take place in the otherdimension. Oh, I'm calling it Earth X now because I
know that in hindsight. Gotcha. Now, as much as Idon't like the inclusion of the character of

(39:08):
Langstrom Flurry, I do have to say him and SteveAggy do need their own show together. Yes, maybe
not San the DC universe, but their comedic riffingoff of each other was pure gold. It was so good. The
show could be called Ginger Cool. Ginger Cool andBird Blindness Guy. Episode three was titled
Another Rick Up My Sleeve. Chris meets Earth XHarcourt at Argus headquarters, learning that

(39:35):
universe's Rick Flag, Jr. is alive and dating her.Harcourt X reveals she broke up with peacemaker X
for being unfaithful and unwilling to commit.Their talk is cut short when the Sons of Liberty
threatened to blow up a building. Chris kills theterrorists and diffuses the bomb. After an
emotional talk with his brother, Keith, Chrisreturns home unaware that Argus agent Sasha

(39:58):
Bordeaux has assembled a team, includingeconomists Flurry, Judo Master and the Eagle
Hunter Red Saint Wilde to raid his house. This isactually my favorite episode. I just feel like a
lot happened in terms of like action and buildingup the intrigue of what was going to happen in the
later episodes that just never really came tofruition. Seeing peacemaker take on a whole squad

(40:21):
of terrorists is just so damn cool. I feel likethat's probably the best action scene that
peacemaker has on screen out of all of hisappearances. Even in the Suicide Squad? I can't
think of one better. What about the scene when hewas competing with Bloodsport? I liked this more.
OK. Less dick, you know. What did you think of RedSaint Wilde? He was just a strange character. I

(40:43):
think his inclusion was to set up this wholeeagerly being like the prime eagle sort of thing.
But that didn't really go anywhere. And I don'treally know what that means, actually. Like, what
does it mean to be the prime eagle? That means youcould control other eagles, apparently. I guess.
I mean, the only purpose that served was to kill RedSaint Wilde later on. So he was completely

(41:06):
unnecessary, in my opinion. There were some partsthat made me laugh out loud, though, like when John
Economist pushed the character over and like hehit his head on the rock. It was just so slapstick
and stupid. I did laugh out loud. And then when hetasted the eagle poop, he was like, he's been
eating Cheetos and ribeye steaks. And JohnEconomist was like, there's no way you could
possibly know that. I will say that it's acharacter that no one else could play, I think,

(41:30):
other than Michael Rooker. It does pose acontinuity issue where Michael Rooker is playing
two characters in the DCU, if the Suicide Squad isconsidered continuity and that he played Savant
and Red Saint Wilde. Well, I think theyestablished in the previously in the DCU tag at the
beginning of this season that any continuityerrors, you just have to kind of retcon mentally.

(41:53):
So like in Peacemaker Season One, it was Aquamanand the Flash and, you know, the Standard Justice
League that showed up. Whereas the retcon showedthat it was like Green Lantern and Hawk Girl and the
Justice Gang that showed up at the end of thatadventure. So you'd have to think that the retcon
with Michael Rooker would be that it was just adifferent actor playing Savant within that
universe's story regarding the Suicide Squad.Fine by me. I never liked him as Savant anyway.

(42:19):
Episode four was titled Need I Say Door. Economistwarns Chris about the Argus raid, prompting him to
flee with the Eagle Lee and the QUC Gateway device.Economists incapacitate Savant Wilde to save
Eagle Lee while Chris defeats Judo Master in thewoods. Chris and Adubio regroup at a cabin in
Subdler's Hill, where he transfers the QUC portalto a new location. Meanwhile, Flag Senior temps

(42:45):
Harcourt with reinstatement if she helps capturePeacemaker. Chris tells Adubio he plans to move
permanently to the alternate reality and latertexts Harcourt to meet him. Unaware, she's
accepted Flag Senior's offer. St. Wilde performsa ritual that reveals Eagle Lee's location at the
cabin. Can you remind me why at this point thatPeacemaker was on the run? Why they didn't access

(43:09):
his location via the chip in his head like they didlater on in the season? OK, bad writing is the
answer. Really? OK. I thought maybe it was a plothole, but also I thought maybe I missed something.
No, I don't think you missed anything. There issomething about security clearance. But I don't
think there was an issue for Flag Senior because hewas the head of Argus. Right. Like I said, James

(43:31):
Gunn, he's juggling too many balls. Episode fivewas titled Back to the Suture. At their meeting,
Harcourt insists there's no future between herand Chris, the Noxum and Conscious to prevent
Bordeaux from killing him. At Argusheadquarters, she convinces economists to book
Chris in jail to save him from Flag Senior'sbrutality. Adubio later bails Chris out and

(43:52):
drives him to the cabin, trailed by Judo Master,feeling he doesn't belong in this universe. Chris
decides to cross over permanently with Eagle Lee,who summons a flock of eagles to kill Saint Wilde.
Judo Master sneaks into the queue you see before itcloses and after reading Chris's farewell
letter, Harcourt vows to bring him home. It wascool to see Sasha Bordeaux actually be a cyborg in

(44:15):
this series because she is in the comics. She usedto be Bruce Wayne's bodyguard until she was in a
terrible accident and that she was kind of rebuiltby the government. She probably doesn't have that
history with Bruce Wayne in this universe. I'mguessing it could be wrong. But I just like her as a
character and I definitely like that she wasincluded in the creation of Checkmate because she
is the Black Queen. I'm wondering why they chose toinclude that romance between her and Ric Flagg

(44:41):
Senior. It really didn't go anywhere. And it wasvague as to what was happening to begin with.
That's a good question. Yeah, that was anotherunnecessary element within the show. Another
reason why writers like James Gunn probably needchecks and balances. Episode six was titled
Ignorance is Chris. The 11th Street Kids activatethe dimensional portal at Adrian's home and

(45:03):
travel to retrieve Chris. In Earth X, Harcourt Xmeets Chris with help from Keith, while Adrian
meets his counterpart, who reveals he joined theSons of Liberty because of Peacemaker X.
Economist is found and stabbed by Augie, forcinghim to confess that Peacemaker X is dead. Chris
admits his love for Harcourt but refuses to leavethe dimension. When Chris discovers a US flag

(45:28):
replaced with a Nazi swastika, Harcourt X alertssecurity. Meanwhile, Adebayo is hunted by Earth X
residents and Flagg Senior makes a deal with LexLuthor to help locate Peacemaker's portal in
exchange for a transfer to Van Kul prison. It wascool to see a cameo by Nicholas Holt as Lex Luthor in

(45:48):
this series. Yeah, I forgot to mention it, but JoelKineman also had a cameo in a couple of episodes
here. It was cool to see him back. The guy wasactually pretty damn funny in his Earth X
appearance. I thought that was pretty damn good.It did make me miss him as Ric Flagg Junior. Yeah, he
was a good character. For sure. What was yourreaction to the Earth X reveal? Really? I thought I

(46:08):
was like, oh, that's a cool Easter egg. I thought sotoo. I was like, oh, shit. Shit just got real. This
is going to be an awesome season. And then likeafter the next episode, nothing really happened
with it. It's almost like the show let Earth X offthe hook for being this like Nazi controlled
nightmare universe, just completely forgotabout it. Sort of. I mean, with Augie revealing

(46:29):
that not everyone wants to be under Nazi controlkind of made it a little bit more sympathetic. But
still, you would think that if you visit a placewhere Nazis took control, you would want to do
everything you can to stop that. Yeah, I don'tthink that Augie's reasoning, therefore,
accepting the status quo was good enough because,you know, superheroes are meant to fight Nazis.

(46:49):
It's the whole reason comic book superheroes wereinvented to begin with. And, you know, any true
superhero would have taken it to the regime. Andthat would have been the big battle, I think, that
this series sorely needed. It would have been coolto see the 11th Street Kids team up with White
Dragon and Keith's character partnered maybewith even the freedom fighters and see them all
take down the Nazis. That's what I wanted to see.That would have been awesome. Moving on to Episode

(47:13):
7, it was titled Like a Keith in the Night. Chris andhardcore escape Argus, but are captured by Augie
and Keith. Judo master rescues Adebayo as FlagSenior and Bordeaux team up with ex Luther Corp
employee Sydney Happerson to find the portal.When the police arrive, Augie lets Chris and his
friends go despite Keith's protests. Adriankills Augie, horrifying both brothers. The group

(47:39):
flees toward the portal pursued by Keith, who isbadly injured by Eagle, Adrian and Harcourt
before Chris stops them from killing him,overcome with guilt over the deaths around him.
After a shootout with police, the group returnshome and seal the portal, only to be surrounded by
Argus. Chris surrenders and hands over the QCdevice to Flag Senior. My favorite line from this

(48:03):
episode was, that was the most people I've everkilled with an electrical cable in a swimming
pool. I actually really liked Judo master thisseason. Yeah, he was better in this season than
last I would agree. Mainly because he teamed upwith the 11th Street kids. And I feel like he's
better served as an ally because he's just such anasshole. But they're all assholes, you know?
Right, right, right. Again, the season shouldhave ended here and the story picked up in the next

(48:26):
season. Because you had like the perfect setupwhere like Judo master was on the team of the 11th
Street kids, but also it was the culmination of theEarth X storyline. Right, exactly. And it was a
great culmination, too. Like Peacemaker justfeeling so much guilt again over his father's
death and the near death of his brother once again.That was powerful stuff. Yeah, for sure. But it

(48:51):
didn't end there. There was one more episode,episode eight titled Full Nelson. A flashback
shows Chris in hardcore sharing a kiss during aboat concert before she walked away in the
present. Chris sits in prison, refusingvisitors. Argus investigates new doors and
worlds accessible through the QC, where numerousagents are killed. Adebayo and Adrian bail Chris

(49:14):
out, but he vanishes with eagerly. Argusdiscovers a livable dimension dubbed salvation,
which flag senior proposes as a metahuman prison.Disillusioned, Bordeaux exposes the plan to
Harcourt and the two quit Argus. Together withAdebayo, Adrian and Economus, they find Chris at a
motel and reassure him of his worth. Harcourtadmits that their kiss together meant something

(49:39):
and they begin dating. A week later, the groupforms a new agency, Checkmate, alongside
Bordeaux, Flurry and Judo Master. But in a finaltwist, Peacemaker is abducted and trapped in
salvation by flag senior and Argus, who alsoclosed the portal back. Now, here's the main
problem I have with this finale and the reasoningof Rick flag senior. If he didn't care what

(50:05):
happened to the prisoners, knowing that theywould eventually just kind of die by being
stranded on salvation. Why even put them on alivable dimension to begin with? Like, why not put
them in the candyland dimension if you don't careabout them? I thought the exact same thing.
Literally, it doesn't matter where you dump them.If what happens to them is of no consequence to you.

(50:27):
I thought maybe he was trying to work around a legalissue, but I don't even think that was the case.
Well, yeah, if it was, that was never explained. SoI don't think it was. It's really weird because he
could have done two different things. He couldhave put prisoners in a lethal dimension and
exploited salvation for its resources, and itseems weird that that's not what he chose to do. You

(50:50):
would think that he would just toss Peacemaker inthat hell dimension, which I thought was
hilarious because like they opened the door andthey're like, let's not go in there. Yeah. Yeah,
but the whole thing could have been aboutresources. Like they hypothesized in this
episode. You're totally right. It was weird, justa weird ending. I didn't like it at all. It just felt
really rushed and tacked on. It left me reallydisappointed with this season. Well, it also

(51:14):
provides a stumbling block for checkmate, right?Because now they don't even get to be the
organization they want to be until they finish theside quest with Chris. Right. If they had plans for
a season three, which they don't, they could havestarted that season off with them doing
investigative work. But now they can't do that.Unless again, they're planning on appearing in
Man of Tomorrow, which that's a huge cast ofcharacters to have appear there. Overall, I think

(51:39):
while this shows heartfelt and humorous ensemblecast delivers, the story fails to live up to its
potential, making for a disappointing earlyentry in the DCU. I'm giving it two and a half out of
five stars, which is a rotten rating on rottentomatoes. It's a little harsh, but I don't fully

(52:01):
disagree with that rating. Again, I really likedlike the first three to four episodes of this show.
And really, what happened is that it didn't gowhere I thought it would. And it didn't fulfill
that potential, that great potential that it hadestablished. There were some weird moments. A lot
of it was just kind of like jumbled together in a waythat made it feel half hazard. Absolutely. Yeah,

(52:22):
between the filler, the plot holes, theunnecessary characters and subplots, the missed
opportunities and unsatisfying ending, I reallyhad a hard time justifying a higher rating than
this, which I agree does feel harsh, especiallyconsidering a majority of critics liked it. Like
we're late in getting up this review. Currently,season two is standing at a 95 percent on the tomato

(52:46):
meter. Although I think most of those reviews werejust of the initial episodes. Hopefully they do
announce a season three and maybe the show canredeem itself. I feel like they're not going to
announce anything until this potential WarnerBrothers acquisition happens. So who knows how
long it'll be before we get some news. That's just aguess, though. But that does it for this review.

(53:08):
A.G .9K help close us out. Support the show onPatreon at patreon.com slash dynamic dual and
joining a tier that works for you or by rating andreviewing dynamic dual on Apple podcasts,

(53:29):
Spotify, Podchaser or on our website. Don'tforget to listen to the other shows in the dynamite
podcast network, including Max Destruction,Senjo World and Console Combat. In our next
episode, we're getting back to the duals.Actually, it's going to be a team dual where we find
out who would win in a fight between the authorityoriginating in DC's Wildstorm Universe and the

(53:53):
Cabal, which is like the villain version of theIlluminati in Marvel. That does it for this
episode. We want to give a big thanks to ourexecutive producers, John Starosky, Zachary
Hepburn, Dustin Belcombe, Nathaniel Wagner,Levi Aitin, Austin Wazalowski, AJ Dunkerly,
Nikobanto, Scott Camacho, Gil Camacho, AdamSpeese, Dean Molesky, Devin Davis, Joseph
Kirsting, Mike Williams and Paul Graves forhelping make this podcast possible. We'll talk to

(54:17):
you guys next week. Up, up and away, truebelievers. Don't talk your joke. You'll go blind.
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