Episode Review: Peacemaker 2x8 - "Full Nelson"

Welcome back to the blog readers. It suffices to say that Peacemaker's (2022-) second season has been nothing but chaos, but in the best way. This has been a deeply personal and emotional story, and it is the more richer for having told it. Now, we are nearing the end of one of my favorite shows, and we are being promised more chaos than anything. This finale, titled "Full Nelson," and written and directed by James Gunn, is one of the reasons why Gunn was made co-head of DC Studios. So what would we get that sets up the future of the DCU, who exactly is the "really, really, really big cameo," and what exactly happened on that party boat? Stick around to find out.

NOTE: I will be using spoilers for my thoughts, so DO NOT read ahead if you have not seen the episode.

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I have been eagerly anticipating this finale because James Gunn promised it was going to be batshit crazy. I even intentionally missed watching my first football game of the year (on another note, who thought the Eagles would get pummeled like that by two rookies?) to watch this episode at 9:00 sharp. And I just have one thought: James Gunn trolled us! The "really, really, really big cameo" was fucking Foxy Shazam, who perform the season's opening number. End of review. Bye guys. But I do have thoughts on this finale, and I want to start by talking about the performance of Danielle Brooks.

You should be putting a whole lot of respect on the name of Danielle Brooks, because she is proving herself to be a versatile as hell actor. She just turned 36 and already has Tony, Oscar, Emmy, and British Academy Film nominations, in addition to a Grammy win. Oh, and she was in the abysmal A Minecraft Movie (2025) (a film that does NOT deserve a sequel regardless of how much it made). But her performance as Leota Adebayo is definitely slept on by a lot of people. And the turn she is able to give in this finale really proved to me that she deserves all those accolades I just mentioned. She is the emotional heartbeat of this show and her scenes with Keeya and the rest of the 11th Street Kids show this off perfectly. She brings so much warmth and love and togetherness to this role and this show and I could not imagine it without her.

I also want to praise the performance of Steve Agee. This means I have praised the performance of every member of the 11th Street Kids over the course of this season. Agee, one of James Gunn's longtime friends, has been in a lot of his projects, such as Super (2010), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017), and the Gunn-produced film Brightburn (2019). But Agee has really allowed his character of John Economos to grow and evolve. His speech about his beard in the first season's finale was touching in only a way Agee could pull off, but what he does in this finale, from shedding doubt on the legitimacy of A.R.G.U.S.'s methods to pulling off some pretty poor comedy, was something only a true titan of comedy could do. Think Sal Vulcano, a very funny guy, trying to not be funny in Impractical Jokers (2011-) as your touchpoint for this.

Now, I have to talk about this supersized story we get this time around, because it is going to explore the possibilities regarding the future of the DCU and what we possibly could expect in Man of Tomorrow (2027) (although I will go more into speculating about the future of the DCU in my season write-up). We pick up with a flashback to one month prior to the events of this season, with Christopher Smith / Peacemaker and Emilia Harcourt sharing a dinner at the local Big Belly Burger. She is upset at losing her job since Waller was exposed when Chris embarrasses Harcourt by singing a song that comes on the radio. They eventually get shots and begin drinking before Harcourt confronts a man who was catcalling her outside. Chris breaks the confrontation up, and when she asks why he was protecting her, he claims he was protecting the man because he knows what she can do. He convinces a reluctant Harcourt to joining him on a rock cruise that features the band Nelson. Back in the present day, Chris is in prison and refuses to see anyone, including Adrian Chase, John Economos, Leota Adebayo, and Harcourt, claiming that he is the angel of death, something he is mocked by the guards over. Adebayo goes over to Adrian's house, and he is still dejected over Chris turning himself in. Adebayo tries to convince him to use some of his money to get Chris a lawyer, but he refuses to touch it. She uses reverse psychology on him, manipulating their love for him to get him to post Chris's bail instead.

Meanwhile, Rick Flag has commandeered the use of the dimensional device, and has his A.R.G.U.S. agents (including Langston Fleury, Sasha Bordeaux, Judomaster, and Harcourt) go through each door in the Quantum Unfolding Chamber (QUC) to search for something unexplained yet. Before making it into one of the doors (which they call Door 22), Fleury begins telling an embarrassing story about Kline (who Fleury nicknamed Kewpie). They go in to a dimension that looks a lot like Candy Land, but is inhabited by Imps that attack on sight and are smarter than they seem. The agents are barely able to make it out of the dimension, but Kline was not so lucky, leading Fleury to get visibly emotional. Later that day, Economos and Harcourt are in Chris's home looking for Eagly, and they talk about what they are doing and why they are doing it. Harcourt thinks it is for resources, but Economos believes there is something sinister Flag wants and questions if anything they have ever done is good for the people. He finds a depressed Eagly and lures him out with food. Meanwhile, Chris has posted bail, and refuses to leave until he is told he needs to, but he shows up at his house to get Eagly and immediately skip town.

Flag continues to have his agents explore the other dimensions, and he celebrates with Lex Luthor's men, including Sydney Happersen and the recently brought in Otis. The agents explore dimensions with vulgar hellspawn and zombies, and he is oblivious to the loss of life while Bordeaux, Judomaster, and Fleury begin to get fed up with this. They finally discover a beautiful, nature-filled dimension that Flag seems to take a liking to. He refuses to even tell Harcourt what his main plan is, leading her to become disillusioned. He takes his findings to the government, specifically the Secretary of Defense (and not War, you Nazi-loving, mouth-breathing cunts that will inevitably yell at me for not calling him the "Secretary of War"). He calls this dimension Salvation, and plans on sending any malicious metahumans to this dimension so they can never escape. This is the final straw for Bordeaux, who blows Flag off for dinner and calls Harcourt to voice her displeasure. At the same Big Belly Burger, she reveals the real reason they are searching for this dimension, and Harcourt reveals she could be court marshaled for this. Bordeaux asks Harcourt if she could help her with something, and she tells her that she has a friend that could help. Bordeaux is introduced to Adebayo, and she seems open to what Adebayo is saying. While Harcourt is freshening up in the bathroom, she finds a ticket for the rock cruise.

We flash back again to the rock cruise where the band Nelson is playing one of their songs "To Get Back To You." Harcourt is appalled at the music at first, but she grows more receptive to it, leading her to drunkenly begin dancing to it. Chris does the same, and they eventually kiss. After a few seconds, she pulls away and says she has to go, upsetting Chris. Back in the present day, Harcourt asks Bordeaux if she still has access to Peacemaker, to which she says yes. The two of them and Economos return to the A.R.G.U.S. hideout, and Economos provides a distraction (albeit horribly) to prevent Happersen from seeing what she is doing. While this is happening, Adebayo pays a visit to her wife Keeya and she puts what she learned in her conversation with Judomaster last week to good use. She discusses their initial dream of owning a pet store, but she tells Keeya that she has pivoted and wants to do this, and does not want either of them to feel trapped in this marriage. Keeya tearfully agrees as they decide to let their marriage go and go their separate ways. The entire team locates Chris at a motel and when he cannot be convinced by Harcourt, Economos, and Adebayo, Adrian attacks and tases him to get him to not run, despite the protests from the other three.

In his motel room, Chris tries to tell the four that he does not want to see them because he is cursed and everyone who gets close to him dies. He killed his brother when he was young, he killed Flag Jr., he killed his father, and he even killed himself in the other dimension. Adebayo tries to tell him that only happens when he listens to other people and does not listen to himself, citing his dumb decision to go to the other dimension. She then tells him that when he is himself, he is a great guy that makes people feel loved. She tearfully tells him that she believes in miracles because of him and that despite him being big and stupid, she knows he loves her, and she cannot say that about anyone else. Adrian tells him that he is his best friend and he doesn't want to do "cool shit" without him. Adebayo tells him that Economos has risked his life for him, and Harcourt tells him that all five of them are tied. He is hesitant to help them, but still wants to know from Harcourt if what happened on the boat meant anything to her, and she finally gives in and tells him that it meant everything to her, leading Chris to jump around the motel room in excitement.

In the aftermath, set to Foxy Shazam's "Oh Lord," the 11th Street Kids gleefully take Adrian's "blood money" to be able to form their own agency called Checkmate. We see them having the time of their lives setting up the new digs, and they even got Bordeaux, Fleury, and Judomaster to join them. Fleury takes a liking to Adrian by quizzing him on animal facts, and Chris and Harcourt attend another rock cruise (this time seeing Foxy Shazam themselves) as a couple (and Harcourt sings all the words). The eight of them walk out of the agency and look at it with pride, especially Adebayo. One night, Chris is going into his motel room when he is beaten and kidnapped by masked agents. He is blindfolded and brought to the A.R.G.U.S. hideout, where Flag reveals Salvation was approved by the government and he will be the first test subject, even going as far as to forge his signature on volunteer papers. He leaves him on one line: "This is for Ricky...you piece of shit." The door closes and Chris is left stranded on Salvation, when he hears animalistic roars as the screen cuts to black.

I cannot believe that James Gunn decided to end on that note, because now it seems like Flag has become a villain, and the potential villain of Man of Tomorrow, and it completes a character arc for him where he has never really been someone to play both sides. If we get to see Frank Grillo play an unhinged Flag in Man of Tomorrow, I will be a very happy boy (I'm not actually a boy, I'm a grown adult that has already lived longer than Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison did). Gunn has said Checkmate and Salvation will be important for his DCU plans, and this was part of his pitch to Warner Brothers Discovery CEO David Zaslav. Gunn has not let me down yet, so I will wait with bated breath to see what he is able to pull off in the next few installments of the DCU.

Peacemaker's second season finale features a bit of everything: build towards the future, emotional beats that are earned, and another reason why Danielle Brooks is a phenomenal actor. Thank you all for reading, and I will see you for the next post.