The whirlwind season one of HBO’s Peacemaker finished today. Episode 8, “It’s Cow or Never,” dropped, and we are all trying to pick up the pieces left in its wake. Let’s take this time to sit back, discuss, and digest all the major reveals from the episode. **Spoilers for Peacemaker’s season 1 finale.**
The Beard Revelation
Throughout the season, Peacemaker teased John Economos about dyeing his beard. Dye-Beard vehemently denied ever dyeing it. He claimed it “just grew that way.” However, while pretending to be one of the possessed Butterfly humans in the finale, Economos must lack emotion and answer truthfully. Another Butterfly asks him why the human would color his beard that way. In one of the saddest reveals, Economos confesses his beard was, in fact dyed, that color. He admits to thinking it makes him look younger, but he didn’t have the time or money to perform proper upkeep.
The Butterfly Effect
Before Peacemaker could kill the cow, Goff (wearing Detective Sophie Song) stopped him and told Peacemaker the true plan of the Butterflies. The flying aliens came from a destroyed planet, and when they saw what humans were doing—denying climate change, withholding basic decency from others—the Butterflies knew humans would destroy Earth. Not wanting to repeat history, the Butterflies paired with humans to steer them off such a disastrous course.
Knowing Peacemaker operated on a strict code of conduct, Goff tried swaying him to side with the Butterflies. The Butterfly said not killing the cow would help bring peace and that Judomaster joined them of his own free will—that Judomaster saw the bigger picture of what the Butterflies were trying to do.
A Shield?!
The 11th Street Kids fought like never before. Harcourt expertly took out several enemies after being injured, and Vigilante tossed a knife behind him without looking and hit someone square in the face, but the big surprise was Peacemaker’s shield. Sporting his signature dove of peace, the large shield became a centerpiece of Peacemaker’s attack, tossing the shield, shooting it to aim the trajectory, and taking down enemies all over the place like a majestic dance. Captain America should be envious of Peacemaker’s mastery.
ADEBAYO
In several episodes, Leota Adebayo claimed to be helpful with weapons. Yet every time she had a gun, she seemed squeamish and reluctant to use it. Many times, she questioned whether the team really needed to kill people as quickly as they did. Now we know just what talent Adebayo kept hidden. Like a scene out of The Matrix, Adebayo wiped out the remaining enemies in moments.
Adebayo’s surprises kept coming. After having a heart-to-heart with Peacemaker, she exposed her mother’s lies. Adebayo held a press conference and told the world about the secret government project, The Suicide Squad. She said her mother, Amanda Waller, led the human experiment out of Belle Reve Prison and that the diary found in Peacemaker’s trailer was a forgery.
Peacemaker is not Okay
Chris Smith, Peacemaker, underwent a lot of emotional trauma and growth during the season. He came to realize that he was not to blame for the death of his brother, his unloving father was toxic, and other people matter. Confessing to Adebayo that he made his choice with the Butterflies based on the team’s well-being showed how far he has come.
However, killing his father in the previous episode weighs heavily on Smith. He started seeing the ghost of his father, haunting and taunting him. Smith knew it was a hallucination, but he’s not exactly thinking straight, not to mention he still questions whether he made the right choice with Goff and the Butterflies. At the end of the episode, Eagly brought him a dead animal treat because the sidekick can see Peacemaker’s inner turmoil.
Goff
The attack on the barn defeated the Butterflies. In the closing scene, Peacemaker woke up to Goff knocking on his trailer window and brought the jar of food he still had to Goff. As the pair sat together, Goff ate the last of the food on the planet and Peacemaker drank a beer. It leads to a lot of questions about the fate of the aliens.
The BFF Lists
Vigilante told Peacemaker and Adebayo that his number one BFF went in the order of Peacemaker, followed by Eagly, and Adebayo at fifth place. Numbers three and four on the list remain a mystery. More importantly, Peacemaker revealed his real BFF rankings to Adebayo. First was Eagly, and second was Adebayo, but Peacemaker told her not to tell Vigilante. Obviously, it would break his heart.
Where’s the Justice League?
… Right there. Ah, the eternal question when there’s a potentially world-ending event going on that the planet’s greatest heroes seemingly haven’t noticed. In this case, the Justice League did indeed show up to assist, only to find that they were too late, as Peacemaker so eloquently pointed out to them.
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Yesterday, HBO told us that the second season of Peacemaker is in the works. It is exciting to see where they will take the story, but at least we know Aquaman has heard the rumor … and he doesn’t like it.
(featured image: HBO)
