‘Peacemaker’ season 2, episode 5 recap: Back To The Suture
Chris chooses the alternate universe; the show kills off its funniest character; Leota gets her first job
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WE’RE ABOUT HALFWAY through Peacemaker season two, and the show is only now starting to spend more time in the alternate reality. Before that, Emilia wasn’t a complete sellout as she lured Chris out in the ARGUS ambush. Leota sort of gets her first freelance security gig. And the sophomore season has its first death, which sadly sees a short-lived appearance of its funniest character (yet).
Below, we recap the happenings of ‘Back To The Suture’.
Read our recap on last week’s episode of Peacemaker season two here.
RIP Rick Jr
Another prologue starts this week’s episode, providing some context between Rick Flag Sr and Emilia Harcourt. It takes place at Rick Flag Jr’s funeral, where some members of the to-be Task Force X pay their respects, or as Sr sees it, people Jr couldn’t stand. He and Emilia get to chatting about how they’re all wasting their lives in service of their nation: “We could’ve been accountants”. The bloodshed isn’t worth it. By this point, Sr was still kept in the dark about the particulars of his son’s death, chief among them being who murdered him. Emilia can’t say; he’s barred from seeing the files, too.
In Sr’s eyes, he considers Emilia family as he insists that she call him Rick and not General. “He loved you,” he tells Emilia. “Your son loved a lot of women, Rick.” As he leaves, she imparts that whoever killed Jr will pay.
‘Copacetic’
Turns out Emilia is who Leota thought she was all along: an 11th Street Kid through and through. Emilia wasn’t playing Judas last episode but slipped in her and Chris’ secret code, “copacetic”, to warn him about the ARGUS ambush. He doesn’t downplay it either when he arrives at the crowded park, using bystanders and dogs as shields from Judomaster’s sniper gaze. Though Emilia didn’t want him to actually show up, but to instead stay away from her. As she tells him, his ego is too big to listen.
Instead, he wanted to verify for himself if what she said on the rooftop during the reunion was true, if he meant anything to her – anything at all. Chris can’t catch on fast enough that Emilia is saying no because she wants to protect him. The ARGUS team have them surrounded (in their athleisure disguises) before Bordeaux has a clear shot of Peacemaker. Emilia jumps in before putting him in a headlock and knocking him out instantly, in her way saving him.
Plans within plans
Flag Sr, on the other hand, is two steps ahead. He wanted Emilia to get in Bordeaux’s line of fire to save Chris. He also wanted Economos, whom he knows is still morally conflicted about betraying his friends, to put Chris’ arrest on public record. After Sr gets a few punches in while ARGUS has Chris detained, he reveals to Bordeaux that they’ll release him, leading Judomaster to where he’s keeping the Unfolding Chamber.
Bordeaux, a half-cyborg agent, is in a similar position to where Emilia was in the prologue: a star pupil in the agency who speaks formally to her superiors. Sr insists that she calls him Rick. She smirks at the familiarity, maybe even a flirtation brewing between the two. Which makes us wonder, was Sr also trying to get with Emilia after his son’s death?
Meanwhile at Settlers’ Hill
Back at the old Smith hunting cabin, Leota gets a call from her first customer! Though with some strange requests: he wants her to wear a top hat (like in the gaunt ad illustration) and possibly speak Greek. Considering this will be her first freelance security gig, she’s game. Adrian squashes it quickly, saying, “Greek” is sex work speak for anal with the escort receiving. As we’re five episodes deep into season two, it’s so far been as funny as the first, with most of the comedic heavy-lifting being done by peripheral characters. The main themes of trauma naturally fall on John Cena’s shoulders as Peacemaker, which leaves little time (notice how the episodes are getting shorter?) for the actor’s comedic chops.
Red St Wild was short-lived
One of the best additions to the cast this season is hands down Michael Rooker as Red St Wild, the Native American appropriator, who pulls out this Looney Tunes large shotgun to hunt down Eagly in the forest. Red catches sight of a majestic bald eagle flying overhead before shooting it down. It seemed easy enough because that wasn’t Eagly. The murder spawns a soar of eagles around Red, summoned by Eagly, to avenge the innocent bird’s death. Turns out Red isn’t entirely a kook; Eagly might actually be some sort of alpha as the soar scratches and bites Red to shreds. A short lived run for the show, really, of one of its funniest characters.
Chris chooses the alternate reality
Chris isn’t doing so great. While not exactly news five episodes in, after Emilia feigns that she never took their relationship seriously, this causes him to spiral, finding no reason to keep living . . . in this universe at least. Back at Settlers’ Hill, he activates the Unfolding Chamber, stepping through before closing it behind him – with no way to open it on either end. Judomaster watches this from the window, which will put a hold on Sr’s plans.
Chris brings Eagly too, who luckily isn’t canon in the alternate universe. The bird is a “rescue sidekick,” as he tells his brother, Keith. They head to a mission downtown where a kaiju is wreaking havoc. Peacemaker, Keith, Auggie, Eagly assemble, flying as the unit Chris always dreamt of being a part of.
Meanwhile, the 11th Street Kids find Chris’ note that he’ll be assuming his döppelganger’s identity on the other side. He wants to be a “brother to his brother, and a son to his father” (truly stupid, hilarious writing), as he writes. Emilia is determined to make amends as she spearheads the gang’s new mission to find a way into the alternate reality. Adrian is keen, hoping to find his other self. In the other reality, the episode ends with a victorious Peacemaker covered in kaiju blood as he embraces the other Emilia.
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