The original post: /r/television by /u/TheGodDMBatman on 2025-09-29 02:38:44+00:00.
And I feel like I’m taking crazy pills with how many people love S2 and give excuses for its bad writing!
For context, I loved The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker S1; both made me excited for Gunn’s DCU. But S2 of Peacemaker is so far below in quality compared to S1. Here’s why:
Pacing Issues: The biggest problem with the writing this season is the pacing, and that hurts every other aspect of this show, which I’ll get into below. But first, the plot meanders, characters summarize plots points to other characters, and nothing substantial happens for episodes on end. Each episode, I’m left with a “that’s it?” feeling because of how long and drawn out the plot is. Argus chases Chris again and again. Chris enters then leaves the alternative dimension again and again. Chris relays all this information to Adebayo. yawn. There’s a lot of conversation around how short the episodes feel, and it’s largely within the context of “OMG this show is amazing, I can’t get over how short each episode is!”, but I truly think the underlying sentiment is that nothing substantial or interesting happens all season.
Best Dimension Ever Twist Everyone knew there was going to be a twist with this alternative dimension; that in and of itself isn’t a problem. The problem is that the audience already guessed this since episode 1, so the reveal all the way in episode 6 (3rd to last episode of the season) just felt boring and predictable. Imagine how much tighter the pacing would be if Peacemaker spends the entirety of Episode 1 or 2 enjoying the “best dimension ever” and deciding to stay for good, only to shut the door permanently before seeing the Nazi American flag. “Ah fuck” and cut to the credits. Then the rest of the season is Peacemaker exploring this alternative Nazi American dimension while his friends try to save him. Instead, we spend a whole season (and 3.5 year wait in between seasons) pussyfooting around the plot.
But it’s a character focused season, not a plot driven one! Yes, but that doesn’t mean it has to be boring either. Chris spends the whole time pining over Emilia Harcourt and bringing up “that night on the boat” while Emilia spends her time wallowing in her own self-pity. Could we not have done this while also having an interesting plot? There really is no character development, just characters stating things to each other. And the rest of the cast doesn’t have anything interesting to do either: Vigilante: A breakout character and actor from season 1 spends more time wearing his costume in the intro than he does in the actual episode. All he does this season is simp for Peacemaker, bring up the “animal facts” joke yet again, and say out of pocket shit occasionally. Adebayo: Another breakout character and actor from season 1 who is relegated to being the group therapist, which sucks because she’s such as funny actor. Again, she gets no character development either. Like yeah, she’s got a failing business and broke up with her girlfriend (wife?)—that’s it. James Gunn doesn’t go into that any further, and Adebayo seemingly doesn’t give a shit that her wife left her??? John Economos: Again, does nothing but be a coward the entire season. I get that that is his character—a coward—but that’s what he was in Season 1; what character development does he get in Season 2? And why would Argus employ him, let alone get him involved with their Peacemaker mission. In a DCU that’s established to have heroes already, is there nothing else they could assign John Economos to do besides “hunt down your friend with us”? This brings me to my next point. Are they the kind of organization to test their employees’ loyalty like that? All he did was make their job harder.
Incompetent and Annoying Characters: The slower, “character focused” pacing of season 2 really gives you time to see how annoying and incompetent these characters are. Like, is this how Gunn really wants to portray Argus in his DCU? Are we supposed to take them seriously in future installments, assuming we’re seeing more of Rick Flag Sr. and Amanda Waller? While Season 1 had standout side characters, Season 2 tries and fails to do the same thing. Tim Meadows’s character is just annoying and a dick, and his “bird blindness” joke got annoying real quick. Rick Flag Sr. doesn’t even feel familiar to his appearance on the Creature Commandos show, he just looks woefully unprepared for his job at Argus. Then the hot latina Argus agent is suddenly revealed to be a cyborg because reasons? Because Gunn wants to set something up for a future movie or tv show?
How does Chris not notice that the “best dimension ever” is actually Nazi America? I get the whole “Chris is blinded by what he wants to see” but seriously? You see an alternative version of your racist, abusive, dogshit dad who you shot to death in Season 1, and you’re not even a little curious if he’s still a racist piece of shit? Being blinded by what you want to see doesn’t make you forget your natural curiosity. It’s just poor writing to drag out the reveal until episode 6.
Why does John Economos and Adebayo just waltz around the alternative dimension house where the racist dad lives too? And she decides to just take a leisurely walk in a dimension that they know nothing about? Yet she’s smart enough to know how to work the dimension door alien tech thing too?
Lex Luthor Cameo: Then the kicker: the Lex Luthor cameo. With how slow this season has been, and Gunn promising that the last 3 episodes are amazing, this cameo just made the entire season feel like a really long post credits scene. It’s doing the thing I hate about the MCU which is over-reliance on cameos that make the show/movie “worth it” in the eyes of fanboys, simply because it furthers along the overarching DCU narrative.
Conclusion: The premise of season 2 is fine and even interesting, but it’s just written so badly and with terrible pacing issues. It feels Gunn originally wrote it as a film, then had to quickly pivot the entire story into 8 episodes. But after a 3.5 year wait, I wanted more than just Chris being mopey and running away from Argus. Huge disappointment, and I can see why Gunn isn’t promising a Season 3 if this is the best he can put out for Peacemaker and crew.
Thank you for coming to my TedTalk!