When it comes to the fourth episode of the HBO Max series, Peacemaker, James Gunn dialed things back a notch. While the first three episodes of Peacemaker were all about setting the stage for the rest of the season, Episode 4 was aimed at showing a bit more of the backstory of two of the main characters. It says something about just how good Gunn is that an episode that slowed things down the way it did was still as enjoyable as when the series is going all out.
Of course, part of the reason the latest episode is just as good as the first three episodes of Peacemaker is the humor continues to be over the top craziness mixed with some truly interesting insight into the characters that are on the screen. Of course, "The Choad Less Traveled" focuses on two characters more than most and dives deeper into the daddy issues that drive both Peacemaker and Vigilante. And taking that deep dive, the show manages to make the audience feel sorry for two people who do not bat much of an eye when it comes to killing anyone that gets in their way.
Peacemaker And His Terrible Upbringing Take Center Stage
Now in episode 4, the HBO Max series continues to walk the line between backstory and staying in the present in a masterful way. The audience continues to learn more and more about Christopher Smith and why he became the Peacemaker almost entirely through exposition and what could be seen as throwaway lines if someone isn't paying enough attention. The show also does a very good job of showing exactly why Smith shouldn't be nearly as loyal to his father as he is and yet, he continues to stand by him.
The audience saw some of that in the first episode of Peacemaker when he and his father are talking in his dad's house. Expertly played by Robert Patrick, the elder Smith does nothing but lob insults at his son. In no uncertain terms, he makes it clear that he has no feelings other than disappointment or hatred for his boy. And yet, it makes perfect sense that Peacemaker keeps coming back for more.
The show also lays out that everyone else in the rag-tag bunch of characters is doing the same thing that the audience is when it comes to the man who was once the racist supervillain, the White Dragon. The back and forth between Peacemaker and Vigilante as they're driving to the jail is one of the best moments of a series that has had an absolute ton of great moments in just four episodes. Of course, because the two men in the conversation are deeply damaged people, the conversation takes a turn from "why are you still supporting that man" to "why won't you kill him?" And because of the way the characters are laid out, Vigilante wondering why Peacemaker isn't killing his father in cold blood seems to make a lot more sense.
Peacemaker's family issues aren't the only ones that are covered in "The Choad Less Traveled" though when looking at what happened with Vigilante it's much less direct and done in a much funnier way. When the two are arguing about fathers and Peacemaker tells Freddie Stroma's Vigilante that his dad isn't actually gay but just wanted to get away from his son, Stroma's character acquiesces almost immediately. In fact, he's so willing to believe that his dad leaving the family was more about his hatred for his son than finding love somewhere else that it actually makes Peacemaker give a little side eye and take a beat.
Layers Upon Layers
The conversation between Peacemaker and Vigilante is just part of what makes this episode so good. There's also the unfolding of the world in this show that also gives audiences a look at what it's really like to be someone like Peacemaker just living in an everyday world. The explanation of the weapons room and how it's so big delivered in a matter-of-fact explanation as if it should be rather obvious tells more about the world than people might realize at first blush.
There is also the one conversation between Auggie Smith's neighbor and Peacemaker might be the single best summing up of how discordant Batman's personal code is with the violence that exists in the rest of the DC Comics world. Of course, that particular conversation, where Peacemaker explains how the Dark Knight is putting people in danger by constantly taking people like The Joker to jail rather than just killing them apparently angered the higher-ups at DC. It's a safe bet that Gunn doesn't care and wasn't about to take that scene out, because it really does also help explain why Peacemaker (and Vigilante) do what they do the way they do it. It also fills out the character in a way that wasn't really made clear in The Suicide Squad, where he just looked like a guy who liked killing everyone he ran across. The show has done a fantastic job of making an anti-hero a truly pitiable person.
The same can be said for Vigilante who has been very well established as someone who strives for acceptance from Peacemaker and that's best shown when he bursts into tears near the end of the episode, knowing that he's likely hurt that relationship. It showed that there's quite a bit more to the man otherwise known as Adrian Chase and it keeps peeling back the layers in a way that makes the character compelling.
Finally, there's the peeling back of the layers of the plot that is surprisingly secondary but still plenty interesting. There's the Peacemaker supporting cast in Murn, Harcourt, Economos, and Adebayo. Adebayo especially appears to have more going on than what's on the surface. Despite proclaiming that she's not a killer, she's a very good shot. The mystery behind that character, who has already been shown lying to just about everyone around here is going to be something audiences will want to unravel as well. In short, all the pieces of this series continue to come together in a fantastic and incredibly entertaining way that should leave viewers counting the minutes until the next episode.
New Peacemaker episodes stream every Thursday on HBO Max.