The second season finale of HBO Max’s “Peacemaker” has become an unexpected flashpoint of a topic in discussions online, so much so that showrunner and episode writer/director James Gunn has now responded to the criticism.
The second season was entirely penned by Gunn who also directed the premiere, sixth episode and the eighth episode (the season finale). When the new season premiered, a lot of fuss was made about how the final three episodes were being kept under wraps and not shown to reviewers before release.
As the season progressed, teases about those episodes suggested ‘game changing’ events for the DCU and potential cameos galore along with Gunn speaking about how the sixth and eighth episodes were his favorites of the season.
The sixth episode brought with it a big cameo and a big twist that generated a lot of discussion, and so expectations were the eighth episode would top that. Instead, the episode itself was a more character-driven and understated coda to the season. Plot threads were left dangling, the action was slim, some character motivations were lacking, cameos were non-existent, and DCU-impacting events seemed mostly pretty minimal.
All up, the season finale has divided and in some cases disappointed fans, with the latter having been vocal about it online. Now, Gunn has responded on Threads to some of the criticism, saying: “Not everyone can love everything. I love the episode but I understand that not everyone does which is completely fair.”
He doesn’t understand those who think the finale didn’t offer major reveals: ““I don’t get that people don’t think there aren’t big reveals here, including Checkmate and Salvation.”
One big criticism about the finale centered on Frank Grillo’s Rick Flag Sr. who has always been an antagonist throughout the season, but becomes an almost cartoon villain in the finale. Gunn says Flagg’s action stem from fear: “Rick doesn’t hate metahumans. He’s afraid of the power some metahumans have dictating world politics… and mostly afraid of how difficult it is to contain metahuman criminals… Flag just wants a way to protect Americans and goes about it in a callous fashion. Oh and obviously he hates Peacemaker for killing his son.”
One cameo that was rumored before the finale aired was that of Xolo Maridueña’s Blue Beetle, a cameo which didn’t happen. It turns out the talk about that was a misinterpretation about earlier comments from Gunn: “I never said Blue Beetle was going to be there. I said people might be in luck who want to see Blue Beetle again” which suggests a potential future somewhere in the DCU.
The full second season of “Peacemaker” is now available on HBO Max.
