The Season 1 finale of Peacemaker concludes the story of Project Butterfly, the mission surrounding alien creatures named Butterflies, and the black ops squad led by Christopher Smith/Peacemaker assigned to eliminate them. “It’s Cow or Never” begins with Adebayo attempting to apologize to Peacemaker for planting the diary, only to be drowned out by Peacemaker and Vigilante making fart noises. Adebayo gives Peacemaker a pep talk for what happened to his brother, as the event led to a vow he gave never to kill anyone unless it was for peace. The opening credits roll, leading to a satisfying finale for the DC Extended Universe series.
Adebayo calls her mother, Amanda Waller, and tries to get her to send in the Justice League. However, there isn’t enough time for backup to be sent as the Butterflies are about to teleport their cow. The urgency is set up well, but the show continues to have moments of fun as Peacemaker shows each of his helmets and their unique powers. The bit where he mentions he requires a tiny hand fan to steer him whenever he uses the anti-gravity helmet leaves a priceless image in the audience’s head.
Economos infiltrates the Butterflies, planting the sonic boom helmet near the cow. As he leaves, Butterfly-Fitzgibbon approaches and asks about Economos. Throughout the series, he has proven himself an unsung hero as he successfully killed the gorilla and Auggie’s white supremacist gang. However, this may be his most poignant moment in the series, as we get a look at who he is as a person and he finally reveals his flaws. Steve Agee performs this scene phenomenally. However, the Butterflies soon attack Economos, and Adebayo activates the sonic boom just in time.
Peacemaker, Vigilante, and Harcourt gear up and get ready to kill the cow, and we get a classic slow-motion group walk scene from Gunn. The theme song, “Do You Wanna Taste It?” from Wig Wam, begins to play, and it leads to a simple yet superbly entertaining action sequence where the three of them kill many of the Butterflies. The scene effectively uses everyone’s fighting abilities with inventive camerawork while feeling more grounded and less stylized than Gunn’s other work.
Harcourt is severely injured, and upon seeing this, Adebayo runs to enter the battle. This completes her arc very well, as she previously felt out of place in the team and never wanted to be a part of it, but she earns her hero moment as she kills a bunch of Butterflies and stops one from taking over Harcourt. Next, Adebayo goes to save Chris, leading to a wonderfully edited moment that feels inspired by The Silence of the Lambs where the audience thinks Adebayo is about to pull Chris out of the rubble, but Goff does instead.
After a hilarious failed payoff where Adebayo attempts to use the human torpedo helmet on Goff but instead crashes herself into a wall, we learn about the Butterflies’ true motivation to protect Earth from the people who value profit over survival. The monologue is the show’s clear attempt at tying into real-world issues, and it could have used a little more subtlety. However, the idea that the Butterflies were killing due to a vow they made to achieve peace no matter the cost is fascinating because of how similar that is to Peacemaker’s origin. When Peacemaker decides to activate the human torpedo helmet to kill the cow and shoots Goff, we see how his ideals have changed as a character.
The heroes save the day, and we get a cameo appearance from members of the Justice League. Although it doesn’t quite make sense they would arrive so late since Superman and The Flash both have super-speed, it is nice to see them again. The joke between Aquaman and The Flash is a funny callback to an earlier episode while also tying into Aquaman’s humorous disdain for The Flash in a scene from Justice League. We have amazing scenes between characters as Chris and Adebayo are friends again, Harcourt reaches out for Chris in a vulnerable moment, and Adebayo exposes her mother’s role in Project Butterfly.
Adebayo returns home to her wife, Economos frames a picture of the 11th Street Kids, and Chris remains haunted by hallucinations of Auggie. This concludes a well-made show with a few issues here and there. It’s a satisfying finale that sticks the landing quite well with final moments that ultimately prove how easy it was to become attached to the main characters and how likable they all were. As Judomaster’s fate remains to be seen, we only have more to anticipate when Season 2 of Peacemaker arrives.
SCORE: 8/10
As ComingSoon’s review policy explains, a score of 8 equates to “Great.” While there are a few minor issues, this score means that the game succeeds at its goal and leaves a memorable impact.
