The HBO MAX Instagram posted some photos of an extremely handsome and muscular guy with an impressive bulge: waving as he arrives, dressed in the uniform of a fast-food worker, being criticized by John Cena, and spurting water in his underwear. Since he's being advertised, he must be a new character in second season of The Peacemaker, a dark comedy about a squad of misfit superheroes in the DC Comics Universe. To find out, I'll review Episode 2.1: "The Ties that Grind."
Scene 1: Early in the morning, Peacemaker's semi-sentient pet eagle needs to do his business. It's too cold to let him outside, so Peacemaker takes him to his interdimensional vortex (nice bulge, buddy. Is having a nice bulge a requirement for being cast on this show?). Wandering around, he finds his Dad's old office...and his Dad, who says "What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost." This horrifies him.
Scene 2: Peacemaker is living in his late Dad's horrible house in a run-down suburban neighborhood. He is picked up by his friend Leota Adebayo.
DC Universe: A member of the Peacemaker's team in Season 1, Leota is the estranged daughter of Amanda Walker, an ARGUS agent who founded the Suicide Squad (inept superheroes, including Peacemaker, assigned to missions that were sure to result in their deaths).
Leota shows Peacemaker the business cards for her new private security agency, and complains about her girlfriend. Lesbian representation!
Peacemaker complains about being bullied by other metahumans (beings with super powers): "Why you wearing a disco ball on your head? Did you take a vow to be a douchebag?"
"I don't want to be a joke anymore," he tells her. "I want to be a real hero." You're in a dark comedy, so....
Scene 3: They arrive at a deserted toy store in a mini-mall, which turns out to be the secret headquarters of the Justice Gang. Peacemaker is applying to join. Green Lantern and Hawkgirl, and their financial backer Maxwell Lord interview him.
Left: Maxwell Lord is played by Sean Gunn, who is gay but married to a woman.
First question: "What skills could you bring to the Gang...besides blowing dudes?" Is that a homophobic slur, or is Peacemaker bi, or both?
Next question: "Metahumans try to avoid violence. Why have you murdered so many people?"
"Well, some of them deserved it."
Peacemaker talks about childhood traumas and the culture of violence instilled by his supervillain father, but they're discussing whether their butts are big enough and ignoring him. When they get back to the interview, they call him a sociopath, too violent to work for the Justice Squad. He angrily storms out.
Back in the car, he tells Leota: "Apparently one of my skills is sucking dick...that's not a put-down, it's a fucking compliment." Either gay sex is reprehensible or it's not, dude. You can't have it both ways.
Scene 4: Peacemaker's Girlfriend is applying for a job at the NSA (National Security Agency). But the psychiatrist evaluating her complains that she is suffering from a virulent form of toxic masculinity. She calls him a "cunt" and threatens to beat him up, but that only makes him more certain that she is too violent to work for the NSA. She storms out, screams, and attacks her car.
DC Universe: Emilia Harcourt, a member of Peacemaker's team in Season 1, has appeared in "Suicide Squad," "Black Adam," and "Shazam." She worked with Amanda Walker (see Leota, above), but became the Suicide Squad's ally, and was blackballed. The episode recap shows Peacemaker holding her hand as she is dying, but apparently it was just a tease.
She drives home to her shabby apartment. Peacemaker meets her. Close up of the pile of past-due notices on her kitchen table, as she complains that because she has been blackballed by ARGUS, she can't find a job with the CIA, the FBI, the DIA, the DHS, the NSA, or Athlete's Foot.
Next they discuss what happened "on the party boat": she was drunk, it was a mistake, she doesn't want to be his girlfriend. (I just assumed that they were dating. Looks like it was just a hookup).
And when are we going to get to the hot guy introduced on the HBO MAX Instagram?
Scene 5: Rejected by the Justice Gang and dumped by his sort-of-girlfriend on the same day, Peacemaker gets high and invites some people over for naked dancing and sex. It's 90% naked ladies, but there are a few naked guys here and there. Almost all of the sex is male-female, but there's a closeup of two women kissing, and two guys starting to kiss in the background.
More after the break