"Peacemaker," Episode 2.1: A new hunk with a bulge, a nude Frank Grillo, a bisexual orgy, and nine DC Comics fanpages

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.

DC Universe: Dad, the racist supervillain White Dragon, has appeared in "Suicide Squad."  Years ago, he murdered Peacemaker's brother Keith.  After years of abuse and murder attempts, Peacemaker had to kill him, and now feels guilty. 

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.

 DC Universe: members of this team previously appeared in "Superman" (2025), "Green Lantern" (2011), and the tv series "Smallville" and "Supergirl."

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. 

Peacemaker keeps his clothes on and rejects the come-ons of a man and a woman. So why did he invite them over?

More after the break

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"Am I Being Unreasonable": Disagreeable British lady fights grief, gets a girlfriend, has a dark secret. With bonus husband dick

 

The first thing that popped up on my Hulu recommendations this morning was Am I Being Unreasonable (2022): 

Unfulfilled in her marriage, Nic is grieving a loss that she can’t share with anyone.  But when Jen arrives in town, Nic's life is lit up with laughter and through this kindred soul her dark secret starts to surface.  

It does not sound like my cup of tea at all, but, maybe there's a lesbian subtext, and  Sam Bottomley, who I've met, is in the cast, so let's go.

Scene 1: Nic, a middle aged lady, is waiting for a train outside at night, when her husband Alex( David Flynn) calls her over.  He wrote "Merry Xmas" in the snow with his pee.  Hey, there's a pound on the tracks. Alex wants to climb down and get it, but the train is coming!  He'll kill himself!

Nope.  They get on the train -- well, Nic on the train, Alex on the "mind the gap," They discuss how much they love each other, and kiss.  Uh-oh, when the doors close, his coat is stuck!  No time to pull it off -- he's dragged to...Moral: Boys should only kiss boys.

Scene 2:  Nic watching tv with her son Ollie ( played by Lenny Rush, who has SED, a congenital disorder that results in dwarfism and bone problems).  They're discussing which soap opera character is a tramp, but it's time for school, so Ollie, the responsible one, jumps on his scooter.  The Snooty Neighbor is driving her kid to school, but doesn't offer them a lift: Nic fumes all the way down the lane, while Ollie advises her to let it go. Nice location shots of a quaint British village.

Scene 3: Back home, Nic is playing on her cell phone, when her friend comes in, hysterical because she hit a pheasant in her car. She describes the experience in gruesome detail.  

Scene 4:  Nic watches a soap opera on her phone in the cemetery, flashes back to her husband's death, and screams.  Later, Dan (Dustin Demri-Burns) comes in, says "I'm sorry I'm late," which I dislike: everyone who comes on stage in every tv show always says "Sorry I'm late."  

He hugs Ollie.  His son?  So this is Nic's second husband?  His pants have a wet stain in the front, so while he changes, they discuss their missing cat and a "fat fuck" who isn't using the internet properly.  

We cut to Nic having sex with her first husband, Alex -- no beefcake.  Wait -- he's not a husband, he's a side piece!  So Nic can't tell anyone about her grief over his death.  That happens a lot with LGBT people; you're not out to your family, so when your partner dies, or is sick, or breaks up with you, you can't say a word. 

Cut to Nic glaring at her husband while he sleeps.  She asks on an advice site if anyone else has a husband who "gives her the ick so much that her fanny dries up." Does "fanny" mean something different in Britain?

Scene 5: At some sort of carnival at Ollie's school.  Nic is running a game called Splat the Rat.  She meets one of the other mothers, Jen.  They bond over complaining about people, gaze into each other's eyes, laugh. Lesbian romance?

Ollie's friend doesn't want to play Splat the Rat because he might miss; he just wants the maoam, fruit-flavored candy.  Jen argues that it would be against the rules, but Nic gives him the maoam anyway, just to get rid of him so she and Jen can flirt some more.

Jen produces some booze.  Nic: "I could kiss you!"  Jen: "Don't do that, just make it weird."  If you're not into a lesbian romance, why are you flirting so aggressively?

Scene 6:  Nic introduces Jen to Mr. Graham, the gym teacher: "He's a bit of me," which I think means "He's hot."  She shows him how to Splat the Rat by holding him from behind, but Snooty Neighbor gets jealous and breaks them up.  She announces that they're going give Ollie 20% of the proceeds from the carnival, because he's...um....you know...that way.  This angers Nic, and embarrasses Jen and Mr. Graham. 

Scene 7: Nic and Ollie return home to a drinking-in-the-dark, crying Husband. We are not told why.

Husband frontal after the break