Peacemaker Ep 6 Brings Him to the Edge of the Cliff and Here’s How!

We just have two more episodes to go till we have to say goodbye to Peacemaker for this season. Feeling gloomy already? But Episode 6 will absolutely make up for it.

Written and directed by James Gunn, Episode 6 of Peacemaker, titled “Murn After Reading”, was one of the most eventful and best crafted episodes of the first season till now.

Now, the titular character seems to be in quite a mess, considering his enemies are increasing by the day.

The entire Evergreen Police Department is now a part of the Army of the Butterflies. If that was not enough trouble, Peacemaker will soon also have to face his racist father Auggie Smith.

When the Butterflies massacre the police station, White Dragon aka Auggie Smith, with the help of Ku Klux Klan members, decides to fly once more.

The highlight of Episode 6 was definitely the Army of the Butterflies adding huge troops under their command. If you remember the ending of Episode 3, it had already indicated that the Butterflies are a dominant force on Earth.

So, adding more quantities of troops there would only strengthen an already growing threat.

Important new members of the Butterflies include Detective Larry Fitzgibbon, Captain Locke and Cool Steve. Steve had also previously pledged his support to White Dragon.

The attack on the Evergreen police is significant because it establishes the Butterflies as a much bigger threat than expected. The magnitude of their power is now clear and they represent a big danger to the mission at hand.

Moreover, there’s the threat of the White Dragon. He clearly expresses his firm intention of murdering his own son, and by the end of the episode, he is all set to fly again.

His white supremacist followers, the members of the Ku Klux Klan, help him into his armor, spelling more trouble for Peacemaker at this point.

There’s also a small moment featuring Harcourt and Christopher, where Harcourt actually tells Chris that she does not think he is a “total piece of shit”.

She also reveals her real name Emilia to Chris. Both of these are references to the first episode where Harcourt did not even share her first name with Peacemaker and said she wants nothing to do with him apart from work.

So, throughout the five episodes, Harcourt’s opinion of Christopher has changed. Gunn cleverly leaves room for more story out there with a short, meaningful exchange.

Another big moment Gunn captures in the episode is the Evergreen Police finally getting hold of Peacemaker’s forged diary. In Episode 1, Amanda Waller had asked her daughter Leota to plant a forged diary in Peacemaker’s trailer.

Leota plants the diary in Episode 5 despite having her reservations about it. At the end of Episode 6, Butterfly Captain Locke finds the diary. In the diary, Waller had set up Chris as the scapegoat for every death that had taken place in the show so far.

Now, Peacemaker did actually commit each murder but Waller used it against his reputation to prove that he is some sort of psychopath who is murdering people on whimsy rather than working towards sabotaging an actual alien invasion.

The cherry on the cake: Locke is now eager and happy to read out the contents of this fake diary to the world.

Finally, let’s talk about the post-credits scene. Every Peacemaker episode till now has had one (another instance of DC trying too hard to be Marvel) and Episode 6 was no different.

The scene connects to a moment just before the surviving members of the police find Captain Locke in the woods. Locke tries to make himself look visibly sad using facial expressions. He suppresses his laughter and tries hard to look genuinely upset. He thus is able to avoid the suspicion of the local police. At this stage, he had not even been invaded by the Butterflies.

So, Episode 6 of Peacemaker brings us to a point where the protagonist is placed in such a stage where every force is against him and it seems like there is no escape.

It is a pretty explored and established point in a protagonist-focused narrative where we would generally expect the hero to bounce back.

We still have two episodes to find out how Peacemaker manages to do that. I would credit Gunn for blowing our expectations to such a level.

However, this also means that the next two episodes should really exceed our expectations because it would be disappointing if the solution to such a situation is mediocre.

About Peacemaker

Peacemaker is a DC Extended Universe series that will delve into the past of the titular character, who’ll make his cinematic debut in James Gunn’s DCEU film, The Suicide Squad (2021). The character will be portrayed by John Cena, who will reprise his role in the HBO Max series.

Other cast members include Steve Agee, Danielle Brooks, Robert Patrick, Chris Conrad, and Chukwudi Iwuji among many others.

James Gunn will also helm the HBO Max series for its second season.