The season one finale of Peacemaker, It’s Cow or Never is fantastic.
Many season enders, especially recent comic book fare, tend to overstuff their finales. I personally really enjoyed the season finale of Hawkeye, but even that episode suffers from biting off a bit more than it can chew. It’s Cow or Never is phenomenal in its restraint.
The whole episode written and directed by James Gunn centers around Peacemaker, Harcourt, Adebayo, Economos and Vigilante at the farm and planning their attack. There aren’t multiple locations to keep track of or new characters introduced early in the episode to add manufactured stakes. Gunn keeps the focus on the fractured friendship between Adebayo and Peacemaker, capping off the Butterfly storyline and continuing Peacemaker’s issues with his father.
Gunn makes sure to weave in plenty of great humor, perfectly shot action sequences and even a sympathetic villain. If you’ve seen The Suicide Squad and Gunn’s usage of Starro, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by bait-and-switch. There are some great moments near the end of It’s Cow or Never for sure, but it’s the build throughout the episode, which allows those scenes to soar like Eagley.
The only issue I had was the suddenly sympathetic approach the Butterfly inside of Detective Sophie Song took on near the end of the episode. John Cena and Annie Chang are great in the scene. However, it seemed like a big shift in the character after she was so hellbent on killing or capturing Peacemaker in the previous episode. The resolution of that scene is fantastic, so that’s really a small nitpick.
With the overview out of the way, let’s dive deeper into the three elements that stood out in It’s Cow or Never. There may be some minor spoilers. Peacemaker is available to stream on HBO Max.
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Storming the Barn in It’s Cow or Never
It’s Cow or Never begins with a team strategy session on the outskirts of the barn. All of the ideas are laughably bad. The best and worst idea is to use Eagley to drop the sonic boom helmet on top of the barn. As Eagly carries the helmet, music begins to swell and the team cheers on Peacemaker’s best friend. Since Eagley’s a bird, he just drops the helmet in another part of the forest.
The team splits off to find the helmet. Economos and Vigilante have an insane conversation about the role of ants in the circle of life. Peacemaker is haunted by the ghost of his father. Harcourt and Abebayo have an amusing conversation about the latter seeing the light in the last episode.
Eventually, Economos is sent in to plant the helmet. After a tension-filled chase scene, a sonic blast destroys the barn and all-out chaos ensues. Hartcourt, Peacemaker and Vigilante run to take on the army of Butterflies. Economos and Adebayo hang back in the forest.
The fight sequence was outstanding. Really great team-up moments between Harcourt and Peacemaker. Vigilante decapitating people with a sword is excessive in the best way possible. Hartcourt and Vigilante are injured during the fight, which forces Adebayo and Peacemaker to infiltrate the barn together.
Friendship Fractured and Restored
Adebayo and Peacemaker still aren’t getting along. Peacemaker tries to mask his feelings of betrayal with sophomoric fart noices.
With Harcourt and Vigilante hurt, Adebayo provides reinforcement. In John Wick-like fashion, she starts gunning Butterflies down with precision. A barely conscious Harcourt tells Adebayo to help Peacemaker whose already in the barn. Peacemaker has his hands full with Sophie.
One of Peacemaker’s helmets is called a “human torpedo.” Adebayo uses this helmet twice. The first is a disaster. She flies into a metal wall and falls unconscious. Later, Peacemaker activates the human torpedo helmet still atop Adebayo’s head to destroy the proverbial cow.
Back at the hospital, Adebayo and Chris make up. Chris says that Adebayo is his 2nd best friend after Eagley. Adebayo holds a press conference and throws her mother under the bus for the Task Force X program.
The friendship arc setup through the series is beautifully paid off in the finale.
A Vow for a Cow
While Adebayo is unconscious, Sophie takes her hands off of Peacemaker’s throat and the fighting stops. She doesn’t want to kill him and she explains why the Butterflies came to Earth.
They were simply trying to escape their doomed planet. All they wanted on Earth was peace. Then they saw humanity making the same mistakes as their race did and wanted to prevent history from repeating itself. Like Peacemaker, she made a vow for peace, which is why she drew the peace symbol on the jar back in episode 6 of Peacemaker.
She wants Peacemaker to join the Butterflies as Judomaster did. Peacemaker does seem to consider her message. She even thanks him for showing her kindness and feeding her when he could have just killed her. Eventually, with tears running down his face, he utters “activate human torpedo” and kills Sophie.
Adebayo is flung headfirst into the gut of the kaiju-like cow, killing it and cutting off the food supply. Peacemaker does not kill the Butterfly that comes out of Sophie, since she’s no longer a threat.
The performances by Cena and Chang in this scene were outstanding. You could feel the dilemma and torment in Peacemaker’s face as he pondered Sophie’s offer. He even admits to Adebayo he believed in Sophie’s message. However, it simply came down to one thing, she would have hurt his new best friend and colleagues.
It’s Cow or Never Final Thoughts
Peacemaker was a blast to watch from start to finish. Gunn found a way to perfectly combine his unique humor, heart and action. Cena was unbelievable throughout the series and arguably shined brightest as the series went along. I’m excited to see the next chapter featuring this group of characters in season two.
The Review
It's Cow or Never
PROS
- The whole cast is terrific. John Cena and Annie Chang were fantastic in the episode's climax.
- Visceral actions scenes that aren't for the squeamish.
- Perfect needle drops.
- Simple story that ties up the threads of the season.
- The friendship arc between Adebayo and Christopher Smith.
CONS
- Some missed opportunities to understand the Butterflies more.
