*This Review Contains Full Spoilers*

Peacemaker finally has its titular anti-hero confront his tragic past as well as his father as major villain factions converge on the group just before their final mission.

Last week’s episode left Peacemaker (John Cena) and Vigilante (Freddie Stroma) on the run with the butterflies taking over the entire police station and using the diary that Adebayo (Danielle Brooks) planted to make him seem like a dangerous wanted man. To be honest, it doesn’t do much to make Peacemaker have to hide, but it does make Vigilante hilariously over cautious. Even though his name isn’t attached to any of the news broadcasts, Vigilante acts like everyone’s after him to the point where he’s ready to kill some veterinary nurses just to keep their cover. Thankfully, there are other people to keep him in check and the butterflies aren’t that big of a threat here for Peacemaker.

Rather, as him, Vigilante, and Economos (Steve Agee) head to finish off “the cow” themselves, Auggie (Robert Patrick) and his band of followers turn their trip upside down. Man, even though Auggie is a total piece of shit, his White Dragon costume is super rad and even better in action. Those power cuffs he has are super powerful and I really love the simplistic look of his white hooded henchmen. The bout between Auggie and Peacemaker is short lived at first but contains some pretty fun moments. Peacemaker tricking Auggie and his crew by tying one of his helmets with a GPS tracker onto a raccoon was funny, especially seeing how badly it scarred Peacemaker, and Vigilante makes your heart stop with him seemingly knocking on death’s door throughout the whole episode.

But it’s the clarity that comes from this confrontation for Peacemaker that makes this episode so emotionally gratifying yet devastating. Admittedly, it seemed like finally learning about Keith’s death and Peacemaker’s upbringing would’ve been bigger or had a little more depth to it than it does, so what we learn does come off a little underwhelming in the moment. However, there’s still a lot of heart to what we see of their brotherly bond, rocking out to hair metal and supporting one another. It’s what makes Keith’s death a real gut-punch as we find out that he died while being forced to fight Peacemaker by Auggie when they were kids. It’s actually sickening to see how Auggie forced them to fight for his goons’ betting amusement and even more disgusting how he blames Peacemaker for Keith’s death

Although it’s small, it’s a powerful flashback that perfectly leads to their final big bout. It’s absolutely crushing to see and hear Auggie berate and break down Peacemaker and even more heartbreaking to see Peacemaker break down in tears after killing Auggie, but perhaps there is a shred of hope for Peacemaker’s future now. There’s no doubt that Peacemaker will forever be haunted by Auggie and the pain he’s inflicted on him throughout his life, but that doesn’t mean that Peacemaker is hopeless. It’s quite the opposite actually as he now can start to live the way he wants to without the pressure of his dad. Maybe now he can let his love for hair metal drive him and even explore his sexuality, which is confirmed as bi-sexual in Auggie’s tirade. Overall, Peacemaker can now be the better person he wants to be and that’s incredibly fulfilling to see. It’s even better that this leads into the whole team dynamic becoming better.

Honestly, the way the team comes together here is awesome, even if it comes with one of the team members falling. Yeah, it was inevitable, but Murns (Chukwudi Iwuji) unfortunately meets a tragic end by the butterflies and watching the butterfly that controlled him die in Harcourt’s (Jennifer Holland) hand is heartbreaking. But it is a moment that motivates the team to finish the mission. Even as Adebayo is looking to call it quits and the entire team is at odds with one another, Murns’ death inspires them to take action.

The fight between Adebayo, Harcourt and Judomaster (Nhut Lee) was super epic with Harcourt looking like a total bad ass. Eagly hugging Peacemaker was amazing and the perfect emotional connection Adebayo needed to stay. More importantly, Harcourt finally becomes the team leader and as the group looks awesome walking to their van and rocks out into battle, you feel this fulfilling sense of unity, which they’re going to need to kill this “cow.” No, it’s not actually a cow, but rather this giant disgusting larva kept in a cave.

“Stop Dragon My Heart Around” is the perfect culmination of what Peacemaker is about. It’s an excellent mix of dark comedy, fun action, and deep cutting emotion as Peacemaker finally confronts his father and the team comes together before riding into the final battle together.

Watch the Trailer Here: