This article contains spoilers for episode 6 of Peacemaker Season 2.
While I’ve been largely enjoying Peacemaker Season 2 so far, I’m not surprised to hear that the general sentiment around it is that it’s slow and things are taking too long to happen. The Best Dimension Ever, for instance, is interesting, but we get so little of it in the first five episodes that it almost feels like the show is meandering. Personally, I’m a fan of the slower pacing and the shift in focus to Chris and Harcourt’s relationship, as well as how the rest of the 11th Street Kids are faring, but episode 6 has just blown everything wide open.
For starters, it’s now becoming clear exactly how Peacemaker Season 2 will serve as a direct prequel to Superman: Man of Tomorrow, as James Gunn has previously teased. We caught a glimpse of Guy Gardner and Hawkgirl in episode 1, but episode 6 brings in a heavy-hitter cameo in the form of Nicholas Hoult’s Lex Luthor. Now in Belle Reve, Lex has struck a deal with Rick Flag Sr to help track down Chris’ pocket dimension in exchange for better lodgings. We already know that Lex will show up in Man of Tomorrow, so him working with the US government again sets him up for his “opportunity for redemption”.
That wasn’t the big reveal for episode 6, though. That comes right at the end, when we finally learn the truth about the dark reality of the Best Dimension Ever. This one was picked up on very early on in the season, and yeah, the viewers were right. The Best Dimension Ever is a white supremacist world where every person of color has either been killed or imprisoned.
When Ads goes for a short walk around the block, she’s immediately greeted with shocked and horrified looks from all the white folks around her. It doesn’t take long for every white person in the neighborhood to start chasing her down, including Chris’ own brother, Keith. The final shot of the episode is a chilling one, as the realization finally hits Chris as well. He looks at the small US flag standee on a desk in ARGUS and notices that the Nazi swastika has been imprinted on it. The Top Trio, as it turns out, is a racist superhero trio, led by none other than Chris’ dad, who’s known as the Blue Dragon is this dimension. We really should’ve seen this coming, but I think a part of me just wanted to see Chris find some well-deserved happiness.
With only two episodes left in the season, things are about to get very exciting. It’s worth noting that when early screeners went out for the show, the last three episodes (which includes episode 6) were withheld from critics. With all the big reveals we got here, it’s easy to see why.
Peacemaker Season 2 is now available for streaming on HBO Max.
