Best Friends, For Never

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"Best Friends, For Never"
Peacemaker episode
Episode no.Season 1
Episode 2
Directed byJames Gunn
Written byJames Gunn
Produced by
Featured music
Cinematography byMichael Bonvillain
Editing by
Original air dateJanuary 13, 2022 (2022-01-13)
Running time40 minutes
Guest appearances
Episode chronology
← Previous
"A Whole New Whirled" 		Next →
"Better Goff Dead"
Peacemaker season 1

"Best Friends, For Never" is the second episode of the American

HBO Max on January 13, 2022, alongside "A Whole New Whirled" and "Better Goff Dead
".

The series is set after the events of The Suicide Squad, and follows

Christopher Smith / Peacemaker. Smith returns to his home but is forced to work with A.R.G.U.S.
agents on a classified operation only known as "Project Butterfly". Smith also has to deal with his personal demons, including feeling haunted by memories of people he killed for "peace", as well as reconnecting with his estranged father. In the episode, Smith has to deal with the fallout of the events at the building, while Auggie is sent to prison to avoid any incriminating evidence against Smith.

The episode received positive reviews from critics, who praised the writing, directing and character development, although some expressed criticism for the pacing.

Plot

tranquilizer gun
. Adebayo drives Harcourt, Peacemaker and his pet Eagly to safety, despite Song and Fitzgibbon shooting at them.

Since Peacemaker's car was left at the crime scene,

White Dragon
.

Returning to his home, Peacemaker breaks down crying, lamenting on how he aggravates others, causing everyone to dislike him, while also regretting his killing of Rick Flag. The costumed and masked Vigilante interrupts Peacemaker, wanting to befriend Peacemaker, but keeps his own identity secret. Peacemaker expresses doubts in his goals of torturing and killing to achieve peace, considering himself a "maniac", while Vigilante assures him that they are killing "bad people", revealing Vigilante's pleasure in murdering lawbreakers. Vigilante cheers Peacemaker up by having them test weapons and explosives in the woods; they then have a threesome with Amber. Peacemaker touches the alien device, which transforms into a small spaceship.

Production

Development

In July 2021, the episode's title was revealed as "Best Friends, For Never".[1]

Writing

According to

HBO Max executives, deeming it "a delicate situation". Eventually, HBO Max allowed him to go as planned with the storyline.[2] Gunn was interested in exploring the concept of white supremacy, explaining, "I think it's a real thing in our world and being able to present it in a fable is important to us."[3]

The sequence where

Peacemaker in lifting his spirit by taking him to a shooting practice was partly inspired by Gunn's childhood. He explained, "We exploded a lot of things. We lit a lot of things on fire. We shot guns. We shot fireworks at each other. We used to start with the bottle rockets and then bring out the bigger bottle rockets. One of us would be on fire and screaming, and then everybody else would be laughing. And then someone would put out the fire and then start laughing, too. And then we'd have to go home to our moms and explain this stuff. So that was purely my superhero representation of what I did as a kid in the woods of Missouri."[4]

Casting

In December 2020, Annie Chang and Lochlyn Munro joined the series to recur as Detectives Sophie Song and Larry Fitzgibbon, with the episode marking their debut in the series.[5]

Critical reception

"Best Friends, For Never" received positive reviews from critics. Samantha Nelson of IGN gave the three-episode premiere a "great" 8 out of 10 rating and wrote in his verdict, "Peacemaker isn't quite as sharply written as Amazon's The Boys, but James Gunn is aiming for the same sort of subversive superhero show, using excessive violence and biting humor to deconstruct the failings of the genre. The three-episode premiere offers a goofy takedown of vigilantism while hinting at bigger and darker plots to come."[6]

Jarrod Jones of The A.V. Club gave the three-episode premiere an "A-" grade and wrote, "Peacemaker is a stacked deck of fearsome insanity and there's a lot to accept in these first three episodes. It's vulgar, violent, prone to non sequitur, and has more than one dance sequence in store for you. But don't you dare let its ceaseless barrage of profanity, nudity, and slaughter dupe you into thinking otherwise: James Gunn's Peacemaker comes packing, among other things, a beating heart."[7]

Alan Sepinwall of Rolling Stone gave the three-episode premiere a 4 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "Between the blood and guts, the slapstick, the political satire, and the musical digressions, there is a lot going on here. Yet the series functions as a sincere character study of its flawed hero — and the unfortunate souls who have to work alongside him — just enough for the joke to never quite wear thin. Even in a wildly oversaturated market for tales of hypermuscular men and women punching their way to justice, Peacemaker stands out. You'll wanna taste it, even the parts that are in incredibly bad taste."[8] Alec Bojalad of Den of Geek gave the three-episode premiere a 4 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "Ultimately, Peacemaker is another win for the suddenly surprisingly competitive DC Comics TV landscape."[9]

References

  1. ^ Feser, Moly (July 26, 2021). "Peacemaker Show Premiere Date Revealed & First 3 Episodes Release Same Day [UPDATED]". Screen Rant. Retrieved August 6, 2022.
  2. ^ Goldberg, Lesley; Feinberg, Daniel (January 14, 2022). "James Gunn on 'Peacemaker' and the Differences Between Marvel and DC". The Hollywood Reporter (Podcast). Retrieved August 6, 2022.
  3. ^ Simons, Roxy (January 20, 2022). "The Supervillain Suit in 'Peacemaker' Explained: Robert Patrick on Becoming the White Dragon". Newsweek. Retrieved August 6, 2022.
  4. ^ Davids, Brian (January 12, 2022). "James Gunn on 'Peacemaker' and the Influence of 'Better Call Saul'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 6, 2022.
  5. ^ Kit, Borys (December 17, 2020). "'Riverdale' Actor, 'Underground Railroad' Actors Join 'Suicide Squad' Spinoff 'Peacemaker'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 6, 2022.
  6. ^ Nelson, Samantha (January 4, 2022). "Peacemaker Premiere Review: "A Whole New Whirled," "Best Friend, for Never" and "Better Goff Dead"". IGN. Retrieved August 6, 2022.
  7. ^ Jones, Jarrod (January 13, 2022). "James Gunn's rowdy Peacemaker offers vulgar counterprogramming for the superhero set". The A.V. Club. Retrieved August 6, 2022.
  8. ^ Sepinwall, Alan (January 4, 2022). "'Peacemaker' Declares War on Self-Serious Superheroes". Rolling Stone. Retrieved August 6, 2022.
  9. ^ Bojalad, Alec (January 13, 2022). "Peacemaker Is Another TV Bullseye for DC". Den of Geek. Retrieved August 6, 2022.

External links

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