Peacemaker Season 2 Episode 6, “Ignorance Is Chris,” is a doozy of an episode. It’s jam-packed with narrative twists and turns, from the appearance of a certain Superman villain to the reveal that this parallel dimension is Earth-X. Seriously, the reveal of the Nazi world hits a little too close to home, given the state of our world. “Ignorance Is Chris” is a damn entertaining outing, complete with compelling performances, that deftly balances biting humor and heartstring-tugging drama.
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Peacemaker, “Ignorance Is Chris”
We open with Chris (John Cena), Alt Harcourt (Jennifer Holland), Alt Auggie (Robert Patrick) and Alt Keith (David Denman), aka Captain Triumph, at a restaurant in the parallel dimension. This is following the Top Trio’s triumph over the kaiju. Auggie and Keith are glad that Chris is back together with Harcourt. Here, Auggie is known as the Blue Dragon. A handful of kids ask for a selfie with Auggie. Harcourt snaps the pic. The faces in said pic begin to melt, leading into the opening credits sequence.
After this, in our dimension, Adebayo (Danielle Brooks), Adrian (Freddie Stroma), Economos (Steve Agee) and Our Harcourt park outside Adrian’s house, where he lives with his mom. As it turns out, Adrian’s mother (Taylor St. Clair) is an absolute sweetheart. Viggy orders his mom to steer clear of his secret room. We learn that he told her that Harcourt was his girlfriend, insisting he broke up with Harcourt because she was too “slutty.” This scene is so funny.
Blood Money
Inside Viggy’s secret room, we see an alarming amount of various drugs and drug money. Vigilante apparently stole all this from the baddies he defeated. Adrian explains, as he changes into his Vigilante suit, that he refuses to turn it in to the cops. What if they’re corrupt? The 11th Street Kids surreptitiously stuff the wads of blood money into their pockets. Listen, I would do the same thing.
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Adebayo sets up the device to open the Quantum Unfolding Storage Area. Since A.R.G.U.S. doesn’t know Adrian is Vigilante, they won’t look for said device at his house. Adebayo urges everyone to step away as the portal opens to the extradimensional room. Unfortunately, this causes all those bags of cocaine to explode. Everyone’s got a nice dusting of snow on them now. Thanks, Adrian!
Once in the Quantum Unfolding Storage Area, they encounter the Kyphotic Alien as he disposes of his rat. Adrian fixates on the idea of meeting his alternate self in the parallel dimension. Meanwhile, at A.R.G.U.S., Fleury (Tim Meadows) informs Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo) that not only is our titular hero missing, but Harcourt, Economos and Judomaster are MIA, too. Flag Sr. urges Fleury not to do anything. No APBs. Flag Sr. plans to visit a certain prisoner at Belle Reve.
Rancid Sh*ts
Later, our crew finds the door to the parallel world. They walk into the Top Trio’s lavish mansion. Realizing nobody’s home, they wonder if they should wait for Chris to return. Suddenly, Keith rounds the corner to Chris’s room. Harcourt slams the door on Economos, hiding him, as Adebayo and Adrian leap into the closet. Harcourt makes up an excuse about sh*tting in the bathroom. It’s pretty rancid. I love seeing Holland stretch her comedic wings here. Harcourt isn’t the “straight man” for once.
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Harcourt claims she must deliver Chris’s snow globe, a gift from his mother on her deathbed, to Chris at A.R.G.U.S. Keith replies that he’s on his way there. He’ll drive her. Adebayo mouths at Harcourt not to go, but Harcourt decides to do the opposite. She accompanies Keith to A.R.G.U.S. After they leave, Economos starts dry-heaving upon learning that Harcourt left with Keith, Chris’s not-dead older brother.
Adrian desperately wants to find Alt Adrian, so, against Adebayo’s wishes, he leaves to find himself. Economos and Adebayo stay at the mansion to wait for Chris. At the same time, Chris lies in bed with Alt Harcourt. They’re all smiles. Keith sings along to “Helleween.” (“Helloween” in our world.) He tells Our Harcourt that it’s a contentious debate as to which band revolutionized rock music — Helleween or “The Beetles,” the latter of which Mick Jagger spearheads.
Viggy versus Viggy
Harcourt has no clue what he’s talking about. Keith chalks it up to her being very bookish. She looks at all the passersby. She’s perplexed. Something’s amiss…
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Chris heads to A.R.G.U.S. by himself. Alt Harcourt claims she’ll meet him there. Adrian, clad in his Vigilante costume (finally), spots his house in this alternate world. Chris rides his Peace-cycle to A.R.G.U.S. When Keith and Our Harcourt arrive at A.R.G.U.S., a drug dog detects an illegal substance on the latter. You know, the cocaine from Adrian’s secret room. The officers there pull her aside.
Meanwhile, Adrian sneaks into the house. He notes the alternate versions of his parents, sitting on the couch in the living room. He giggles at all the slightly altered things in the home. Adrian ventures into the secret room, where he meets Alt Adrian. And guess what? Sparks are a-flying. Viggy’s found his soul brother.
Strike a Deal
Adebayo and Economos find Eagly in the kitchen of the mansion, going to town on all the food in the fridge. Adebayo believes they should clean up Eagly’s mess. In our dimension, Flag Sr. arrives at Belle Reve. He chats with none other than Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult). Lex ain’t happy about being in prison with a bunch of metahumans after trying to rid the world of metahumans.
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Flag Sr. offers to transfer Lex to a non-metahuman prison if the latter lends a hand. Our general must track down Chris’s portal device to prevent a dimensional rift like the one in Metropolis. While Lex would rather have his freedom, at least being in a non-metahuman prison to serve his 265-year sentence would sweeten the pot a bit. Lex has a scanner that can pinpoint the location of said portal device.
Then, Chris reunites with Our Harcourt. A.R.G.U.S. is testing her blood for drugs. Chris demands to know why she’s in the parallel dimension. She reveals that she and the other 11th Street Kids are there to rescue him. Bring him home. Chris doesn’t belong here.
I’m a Mess
The conversation pivots to their feelings. Chris admits he’s in love with Harcourt. Harcourt knows this. Emotions bubble over into boiling territory. Harcourt erupts, yelling that she’s a mess. Why does Chris love her? Chris claims he doesn’t care. He insists that the night on the boat meant something. Holland kills it. What beautiful performances from her and Cena. I love that we’re finally seeing a vulnerable Harcourt. Then, we learn that Harcourt is free to go.
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Next, Bordeaux (Sol Rodríguez) waits for Flag Sr. to finish his chat with Lex at Belle Reve. Flag Sr. emerges, revealing they’re going into business with Lex Luthor. In exchange, he’s ensuring Lex’s transfer to Van Kull.
Meanwhile, the two Adrians geek out over how much they have in common. Well, until they broach the subject of Chris Smith. Alt Adrian loathes Peacemaker, citing that he’s the reason he joined the Sons of Liberty. Naturally, Our Adrian is bewildered by this hatred.
A Nazi Dimension
Later, Adebayo decides to go on a walk, leaving Economos alone in the mansion. While exploring the neighborhood, Adebayo notices something strange. A white woman drives by, looking at her with a mixture of terror and hate. Uh-oh. I had a feeling this world was racist.
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Economos ducks behind the kitchen island as Auggie enters the house. Alt Harcourt enters A.R.G.U.S., confusing the officer at the front desk. Keith also spots Adebayo. He pulls over and barrels out of his truck. Along with other white people who emerge from their homes, Keith points out Adebayo.
Chris and Our Harcourt walk through A.R.G.U.S. Harcourt informs him that there are no people of color in this dimension. That’s not weird to him? Chris sees a mini flag on a desk … and it has a swastika emblazoned on it. Uh-oh. Chris realizes this isn’t the perfect dimension he thought it was. This means the Sons of Liberty are the good guys here, not a terrorist organization.
Earth-X
Keith and the other racists begin chasing Adebayo down the street, intent on capturing her. This is terrifying. My poor Adebayo. She better be okay. Meanwhile, Auggie catches Economos. He stabs Economos through the hand and demands to know who he is. Economos discloses that Chris isn’t actually his son. Our Peacemaker killed Alt Auggie’s son. So, there’s that. Alt Harcourt orders the officers in A.R.G.U.S. to arrest Our Harcourt.
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The screen cuts to black as Adebayo races down the street, her pursuers hot on her heels. This is Earth-X, y’all. Someone, check on Judomaster! The mid-credit scene sees Keith and Our Harcourt chatting about the snow globe. Harcourt insists that she talks to the ghost of Keith’s mom. Pretty funny.
Peacemaker drops new episodes every Thursday at 9 p.m. ET on HBO Max.
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