Peacemaker: The Ties That Grind [S2E1]– TV Review

TL;DR: A wild and weird welcome back to one of the oddest entries into the superhero genre.  

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure: I paid for the HBO Max subscription that viewed this series

Post-Credit Scene: There is an end-credit scene.

Peacemaker Title Card.

Peacemaker Introduction:

Back in 2022, one of the oddest moments in the modern comic era happened: in the midst of all of its serious problems, as the DC Studio was falling apart, film after film, they decided to put out a TV series around one of the less-liked characters from the Suicide Squad films. What made it even odder is that it kind of worked, with a level of charm that managed to undercut its many issues. Well, it may have helped get James Gunn the job in the big chair and changed the direction of a multi-billion-dollar media empire, but after a cameo in Superman, it is time to dive back into Peacemaker.  

So, to set the scene, in the time since the end of the first season of Peacemaker, things have not quite worked out for many of our characters. Many of them had been blacklisted and can’t get work anymore, and Chris Smith/Peacemaker (John Cena) is still working through the trauma of having to kill his very racist and unpleasant father, Auggie (Robert Patrick). But what happens when you are at your lowest and temptation strikes? Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Reacher: Fly Boy & Full Season 2 – TV Review

TL;DR – While the season might have had some pacing issues, the final episode sticks the landing.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Amazon Prime subscription that viewed this series.

Langston pontificates.

Reacher Review

Well, all things must come to an end, and for Reacher, that means the end of their second season, a season full of reuniting with their old team, fighting bad guys, and stopping terrorism. That is, if they can survive this final test where the bad guys hold all the cards. In today’s review, we will first look at how the final episode landed before exploring the season as a whole.

So to set the scene, things are looking bad for Reacher (Alan Ritchson). He has turned himself in because Dixon (Serinda Swan) and O’Donnell (Shaun Sipos) have been captured by Langston (Robert Patrick). They are being tortured, and Neagley (Maria Sten) is dead. Langston holds all the cards. Or he would if Neagley was actually dead. For you see, the bad guys have not captured Reacher. They are trapped in this building with him. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode and season as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Reacher: The Man Goes Through – TV Review

TL;DR – When Reacher is at his lowest is when Reacher is his most dangerous.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Amazon Prime subscription that viewed this series.

Reacher gets reamed out.

Reacher Review

There is a point in a series-long arc when you can tell, ‘Oh, we have entered the end game’. Well, for this season, that time is now as forces that have been building all season start crashing into each other, and with Reacher, that is not a minor collision.

So to set the scene, with the death of their only true ally at the end of New York’s Finest, well, things have gotten personal. It is clear that the deal is about to go down, and Shane Langston (Robert Patrick) is leaving no strings attached. There are limited options left for Reacher (Alan Ritchson), but if there are dirty cops everywhere, maybe we need to start introducing some of those dirty cops to the contours of his fist. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Reacher: New York’s Finest – TV Review

TL;DR – There comes a point when you are on the run where it is time to start fighting back.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Amazon Prime subscription that viewed this series.

A pissed off Reacher.

As we start heading towards the pointy end of the season, there comes a moment when things have to start hitting the rubber. You can only prolong the inevitable so long before you start losing the tension. This week, we can see the start of that shift happening as the team decides not to play defensive anymore.

So to set the scene, at the end of Burial, we discovered just how brutal these people are as they use a tripwire IED to kill a sniper. Their opposition is trying to erase everyone from existence, even the people working for them. Now they see the lengths their opposition is going to. Well, it is time to take the battle back to them. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Reacher: Burial – TV Review

TL;DR – Bookended by two fantastic action sequences, it shows that Reacher is peak-Dad Show Energy, but also more than that.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Amazon Prime subscription that viewed this series.

The American flag over a coffin.

Reacher Review

Last week, we dived into the first half of Reacher’s Second Season, and it was fantastic. It hit the same energy of the first season, with the added bonus of getting the team back together. With all of that energy behind it, I wondered if its central premise could hold up to the end because righteous Reacher might need to get dirty.

So to set the scene, Reacher (Alan Ritchson) has stayed behind in New York with O’Donnell (Shaun Sipos) to help his family bug out and move to safety as they turn their focus on New Age Technologies. This company seems to be having a bad case of wanting to kill them all. Meanwhile, Neagley (Maria Sten) and Dixson (Serinda Swan) have made it to Denver, Colorado, to see just what is going on in the software division of this new missile company when bullets start flying. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.  

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Reacher: Season 2 – Part 1 – TV Review

TL;DR – They take the format that worked from the first season and bring in a team to elevate it.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Amazon Prime subscription that viewed this series.

Reacher walking away from the carjacker he just beat up.

Reacher Review

Lee Child is an author that I know by name, but I have never gotten a chance to read any of their work. But I do get to see some of their adaptations from time to time. The films with Tom Cruise were fine, but back in 2022, they found the right combination when they cast a mountain of a man as Reacher and let them loose on a corrupt town. Today, we look at the first part of the second season to see if they can strike lighting twice.   

So to set the scene, it has been two years since Jack Reacher (Alan Ritchson) spent time in Georgia and took down a corrupt town and their money laundering program. Since then, he has continued to float around America, moving from town to town with nothing but his toothbrush holding him down. When he tries to get some cash out of the ATM, he first takes down a carjacker and then realises that someone has left an SOS in his bank account. One call later and he is on a plane to New York to meet up with Frances Neagley (Maria Sten) because someone is targeting their old MP unit. Now from here, we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.  

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The Night Agent: Season 1 – TV Review

TL;DR – While not groundbreaking, what we get is a solid spy thriller with a dash of West Wing to boot.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix service that viewed this show.  

The Capital Building

The Night Agent Review

I am always looking for a new spy series to dabble in after last year’s delightful The Recruit. When I heard rumblings that The Night Agent was one to give a watch. So, I had some time off from work and thought I would give it a watch, then bamm, that first scene happened, and then wait, where did all those episodes go?

So to set the scene, Peter Sutherland (Gabriel Basso) is an FBI agent who was going about their day when they noticed that a gentleman (Andre Anthony) had just left their bag on the DC Metro. Opening it, he found there was a bomb and was able to evacuate the train before it exploded. A year later, Chief of Staff Diane Farr (Hong Chau) has given him a job in The White House, working the late shift as a Night Action operator. Most nights, all that entails is him looking over briefs and giving advice. But one night, the phone rings because Rose Larkin’s (Luciane Buchanan) family has been attacked, and she has been given this one lifeline for help. Now from here, we will be looking at the series as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.  

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Peacemaker: Season One – TV Review

TL;DR – There was a surprising amount of charm on show here but also an almost equal amount of frustration.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Binge subscription that viewed this series

Post-Credit Scene – Each episode has an end credit scene

Peacemaker opening titles

Peacemaker Review

Recently my day-time contract ended, and I have a bit more time during the day to catch up on things I missed before starting my next one. In this catch-up mood, I wanted to look at things that I had heard good things about but still had questions about. The first thing on this list was Peacemaker, a spin-off of The Suicide Squad film, which I liked, but based around a character Peacemaker (John Cena) that I didn’t. I was interested to see just how that juxtaposition would work, which was intriguing.

So to set the scene, it has been months after the events on Corto Maltese, and Peacemaker has recovered enough to be let out of the hospital. Seeing as no one is there to take him back to prison, he takes the chance to run out of the hospital and back to his home, a trailer painted with the American flag. But of course, he was not free as members of A.R.G.U.S. black ops squad “Project Butterfly” drew their guns on him. They need a psychopath to stop the ‘butterflies’, and Peacemaker is perfect for the job, just as long as Leota Adebayo (Danielle Brooks), daughter of Amanda Waller (Viola Davis), can leave some incriminating evidence if the whole thing goes sideways. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode and season as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

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The Protégé (The Asset) – Movie Review

TL;DR – Well, look, it is not a great film, but it is not a bad one either. It is just that the narrative is not there to support the action.   

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene

Disclosure – I paid for the Amazon Prime service that viewed this movie.

The Protégé (The Asset). Image Credit: Amazon Prime.

The Protégé Review –

Some actors out there give solid performances no matter what film they are in. One of those actors is Maggie Q, who I have always seen giving her best in whatever production she is in. Frankly, I am not sure why she is not in more things. Well, today I catch up with her latest action film with The Protégé.    

So to set the scene, in 1991, it was a stormy day in Da Nang, Vietnam. Moody Dutton (Samuel L. Jackson) walks into a hideout to find that all the people inside are dead, bar one little girl hiding Anna (Eva Nguyen Thorsen) in a closet that may have killed them all. Moody can’t leave her alone in the middle of all that death, so he takes her with him. 30-years later, in Bucharest, Romania, a now grown-up, Anna (Maggie Q) and Moody kidnap Vali (George Piștereanu), the kid of a local mobster Don Preda (Velizar Binev), for 3 Million Euros. But while Don Preda blusters, he does not know that Anna is not a kidnapper. Anna is an assassin.

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