Peacemaker Need I Say Door review S2 E4

Need I Say Door had a pretty clever title and some solid moments, but this episode felt like it lost its way midway through and couldn’t quite rebound. This season has been on a solid upwards trajectory and while Need I Say Door didn’t derail the momentum, it did kind of slow it down somewhat.

Need I Say Door kicks off with a flashback from 35 years ago where Auggie (sporting a luxurious mullet) and a young Keith and Chris are in the woods hunting. Auggie nails his target, which turns out to be an alien.

As a reminder of the variety of scum Chris was working with for a father, Auggie backhand smacks him for pleading with him not to kill the alien. Naturally, he does pull the trigger because Auggie is Auggie. This is another reminder that alternate Earth Auggie is night and day different from Chris’ actual father.

Chris finds a device on the ground next to the alien as Keith and Auggie stumble onto the portal. Later on in Need I Say Door, it’s revealed that it’s a portal control, which suggests the alien just opened the wrong door and got killed for its trouble.

Back in the present day, Sasha is readying her team for the strike on Chris’ house. Screenwriter James Gunn can get a bit overboard with some of the dialogue with characters acting extremely goofy or unhinged for the sake of a joke with a 50/50 chance of actually landing.

This time, the ARGUS convo is really funny with Economos getting into it with Red St. Wild and Judomaster in some especially witty exchanges. Economos is quietly becoming one of the season MVPs.

Economos was successful enough in creating enough of a distraction that he was able to text Chris a warning that ARGUS was coming.  While it took him a second to decipher the text, Chris was able to escape with the portal control and Eagly before ARGUS arrived. Bad news for Chris is Judomaster spotted him, sparking another battle between the two.

Need I Say Door showcased part of the fun with Judomaster fight scenes — he’s always incorporating luchador techniques in his fighting attacks, which gives Cena a way to incorporate some wrestling moves into the action. Chris wins this round and texts Adebayo to come get him.

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With Ads’ help, they go to his grandfather’s cabin in the woods to set up a new spot for the portal. Thanks to Economos’ stalling, Chris is able to open it before ARGUS can enter it. That in turn makes the door at Chris’ place just a regular door into a closet.

Seeing the doorway to another world, Ads is astonished. Chris breaks down all the positives of the other world, but she’s not having any of it.

To show Ads’ purehearted nature, she doesn’t ask Chris about Keeya in the alternate world. Like Chris, her relationship status is a bit murky right now, but she doesn’t even think to question if her relationship is in a better state. She’s far more optimistic she can turn things around.

This makes for another interesting contrast with Ads and Chris. Both had somewhat lousy parents — Chris with Auggie, Ads with Amanda Waller — but the way they lived their lives after that rough childhood was wildly different. It’s why it might come down to Ads and not Harcourt to get Chris from being fully swept away by the alternate reality that seems so appealing.

Now that Chris’ portal vanished, Rick Flag Sr. takes another approach — getting Harcourt’s help. If she’s able to help, then maybe Rick can get her back reinstated. All she has to do is help Rick bring in Chris. Last episode revealed there is some potential very sticky complications with Harcourt interacting with Flag Sr.

She was sleeping with Flag Jr. and now is palling around with the man who killed him. What Need I Say Door doesn’t elaborate on is if Sr. knew about Harcourt and Jr’s inter-office fraternizing beyond being good friends.

Adrian comes by with some supplies to put up some new doors in the cabin with his usual goofiness. Peacemaker has plenty of out there and quirky characters, but Adrian is easily my least favorite. He’s just annoying and particularly not useful in a non-combat situation.

Chris is having a crisis of conscious. The other world is so much more appealing. Maybe talking to Harcourt could offer some perspective? That’s awful timing for Chris as Harcourt reluctantly agrees to meet him. It seems every unlikely she’d sell him out just to get her job back, despite Need I Say Door reinforcing how lost she is without her professional purpose and identity.

Need I Say Door spends far too much time in the back end of the episode with Red St. Wild stripping down in the woods and doing a cultural appropriation dance that somehow allows him to follow Eagly’s path to Chris’ current location. This was yet another moment where it probably sounded hilarious to Gunn and Rooker was eager to pull it off, but it just comes off too silly. The length of the scene didn’t help either.

At least, Need I Say Door ended with a compelling cliffhanger as Chris speeds off to meet Harcourt, who’s visibly conflicted as Rick Flag Sr. and ARGUS prepare for Chris’ arrival.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Photo Credit: HBO Max

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