- "We made a vow to make the choices for you that you were incapable of making on your own, to save your people and your world, no matter how many lives it cost us. Murn disagreed with our methods. He didn't think we had the right to impose our will. But you're one of us, Christopher Smith."
- ―Eek Stack Ik Ik to Peacemaker
It's Cow or Never is the eighth and final episode of the first season of Peacemaker. The episode was written and directed by James Gunn, and was released on Max on February 17, 2022.
Synopsis[]
With Peacemaker and Adebayo at odds, can the team kill the cow once and for all – or will their fracture give the aliens the opening they need to complete its teleportation?
Plot[]
On the trip to Coverdale Ranch, Leota Adebayo tries to apologize to Peacemaker, however he begins to mock her by making gas sounds to interrupt her, angry Peacemaker soon yelled at her for betraying him, Leota then complains about receiving lawsuits for Smith when he killed people, annoyed Peacemaker mentions that when his brother died he swore a peace oath, Vigilante then got upset that all his friends were fighting after all the adventures they had. Upon arrival, Harcourt opens the door for the team to get off.
Adebayo calls her mother Amanda Waller to tell her that there were more butterflies than they expected and maybe she could contact the Justice League, while Harcourt explains that the butterflies were going to move the cow, Waller then says that Harcourt should be in charge of the team. Meanwhile below the ranch, Sophie Song's butterfly argues with Caspar Locke's to estimate the time the teleporter will be ready. The 11th Street Kids then settle near the ranch to spy on the butterflies, in which Adebayo asks what the helmets do, to which he responds by explaining each one.
Adebayo then suggests taking the Anti-Gravity helmet to the ranch and from there activate it through a radio-communicator, however the helmet is activated causing it to be lost when Leota mentions it, this causes Peacemaker to be annoyed with her. Harcourt asks for new ideas to which Peacemaker mentions being able to throw away a helmet causing Vigilante to compare it to Green Arrow, Smith then suggests that Eagly take the Sonic Boom helmet to the ranch, he then gives instructions and Eagly takes it, however he ends up throwing it in the woods, an annoyed Harcourt asks them to help her look for the helmet, while the butterflies continue working on activating the cow's teleporter.
Economos and Vigilante search together as they argue, while Harcourt and Adebayo search, Harcourt asks what made her change her mind. Peacemaker then has a hallucination with his father causing Chris to throw a dart at him that sticks in a tree, Harcourt arrives to observe and confused asks him what happens, at that moment Harcourt observes the tree and discovers the helmet among the leaves, then Harcourt asks Smith to kill the butterfly man who guarded the ranch entrance, which Smith completes. At night the team gets together, where Harcourt asks Economos to infiltrate the ranch to deposit the helmet since he was the only one that the butterflies didn't know, annoyed Economos begins to complain, but then the team manages to convince him.
Economos goes to the ranch while communicating with Harcourt on a radio, when Economos arrives he is surprised by Larry Fitzgibbon's butterfly who asks him where he was going, so Economos manages to trick him and enters the ranch. Economos is surprised to see the cow and runs away scared leaving the helmet, however Economos is interrupted by Larry who asks him about the life of his guest to which he narrates his life causing Smith to feel sorry for having troubled him. However the butterflies discover the helmet and start chasing him as he tries to run, Leota then activates the radio causing severe explosions in the ranch, the butterflies then leave Economos and run worried to save the cow.
Harcourt, Peacemaker and Vigilante then head towards the ranch to attack the butterflies and kill the cow, in the fight they kill several butterflies with their weapons taking over, but when Smith sees Eek Stack Ik Ik heading towards the ranch basement, he chases her. Shortly after Vigilante and Harcourt are defeated leaving them on the ground, Leota looks that and decides to save Harcourt who was about to die, Economos tries to stop her for being dangerous but he breaks his leg, Adebayo then saves Harcourt from being killed by a butterfly to which Harcourt asks her to help Smith while Economos hands her the helmet. Leota then cautiously goes down to the basement with the helmet while Smith reaches where the cow was, he then confronts Eek Stack Ik Ik, and after a fight Adebayo tries to kill the butterfly with the helmet but fails.
Peacemaker decides to talk to Eek who, while watching the cow, explains the butterflies' vow about changing the future of humans no matter how many they have to kill, Peacemaker then remembers Keith and Flag while Eek tries to convince him to join. Peacemaker denies and activates Leota's helmet killing the cow and Song's body, Leota then falls to the ground being covered in the cow's organs causing disgust, Smith helps Leota up and they leave the basement, while the Song's butterfly escapes. Once outside the team gathers and Smith sees Harcourt on the ground, so he picks her up and then they leave. In that, the Justice League arrives at the ranch, however they are criticized for being late.
In the morning, the team arrives at the hospital where Harcourt, Vigilante and Economos are treated, Leota and Chris then talk about what happened with the cow reestablishing their friendship, Leota then leaves to tell the press the truth about the diary along with the dismantling of Task Force X blaming her mother Waller who watches on television in confusion. Smith then visits Harcourt in the hospital, happy to be reunited, Leota is then reunited with Keeya sharing a kiss. Economos later returns to Belle Reve where he remembers the team, Judomaster returns to the ranch where he discovers all the butterflies killed and begins to cry while Peacemaker and Vigilante have fun blowing up a car, Harcourt then begins to walk again. Smith one morning meets with Song's butterfly which he feeds while he again has a hallucination with his father.
In a post-credits scene, Chase talks to Smith about being sarcastic and he should warn people about it, Economos asks why, so Vigilante say sarcastically that he didn't notice Economos frying and tells him that he was worried that he would die, for which John sarcastically thanked him.
Cast[]
Starring[]
- John Cena as Christopher Smith/Peacemaker
- Danielle Brooks as Leota Adebayo
- Freddie Stroma as Adrian Chase/Vigilante
- Chukwudi Iwuji (credit only)
- Jennifer Holland as Agent Emilia Harcourt
- Steve Agee as John Economos
- Robert Patrick as Auggie Smith (hallucination)
Guest starring[]
- Annie Chang as Detective Sophie Song and Eek Stack Ik Ik
- Lochlyn Munro as Detective Larry Fitzgibbon
- Elizabeth Faith Ludlow as Keeya Adebayo
- Nhut Le as Judomaster
- Christopher Heyerdahl as Captain Caspar Locke
Co-starring[]
- Bzhaun Rhoden as Young Man
- Neil Webb as Cool Steve
- Kevin O'Grady as Officer Johnson
- Rochelle Greenwood as Peggy
- Zak Santiago as Prison Guard
- Quinn Bennett as Young Chris
- Liam Hughes as Keith
- Troy Anthony Young as Terrified Man
- Cynthia Oroz as Nurse
- Lissa Neptuno as Alandy
- Dee Bradley Baker as Eagly (voice)
Uncredited[]
- Jason Momoa as Arthur Curry/Aquaman
- Ezra Miller as Barry Allen/Flash
- Viola Davis as Amanda Waller
- Brad Abramenko as Kal-El/Clark Kent/Superman
- Kimberley von Ilberg as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman
- Joel Kinnaman as Colonel Rick Flag (archive footage)
- Matt Turner as Bruce Wayne/Batman (deleted scene)
- Unconfirmed stand-in actor as Victor Stone/Cyborg (deleted scene)
Appearances[]
Characters[]
(mentioned)
(mentioned)
(mentioned)
(indirectly mentioned)
(mentioned)
(flashback)
Locations[]
- Earth
- Cambodia (mentioned)
- North America
- United States of America
- Eastern Base (mentioned)
- Empire State Building (mentioned)
- Louisiana
- Maine (mentioned)
- Washington
- United States of America
- Butterflies' Planet (mentioned)
Events[]
Items[]
- Amber Fluid
- Atlan's Armor
- Flash Suit
- Peacemaker's Diary (mentioned)
- Peacemaker's Helmets
- Peacemaker's Shield
- Peacemaker Uniform
- Supersuit
- Sword of Athena
- Trident of Atlan
- Vigilante Suit
- Wonder Woman's Armor
- Wonder Woman's Second Shield
Vehicles[]
To be added
Sentient species[]
Creatures[]
Organizations[]
- 11th Street Kids
- A.R.G.U.S.
- Glan Tai Bottling Company
- Justice League
- Charlton News 5
- KWUE
- Task Force X
Music[]
| Song Title | Artist | Location(s) |
|---|---|---|
| If You Really Really Love Me | Steel Panther |
|
| Do You Wanna Taste It | Wig Wam |
|
| Apologize | The Last Vegas |
|
| You Can't Kill My Rock n' Roll | Hardcore Superstar |
|
Trivia[]
- Flash's cameo scene was film in the set for James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3; Marvel Studios allowed this to return the favor after Gunn shoot Chukwudi Iwuji's screen test for the latter film in the set for Peacemaker.
Videos[]
References[]
External links[]
| Episodes in the DC Extended Universe | |
| Peacemaker | A Whole New Whirled • Best Friends, For Never • Better Goff Dead • The Choad Less Traveled • Monkey Dory • Murn After Reading • Stop Dragon My Heart Around • It's Cow or Never |
|---|---|
| The Flash: Escape the Midnight Circus | Priorities • The Inherent Dangers of Time Travel • Fully Torqued • The Psychodrome • Cyclotron Don • Blackout |
| Miscellaneous | Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part Four • Dude, Where's My Gar? |