TV Romance
‘Peacemaker’: What Happened Between Chris & Harcourt on the Party Boat? Our Theories
Chris (John Cena) and Harcourt (Jennifer Holland) are having a rough go of it in Peacemaker Season 2.
The first time they reunite on screen, the partners-in-crime commiserate over their failed job interviews: Chris with the Justice Gang, and Harcourt with the NSA. It starts off sweet, with Chris putting ice on Harcourt’s injured hand. (She took out her frustration on her car’s dashboard.) For a moment, the show had us thinking that Chris and Harcourt finally became more than friends… But their interaction goes downhill from there.
These are the facts so far: One, they were on a party boat a few days ago. Two, Harcourt says she didn’t want to go on it, but Chris says she “vigorously” did. Three, they both got drunk. Finally, Chris remembers most of it, but Harcourt claims that she doesn’t.
“Alcohol and f**kups both foster amnesia, thank God,” she says brutally. When Chris challenges that the “f**kup” was actually a good thing, Harcourt shuts him down. “If that’s what you want to think, that’s fine, but it’s also the end of it.”
Chris proceeds to drown his sorrows with an outrageous amount of drugs — and an orgy.
Their earlier interaction was quickly overshadowed by said orgy, but once the dust settled, we started wondering about what really happened between Chris and Harcourt. Why were they being so vague about what went down on the boat, and why didn’t we get a flashback? We can’t help but feel a little cheated, so we hope that creator James Gunn gives us one eventually.
When Swooon interviewed the Peacemaker crew at San Diego Comic Con, we asked whether or not Chris and Harcourt could ever work as a couple. “I think you will find out whether or not that’s the case in this season to some degree,” Holland teased. “We do explore their relationship and the depths of what causes Harcourt to hate him so much [and] where that comes from.”
Curtis Bonds Baker / Max
The emotionally-closed off Harcourt was completely averse to Chris for a while there. “She thinks he’s a traitor, and she knows he killed one of his team members [in Rick Flag Jr. in The Suicide Squad],” Holland explained in a W Magazine interview. “Does she possibly hate him so much because she can see so much of herself in him?”
However, that feeling was clearly lessening toward the end of Season 1. Chris was working on himself (though he still has a lot of that to do), and they developed a mutual respect. It seemed entirely plausible that the duo were headed in the direction of a slow burn romance in Season 1, but now they seem to be back to square one thanks to the party boat debacle.
We have a few theories going right now. Most realistically, they hooked up that night. Harcourt is spiraling and shutting Chris out, so it could’ve gone very poorly. Or maybe it didn’t, and Harcourt feels like things were moving too fast. That would be fair since not that much time has passed. As much as we love enemies-to-lovers, a full season of Chris and Harcourt being friends would make their connection a lot stronger. And they need a lot more individual growth before they can truly support each other.
On the other hand, Chris and Harcourt might not have even fully hooked up. It could’ve been as tame as a kiss.
Or, just to throw it out there: Could they have gotten so wasted that they somehow got married? Really, pretty much everything is in the realm of possibility when it comes to Peacemaker. The real party boat story could easily be more ridiculous than what we’ve guessed so far.
Hopefully all will be revealed soon, but in the meantime, tell us your theory below. Do you think Chris and Harcourt should officially get together this season? Fire away in the comments!
Peacemaker, Season 2, Thursdays, 9/8c, HBO Max
