Interview
‘Peacemaker’ Star Jennifer Holland on How Harcourt’s Rage Is Related to Her Complicated Feelings for Chris (VIDEO)
[Warning: The above video and below contain MAJOR spoilers for Peacemaker Season 2, Episode 1, “The Ties That Grind.”]
Peacemaker is back for Season 2, and it’s raised a massive question in the premiere episode, “The Ties That Grind,” as it was implied that something took place between the titular hero, Chris Smith (John Cena), and former colleague Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland).
But before that topic was broached, viewers got a peek into the hardships Harcourt’s facing on the job front after her position with Task Force X was eliminated following her colleague Adebayo’s (Danielle Brooks) airing of confidential secrets surrounding Season 1’s Project Butterfly mission. Rageful to an extreme, Harcourt is rejected from job interviews and evaluated for her violent tendencies, defined by one man as having “toxic masculinity.”
When Harcourt returns to her apartment after an unsuccessful effort to secure a job, Chris pops by her apartment to check on her, but he also seems to test the waters to bring up an event that occurred between them. While it’s unclear what exactly happened, it was implied that the moment in question occurred on a party boat.
Curtis Bonds Baker / Max
Whether it’s a kiss or something more, Harcourt appeared hellbent on forgetting the encounter, much to Peacemaker’s disappointment. So, will we ever learn or see what took place? Series creator James Gunn promises, “Yes,” viewers will. As for where Harcourt’s rage comes from, Holland says, “I think it’s really a culmination of a lot of those things,” regarding the inability to get hired somewhere post-Project Butterfly and her complex feelings towards Peacemaker.
“I think that she has a lot of [unresolved] trauma that we haven’t even really touched on,” Holland adds. “She has incredibly complex feelings towards Christopher Smith, and she is the most vulnerable she’s ever been because she hides behind her work,” Holland says, noting, “That is the purpose that she has in life. That is her identity, and she’s lost that. So I don’t think she knows who she is without that job. So she’s an incredibly vulnerable place right now.”
For now, that vulnerability has manifested in rage that took the shape of an intense bar fight that left Harcourt bloodied and on the ground, but will she be able to channel her rage into a more positive avenue? Only time will tell, but we’re eager to learn if it will have something to do with her mysterious encounter with Peacemaker.
As fans will recall, Season 1 ended on a hopeful note for Harcourt and Peacemaker as they supported one another following Project Butterfly. Harcourt almost died after being shot, but Peacemaker was there to hold her hand in the hospital.
Stay tuned to find out why their dynamic has shifted so drastically, and let us know your theories in the comments section below.
Peacemaker, Season 2, Thursdays, 9/8c, HBO Max
