Peacemaker season 2 episode 3 brings back a major character from The Suicide Squad – here’s why it matters

• Peacemaker season 2 episode 3 is out now on numerous streaming platforms
• It includes the return of a major character from The Suicide Squad
• Their cameo answers our biggest question about a key relationship in the show

The third episode of Peacemaker season 2^[1] has debuted on streaming services worldwide – and it just revealed why Emilia Harcourt has consistently rebuffed the titular anti-hero’s romantic advances.

Full spoilers immediately follow for the hit HBO Max^[2] show’s latest episode. Turn back now if you haven’t watched it yet.

This season’s third chapter, titled ‘Another Rick Up My Sleeve’, drops a major bombshell that adds a new – not to mention huge – layer of complexity to the ‘will they, won’t they’ dynamic between Peacemaker^[3], real name Chris Smith, and Harcourt.

It’s got everything to do with one of the best HBO Max shows^[4]‘ latest cameos, too. The individual in question? Rick Flag Jr, who was played by Joel Kinnaman in 2016’s Suicide Squad movie and 2021’s The Suicide Squad^[5] film.

Ahead of Peacemaker 2‘s release, industry insiders suggested Kinnaman would appear in the DC Universe (DCU^[6]) TV series. His appearance in ‘Another Rick Up My Sleeve’ via a flashback scene, then, won’t come as a shock to anyone who saw that rumor.

What is important, though, is what this season’s third entry establishes as soon as it begins – that being, Flag Jr and Harcourt were having no strings attached sex prior to the events of The Suicide Squad. For more details on where this film fits on the complicated DC film timeline, check out my DC movies in order^[7] guide.

But I digress. Harcourt makes it clear to Flag Jr that she’s not interested in having an actual relationship with him. She also reminds him that he’s actually seeing a sorceress called June, who DC fans will know by her meta-human pseudonym Enchantress, so he’s technically cheating on June with Harcourt. However, it’s also clear that, despite suggesting they’re just friends, Harcourt has developed some feelings for him amid their situationship.

That’s important when it comes to her reluctance to get with Smith. Remember, in The Suicide Squad‘s third and final act, Smith kills Flag Jr. Smith does so after the latter threatens to leak highly-sensitive information, which Flag Jr finds on a hard drive, to the press about the experiments being conducted on the island of Corto Maltese. In Peacemaker’s words, leaking said intel^[8] would cause an international crisis. Long story short: the pair fight and Smith ends up stabbing Flag Jr through the heart with a broken wall tile.

Considering Harcourt knows Smith is responsible for Flag Jr’s death, it makes perfect sense why she gave him the cold shoulder for much of the series’ first season. She’s since warmed to Smith, but her ongoing rejection of his romantic advances confirms she’d not only feel guilty for getting with the man who killed her former lover, but also put herself in the crosshairs of a vengeful Rick Flag Sr, who’s pumping plenty of ARGUS’ resources into finding and taking out Smith.

Things become just as complicated for Smith in ‘Another Rick Up My Sleeve’, too.

After discovering a parallel world via the Quantum Unfolding Chamber in season 2 episode 1, and then traveling to this alternate universe last episode to drunkenly text this dimension’s version of Harcourt, Smith spends almost the entirety of episode 3 in said parallel universe.

Unfortunately for Smith, a version of Rick Flag Jr is still alive and well in this universe, albeit one who’s more of a goofball compared to the alpha male we saw in Suicide Squad and The Suicide Squad.

Understandably, Flag Jr being alive in this alternate reality activates Smith’s PTSD over his murdering of the DCU’s Flag Jr, which leads to a brief albeit awkward conversation between them. To make matters worse, this realm’s Flag Jr has been dating its version of Harcourt, too, who’d also gone out (and since broken up) with this universe’s Peacemaker, who’s since been killed by the DCU’s Peacemaker in this season’s premiere. If we thought Smith and Harcourt’s dynamic was complicated at the best of times, the introduction of this other dimension and the DCU’s Peacemaker’s dabbling in it is only going to make things even more convoluted for all involved.

We’ll see how Flag Jr’s ghost, plus Smith’s trips to this parallel world, continues to affect Smith and Harcourt’s relationship as the DCU Chapter One^[9] show continues. In the meantime, check out my Peacemaker season 2 review^[10] for some narrative clues about the next two episodes, or read more of my exclusive coverage on the series below.

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