Despite high expectations, 2021’s The Suicide Squad failed to achieve great box office success. Nonetheless, it didn’t become a dud, and it resulted in a TV spinoff via 2022’s Peacemaker.

Season One involves eight episodes, all of which appear on this two Blu-ray set. The synopses come from IMDB.

A Whole New Whirled: “After making a miraculous recovery, Peacemaker (John Cena) returns home only to discover that his freedom comes at a price.”

The Suicide Squad left Peacemaker badly injured – but not left for dead. The movie’s post-credits sequence revealed his survival and also pushed toward the character’s further adventures that we find here.

I didn’t think much of Squad, which came with some entertainment value but didn’t excel. Cena offered a moderate standout, at least, so the prospect of a Peacemaker-centered series showed promise.

Through one episode, that proves accurate, as “Whirled” offers a pretty solid launch to the series. It mixes the expected comedy with a bit of action and exposition to give us an appealing opening.

Best Friends, For Never: “After Peacemaker's hazardous escape, tension and mistrust build within the team. Later, as Peacemaker grapples with his new assignment, he receives a surprise visitor.”

“Never” picks up right where “Whirled” left off, so expect an action launch to the show. It lacks the bracing impact of the series debut, but it comes with enough life and comedy to maintain the season well.

Better Goff Dead: “On their first official mission to assassinate suspected ‘butterflies’, Economos (Steve Agee) and Murn (Chukwudi Iwuji) bond, and Peacemaker and Harcourt (Jennifer Holland) reach an understanding. But the whole job goes sideways with the arrival of Judomaster (Nhut Le).”

With “Goff”, we get a continuation of the status quo in terms of quality. The episode moves along the season’s burgeoning narrative and does so with the expected mix of laughs and violence.

The Choad Less Travelled: “Following a somewhat successful mission, Murn recruits Vigilante (Freddie Stroma). Meanwhile, after learning that the team helped land his father Auggie (Robert Patrick) in prison, Peacemaker confronts his complicated past.”

I don’t really look to Peacemaker for deep emotions, but “Choad” digs into the lead’s family complications in the semi-meaningful manner – with the usual snarky humor, of course. Still, I like that it attempts something a little deeper.

Monkey Dory: “The team scouts the apparent hub for the aliens' food supply, only to come face-to-face with a full-fledged invasion. Meanwhile, Auggie's attempt to sell out his son to the police is complicated by Murn's mysterious contact.”

Much of “Dory” covers semi-sentimental moments, as the team furthers their bond. This proves fairly sweet, and with enough action to sustain us, “Dory” works.

Murn After Reading: “Murn reveals his deepest secret. Auggie is set free. The botched arrest of Peacemaker sends alien Goff into an unexpected new host.”

Plenty of major plot points occur here, and these make “Murn” a particularly impactful episode. Toss in the usual comedy and violence to turn this into a strong show.

Stop Dragon My Heart Around: “Harcourt, Murn, and Adebayo (Elizabeth Faith Ludlow) find themselves surrounded by an alien force, while Peacemaker squares off against his father with help from Vigilante and Economos.”

As we approach the end of Season One, the narrative heats up with “Heart”. Expect another solid program that manages to move along events in a compelling manner.

It’s Cow or Never: “Although Peacemaker and Adebayo are at odds, the team must kill the cow before the aliens can finish its teleportation.”

S1 ends with the logical Big Action Spectacular here. I don’t know if it fully lives up to expectations, but it nonetheless throws out some surprises and brings the year to a satisfying conclusion.

Peacemaker appears in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 on these Blu-ray Discs. Season One produced fine visual quality.

Sharpness consistently worked well. Despite a few slightly soft wide shots, the majority of the material came across as concise and well-defined.

I saw no signs of moiré effects or jagged edges, and edge haloes remained absent. Source flaws also failed to create distractions.

Unsurprisingly, the series’ palette leaned toward amber and teal – with more emphasis on the latter. The Blu-rays reproduced them in a satisfactory manner.

Blacks appeared deep and dense, while shadows offered smooth, clear delineation. All in all, the episodes looked very good.

In addition, the series’ DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio opened up matters well. Given all the action on display, the tracks boasted a lot of side/rear usage and blended these elements in a satisfying manner. Everything melded together to create a lively soundscape with plenty of pizzazz along the way.

Audio quality also pleased. Music appeared full and rich, while speech seemed distinctive and concise.

Effects demonstrated accurate, dynamic elements with nice low-end response. The soundtracks suited the shows well.

A bunch of generally short extras appear across the two discs, and Disc One starts with Making the World Safe for Violence. It runs 11 minutes, 44 seconds and provides notes from writer/director James Gunn and actors John Cena, Chukwudi Iwuji, Jennifer Holland, Steve Agee, Danielle Brooks, and Freddie Stroma.

“Safe” looks at characters and cast. A few minor insights emerge but we don’t find a lot of substance.

Bad Daddy Issues lasts five minutes, 28 seconds and features Gunn, Stroma, Cena, and actor Robert Patrick.

During “Issues”, we get more character/cast thoughts. This one also lacks depth and doesn’t really tell us much.

Next comes Under the Helmet, a two-minute, 33-second reel that shows some visual effects progressions. It would work better with commentary, but it still becomes a good look at the different stages.

Via the Project Butterfly domain, we find seven segments, each of which focuses on a separate team member. These cover Peacemaker (1:21), Adebayo (1:06), Harcourt (1:09), John Economos (1:12), Vigilante (1:17), Murn (1:12) and Eagly (2:07).

Across these, we hear from Gunn, Cena, Brooks, Holland, Agee, Stroma, Iwuji and visual effects supervisor Betsy Patterson.

They offer character basics, though we also find some notes about how the show brings Eagly to life. That segment works, but otherwise these deliver intensely skippable promo reels.

On Set with Steve Agee fills two minutes, 27 seconds and provides the actor’s tour of the production. It proves insubstantial but mildly enjoyable.

To conclude Disc One, Dramatic Comic Book Readings with Chukwudi Iwuji. It goes for two minutes, 13 seconds and provides the actor’s renditions of some superhero scenes in this cute reel.

On Disc Two, we open with a Gag Reel (9:23). It brings a lot of the usual goofs and giggles, but since we find some alternate lines as well, it occasionally sparks to life.

Unlocking the Quantum Unfolding Storage Area spans one minute, 36 seconds and features Cena as he shows us a series set and props. Expect minor informational value but the clip doesn’t last long enough to tell us much.

Next comes BFFs, a two-minute, six-second clip with Cena, Stroma and Gunn. They give us short thoughts about the Peacemaker/Vigilante relationship in this fluffy segment.

So What Do You Really Think of Peacemaker? takes up two minutes, 17 seconds and gives us in-character comments from Economos, Harcourt, Murn, Adebayo, Auggie Smith and Vigilante. It seems cute and that’s about it.

After this we get Danielle Brooks Explains the DC Universe, a one-minute, 41-second piece in which the actor looks at some of the weirder vintage comics. Expect moderate comedic value.

Keep the Tweets occupies two minutes, three seconds and shows Peacemaker as he reviews negative comments about the series. It gives us a few laughs as well.

With Dance for Peace, we locate a one-minute, 42-second reel in which we hear from Holland, Gunn, Cena, Iwuji, Brooks and choreographer Charissa Barton. We get a short look at the series’ credit sequence in this mildly engaging clip.

Finally, How to Properly Give a F*ck lasts one minutes, five seconds and features Cena, Brooks, Iwuji, Patrick, Stroma, Holland, and Agee. They demonstrate how to use the “F-word” in this silly promo piece.

As a TV series, Peacemaker hews pretty closely to its James Gunn Template. While that means aspects can seem predictable at times, the show nonetheless offers more than enough action and laughs to become a fun ride. The Blu-rays deliver solid picture and audio along with a mix of somewhat superficial bonus features. Bring on Season Two!