Spoiler Alert: This story contains spoilers for “Keith, Night Like Keith,” episode 7, and season 2 of “Peacemaker.”
After being fired from a high-level position in Argus, Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland) is frustrated with a world that appears to have abandoned her, even after helping her save humanity by a butterfly aliens. Season 1 teases the growing charm between Harcourt and Christ Smith (John Cena), while the second season revolves around the fallout between the two and how it affected the people around them. When Chris discovers a device that can be transported to another dimension, he finds himself in love with another version of Harcourt in Earth X, an alternative reality that he is respected as an American hero.
In episode 6, until Chris learns the truth about the various dimensions he finds comfort, it reveals that it is something like if the Nazis won World War II, and if there were no minorities in a world where there were no minorities. As the children on 11th Street open the doorway between dimensions to find Chris and return him home, Harcourt addresses his feelings for him and forces her to stand up to everything she is running.
The Netherlands spoke to Variety about Harcourt and Chris’s interrogation room confessions. Why did she try to kill Keith (David Denman) in the final moments of episode 7 and choose to fight the Nazis in season 2?
How did you learn about what will happen at Harcourt in Season 2 early in the pre-production process? Have you discussed it with your husband, James Gunn, the creator of the show, or was it something he kept secret?
I clearly have a close relationship with James, and he shares different plot points with the story and runs it by me. We learned early on what was going on in the Harcourt story, but not all. Sometimes James keeps things close, fearing that something might change in the writing process. From the beginning, he had a very rough early outline of a show that was completely different. We had an early conversation about her relationship with Rick Flag Jr. and the origins of her deep Vitreal and hatred towards Peace Director (season 1).
Throughout this season, Harcourt will be dressed in two pivotal battle scenes. In episode 1, she gets caught up in a battle between a group of men and a bar, and in episode 7, she fights Argus, who is revealed to be a Nazi in each dimension. What was it like filming both of those scenes?
It’s quite different, like the scenes of the bar fight. We rehearsed for a few weeks and it was really draining. Two days were difficult, but we had an incredible time with the best stunts and fight coordinators. The bar fight was incredibly emotionally recharged. Because Harcourt, which we have not yet explored, comes out in that attack. In Argus’ Battle Scene (Episode 7), I learned to walk to the set and learn a battle sequence that I’ve never learned before. Luckily, along with the stunt team, they worked with me in multiple other fights before this one of this episode, so I knew what to expect. It was a lot of fun as I was able to throw a “main comp” on the Nazi face. That was pretty surprising.
Chris and Harcourt finally begin to have a conversation about their feelings in the interrogation room, where he confesses his love for her. Harcourt can’t take him herself to bring it back to him, but it can be said that everything she feels for him is shown throughout the season as she is actively fighting to bring him back to their dimensions.
She doesn’t want people to know that people feel all sorts of emotions. She still doesn’t want to know how vulnerable she is and what really is going on. I think we have a hard time expressing our feelings as humans. She doesn’t allow herself to feel anything, which is why she struggles all over the course of her life now. In a way, she is now facing this DO or death situation to tell him or he is not going to come back, but even so, she can’t tell him how she really feels.
From Harcourt’s perspective, she basically says what Chris wants to say to her, despite not being able to say the three words Chris is looking for. She can’t get better on the surface with emotions like he does. She said, “Isn’t it enough to just say I want you to go home? I’ve come all the way to this other dimension to tell you I want you to come back.” He needs to tell her that and she just can’t. It was a well-written scene with James and I had an incredible time playing that scene with John.
Do you think Harcourt’s decision to protect Chris by killing Keith is her way of letting her know her feelings for Chris?
When I read that scene, I was like, “She’s doing this.” That’s one thing he can’t accept. He found his brother alive. I wish I could get a call and make a call with my late mother and my father, who passed away when I was very young. You fantasize about the ability to have a relationship with them, and Chris got it with his brother, even if he came from another dimension. He cannot see Keith die before him again.
Harcourt knows that it’s not what Chris wants, but she has to do it to protect him, and to make sure that she doesn’t have to question whether Keith will kill him. What she does is a crazy decision, despite her inability to go through it because she has to be able to take her life and him.
Will Harcourt find himself in the crossfire between Argus and Chris, leading to the season 2 finale?
At this moment she feels he’s giving up. They have avoided his capture for so long, and she has been on the line many times (for him) especially in her work. He not only gives up on himself, but he sacrifices himself for the rest of the team. She is faced with this question in her mind about what she will do from here. Chris is falling for everyone, so are they all going to stand there and see if they can fix it in the future? She is in a bit of panic as she can’t believe he’s throwing it all away despite giving him everything he wanted in the interrogation room. Many questions are answered in the finale, and the finale raises questions that can be answered immediately.
This interview was compiled and condensed.
