As I sat down to watch Preacher episode 10, the season finale, I prepared myself for a cliffhanger. Well, we certainly got one. Even though this episode probably raised more questions than it answered, I really, really enjoyed it.
If you are squeamish and don’t like the sight of blood and guts (however fake) on your TV or movie screen, you probably didn’t love much of Preacher episode 9. I was right there with you. While we made some progress on a few plot points, I felt disappointed at the end of this one.
It’s nice to know that even a twisted voodoo she-devil like Gran’Ma has nightmares. That’s where we start this episode – Angelville’s matriarch is dreaming that she meets her end thanks to Jesse and Tulip, and she is having NONE of it.
First and foremost, Preacher episode 7 is called “Hilter,” NOT “Hitler.” Secondly, it’s kind of a bait-and-switch of an episode title, because we get about 5 minutes of the Fuhrer and then he disappears again (reluctantly) with the Saint and Eugene.
When I saw the episode title and teaser for this episode of Preacher, I wasn’t super thrilled. The parts of the comic that dealt with Les Enfents du Sang were some of my least favorites of the whole series, and the television version of events hasn’t done anything to change my mind. But, it’s part of the story whether I like it or not, so I guess I should just get to it.
I asked my husband the other night how he was feeling about this season of Preacher, since he’s an even more devoted fan of the comic books than I am (he got me to read them in the first place). He thought for a second and then said, “I feel like the episodes keep getting better.” I tend to agree, and I think it’s because this season is tracking the original material much more closely than in the previous two.
Four episodes into this season of Preacher, and we haven’t spent a whole lot of time outside of Angelville. Even though we get to visit Hell for a bit in “The Tombs,” Jesse and crew still haven’t figured out how to leave his family’s estate – and just about everyone seems the worse for it (with the possible exception of Tulip, who – let’s face it – is always awesome, geography be damned).
This episode should have been called Tulip-alooza or something, because we get to spend a LOT of time with our heroine – and that is always a good thing. The action starts with Ms. O’Hare speeding to New Orleans to find the Grail, but all she finds is an empty office and a janitor who doesn’t know anything. On her way back to Angelville, God (on a motorcycle with a hot blonde) reaches out to her again – and when he takes off his latex dog mask, he looks just like “fake god” from Season 1. God says this, and everything else, is by his design. Tulip calls bullshit (you tell him, girlfriend). God gets pissed and throws her into her car before he departs.
When Preacher opens in black and white, I always get excited – I love the flashbacks because they fill in so many interesting details about our main characters and the events that shaped their lives. In this episode, we see a teenaged Jesse hustling a vice-principal, the latter of whom has realized that his relations with one of his students could derail his career. He wants Gran’ma to cast a spell to make the girl forget about him, and he assures Jesse that he’ll pay up. Fast forward a bit, and the VP is thrilled with the results – but he’s short on his payment. Jesse lets him know that is a BIG problem, but he doesn’t seem to get it, until he is chased by Jody and T.C. in a truck, then beaten and brought to Gran’ma’s house. A machine is wheeled in that will extract the delinquent client’s soul, and Jesse starts to leave the room – but Gran’ma says it’s about time he saw the process. We don’t see it, but we hear it. It sounds like it hurts. A lot.
Man, I missed this show! And as a reader and fan of the comic books, I have been anxiously awaiting the trip to Angelville, where Jesse’s family tree has its dysfunctional roots. In the premiere of season 3, we dive right into those roots with a black and white flashback…