Preacher Season 1 Episode Guide:
1.01 "Pilot" - Review!
1.02 "See" - Review!
1.03 "The Possibilities" - Review!
1.04 "Monster Swamp" - Review!
1.05 "South Will Rise Again" - (Airs June 26)
1.06 "Sundowner" - (Airs July 3)
Preacher 1.03 "The Possibilities"
Directed by Scott Winant & Written by Chris Kelley
This show really continues to make the most out of its side characters because damn, even the Angels are really enjoyable to watch with the opening scene this week pitting these characters against Root, the Sherriff. Root wants to know why they aren't seeking help from the local police if they're with the Government and it was hilarious to see them trying to get the correct story across, with Fiore and DeBlanc being just as welcome additions to the show as the likes of Tulip, Jesse and Cassidy. This naturally leads them to being run down by Cassidy in the Church van in one of the best scenes of the episode, with an unexpected twist that came out of nowhere and really worked, preventing us from getting involved in another Church-filled firefight.
Tulip gets a package from the mysterious "Grail Industries" from a woman called Dani while in Houston, and sees her play the part of the third party in this exchange as she takes it to a silent man all in white. He isn't exactly mister nice guy and while we don't know that much about him, it'll be interesting to see what involvement this character has to play in future events. Regardless we get to see how good Tulip is at negotiating when she runs into trouble for speeding, and is able to get off with a warning by speaking about her friend who's tying to make bad decisions, with that friend of course being Jesse, who's got a potential problem of his own.
It looks like that Annville is starting to wise up to the idea that there might be more than to their resident Preacher than meets the eye thanks to his powers which gave the comatose girl from See the ability to open her eyes. However, it doesn't give her the ability to return to full normality, and understandably, Jesse is trying to keep this a secret from everyone, so he talks to Cassidy about this newfound power to make anybody to what he tells them. Naturally Cassidy is somebody who wants them to use Jesse's powers for self-interest, and they test out its limitations. Sorry Cassidy, you're not going to be able to fly anytime soon.
Cassidy also suggested some excellent theories as to who Jesse is, prompting suggestions that include the movie Phenomenon, Jason Bourne and the possibility that he could be a Jedi. He's none of those. Speaking of pop culture references of course we also got a reference back to Tom Cruise's death in the pilot, and Val Kilmer mourning his death at a well-attended funeral. I cant't wait to see how the show works in more unexpected celebrity cameos, as they've been pretty delightful to watch so far.
Jesse meanwhile learns from Tulip that she has the location of an old ally of theirs that they used to work with, who isn't exactly held in the most positive light. Jesse meanwhile has an encounter with Donnie, the abusive dad, again in the bathroom, and almost seems ready to return to his old ways by killing him there and then, but instead decides to let him go. It looks like Jesse isn't going to return to his old ways that easily.
And he then decides that he isn't willing to follow through with Tulip's plan at all, deciding that it would be a better move to head back home for good, leaving her behind. This meant that we didn't get to see much in the way of plot progression this time around, but we did get plenty of interesting scenes that tested Jesse, and gave both Cassidy and Tulip something to do.
It's great to see that Fiore and DeBlanc appear to have the ability to avoid being killed, because this means that we get to see them continuously entertain as a great source for comic relief as the season progresses rather than being just one off characters. It'll be really interesting to see how the show tackles their whole mythology going forward as well, and here's hoping the writers can offer a different take than what we've come to expect from similar shows that include the likes of Supernatural & Constantine.
I guess time will have to tell, but for now The Possibilities was a solid, entertaining slow burn that worked pretty well and went further to establish the tone of this bizarre series.
Overall Episode Verdict: A-
Positives:
+Fiore & DeBlanc.
+Cassidy helping Jesse test his powers.
+Jesse continuing to be tested.
Preacher 1.04 "Monster Swamp"
Directed by Craig Zisk & Written by Sara Goodman
The fourth episode continued the fine form of Preacher as we're now almost at the halfway mark in the first season. It may not be the most fast moving series ever but Monster Swamp was a pretty effective episode regardless, and worked really well in regards to how things played out. Here we find out that Lacey, a prostitute, is dead, which forces Odin Quincannon to let his employees know that they should be more careful to their prey.
And Tulip is now understandably annoyed, taking her anger out on a man at the brothel who just so happens to be Cassidy rather than the original intended precipitant, which allows for an excellent brawl between the two after Cassidy stocks up on blood after the fight conveniently takes them to an emergency room. I love the way how Preacher has worked the more supernatural elements of this show into the series without devoting whole episodes to a different "monster of the week", preferring to instead ease them in slowly, mainly focusing on both Cassidy, Tulip and Jesse and their various struggles. Cassidy meanwhile warns Jesse about the angels and the threat that they pose, saying that it might be a good idea to go on a road trip.
Meanwhile we get a flashback to Jesse as a character where we learn that he has to act as a role model to his friends who get into a bit more trouble than he does thanks to the stern hand of his father. It's clear that back then the Church was a lot busier than it is now, or at least it was until Jesse's powers began to attract the people back to town. Here we get to see a question posed concerning just how convincing he can be as a Preacher, and we get to see a more spirited delivery in his sermon here as he tries to live up to the promise that he made to his father to save the time. He tries to lure Quincannon to his service in order to convince him that the path of God is the right one, but he isn't as easily convinced as others.
This therefore means bad news for Jesse as he needs to convert Quincannon in order to benefit the Church. If he doesn't then he risks losing the land to him and it was great to see Jesse use his Word again, testing the debates once more about whether he should use it or not and in what situations it would prove effective. Here he was able to win Quincannon round to the path of God, but whether Quincannon will pose a greater threat in the future remains to be seen. For now all appears to be on the right track, but there's still trouble in the form of the angels.
The Angels meanwhile have run into trouble of their own as well it's worth noting as it looks like Fiore and deBlanc don't exactly have permission to be on Earth and that call that they received at the end of the episode is presumably from their higher-ups hinting that further trouble may be on the way, but how big a role Jesse, Cassidy and Tulip have to play in things remains unknown.
The show itself I've noticed also over the past four episodes seems to have some influences that it's shared with some of my favourite directors. There's a bit of David Lynch here, a bit of Coens, and even a bit of Quentin Tarantino. The perfect mix of many themes and humour that it's tackled has been excellent to watch and its slow burn approach for the most part has worked. I wasn't expecting Quincannon to be dealt with so soon, but he might not be gone for good just yet and there are plenty of possibilities to explore with Jesse's powers going forward.
Overall Episode Verdict:: A-
Positives:
+How Jesse dealt with Quincannon.
+Tulip meets Cassidy.
What did you think of both The Possibilities and Monster Swamp? Now that you've seen the first four episodes, are you going to be sticking with Preacher going forward? I certainly will be, because the show is still pretty entertaining even if it hasn't quite blown me away yet.
Let me know in the comments below and be sure to check out the next episode of Preacher on Sunday at 9pm at AMC.
