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" - Review!
1.06 "Sundowner" - Review!
1.07 "He Gone" - Review!
1.08 "El Valero" - Review!
1.09 "Finish the Song" - Review!
1.10 "Call and Response" - Review!
Apologies for the delay in getting these reviews up, I've been away in France for the past two weeks so haven't had the chance to cover the show until now! But, better late than never - so here we go!
Preacher 1.09 "Finish the Song - Review:
Directed by Michael Slovis & Written by Craig Rosenberg
So, this was the penultimate episode of Preacher's first season and it was a pretty great episode, featuring Jesse on the run from the police as well as Cassidy battling his thirst for blood. It was an interesting hour that although it may not be the most batshit insane episode of the show yet, it was still a pretty solid one that delivered for the most part.
This time we start the episode in 1881, exploring more of the cowboy. Opening with a bloodbath we get to see him show no mercy to anyone in Ratwater, be it women, men or children. It's a weak decision to repeat the killing on a near constant basis because it unfortunately weakens the impact each time we see it happen on screen, even if we're designed to see the character in his own personal hell. He's reliving his worst moments of his life over and over again, and when he eventually gets a brief reprieve from his grief at the hands of Fiore and DeBlanc, who have journeyed to hell to recruit him to kill a certain Preacher. The stakes are high, and Jesse has a big problem to deal with. The revelation of the character being in hell was an impressive one, and even though the bar massacre did get a bit dragging the more times it kept repeating itself, it was still pretty awesome to watch the first time, showing just what Preacher is capable of.
Oh, and Emily. Wow. Who would have expected that decision from her to feed Miles to Cassidy? He was facing severely increasing blood loss problems and blood from a hospital would be no good, it had to be from a living person. This is something that makes it more complicated for him, and Tulip is also running out of patience as well feeding him, because she's got better places to be. Tulip also tells Emily that she can have Jesse as she's done with everything. This ultimately leads to Cassidy finally getting his decent meal, and the end of Miles and their relationship. Talk about a game-changer for the character.
It was also quite amusing watching Fiore and DeBlanc debating between the two decisions about whether or not to go to Heaven or Hell, with Heaven being the preferrable option even if it ultimately means confessing their sins. I'm sorry Castiel, but I think Fiore and DeBlanc have just become the best Angels currently on television - I love their back and forth exchanges and humour that they bring to the show. Fiore is anxious and thinks that that they'll be separated if they go to Heaven, and they toss a coin, even though that they both know that they'll keep tossing until they get Heaven. However the decision is taken out of their hands when they find out that the phone is no longer in their possession, and decide to leave the Hotel. There's a cool Breaking Bad reference here with Fiore and DeBlanc waiting for the journey to hell in the same manner that Walter and Jesse were waiting for their own van, and just made this episode all the more awesome. Even if Fiore does have to part with his comic books, which he brought with him in the trunk.
Of course it's Jesse who has the phone that prevented Fiore and DeBlanc from heading to hell and is now trying to pick the locks from his handcuffs with a couple of homeless people. He ends up having breakfast with them, as they debate how he's gone off the deep end, asking the question just how they can expect God to answer them. He ends up heading to the O'Hare house and is told by a surprisingly calm Emily that Tulip's gone, and Cassidy's inside. Cassidy tells Jesse that he already told him who he was, and now they know the worst parts of each other. They then dispose of Miles' body together, and Cassidy comes up with a solution to get the phone to work.
All Jesse has to do is use the hand of an Angel, and it's never explained that the said hands have to belong to a living one. Cassidy decides to take him to the place where he disposed of Fiore and DeBlanc's bodies, and Jesse ends up calling Tulip and admitting that she's the only one for him. However, Tulip herself is heading to confront Carlos.
Miles is buried when the two end up digging up an Angel hand (Cassidy asks Jesse how many he'll need and Jesse says that one will be fine), and the episode ends where we began, with the cowboy in Hell. It's an interesting end to the episode, that sets up the finale pretty well indeed.
Overall Episode Verdict: A-
Positives:
+Breaking Bad reference!
+Emily!
+Fiore and DeBlanc
Negatives:
-One repetition too many of the cowboy in hell?
Preacher 1.10 "Call and Response" - Review:
The first season of Preacher wraps up in a spectacular fashion as Jesse attempts to call God using the Heaven phone. It's a way that only Preacher could have ended in as well, with a great hour's worth of entertainment that really sets the stage for season 2 as well as presumably wrapping up the adventures in Annville. It shows that this season has been perhaps best viewed as a prequel about getting Jesse, Tulip and Cassidy together and getting their mission in place.
Opening with Willie Nelson's Time of the Preacher, the show kicks in strongly. There's a pretty great shot early on which sees Jesse literally running away from the cops and it's something that only Preacher can be capable of, but literally the whole town knows where he's going to be come Sunday. They might as well just wait until then, and Annville is locked in a religious experience of its own as it prepares for what it expects to be the end, with graffiti asking questions and asking Jesse to explain himself.
Oh, and Cassidy is now in jail, having been captured due to his association with Jesse at the whorehouse. He's being interrogated by Sherriff Root who's smart enough to work out that he's a vampire and therefore won't die if he gets shot, and Root abuses his power to try and find out what happened to his son.
Meanwhile Tulip ends up finding Jesse at Donnie's house, only to find out that he's actually living here of his own free will. She takes Jesse outside to reveal that Carlos is in the trunk of her car, where we learn that Tulip was going to have a baby once and during a bank robbery, this led to a miscarriage when Jesse was forced to shoot a guard that Carlos let free. Carlos ends up getting beaten by both Jesse and Tulip, after Tulip talks Jesse out of killing him.
The next morning, Donnie and Betsy end up help sneaking Jesse and Tulip into the Church with the Angel phone under the noses of the police. This builds up to quite possibly what is going to be the last Sunday service that we'll get on this show, and this is where we get our culmination of the whole season. This naturally doesn't work on the first attempt to get the phone to call God, but eventually he shows up as an old white man on a throne in his full, commanding presence. This allows for Tulip to make a comment, acting completely normal about the whole thing, saying that she told them he was a white guy.
The Church of course is absolutely full with people who are in awe of God, and start becoming increasingly more emotional when God reveals that they are all saved as part of his divine plan and Quincannon is apparently assured by God that his family are apparently in heaven. However, there's a slight flaw in the plan. God's not God, because he doesn't know about Genesis, and it turns out to be something else - likely just a normal Angel - which causes the town to descend into a riot unlike any other before.
Annville isn't really saved after all, as one by one all the townspeople are taken out one by one as Tom Cruise gets his ashes shot out into space. It turns out that Quincannon's power plant then ends up exploding, and effectively wiping out the entire cast of the town. It's a pretty devastating way to end the season especially by apparently wiping out all of the characters that the show has made us care about like Donnie, Emily and Root. Maybe even Quincannon, but I really wouldn't be surprised if he was brought back in the future. It's too early to know for sure but I hope there's a way for some of these characters to come back, somehow, but for now, the show looks to be what it's always been building towards, a road trip.
A big road trip into the unknown to find God. Jesse, who ends up making out with Tulip after she asks him about Genesis, and Cassidy, in the back of the car. While they are hunted by the Cowboy, the Saint, who has emerged in the wreckage of Annville. It'll be interesting to know how Season 2 progresses and I can't wait for the show to return, because although the season has been flawed at times, and slow in places, it's probably been one of the year's best so far, and just a great right from start to finish.
It's also the perfect show to binge-watch, so for all of you who have been holding off jumping on board now's the time. One award that this show is certainly going to claim is probably the weirdest show of the year, however given that we're currently in #PeakTV I wouldn't be surprised if this feat were topped anytime soon.
What do you think of Preacher's finale and the season as a whole? Will you be back for Season 2? Let me know in the comments below.
Overall Episode Verdict: A+
Positives:
+God's not God.
+Time for a road trip!
+Donnie working with Jesse
+Cassidy/Root
Negatives:
-Have we really lost all those characters?
