Preacher 2.13 The End of the Road - Review:
Directed by Wayne Yip & Written by Sam Catlin
Preacher's finale has arrived. After several weeks of meandering to the conclusion with the occasional burst of excitement, over-the-top action thrust in there that we've been used to, the show certainly delivered with what it set out to do, end the season on an interesting note that set the stage for Season 3 in style, with the stakes higher than ever.
The episode was all about establishing Jesse as the new Messiah and introducing him to the world under Herr Starr and the Grail's advice. His first experience was to give a speech to a group of innocent school children before he was attacked by an armed group of Armenians, only to fight them off. Predictably, Starr then tells him that this incident was done on purpose to go viral, creating online buzz around him being the Messiah. The touches of humour at the beginning of the episode when Jesse and Starr were discussing what would be the best look for the Messiah to wear and what wouldn't would normally have hinted that this episode would continue the humorous tone throughout, but then this is Preacher, which can turn dark as quickly as it can inject the odd joke, sometimes both at the same time.
This was a big episode for most of the main cast and Joseph Gilgun also got his time to shine this week as he wrapped up the Denis storyline. Whilst it was still predictable it's hard to watch anyone forced to kill their own son, and Gilgun's portrayal of Cassidy really helped show the sympathetic side of things for the character. He still hasn't quite gotten over what Jesse's done to them in the past and as a result there will no doubt be some relationships to be patched up in Season 3, especially with Cassidy declaring that he hates Jesse. Jesse's response to that of course is just to wait and see, because if he hates Jesse now, things will only get worse in the future. The undoing of their dynamic, emphasised by the dramatic, gut-wrenching and emotional fight (that was one of the most emotional scenes in the entire series so far) between them in the kitchen has been one of the main goals of Season 2 so hopefully this is something that doesn't get immediately reset in Season 3's premiere. But there's certainly lots to address when the show does return.
Tulip's death at the hands of Lara being unmasked brought an end to the storyline of the group living inside that apartment. One thing that I didn't like about this season was that despite the early promise of a Road Trip things quickly stalled once they hit New Orleans, and didn't really make the most out of the location provided to them. In an ideal world I could do with a shorter episode count and more locations explored next season, as the thirteen episodes that the show gave us felt like three too many, at least. It certainly suffered from the same problem that several of Marvel's Netflix shows have faced - and AMC's The Walking Dead - in that it appears that they've gone with the requirement of filling a certain number of episodes rather than just adopting for a faster paced story. Like I've mentioned before I imagine this will play out a lot better as a binge-watch rather than a weekly watch, so I don't know if this is what the showrunners were aiming for here.
The clear ending of Season 1 killed off most of the main cast and gave the show a chance to wipe the slate clean. This adopted a different take as conflicts weren't resolved entirely, but then that is the nature of a comic book, there will be more conflicts to come in future issues. The same thing is shown here, Preacher leaving stuff until later to explore, which is something that it isn't a stranger to, with the Saint of Killers' return to the world being built up over the course of Season 1 before he eventually returned in Season 2, and indeed, they've done the same with Hitler and Eugene this season. It'll be interesting to find out what Season 3's inevitable B-plot will be, but at least we know the general direction of what to expect when the series returns next year. As of writing the show hasn't currently been renewed, but according to multiple sites, a renewal looks likely, especially when you consider that AMC usually are extremely lenient with even their lowest rated shows.
What Did You Think of The End of the Road and Season 2 as a whole? Let me know in the comments below. You can find me with Season reviews of both Top of the Lake: China Girl & Search Party next, and then on a weekly basis I'll be covering Star Trek Discovery from September 24.
This review was originally published without a header image. A header image has since been added to the original text at 20:03 BST.
