Another double-bill of God-seeking and bloody violence this week, as I
catch up on two episodes of Preacher.
"There are three lights. Well, one." |
Cassidy is worried about Tulip, who went off and hasn't come back.
Jesse assures him that this is what she does when they fight, and is more
interested in the secret society who seem to be taking an interest in his
business; or at least in business that he considers his. Then Cassidy sees an
infomercial about the aftermath of Katrina, featuring actors including the
false God who appeared on the angel phone in the church. They track him down by
pretending to be casting for Game of
Thrones, but discover that his agent lost touch after he got the part as
God. They watch his audition tape, which concludes with his execution in order
to allow him to transition to heaven and take up the job. This is a dead end,
but the coincidence of this happening in New Orleans intrigues Jesse.
Meanwhile, Tulip meets crime boss Viktor and is invited to take some
time to consider her options. She tries to talk to his goons, the staff and
even his daughter, but they all treat her as if she were the scum of the Earth;
even Viktor's torturer gets all holier than thou. Finally, she beats us a
henchman, steals his gun and tries to force Viktor to 'let [her] go,' but he
refuses and she is recaptured. When she continues to be a no-show, Cassidy
confesses the reasons for his concern to Jesse, who storms off to rescue her.
Meanwhile, in Hell, Eugene is picked on by the local bully and Hitler
stands up for him. Hitler's Hell is a scene in a café where he met a gallery
owner, but he has learned to stop interacting with it. Apparently mellowed by
the years, Hitler seems like a pretty chill dude at this point. The warden –
somewhat snowed under by equipment malfunctions and the Saint’s escape –
invites Eugene for a chat, telling him he seems like a nice guy, and that sort
of behaviour won't fly in Hell. Mindful that she says she will be watching,
Eugene joins in when the other inmates deliver a beat down to Hitler for going
soft. Oh, Eugene.
Jesse busts into Viktor's place, freezing all the guards with the Word
before getting into a brutal fight with the torturer, who likes to work with
headphones in(1). He attacks Viktor, but Tulip tells him to let go, because
Viktor is her husband.
And so to 'Dallas', in which we see the aftermath of Carlos' betrayal,
with Jesse and Tulip living a rough life on the straight and narrow (in Dallas,) only for
Jesse to discover that Tulip is still doing crimes, and is on the pill while he
believes they are trying for another child. He opts to return to his father's
church and she eventually hooks up with Viktor, only to abandon him when their
former handler locates Carlos.
Yeah... this isn't going to last. |
In the present day, Jesse strings Viktor up in the torture room, while
Tulip – unable to intercede, thanks to the Word(2) – takes Viktor's daughter to
visit Cassidy and their reluctant host. After much soul-searching and an
intervention by Cassidy as the most unlikely conscience ever, Jesse opts to
release Viktor, who goes home to rea with his daughter. Of course, this is not
a happy ending for them, since Jesse's careless throwing about of the Word
attracts the Saint, who shoots up the house and murders Viktor, but the
daughter tells him that she knows where to find the Preacher.
So, Jesse continues to be a dick, while Tulip and Cassidy struggle to
keep him on some sort of even keel. The fact that an unrepentant contract
killer and a largely shameless vampire hedonist are the voices of his
conscience is a concern that seems slow to impinge on Jesse’s peace of mind,
and all in all I’m not convinced he was a very good preacher. Of course, it’s
part of the point that he is a melding of good and evil, a man with both light
enough and dark enough in his soul to coexist with the awesome power of Genesis
without exploding. It’s interesting that neither of his companions represents
the light in him – the nearest anyone came to an angel on his shoulder is
currently shouting ‘zieg heil’ and kicking Hitler in the nards – and also that
the combination of righteousness and rage manifests so specifically as a sort
of smug, angry dickishness. He’s a monumentally unlikeable protagonist, and yet
remains compelling, or at least involving enough you can be bothered to want to
slap him instead of just hoping for him to take a bullet from the Saint.
(1) Speaking as someone who painfully tugs his own earphones out at
least once a week, I want that guy's earphones, which did not come out once
during the course of said brutal fight, even when impaled on a rail from a
foosball table.
(2) Dick move, Jesse.
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