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'Preacher' Recap: The One Where A Homicidal Cowboy From 1881 Learns What A Television Is

By Brian Richards | Preacher | July 25, 2017 |

By Brian Richards | Preacher | July 25, 2017 |


Previously on Preacher: Jesse found out that Viktor, the gangster who kidnapped Tulip and was holding her hostage, was actually her husband. And to say that he didn’t take the news well would be a massive fucking understatement.

THE STORY SO FAR: Jesse, Tulip, Cassidy, and Denis are all found by The Saint Of Killers (thanks to Allie leading him to their exact location) and Jesse is forced to strike a deal under extreme circumstances in order to keep himself and everyone else alive.

WHAT’S GOOD ABOUT THIS EPISODE: The almost ten-minute-long segment that opens the episode, in which we see The Technician (played by James Kyson a.k.a. Ando, Hiro’s best friend on Heroes), sitting down with a middle-aged, financially struggling Black couple and offering a significant amount of money for…whatever it is that the couple is willing to offer up, and what another couple (this one White and incredibly wealthy) is willing to take for themselves. It’s not until later in the episode that we find out that The Technician is a representative for an organization called Soul Happy Go Go, which removes human souls in either very small portions, larger portions, or in their entirety in order for others to obtain and absorb for themselves. All of this reminded me very much of Get Out (although less horrifying and disturbingly racist in comparison), while also made me wonder when Angel and Spike were going to appear onscreen what with souls and soul transfers being discussed and all.

The Saint of Killers closing in on Jesse, Tulip, and Cassidy, as well as Jesse slowly realizing that shit is about to pop off and that they need to leave behind their delicious-looking pancakes and run like hell. (Bonus points for the Saint being directed to the wrong apartments at first, and coming across one tenant who fails painfully and horribly to kill The Saint and responds when asked where ‘Preacher’ is: “Ain’t no preacher around here. I’m a Jew” before getting shot to death. And also to the unseen couple who get sliced and diced by The Saint and his trusty saber. My closed-captioning showed that the man says to the Saint, “Don’t make me bust you up, man!” Which was the exact same thing said to another laconic and near-invulnerable killer who murders a couple while on the hunt for one specific individual to kill.)

Jesse, Tulip, and Cassidy heading to the local library to do some research on who and what the Saint Of Killers is. (And yes, Jesse, audiobooks still count as books.) I loved all of the Harlequin romance novels with The Saint on the covers getting his Fabio on (which I’m sure appealed to several viewers who consider Graham McTavish to be quite the silver fox) as well as all of Steve Pugh and Glenn Fabry’s artwork from Preacher Special: The Saint Of Killers being used to further illustrate The Saint’s origin story and how he came to be.

Jesse, with Tulip’s assistance via cell phone, getting his Michael Westen on and hitting up the nearest hardware store in order to break into Soul Happy Go Go’s armored truck.

We finally learn the truth about Denis and how Cassidy actually knows him. Turns out that Denis is actually Cassidy’s son…

…who is feeling less than great without his inhaler that was crushed by The Saint Of Killers, and we see Cassidy doting on him and being as compassionate as we’ve ever seen him be towards anyone.

The Saint of Killers realizing that his original deal with Fiore and Deblanc (kill Jesse and you get to enter Heaven to be with your wife and daughter) is not going to be honored due to the fact that God is missing and on the run.

Jesse’s trip to the Not-Magic Box (actual name: Papa Bebe’s House Of Voodoo) in order to find a soul for The Saint, and reminding us of his relations to the L’Angelle family which, for better or worse, have a lot more history and influence than we thought.

Jesse arriving almost at the nick of time in order to keep The Saint from killing Tulip, Cassidy, and Denis, and providing him with the soul that he was given only one hour to provide, thanks to the Technician from Soul Happy Go Go. Turns out that the soul is actually Jesse’s (or at least one percent of it, which The Technician insists that he really won’t miss) and as soon as The Saint consumes it, it makes him vulnerable to Genesis. Which means that The Saint is no longer the only man on Earth without a soul and which also means that he’s no longer immune to Jesse’s commands when he uses Genesis. Despite Jesse telling him that he would help get The Saint get into Heaven and be with his wife and child, he tells him that he’s never going to make that happen and that he’s sending him to Hell instead. Which he’s about to do until he realizes that both The Saint and his own soul would be sent there to suffer for all eternity. So Jesse does the next best thing and locks The Saint in the back of the armored truck which he takes deep into the nearest swamp before dumping them both into a deep and watery grave.

WHAT’S NOT SO GOOD ABOUT THIS EPISODE?: The visual of Cassidy grabbing onto The Saint’s saber to prevent him from killing Tulip, only to end up losing all his fingers due to underestimating how strong The Saint is and how sharp the blade on his saber is. It’s so not a pretty sight.

ANY MENTIONS OF THE VAMPIRE-HUNTING VIGILANTES LOOKING FOR CASSIDY?: None.

HAVE WE ACTUALLY SEEN CASSIDY DRINK ANY BLOOD RECENTLY? WHAT WITH HIM BEING THE V-WORD AND ALL?: Considering that he just lost all of his fingers, he’s definitely going to need to start drinking some more blood now, though I don’t recall seeing him consume any of it onscreen.

ANY MENTIONS OF EUGENE A.K.A. ARSEFACE?: None Not unless you count Jesse telling The Saint Of Killers that he’s sent people to Hell before, as part of his sales pitch in telling him that he can also send him to Heaven and reunite him with his family.

ANY MENTIONS OF HOW MUCH CASSIDY REALLY DOESN’T LIKE THE BIG LEBOWSKI?: None.

TO SUM IT ALL UP: Another great episode that got the story moving, as well as tipped the scales in Jesse’s favor by making it possible for Genesis to stop and control The Saint of Killers if and when necessary. He’s not nearly as powerful as he is in the original comics, but that doesn’t make him any less of a terrifying and formidable opponent for our trio to deal with. Part of me was hoping that Jesse and The Saint would find a way to see eye to eye and work together to find and take down God like they do in the comics, but judging from how The Saint responded to being imprisoned and drowned in the middle of a swamp by Jesse, that does not seem likely. And I can’t wait to see what happens next. Especially considering that the look on Jesse’s face at episode’s end tells us that he may not miss that 1% of his soul that he gave up or notice that it’s gone, but others who cross his path in the episodes to come most certainly will.

This episode of Preacher has been brought to you by the theme song from Reading Rainbow, by the one and only Chaka Khan: