Preacher 1.3: “The Possibilities” Review

NOTE: Full spoilers for this episode of “Preacher” are present in this review

 

 

Preacher continues its unique brand of positively delightful weirdness in its third episode, which primarily saw Jesse starting to realize that a very unusual power might have found its way to him. Cassidy, meanwhile, continues to try and get rid of the advancing DeBlanc and Fiore, who seem to be after him for his vampirism, and Tulip continues to try and twist Jesse’s arm into returning to the dark side.

What this mostly amounted to was another fun episode that primarily focused on its world building, and was even slightly more fun than the grimmer episode of last week, though the show still hasn’t yet replicated the sheer excitement of the pilot. Still, it remains enjoyable to see these darkly twisted storylines develop, especially as things begin to come together with Jesse’s imminently-approaching divine mission.

Preacher - Footage 1

The small peek into Jesse and Tulip’s past is certainly interesting, as the two appear to be committing a robbery, before they’re screwed over by an unseen partner. Jesse seems to want to move on from that life, but Tulip is obsessed with revenge. The sequences of Tulip doing whatever it takes to get dirt on the traitor were very entertaining, especially an otherwise separate scene where she gets out of a speeding ticket in the best way possible, and these moments continue to cement Tulip as one of this show’s coolest and most resourceful characters. You’ll honestly want Jesse to agree to join up with her again, if for no other reason than to see what other crazy misadventures these two could get up to!

Cassidy also stole a huge chunk of this episode, as did DeBlanc and Fiore, who are given some proper development for the first time. It’s entertaining to have the two identify themselves as working for, “The government” to most of the common folk, especially since those who have read the Vertigo graphic novels will know that the two are referring to Heaven. Surprisingly, they reveal that fact straight up in this episode too, after Cassidy humourously kills them again, only to find out that the angels are after Jesse, since he’s got something that was never meant to fall into mortal hands. If this show is following the source comics, that would be Genesis, something very mighty and divine that resulted from something very unholy, but we’ll have to see if the AMC series follows suit with this story arc, especially since the show has already deviated from the source comics in a few noticeable respects.

Preacher - Footage 2

Speaking of Genesis and Jesse, the way he went about discovering his ability to influence those around him with the Word of God was also quite fun. Jesse forcing Cassidy to dance and do all sorts of wacky stuff was very funny, and one of the main contributors to a lighter and more digestible episode this week. The quirky possibilities with Jesse wielding the Word of God quickly become apparent, but after being cornered by Donny in a bathroom, who has the intent to torture and possibly kill Jesse for his humiliation during the pilot, Jesse tensely appears to force him into a suicide, before relenting at the last moment, and realizing what he must do, continuing to paint him as the unlikely hero of this story. Unfortunately, this also has Jesse ultimately backing out of the job with Tulip that’s occurring around the same time, which is noble, if a little frustrating.

The handful of separate world building away from the main protagonists in this episode also generally went over well, with Sheriff Root telling DeBlanc and Fiore a disturbing story about why he’s such a cynical hard-ass, and Odin Quincannon, who was glimpsed briefly in the previous episode, undertaking some business while listening to sounds of cattle getting slaughtered. This continues to portray an effectively sick vision of humanity in Preacher, even if Odin Quincannon and his company, Quincannon Meat & Power, aren’t fully fitting into the show’s storyline yet. I’m sure that the season will take this character and his empire to an interesting place later, but like the brief glimpse of the Saint of Killers in the previous episode, another major personality from the source comics, Quincannon’s presence might just confuse people who don’t know his story from the printed panels.

Preacher - Footage 3

Preacher is still standing proudly unique and intriguing in contrast to most other comic book-inspired shows on television right now, and even when not every storyline fits perfectly into the rest, the content throughout the show itself remains engrossing and addictive. As Jesse begins to discover his renewed power and purpose, and sinister forces continue to stir into the background, the entertainingly unsettling world of Preacher continues to expand a little more, and in doing so, will add that satisfying extra dimension of continuing to hook in audiences in a great way.

Preacher begins shedding a bit more light on a new mission for Jesse and some new sinister forces this week, leading to an effective focus on world building.
Reader Rating0 Votes
0
THE GOOD STUFF
Most disconnected, world-building scenes worked well, especially with Tulip
Fiore and DeBlanc reveals, and interactions with Cassidy
Jesse's confrontation with Donny, and Jesse not giving in to his power
THE NOT-SO-GOOD STUFF
Quincannon still feels a bit too disconnected, for now
85