Title: Preacher “Sundowner”
Network: AMC
Air Date: July 3rd, 2016
Genre: Black Comedy, Horror
The 4th of July may not be until tomorrow but Preacher started early with fireworks in tonight’s episode… but not in a literal sense. At this point, we are beyond the halfway point for season one. For any of those that didn’t know, season one will consist of 10 episodes. As a side note, Preacher has also just been renewed for a season two on AMC. “Sundowner” picks up immediately after last week’s episode and wasted no time getting right into the action. We also see Jesse make a big decision here and begin to see a real change in his character from the one we saw in the Pilot episode.
deBlanc finally revealed on screen just what the entity in Jesse. While readers of the comics already knew, anyone new to the show didn’t really have any idea. Genesis is the entity name, and he finds out it was the result of an unholy union of two soldiers – one from Heaven and one from Hell. Now at the highest levels of the power structure in Heaven, it has been agreed that Genesis needs to remain a secret. If the other angels and demons found out about it, they would try and obtain it due to its immense power. It’s fair to say that if word gets out that Jesse has this Genesis, there’s going to be quite a number of people gunning for him.
Since the Pilot episode, we’ve been getting one decent little action sequence each week in Preacher. I think the show has done a fantastic job so far properly blending the drama, humor, and action. While the action was light last week, this week’s episode had a pretty intense opening. In fact, the opening sequence ended up running about 15 minutes before we even saw the intro for the show. In these 15 minutes alone Preacher delivered that perfect blend of humor, action, and drama. By the time the Seraphim Angel was subdued, the entire hotel room was just a mess of bloody bodies. Although Cassidy showing up out of the blue didn’t exactly feel right, the “bloody clones” line quickly made me chuckle and forget about it.
As fun as that opening segment was, why didn’t Jesse just use Genesis? He already used it on deBlanc and clearly has different ideas of what Genesis should be used for so why not just stop the Seraphim Angel in its tracks? I understand that Fiore and deBlanc want to keep Genesis a secret but if that angel isn’t going to die anyway, isn’t the cat already out of the bag? Perhaps not, because right now it’s just Fiore and deBlanc that are wanted but I just think that someone in Heaven would eventually put it together why they’re there in Ratwater.
Alright, so there is a heaven and hell, Angels and Demons. Furthermore, these Angels have rules, a direct phone line to heaven and re-invigoration. In the event they die somewhere, they will just come back in an area close to that location. The only way to prevent them from coming back is to… restrain them and not kill them. This is what led to a good chunk of the comedy in the fight between Fiore, deBlanc, Jesse and the Seraphim. Despite being a Preacher, I think it was interesting to watch Jesse take all this information in. Even though he is a man of faith, you can still see his initial skepticism and surprise finding out all the details.
One of the big moments in this episode of Preacher, for me, is Jesse telling the angels that he plans to keep Genesis. The other is at the end when Jesse has his conversation with Eugene. We’re really beginning to see Jesse become a little corrupted by this power, with him basically thinking that his way IS God’s way. At one point Jesse even says to Cassidy, “God doesn’t make mistakes.” So if God didn’t want Jesse to have this power… then he’d just come take it from him right? I am fairly certain that Fiore’s other option, which deBlanc quickly shot down before we even heard it, is unleashing the Saint of Killers.
How about that scene at the end with Eugene? Throughout the episode, we saw a change in life for Eugene. We can imagine how bad things have been for Eugene because at one point in the episode a classmate says “Hi” to him in school. Without Eugene even turning around or looking at who said it, his first instinctive reply was “sorry.” With all the bullying going on in schools today, it’s a moment where you truly feel sorry for Eugene and what he has gone through. Classmates later ask to sit with him at lunch in school and even show him how cool a firework looks in a dark tunnel. While Eugene does enjoy this new life, by the end of the episode he rejects it. He rejects it because to him, what Preacher did… was cheating. There is a goodness there in Eugene that really embodies how Jesse should be acting. I feel though that with the assumption that Eugene may be in hell, that goodness will now be gone.
I’m not saying the scenes with Tulip were worthless, but they felt out of place to me. Tulip saw Emily sorting out stuff at the church last week and then barges into her home this week telling her to stay away from her boyfriend. At this point, Tulip has already slept with Cassidy and then later hides Cassidy from being seen by Preacher. It seems like Tulip still wants Jesse back, so it’s hard to know why she’s sleeping with Cassidy… maybe to have him help with her plan for revenge. Miles also made a crazy decision to cover up the death of the Green Acres people Odin shot. He staged what appeared to be some sort of car wreck. We can only wonder how this will affect Miles down the road.
Did you see this week’s episode of Preacher? If so, what did you think? Be sure to let us know in the comments below and check back next week for our newest review. Have a safe holiday!
- Characters: Aside from Jesse, plenty of focus on Fiore, deBlanc and Arseface
- Story: Jesse finally finds out what and where the power he has comes from
- Cinematography: Great opening action sequence in the hotel room
- Acting: Ian Colletti shines as Eugene (Arseface) while Dominic Cooper continues to impress as Jesse Custer
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