We’re more than halfway through the freshman season of Preacher, and to no one’s surprise, I’m still thoroughly enjoying it.
Sundowner opened with the its best showing yet, the hotel room fight scene is by far my favorite thus far.
In a show as dark as Preacher you need some levity. This role has been reserved for Cassidy, and in my mind it still is, but this bloody display at the Sundowner Motel will not soon be forgotten, and nor should it. The camera work for this scene was remarkable.
After the Groundhog’s Day-esque massacre at the motel, Angel Tweedle Dee (Deblanc) and Angel Tweedle Dumb (Fiore) warn Jesse of the consequences of using Genesis. Jesse didn’t seem phased in the least. This is a warning he should likely heed. Again, I’m not a comic reader, but I have a feeling that these consequences are very real, and very costly.
Though it was definitely the B, or even C storyline in the episode, I still enjoyed the budding friendship between Tulip and Emily. Okay, maybe budding friendship is going a step or two too far, but it was refreshing to see Tulip participating in the most mundane activities, when it’s not fight or flight, death and destruction, humping in the backseat or a car, you know the usual Tulip stuff.
Another breath of fresh air is delivered when Jesse and Cassidy head back to his place to clean up their blood soaked clothes. Why do laundry alone when you can do laundry with your ancient Irish vampire pal, am I right?
I was sad to see Preacher jump to the whole love triangle or, uh … rectangle … trope, because you know this whole Jesse, Tulip, Cassidy, and Emily thing is going to get dramatic and complicated. I hope for the sake of the great aspects of this show that it doesn’t delve too deep down that rabbit hole.
My favorite storyline of Sundowner belongs to Eugene/Arseface (who I will henceforth solely refer to as Eugene, because he’s a friggen human being people!). High schoolers in general are the worst, and so when generic high school boys 1 through 3 befriended Eugene I feared for the worst. Even knowing what the Preacher commanded in the last episode regarding Eugene, and that it had taken hold, I had a sinking feeling that the boys were setting him up for disaster, especially when they embarked on that tunnel. When the boys merely let off fireworks I breathed a huge sigh of relief.
The forgiveness and redemption Eugene had long sought, from his peers and from God, seems to have been obtained, however due to the manner in which it came to fruition he felt like he wasn’t truly deserving. Eugene confesses to Jesse that he wants any potential forgiveness and acceptance to come to pass naturally, or not at all. The Preacher doesn’t see the error of his ways in using Genesis to control the people of Annville (or is it Anneville? It’s been referred to as both, but autocorrect is telling me Annville is correct so ‘m rolling with it) he sees it as a gift, he believes he is saving the town and it’s what God commands. Eugene counters, begging Jesse to understand that what he’s doing is a sin. For the people of Annville to be saved, they have to be so willingly. Jesse, obviously, doesn’t see it this way. Jesse is in no mood to have this conversation, he’s ready to be the town’s savior, and with anger clouding his better judgment he commands: “Go to Hell, Eugene!” And, it appears that’s exactly what came to pass. With a whoosh and some creaks in the floorboards, Eugene disappears from the church, with the pamphlet he was holding gliding gracefully to the floor, on which Eugene had moments ago been standing. Jesse turns around to an empty, silent church, which had just been full of heated debate about the morality of using his “gift,” witnessing a direct consequence of his actions. I could be reading it wrong, but he didn’t appear too shaken up about what just transpired, at least not as much as arguably he should have been.
With the penultimate scene of the episode and the “next time on Preacher” preview, I am eagerly awaiting next week’s episode. After Eugene’s apparent trip to hell, I immediately IMDB’d Preacher and discovered that Ian Colletti is listed as appearing in all ten episodes, much to my delight and relief. However, this could be deliberately misleading, so as not to reveal spoilers, but I’m staying optimistic as I’m not yet ready to bid farewell to Eugene, or Ian Colletti on my TV screen. I mean, we’ve seen that Genesis’ effect doesn’t last forever – I just wonder what the logistics are for a trip back from Hell, and what effect it would have on poor Eugene. Despite whatever atrocity he previously committed in the past, he’s been through enough already folks, come on.
It must be said that Ian Colletti cannot receive enough praise for his portrayal of Eugene. It must be difficult enough as an actor to speak in a manner in which he can be understood yet garbled just enough to be convincing of his facial injury and thus necessitate subtitles – let alone convey as wide a variety of emotions he does through his eyes and upper facial features alone. This episode is hands down Colletti’s finest showing to date, and there has been some stiff competition as I declared him the MVP of last week’s episode. If this is his final showing in Preacher, it’s one hell of a note to go out on. However, I hope for his sake and for the sake of viewers, this is not Eugene’s last hurrah.
Image credits: All photos are screen caps. No rights reserved.
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Yes, bring on the Eugene love! And how deeply dark that “go to Hell!” felt. I fear that the Preacher will go even darker yet, though “Preacher” (the show) will probably do its really odd humor to balance things out.
Also, I’m glad Lucy Griffiths (Emily) found good work after being unceremoniously dumped from Constantine. I see her more as a character actor than a “big star”, but that’s a very good thing IMO.
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I think we can hope Hell is a place in Norway! But as easy it could be Eugene is in for a way back, a long climb it will be. Or, if there are custodians in Heaven, there might be elevator aids in Hell.
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