[For Preacher “El Valero” or any other recaps on Fetchland, assume the presence of possible spoilers.]
AMC Summary:
El Valero. In a fierce gun battle Jesse faces off against Quincannon and the Meat Men to protect his church, while Tulip tries to save a friend.
“Genesis, the greatest power ever known, and you’ve had all this time right there at the tip of your tongue… and what good have you done with it?”
Jesse makes a stand.
Tulip gets a dog.
And Cassidy… Well, Cassidy in all likelihood ate said dog.
My favorite episodes of Preacher this season have been the ones where the core three (Jesse, Cassidy and Tulip) are all interacting with one another. Their chemistry is so good and their performances (Tulip in particular) really make the show something special. However I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this episode given how none of the core three was actually in a scene together throughout the entire episode.
Last week we discovered that not only did Jesse’s influence on Quincannon not have the desired effect, but he feels he won their bet and now owns the church and the surrounding property. We see Quincannon’s forces march towards the church as that episode closes. This week’s episode opens in Vail in the 80’s, and gives us some unique insight into the painful (and gruesome) past of Odin Quincannon. We discover that his entire family died during a tragic funicular accident which led to the scene we saw in a prior episode where he confronts Jesse’s father about his faith and how he should denounce his God. We also learn that Odin butchered the bodies of his dead family in order show Jesse’s father that “Meat is Meat”. Preacher has gone to extremes before in previous episodes, but this scene was probably the height of their insanity considering Odin was literally holding the intestines of his daughter just to prove a point.
The rest of the episode was somewhat surreal as the siege on the church took on an absurd tone as Jesse was picking off Quincannon’s men one by one and the town started to gather to watch the spectacle like it was some Civil War reenactment (Donnie dressed like a confederate soldier didn’t help).
Side note: the scene where all the men are cheering when they see Clyde survived the fire bomb attack was priceless. The music swells and it feels like a triumphant sequence until you see Clyde is actually walking back with his penis in hand.
Meanwhile Jesse was having an existential crisis inside the church at the same time he was shooting off men’s penises. Jesse was still devastated from exiling Eugene to Hell, and he pleaded to God to bring him back, screaming “Come back Eugene”. Suddenly the floor boards open up and we see a hand in the dirt. Jesse pulls the body up and we find its Eugene, come back from Hell. I was skeptical that it was really Eugene; I mean if you were in Hell for a couple of days I’d imagine you’d be somewhat traumatized beyond being just a little thirsty. I thought it was probably a dream, but in fact Eugene was merely a vision spawned from Jesse’s guilt.
Another failed assault by Quincannon leads Jesse to make a demand to bring the angels to the church.
The angels arrive and Jesse agrees to return Genesis if they help bring Eugene back from Hell, which they agree to. After they successfully pull Genesis from Jesse through sing song, they back out of the deal.
Unfortunately for them, Genesis bursts from the coffee can once again and surges into Jesse. Rather than try again, they Angels seem dejected and just give up altogether.
Ultimately Jesse’s stand against Quincannon is foiled by none other than Donnie, who cleverly manages to neutralize Jesse’s power by deafening himself.
Quinncannon confronts Jesse in the church and makes him sign over the land to appease the God of Meat. Jesse manages to convince Odin to give him until Sunday so he can make one last sermon. Claiming that he was going to make God speak to the town, and if he couldn’t, he’d give Odin what his father refused, he’d renounce God.
Then there was Tulip’s storyline.
Tulip didn’t do much this episode, other than adopt a dog. For much of the episode she’s basically playing with the dog and caring for it. I wasn’t really sure the point of it all other than maybe she was looking for some companionship with Jesse turning cold to her and Cassidy missing. However the real twist came at the end when she basically locks the dog in a room and then we hear sounds that I’m pretty sure are a certain Irish vampire regenerating himself at the expense of poor Brusky.
Next week will be the show’s penultimate episode, so if it’s anything like Game of Thrones it will likely be the best one to date. I imagine they’ll have a huge scene at Sunday sermon and the finale will likely set up season 2. All in all I thought this week’s episode was a bounce back episode, as I felt last week’s show was a little weak. Hopefully they continue to build towards a spectacular finale.
-Osyp Lebedowicz
