Jesse finally comes face to face with Deblanc and Fiore, and learns about the mysterious entity that has taken over his body.
The ratings for Preacher's first season so far have been moderately successful. It hasn't been talked about as popularly as AMC would probably like. But that more or less is because Game of Thrones would swallow the majority of the conversation for the night. And now, the HBO fantasy epic is done for the year. Meanwhile, Preacher is really starting to ramp up creatively and has been renewed for a second season. That's a very smart move on AMC's part. It confirms for the audience that this is a crazy world that we should become invested in. Yes, the story of the show is different than that of the comics. But it can be just as compelling to watch as well. This first season has had its ups and downs so far. It will interesting to see what the narrative is building towards because up to this point it has largely been a mysterious mess. But the stakes and tension have been escalating in interesting ways as of late. Plus, "Sundowner" finally provides some meaningful answers as to what has been happening to Jesse.The opening act of this episode is the best thing the show has done so far. It really does excel when it comes to the action beats. The fight sequences are entertaining and well choreographed. But they are also so imaginative and unique. They highlight all of the qualities the show is striving to maintain with its tone boiled down to a few minutes-long action sequence. That balance is more difficult to do when its just a couple of characters talking for 42 minutes a week. But it's so intense when Jesse finally sits down with the two angels from Heaven, Fiore and DeBlanc. They finally tell him about the mysterious entity that now resides in him and gives him these incredible powers. It's called Genesis and it's the spawn of an angel and demon who broke the rules by falling in love during the great and ongoing war between Heaven and Hell. It was locked away in Heaven with both sides agreeing that no one could know about it. They don't know just how powerful it is or what it's capable of doing with such power. It escaped somehow. Fiore and DeBlanc guard it and desperately need to return it to its cage. That's why they have broken the rules and have appeared on Earth. And now, all of these interests converge in one fateful and epic fight at the Sundowner Hotel.
It's thrilling to watch Jesse, Cassidy, Fiore and DeBlanc fight a Seraphim from Heaven who has come to bring Fiore and DeBlanc back. She has no idea what Genesis is or that it's loose on Earth. All she wants is to punish the two law-breaking angels. Jesse and Cassidy just so happen to get caught in the fight. Jesse needs to understand what these two angels are up to while Cassidy just wants the latest update on the situation. It's made even more fun by the fact that the three angels can be killed and then reappear moments later in the same or nearby spot alive and well to continue the fight. That means they have to capture the Seraphim and not kill it. That's just a fun twist on the formula. All of this takes place in a hotel room. Plus, a stretch of the battle is seen only through a hole in the wall between two rooms. That's just so fun and pulpy. It's action focused and really confident with itself. This is the type of show Preacher is aspiring to be. It doesn't always succeed in that endeavor. But when it does, it's magical. It's in sequences like this that sure that it can be a good thing to have a modest budget. It forces the creative team to think more creatively which allows for even more outlandish and entertaining sequences like this one.
And yet, the show is still about Jesse and his need to save Annville. That has often been a very frustrating main premise for the season. It helps immensely that Jesse and the audience have more clarity over what's going on. But Jesse just isn't as entertaining a lead character as Cassidy and Tulip are. They are fun and playful. Meanwhile, Jesse is frequently more serious and dry. He's just as capable as his two allies are in a fight. He comes from a past life of crime too. But he is on a mission to save this town from sin. He made a promise to his father to protect and serve Annville. And yet, that promise really doesn't have any weight to it. Staying in one location is the point of this season. It allows the show to humanize and build strong foundations for its characters. But it will probably be more entertaining once the show is allowed to embrace the craziness of this world on a more weekly basis. Jesse is not a very good preacher. Everyone can see that. But the power from Genesis is allowing him to build his congregation. Jesse being drunk on power is a fine narrative twist for this hour. It shows just how dark the series is willing to go with its leading man. Hopefully, that will be enough to get the narrative really going - like it is during that fantastic opening sequence and chilling cliffhanger.
It also doesn't help much that Annville doesn't really feel like a place filled with memorable characters who deserve so much attention. The characters introduced as a part of this town have their purpose. Some are even very enjoyable and are clearly an important part of the show. Others are not. Plus, there's not enough of an atmospheric mood about this setting to justify it being the central hub for these characters. What draws all of these characters to Annville? Tulip clearly has the right mindset in only being here for a short period of time until Jesse comes to his senses about not being a very good preacher. Tulip was raised here as well and is clearly having some fun while she waits for Jesse to be her boyfriend again. And yet, her hookup with Cassidy largely just feels like something for the two of them to do so that the show doesn't hit its big moment of the season with Jesse too soon - or waste the fine talents of Ruth Negga and Joseph Gilgun along the way. Meanwhile, Emily has no purpose whatsoever. She largely exists to be the polar opposite of Tulip. But that's such a losing fight because Tulip is just so awesome. She's badass and dynamic. Emily is just bland. She's a single mother who genuinely cares about the church. She is a normal person in an extraordinary universe. That's very boring. Yes, it's amusing when she and Tulip have their back-and-forth here and surprisingly become friends of sorts. But that's a more important dynamic for Tulip than it is for Emily.
Annville's most successful character is Eugene. He's the one citizen who is always coming to Jesse asking for advice. He did this horrible thing to Tracy Loach and tried to kill himself afterwards. He has been struggling to come back from that. The town just wants to see him as a monster. Because of his look, it's easy for the town to vilify him. It's placed a huge burden on him and his father. Jesse took that pain awhile. He ordered Tracy's mother to forgive him and she did. And now, Eugene is surprised to live in a world where no one is openly ridiculing him. It's startling to him when kids at school want to be his friends. When they invite him to see something cool, he doesn't know if it's genuine or just another prank. What he sees is beautiful but he doesn't feel he deserves it. Annville may have forgiven him but he doesn't believe that it was earned. It wasn't. Jesse told them too. Eugene doesn't know how to handle that. Jesse believes he can simply order the town to be saved. He got Odin Quinncannon to serve God. And now, the whole town can as well. He's gone mad with power. He wants to force God's love on the town because he believes that's why God gave him Genesis. And yet, he is slowly realizing just how easily these orders can go wrong. He doesn't know about Odin killing the executives from Green Acres - another excellent and surprising moment from last week's episode. But he does essentially banish Eugene to Hell even though he's one of the few people who has chosen to serve God. That's a horrifying action to close the episode on. Hopefully, the show doesn't back away from it by saying Eugene simply left the church while Jesse's back was turned. Jesse needs to deal with the complications of his actions before he destroys the entire town.
Some more thoughts:
- "Sundowner" was written by Nick Towne and directed by Guillermo Navarro.
- The Mayor comes to Jesse seeking guidance for what to do with the bodies of the Green Acres executives. Jesse is too busy caught up in his own delusions for the town to help. So, the Mayor stages an accident off the hallway. Another brutal sight that shows just how much evil exists in this world.
- Jesse and Cassidy in their underwear waiting for their bloody clothes to get clean was a beautiful sight. It's whole purpose though was for Cassidy to notice Jesse's tattoos and connect the dots with Tulip.
- Tulip had a child once. That's a small fact of her life that she tells Emily about. And now, we have to question what happened to the child and if it was Jesse's?
- After the amazing fight sequence at the top of the hour, Fiore and DeBlanc just disappear because Jesse orders them to stay away from him. That's disappointing. It would have been great to see how they dealt with that hotel room full of dead bodies that piled up in that fight as well as the still alive Seraphim.
- Gotta love how Cassidy openly mocks just how stupid a name Genesis really is. That's totally in line with how he would react to such an incredible story.
- Because of the prosthetics, Ian Colletti is largely only able to act through his eyes. And yet, this is a pretty impressive episode for him. First in seeing the beauty of the fireworks exploding in the tunnel. And then in his fight with Jesse about all of this forgiveness technically being cheating.
