Another week, another Preacher recap. Catch up on episode four here.
Let’s start with the important part of the episode: Cassidy. (Disclaimer: Cassidy is never the important part of the episode, but is usually my favourite).
After being ditched by Tulip and sent to New Orleans, Cassidy is buying elephant tranquilizers and swiping for dates on the vampire equivalent of Tinder. First of all: of course he is, and second: that exists? He swings a date pretty easily, but is disappointed to find out she’s not a real vampire and just some weird vampire-groupie who wears fake teeth and wants to get bit during sex. The Grail tries to kidnap Cassidy to blackmail Jesse, but he is rescued by the vampire-groupie and her clique of vampire weirdos known as the “Children of Blood.”
This is one of the more famous storylines from the comics, where Cassidy is kidnapped by a bunch of lame, Lestat-wannabes. Considering the Preacher comics came out in the 90s, that reference was a lot more topical. Fans theorized the show would update things and make them more Twilight-inspired vamp fans, but let’s face it, that’s dated by now too. The Children of Blood still look to be Anne Rice-inspired, which fits in better with the Southern Gothic vibe of the show. Regardless, I’m very excited to see how the show depicts the madness of Cassidy and his admirers.
With that out of the way, this week’s episode did a good job of balancing all the storylines (although we still haven’t seen Eugene, Hitler and the Saint of Killers). There’s action with Jesse and Tulip in Angelville, as well as in New Orleans with the Grail.
In Angelville, Jesse and Tulip spend much of the episode seperated. Everyone’s wise to their “kill Grn’ma and escape” plan, so Tulip is shackled and monitored by Jody while Jesse is trapped in a coffin in the swamp, with a hose bringing him air. Jesse’s time in the coffin leads him to hallucinate about a wild west hero (possibly John Wayne?) that he fights alongside. His hero tells him he’s a coward for not trying to escape and rescue Tulip, so Jesse manages to concoct a way out, using his lighter and the air pump to ignite the coffin.
In a truly great and satisfying move, Jesse breaks free to rescue Tulip but Tulip has already rescued herself: she tricked Jody and T.C. and is about to kill Gran’ma. Sorry, Jesse.
But tidying up Angelville here would be too easy, and we’d never get to see Gran’ma as the maniacal evil presence everyone says she is. Gran’ma has tied Tulip’s life to her own, and Tulip dies (again) immediately after killing Gran’ma. CPR and an adrenaline shot bring Gran’ma back to life, but it won’t be for long unless she gets a human soul to eat.
It really raises the stakes with Gran’ma, T.C. and Jody as villains. Previously, they’ve been evil but kind of goofy, and not particularly dangerous. Now that Tulip and Jesse have had to fight Jody and T.C. twice (once in a spectacular episode-opening brawl, and again right before the credits roll), and Gran’ma is revealed to be a soul-eater with an actual plan, they’re more menacing. Even though every week Jesse claimed they were in danger, this week was the first time it really felt like they were.
Preacher: Season 3 is now available on Amazon Prime.