‘Preacher’ Episode 1.4 “Monster Swamp” (7.5 out of 10) Developed by Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg & Sam Catlin; Starring Dominic Cooper, Joseph Gilgun & Ruth Negga; Sundays on AMC.
Tonight’s episode has taught me something very important about AMC’s “Preacher:” It’s at its best when the three leads share screen time. Watching Jesse (Dominic Cooper), Tulip (Ruth Negga) and Cassidy (Joseph Gilgun) shoulder their own storylines is all good and well, but would it be too much to ask to give such fine actors more to work with? Let’s discuss!
The Cruel Tutelage of John Custer
We got one glimpse of Jesse’s father John—right before he got shot—in an earlier episode, and we know that Jesse has taken up the mantle of Annville’s preacher in order to pick up where his father left off. Tonight, we see bits and pieces of young Jesse’s upbringing, and it didn’t seem too great. When young Jesse sees his father fail at converting a young Odin Quincannon (Jackie Earle Haley), we start to get old Jesse’s rationale for making the self-pronounced atheist the focal point for his plan to use his new power to make his congregation more obedient.
Jesse’s storyline raises some interesting questions about a preacher who can make people do whatever he wants—especially when he’s got some unresolved father issues himself. When does his quest to make better people out of his congregation become less about God and more about himself? Does making the right choice count if someone is quite literally forcing you to make that choice? How can I get my ecclesiastical leader to come and help me build a model Alamo?
Thematically, watching Jesse Custer use some pretty underhanded manipulation to con his flock into becoming better Christians is hilarious—I’m sure God would have a thing or two to say about his methods. The problem with this scenario is that it doesn’t seem to jive with Jesse’s moral compass. Thus far, he’s come across as a more violent version of Atticus Finch—the kind of guy who sees something morally unethical about using an unfair advantage against an opponent. It’s tough to buy the idea that Jesse would resort to such methods, no matter what his goals may be.
Angels and Vampires
Cassidy also did a fair amount of conning in his portion of the episode. He’s gotten a bit closer to Fiore (Tom Brooke) and DeBlanc (Anatol Yusef)—and their money. As their only human (kind of) link to Jesse, the two naïve celestial beings find themselves strangely compelled to rely on Cassidy’s intel. I was unsure of Cassidy’s motivations last week, but after tonight, it’s clear that he’s using his powers of bullshittery to keep these two off-worlders on the hook for as long as he can.
This was a fine opportunity for Cassidy to get some extended screen time, which is always welcome. Gilgun’s Irish motormouth is charming, no matter how many lies that it happens to be spinning.
While Cassidy is always fun to watch, Fiore and DeBlanc have become mysteriously impotent. Here are two immortal partners that have managed to track whatever has taken residence inside Jesse Custer all over the world, and they’re relying on a dude like Cassidy to help them achieve their goal? I’m not quite sure why these two aren’t just getting the job done themselves, but I’ll gladly continue to watch as Cassidy continues to swindle them.
Tulip’s Living in a Brothel I Guess
The biggest problem this evening was the fact that Tulip seemed like little more than an afterthought. Yes, she’s part of a weird storyline that involves employees of the meat packing plant chasing half-naked prostitutes all over town and shooting them with paintball guns, but the writers seemed to shoehorn her into a series of “girl power” rants.
The upside of her storyline was seeing her accidentally beat Cassidy’s ass while he was mid-coitis and throw him out of a window—that was amazing. They shared a “Reservoir Dogs” style backseat ride to the hospital, and she saw him wolf down a few blood packs. Again, the show is at its best when the lead characters get screen time together.
Verdict
Despite the few glaring consistency issues and a criminal underuse of Ruth Negga, this episode was okay. It will be interesting to see Jesse grapple with the ramifications of his power—everything that he tries to accomplish with his compelling words seems to come with a terrible consequence. I’ve got a suspicion that, when Jesse tells Quincannon to serve God, the old codger will continue to serve himself because he thinks that he’s God.
I’m ready to see something that drives the main narrative forward next week. We’re getting there bit by bit, but at four episodes in, it’s disappointing to see our characters continue to basically do what they’ve been doing since the pilot.