1.7 He Gone Of the characters on Preacher, the one that kind of draws the least attention is Jesse Custer himself. He’s the lead, and yet as far as I can tell, side characters like Tulip and Cassidy get the most attention, if only because it’s difficult to be a main character struggling with some sort of internal dilemma. Comic relief vampire and gun-toting tough broad are easier to draw attention to, but a man struggling under the weight of guilt and responsibility is a little more difficult (or a little too real) to pull people in. However, Jesse’s moral dilemma is the focus of both this episode’s A and B stories. On one hand, Jesse is wrestling with the fact that he sent Eugene to hell for basically being too upbeat and positive. On the other hand, we get more back story as to the death of Jesse’s father and just why he’s obsessed with making this struggling little church actually successful and why he’s trying so hard to be the good guy rather than the person his instincts (and Tulip) want him to be. Hence, Odin Quincannon coming back to take possession of the church in spite of Jesse’s command. It’s a clever bit of writing from Mary Laws and the showrunners. Jesse told Quincannon to serve God, and while that doesn’t mean Quincannon goes to church, that does mean that Quincannon is going to double down on his quest to restore his family to greatness and make Quincannon Meat & Power the glorious exercise it once was. He feels that his actions—murdering, stealing land—are righteous, thanks to the Voice. Jesse tried, and failed, to control the other man’s actions; The Voice just made him more powerful and single-minded in his pursuits. That single-mindedness provides the best visual of the evening courtesy of Michael Morris, who was more busy handling child actors than setting up big action scenes (to his credit, the kids work really well, and the visuals are haunting, particularly Jesse’s ankle view of his father’s beating). The episode serves as a set-up for a bigger episode next week. Jesse’s frantically tearing boards up and digging into the dirt under his church. Odin is riding a bulldozer with the entire workforce of Quincannon wearing mining helmets and carrying weapons. They’re going to take the Custer church, and it’s up to Jesse to defend it like the Texans defended the Alamo. Read Ron’s review of the previous episode, Sundowner, here. US Correspondent Ron Hogan is glad he doesn’t have to try to dig up a suitcase full of weapons out from under a church. That seems like a lot of work. Find more by Ron daily at Shaktronics and PopFi.
