2.5 Dallas As Jesse found out last week, Tulip’s married. Jesse, predictably, didn’t take it well. He’s got a violent temper that he struggles with, and that’s been a continual point throughout the series. Jesse tries, he snaps, and bad things happen. (See also, Eugene banished to Hell.) Even though Jesse did the right thing eventually, it doesn’t have a happy ending, much like his previous attempt to go straight with Tulip at his side. Dallas is essentially just the story of how Jesse and Tulip fell apart in the wake of Dallas, and how Tulip disappeared from Viktor’s life once the traitorous Carlos was discovered. Jesse and Tulip attempt to go straight, get legitimate jobs, and try to have a baby, and it works for about three weeks. Jesse spends most of his time fighting against his own nature, trying to be the good person that he thinks he can be. Tulip makes an attempt, but she’s truer to her nature. She’s a criminal, and she’s not ashamed of being a criminal. Tulip knows who she is and what she is, and she’s unable to live Jesse’s life, as much as she loves him. It’s interesting to see that, even back then, Jesse and Tulip had a third wheel. Reggie is gone, and Cas has taken his place, but for whatever reason, Jesse and Tulip need to have a third person in their orbit. The scene where Cas and Jesse have a conversation about two different things is another surprisingly uncomfortable bit of television, but in a funnier way than Jesse and Tulip’s argument in front of Reggie. The conversation functions as something of an out for the building tension between the three. Cas feels like Jesse knows that he slept with Tulip, Jesse still doesn’t know, and Tulip is kind of caught between the two still. For the moment, it diffuses that growing lie, but it will come back eventually, and it will land like a bomb strike when it does. It’s still a trap, but it’s a different sort of trap, and it’s going to change the feel of the triumvirate’s relationship without reducing the complications. This may be something that pays off later this season, or if it’s something that will pay off a couple of seasons from now when Preacher is entering its end game. Jesse still has his weapon, but he’s going to have to be very careful about how and when he uses it. That’s assuming that Jesse is able to successfully avoid the Saint, now that he’s got someone guiding him right to Jesse, Tulip, and Cassidy’s borrowed apartment in the French Quarter. They’ll need to pull together to get past that threat; separately they’re helpless to stop the Saint. Even together, they might be helpless to stop him, but hopefully the dysfunction of the past can be used to forge stronger bonds in the future. US Correspondent Ron Hogan was surprised by how effective montages have been throughout the run of Preacher. The bigger the montage, the more it seems to work like it’s supposed to. Find more by Ron daily at PopFi. Read Ron’s review of the previous episode, Viktor, here.
