3.7 Hitler Then The Saint of Killers shows up and puts Hitler in chains. Interesting that an episode titled Hitler has almost no Hitler in it, but he’s a character best used in moderation, like Hoover and Featherstone. Both of the Grail’s best operatives (at least, the best that Starr has under direct control) are heavily involved int his episode, with Featherstone being central to Starr’s plot to steal souls for Grandma L’Angelle and Hoover continuing to try to get that last little bit of leverage over Jesse to keep him from misbehaving once he gets access to The Voice again. That Les Enfants have a dark side isn’t a huge surprise. There’s not anything that would suggest otherwise. When something is too good, there’s usually a catch to it. Still, watching Cas have fun and learn about himself is very enjoyable. Carla Ching puts a lot of humour into pretty much every scene, usually via verbal interaction. Cas is always funny, but when he’s working counter to Eccarius, he’s even funnier. Tulip and Jesse’s verbal sparring is funny, but nothing is quite as funny as when Starr starts cracking deadpan jokes. Pip Torrens is incredibly funny, and when Featherstone—inspired by Tulip and Jesse’s emotional goodbye—turns her attention to Starr and tries to flirt with him, he shuts her down so efficiently and coldly it’s more funny than anything. When there aren’t jokes in scenes, Michael Morris adds humour with nonverbal elements. Another Starr example: Starr and TC standing in the hallway, TC leaning on Starr’s shoulder while Starr fakes making a telephone call to avoid talking to TC. Hitler’s entire speech is hilarious, thanks in no small part to how it’s shot like it was guest-directed by Leni Riefenstahl. There’s still nothing funnier than watching a literal boxing nun, or Cas having a conversation with a cat or rat. Call me an easy target, but some jokes (a sleeveless clerical shirt with collar tab!) will probably always work for me. No one in the world of Preacher, save Eugene, is a good person when viewed through a traditional lens. There are certainly characters whose behaviour is worse than others, but nobody’s all that squeaky clean. Without the heavy dose of humour, Preacher is a very dark show indeed. There’s nothing wrong with whistling past the graveyard, and there’s nothing wrong with making a few jokes to keep things from getting too heavy. Read Ron’s review of the previous episode, Les Enfants Du Sang, here. US Correspondent Ron Hogan really enjoys Hoover. His incompetence is very funny, usually because it seems like he might be successful until the last possible minute, then everything goes haywire. Find more by Ron daily at PopFi.
