Preacher
Spoiler-free Television Review: Season 1 – Episodes 1 & 2
A “thing” happens to misery-guts Preacher Jesse Custer. Finding out what that is, is half the fun. Unless you’ve read the comics… That’s ok. You can derive pleasure by complaining it’s not identical to the drawings. It’s a Win – Win!
Sorry, it’s now far too late to read through the Preacher back catalogue or even flick through IMDB. Best get watchin’ the first episode. C’mon quick, before its thoroughly spoiled by loved ones, friends and disgusting social media.
Before you start, I best warn you that the comic didn’t hold back on its strong themes, with a grand capacity to be crude, violent and outlandish in equal measure. Also, as you can tell from the title of the show. There might be the odd religious thing thrown into the mix.
Excited aren’t you.
Oh man, I love Preacher, I read it every few years or so. Oh look… A TV adaptation?
Yeeeap.
Let’s check this out… Click… So the telly show was… Click… Click… Was developed by Garth Ennis, Steve Dillon and Seth Rogen? Original creators and beloved personality with Hollywood clout. On AMC and they’ve done ok with Zombie Eastenders. Yes… It might have a chance… It just might.
Wonder what he does for a living?
I will admit, even with the right people and network, I was a little on the worried side. I mean look what happened to Constantine. If you don’t fully commit you’re left with a soggy teabag of a show.
Those humans picking what shows to commission, don’t have any Tony Montana balls. They always play it safe. I’m convinced they never watched any of the actual shows they’re commissioning, as the other monitor in the room has the current viewing figures. Until that one special day, one of them gets very lucky and picks a hit show by mistake. From that day forward he’s known throughout the land as the best telly picker. All hail the head tv-picker! The Walking Dead worked? Wotelsewegot?
In spirit of the comic itself, let’s get right to the point.
The pilot episode exceeded my expectations. In fact, I loved it.
Preacher doesn’t concede any points based on morality or religious grounds and certainly doesn’t wimp out. At least not in the first couple of episodes. It’s ballsy.
Why, it’s a Tulip O’Hare
Jesse Custer feels a bit like the classic “cowboy with no name” character. Although he does have a name and hefty backstory. Hmm… The cowboy with a definite name and past and electronic ID card.
The casting is excellent. Ruth Negga is the perfect Tulip O’Hare, anyone dismissing her on grounds of race is a fucking idiot. Joseph Gilgun is Cassidy. I will admit to saying ‘huh’ a few times as his Irish accent is pretty thick. That might be me going deaf.
Special note: Eugene Root is perfect.
Acting
I say again. The casting is excellent.
Dominic Cooper is excellent as the tormented Jesse Custer, but he has a round fucking head. That is all. You could further argue that he doesn’t have that authentic cowboy/Texan aura to him. Jesse needs a bit more grit. Bit o’ stubble an’ messy beard is a poor substitute to the authentic Texan swagger, present in the comic. Maybe its early days and it’s a tentative start to Jesse’s character. Maybe you’d only pick up on this if you’ve read the comics, with the gift of prescience. This is a minor quibble. As I said, he does conflicted drunken Preacher very well.
As for the rest, it’s atmospheric, adult, funny and gruesome.
The first two episodes are a fine setup and is a tantalising hint at the insanity to come.
Oh hai guys!
I’ve read that some people have found the pilot to be a little boring, which is jaw dropping when you consider a man explodes in the first minutes. Anyone bored by this has given up on that part of the brain that demands story, character and pace. A person with this bold claim craves explosions every 4 minutes and possibly a cameo from a Ninja Turtle (they would suggest Raphael). So if anyone tells you they’re bored by Preacher, that’s a great thing. It means you can immediately write off their opinions. It’s the equivalent of wearing a name badge with the word “irrelevant”.
Others have complained that the pilot jumps around all over the place and they can’t follow it. Again, please refer to the previous point. Fuck letting these people watch a Tales of the Unexpected.
Preacher is exciting.
Not picking up any form of kindness from this cover
If the early signs are to be believed and continues this relentless pace and more importantly, they’ve not blown the budget on the first two episodes, this has all the makings of a classic. If it is a smash hit… I wonder how long it will be before we see “The Boys”? Now that is a thought…
These are pretty good times ‘ey! To think how far we’ve come from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
Tell ya’ friends y’all!
Oh! A follow up article!
They better not fuck this up.