Returns June 25
Basically: For the wayward misfits among us, the season 2 opener of Preacher might be the single most incredible episode of television ever made.
Keeping it simple doesn’t quite work for a review of Preacher. The television show is based on an original comic book series written by Garth Ennis. The closest Ennis has ever been to “simple” is with occasional fringe characters—and you can be sure Ennis will flatten them with the runaway-ice-cream-truck-filled-with-drug-addled-angels-driven-by-a-foul-mouthed-nun-with-a-Merle-Haggard-tattoo that is his storytelling. Don’t make me repeat that. Just read it over a few times. The truth of it will sink in.
Preacher the AMC series never strays from the misfit madness of its creators (Garth Ennis, Steve Dillon), which makes the show wickedly gleeful and sharply incisive.
Season 1 is simple to summarize, however: Bad Boy becomes a preacher ’cause that’s what his daddy wanted. Bad Boy gets possessed by the Super Powered Offspring of an angel and a demon. Bad Boy can now compel anyone to do anything—kinda. Bad Boy’s Badass Girlfriend comes to town to get her man back. They meet wonky yet Witty Irish Vampire. He’s awesome. The Trio screws up everything and everyone they come in contact with. A pair of solemn Angel Nannies come looking for the Super Powered Offspring. That don’t go well neither. The Angel Nannies seek out a Supernatural Killer from the Underworld. Meanwhile the local Meat and Power Heir decides to try and see if he can piss farther than Bad Boy. He can’t. Entire town goes KABOOM.
Cast:
Bad Boy is Jesse Custer (Dominic Cooper)
Badass Chick is Tulip O’Hare (Ruth Negga)
Wonky yet Witty Vampire is Cassidy (Joseph Gilgun)
Super Power Offspring is Genesis (Dominic Cooper)
Angel Nannies are Fiore and DeBlanc (Tom Brooke, Anatol Yusef)
Supernatural Killer is the Saint of Killers (Graham McTavish)
Meat and Power Heir is Odin Quincannon (Jackie Earle Haley)
Town is Annville, Texas (New Mexico)
There. You’re all caught up.
Season 2 could be summarized as: The Quest for God because He’s Missing and Shit and Also Jazz.
Directed by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, season 2 opens up with Jesse, Tulip and Cassidy on the road. Oh, great and fluffy lords of the highway, it’s hilarious. The trio talk about foreskins because… The Staties decide to pull them over. The gas tank gets emptied—because high speed chases tend to do that. Cassidy gets burned. The Staties get compelled. Someone sings. Someone gets maced. Someone gets eviscerated. All while “Come On Eileen” by Dexys Midnight Runners plays on the radio.
Yup. Preacher is the shit because its multi-faceted and thoroughly messed-up characters keep landing in it. You’ll need to watch it again and again in order to get past your shock-n-awe and realize how well written this show is. And it is. The most asinine occurrences become deeply moving revelations about love, guilt, faith, and accountability.
The second episode is equally fun but also sets up a must watch season—and we’ll recount this season for you like the backwoods-juke-joint-sing-along-filled-with-inbred-hillbilly-demons-and-disenchanted-angels it is.
Bravo, Sam Catlin, Seth Rogen, and Evan Goldberg, you brilliant bastards. Bravo.
And now to continue to tease you, here are AMC’s descriptions of the first two episodes. Watch them.
Episode 201: “On The Road” – Jesse, Tulip and Cassidy hit the road in search of God, and quickly realize they’re being stalked by a killer cowboy from Hell.
Written By: Sam Catlin
Directed By: Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg
idobi rating: ★★★★★
Episode 202: “Mumbai Sky Tower” – Jesse, Tulip and Cassidy track down Fiore, a low level angel, to find out more about who The Cowboy is and why he’s trying to kill them.
Written By: Sam Catlin
Directed By: Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg
idobi rating: ★★★★☆
Season premiere – Sun June 25 – 10pm ET/PT
Second episode – Mon June 26 – 9pm ET/PT
P.S. If you’d like more insight into the trailer, Nerdist has a nice breakdown here.
