Odin Quincannon is an interesting man. He is driven by a singular purpose, which is the expansion of his company, not necessarily to grow an empire or be the industry leader, but just so he can kill more cattle. He lacks a handful of basic emotions and what we interpret as a dry sense of humor is nothing more than a misunderstanding of human worth. He is the antithesis of Jesse, who means well but fails, whereas Odin Quincannon means ill and succeeds. Add to that the events that led to both their struggles with faith, and you have yourself a volatile mixture.
Episode 8 begins with, ha ha, Custer’s last stand as Quincannon tries to take the church by force only to find out the Preacher is also a hell of a shot, and that’s when he’s drunk. Clive may have gotten the worst of it. The entire episode is built around the siege of the church, and how Jesse’s actions affect the people around him. Emily is in disbelief when Mayor Miles gives her the news and runs off to support Jesse, or at least bear witness to what happens next. Tulip adopts a dog, which I hear really helps when going through a breakup.
Meanwhile, Eugene returns from hell, which poses a lot of interesting questions regarding the power of Genesis. Yet as he watches from the window and sees the people of Annville tailgating his last stand, he realizes that his flock are some seriously fucked up jerks and he’s mostly to blame, indeed as DeBlanc points out, he hasn’t done a damn bit of good with the Ultimate power. Jesse is able to stave off the invasion while the angels try to draw out Genesis one last time. And it works, for a bit, until the heavenly deities go back on their word to help Jesse out with another matter. Genesis takes shelter in Jesse a second time, whereas lesser men have exploded in the first attempt. Despite his utter failures, there’s something about him that enables him to hold this immense power.
DeBlanc and Fiore pack their shit and leave, thoroughly soured on their failures and probably their whole earthly experience, hinting at a lot less pleasant second option. Left totally alone now, Jesse fends off another push from Quincannon, only to have Donnie get the drop on him with an admittedly genius tactic. Completely defeated and with Quincannon and his antagonistically atheistic (and maybe even idolatrous) philosophy bearing down on him, Jesse plays one final card. Whether or not it will work from a jail cell will remain to be seen. As Emily watches him get carted off, Mayor Miles offers his take on why things went the way they did. As much as Quincannon is clearly as close to a villain as we’re going to get this season, I can’t hate the man because his quiet and deliberate savagery are endlessly entertaining. But I can totally cast shade on Miles. Emily may sleep with him for...whatever reason...but he is still unable to grasp that they won’t ever be together. He’s just a quick and shameful respite from physical loneliness and the tribulations of being a single mother with three kids. Still he persists, offering so much help so often as to imply Emily incapable, and instead of standing on his own merits, tears at other men, namely Jesse. Instead of standing for something, he moves onto whichever side will ensure his survival. It’s this sniveling “nice guy” behavior that makes him an utter worm and I know he will exploit Emily’s distress as much as possible.
Switching gears, the episode ends with Tulip and her new pal. Remember how I said that the hardest thing to watch was Jesse pushing away his friends? Yeah I was just being hyperbolic. Loyalty has its price, and it isn’t always paid by those who owe. Fuckin’ Cassidy.
Written by A Play On Nerds contributor, Jerry Herrera - Lover of horror, sci fi, and fantasy in that order. Semi-permanent Disneyland resident. I'm at least one of the droids you're looking for. Twitter: @FrankenJerry - Instagram: @GeraldoPedro