The opening of the fifth episode of Preacher takes us back to 1881, the town of Ratwater and our old nameless friend. He’s put in the order for the medicine and needs to only wait until morning and be on his way. But this world weary stranger sees ugliness in Ratwater: rape, murder, disgusting characters of all stripes living without consequence. We don’t know much about this cowboy, but we get a hint that he used to be a bad man, but one with a strong sense of justice. This well of anger contained within gets him into a bit of trouble, and the ripples of his actions reach all the way back home. Things might have gone differently for him if he were armed, and when he returns back home he makes sure he grabs his guns before he heads back to Ratwater. A man with a dark past, wounded by the events of his present, seeks to change a town whether they want to or not. So begins this week’s episode…
Sheriff Root and Eugene have to deal with intruders on their property, ones that may have given them some trouble in a previous episode. They have a message for Eugene in particular, leaving a shotgun in his room and encouraging him to try the whole suicide thing one more time. As the episode goes on we start to see the connection between Eugene, Tracy Loach and his suicide attempt. It’s also apparent just how much this weighs on Sheriff Root.
Source: AMC
Cassidy and Tulip get better acquainted and she takes the whole drug addicted vampire thing pretty well. It seems as if she’s still stuck on Jesse and can’t get revenge on Carlos without him, but Cassidy’s loose morality may make him a worthy substitute and we see how quickly Tulip moves to get her hooks in him, and how hell bent she is on revenge, but at what cost?
DeBlanc and Fiore spend another day bumbling around but this time, they sit and practice what they’re going to say to their (literal) higher ups who have not stopped calling them on their Soviet celestial dream phone. Once they nail their script, the phone stops ringing, which probably means Heaven decided a face to face meet is in order. Their time to fix this problem is running short…
Perhaps the person most in trouble here is Jesse. After making Quincannon see the light he’s become the town hero overnight. We met him as a stuttering, stammering drunk who commanded little respect but now people gather around to listen to his contrived platitudes (made new by his power) and he’s all too happy to dish them out. Even a simple “forgive him” patches things up between Eugene and Tracy’s mother, who moments ago was about to kill Eugene, clearly blaming him for Tracy’s current state. It becomes clearer now that Eugene also blames himself for what happened. But just like that, years of hatred are forgotten, and for quite a few eyes to see. All Jesse can do is beam with pride at his works. Whether he’s truly changed or has just found another intoxicant remains to be seen, but both Emily and Tulip are troubled by this new man before them. He doesn’t seem too concerned about the consequences of his actions (his first saved sheep gutted himself in front of his own mother, something that didn’t seem to bother Jesse much), only that they work and he gets praised for it. Interestingly, one could argue that’s how God works, salvation in exchange for praise, but while athletes are scoring winning touchdowns, marriages are saved, and little Billy makes honor roll, flood and famine devour the Earth. So long as things are going well in your tiny bubble, God is indeed good, and prayers are said and churches are full on Sunday.
To put a point on just how volatile Jesse’s powers are, and how wildly oblivious he is to it, DeBlanc and Fiore pay him a visit at the diner and spell out for him who they are, and more worrisome than that, his power is NOT from God. Quincannon’s peculiar way of serving the Lord is a darkly hilarious example of that.
Things may start to unravel for Jesse in the coming episodes. Tulip seems to have found a backup (haha) plan with Cassidy as her new partner in crime. And oddly, why hasn’t Jesse revealed his power to her? Why spare her the voice after all she’s put him through to get him to go after Carlos with her?
Donnie is starting to see something strange happening too. Between Quincannon’s conversion, Linus’ amnesia and his own moment of divine intervention, there’s something about the Preacher. Donnie is thus far the only “arch enemy” Jesse has, from his defeat in the bar, his troubles at work, and Betsy’s threat to cuckold him if he doesn’t get his shit together, he has a lot of stock invested in the downfall of the Preacher.
For the next episode, it seems as if our cowboy friend has begun a journey that might take him further than Ratwater perhaps, and further than 1881 as well.
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