Preacher: Call and Response Show Only
August 5, 2016 4:59 AM - Season 1, Episode 10 - Subscribe
"In other news, God is coming to Annville. Or so some local residents seem to be saying. Why don't you come down to the All Saints' Church this Sunday, and see for yourself what's what? In not unrelated news, local freak Eugene Root remains missing, and Preacher Custer continues to be sought by law enforcement." [Season finale]
My take-away from the fake god bit: sure, god is missing, but Heaven is real, and so are angels. So the world isn't without design or a higher power, even if the angels we've seen so far are pretty crap at getting anything, you know, actually done.
It seems possible that even if Heaven and the angelic host are real, they're not letting people in. The fake-God angel obviously lied several times about people being in Heaven, but apart from just trying to mollify the congregation, legitimately seemed to not know.
I liked this season, even if 2/3rds of the named characters just got blown to hell... or somewhere, anyway. I like the idea of a larger story arc with smaller, self-contained seasonal arcs. All of the primaries in Annville had some sort of character development, and I'm hoping that the roadtrip is just as good if not better.
Regardless, this was one of the best looking shows on TV this year. I'll keep watching it just for that.
posted by codacorolla at 11:38 AM on August 5, 2016 [3 favorites]
It seems possible that even if Heaven and the angelic host are real, they're not letting people in. The fake-God angel obviously lied several times about people being in Heaven, but apart from just trying to mollify the congregation, legitimately seemed to not know.
I liked this season, even if 2/3rds of the named characters just got blown to hell... or somewhere, anyway. I like the idea of a larger story arc with smaller, self-contained seasonal arcs. All of the primaries in Annville had some sort of character development, and I'm hoping that the roadtrip is just as good if not better.
Regardless, this was one of the best looking shows on TV this year. I'll keep watching it just for that.
posted by codacorolla at 11:38 AM on August 5, 2016 [3 favorites]
The show wants to have sociopaths with feelings and no consequences. You can do that in a comic book, and you can do that in a show with faster pacing but here the actors were a little too - nuanced? They were almost too good. The ski-jump deaths and the archvillain cradling his daughter made of minced-meat - fine. Outlandishly weird and his grief and the way he pitched it sold just fine. But Emily who was trapped and killed someone to be free, tenderly trying to let the guinea pigs out of their cages and getting frustrated with them and ignoring Jesse, then turning to her kids a few scenes later and trying to reassure them that there's still a moral order to the world and she loves them and they'll be just fine when part of her knows there isn't, but she wants to protect them so much - the actress was too good for a dumb show.
Same goes for Tulip and her grief-fuelled rage. I think the baby-loss plot is stupid but the actress almost manages to sell the rage and despair of that moment, and it's - too many layers and sensitivity and conflict for the show to then callously wipe everyone out in a methane explosion because that just makes Jesse into a sociopath who let children die. Which works fine for most of the episodes (the fight scene in the motel with the three angels and Jesse was glorious) but it doesn't work for the consequences.
Unless they have things coming home - I read the comic book synopsis and this is a very different Jesse and Tulip, so I don't know where they're going, but if they're making a hero out of Jesse, I'm not interested at all in a second season.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 6:32 PM on August 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
Same goes for Tulip and her grief-fuelled rage. I think the baby-loss plot is stupid but the actress almost manages to sell the rage and despair of that moment, and it's - too many layers and sensitivity and conflict for the show to then callously wipe everyone out in a methane explosion because that just makes Jesse into a sociopath who let children die. Which works fine for most of the episodes (the fight scene in the motel with the three angels and Jesse was glorious) but it doesn't work for the consequences.
Unless they have things coming home - I read the comic book synopsis and this is a very different Jesse and Tulip, so I don't know where they're going, but if they're making a hero out of Jesse, I'm not interested at all in a second season.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 6:32 PM on August 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
Just finished season 1.
How does the methane explosion leaves Jesse as a sociopath that let children die? He had no idea about the reactor, or that the town was in danger. He just wanted to go get some french fries for Tulip.
The moral compass of the show seemed to be centered on Jesse's redemption from a life of crime, using what his father taught him about the church and his own will to believe in a faith that might not redeem him. I don't think they're making him out to be a "hero" in the conventional comic book sense, but as the main character in a tv show we want him to survive, much like any show centered on people that are morally gray or worse, like Dexter, House, etc. They all do terrible things but there are good intentions for those actions.
I like the acting a whole lot. Everyone is so great to watch. And having just binged the entire season in 2 days, I really think the pacing was fine for "sociopaths with feelings and no consequences". Also, I'm not really clear what the complaint is about Emily; those are how the scenes are played out and if anything she's a flawed but ultimately sympathetic character who understands how terrible the world is and wants what's best for her children.
Regardless the Annville people are gone for next season, I assume, so you could say that's the consequence, even if most didn't deserve it.
Now onto season 2!
posted by numaner at 9:01 PM on October 11, 2018
How does the methane explosion leaves Jesse as a sociopath that let children die? He had no idea about the reactor, or that the town was in danger. He just wanted to go get some french fries for Tulip.
The moral compass of the show seemed to be centered on Jesse's redemption from a life of crime, using what his father taught him about the church and his own will to believe in a faith that might not redeem him. I don't think they're making him out to be a "hero" in the conventional comic book sense, but as the main character in a tv show we want him to survive, much like any show centered on people that are morally gray or worse, like Dexter, House, etc. They all do terrible things but there are good intentions for those actions.
I like the acting a whole lot. Everyone is so great to watch. And having just binged the entire season in 2 days, I really think the pacing was fine for "sociopaths with feelings and no consequences". Also, I'm not really clear what the complaint is about Emily; those are how the scenes are played out and if anything she's a flawed but ultimately sympathetic character who understands how terrible the world is and wants what's best for her children.
Regardless the Annville people are gone for next season, I assume, so you could say that's the consequence, even if most didn't deserve it.
Now onto season 2!
posted by numaner at 9:01 PM on October 11, 2018
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I kind of feel sorry for the Cowboy. He gets out of Hell and ends up in a hell on earth. At least he has more opportunities and isn't in the time-loop with the slowest. horse. ever.
If Eugene is really in Hell, he survived the destruction of Annville, but he's still in Hell, which seems like a rather unpleasant place.
My take-away from the fake god bit: sure, god is missing, but Heaven is real, and so are angels. So the world isn't without design or a higher power, even if the angels we've seen so far are pretty crap at getting anything, you know, actually done.
posted by filthy light thief at 8:40 AM on August 5, 2016 [1 favorite]