Preacher Feature is a weekly analysis of the AMC show Preacher based on the comic book of the same name by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon. In this column, we will give a breakdown of the events from the previous night’s show, including how they relate to the comics, and speculate as to what’s going on and what might be coming up. This is to say that there will be spoilers, both actual and potential. If you have not yet watched the episode in question or are watching the show without reading the comics and don’t want to have any foreknowledge of what might happen to Jesse and company, then you would do well to stop reading this now.
There is a House in New Orleans
…and in this house, we finally catch a glimpse of the mysterious Viktor (Paul Ben-Victor), whom Tulip was so keen on avoiding in episode two. What could be so terrible about Viktor that would have the usually stalwart Tulip sitting in his office looking like a chastised student waiting for the principal? Well, you’ll have to wait until the end of this recap to find out for sure (unless you know how the scroll function works on your browser, in which case I can’t stop you from looking). One thing we know is he has a torturer named Pet (Sean Boyd) on staff, which is something of a red flag, personality-wise. Now, Tulip may be known more for her toughness than her charm, but everyone in the house seems to have taken a real disliking to her. Most of the staff won’t talk to her and Viktor’s daughter spits in her face.
The Ruin of Many a Poor Boy
Eugene is still stuck in Hell. Nice boy that he is, he interrupts Tyler (Justin Prentice) from bullying another inmate and draws the bully’s ire. Eugene is rescued by Hitler (Noah Taylor), but students of history won’t be fooled by one decent act, this Hitler fellow is not the nice guy he may seem to be.
Eugene’s Hell cell needs some repairs and while they are being done he is told he is “sweet, kind, caring, loyal”: pretty good qualities if you’re trying to score brownie points, but this is Hell and that sort of behavior is frowned upon. Trying to appear more of a “bad boy”, Eugene joins in when the rest of the Hellions start beating up Hitler. Which brings up an interesting ethical question: is kicking the shit out of Hitler ever a bad thing?
Fake God is a Local Actor
Now, if my math is right, Jesse visited 50 jazz bars his first night in New Orleans, which is about 49 more than I could tolerate. He and Cassidy watch a hilarious commercial starring Frankie Muniz and notice the man who impersonated God (Mark Harelik in the role he was born to play: Mark Harelik) in Jesse’s church way back in season one. They set off to locate the actor and find Teddy Gunth (James Hiroyuki Liao, who really stole the scene). Gunth is clearly one of power players in the New Orleans acting scene. He says he can’t find Harelik, but he does have a copy of the tape from Harelik’s last audition before he went missing. In the tape, he’s auditioning for the role of God and when he accepts it, he is killed (acting is way tougher than most people think), presumably because he needs to be in actual Heaven in order to impersonate The Lord.
To the Viktor Goes…Something of an Ass-Kicking, Actually
Cassidy, concerned that he hasn’t heard back from Tulip since she went out for smokes the previous night, eventually tells Jesse. Now Jesse isn’t the type of guy who takes kindly to people abducting his friends, and accordingly he goes to find her. Too angry to consider the ramifications of using Genesis (you know, giving away his location to the murderous Saint of Killers), Jesse tears through Viktor’s house, ordering several of Viktor’s croonies to let him through. This tactic works until Pet blindsides him and puts in some earbuds to torture Jesse. Who doesn’t like to listen to some Billy Joel while they work? What follows is one of the best action sequences in a show full of great action sequences, and probably an even better use of Uptown Girl than The Simpsons. After finally dispatching Pet, Jesse finds Viktor and Tulip. He starts choking the former while being told to stop by the latter. Why would Tulip want this man left alive? Well, it turns out he’s her husband. Jesse, like most of the audience, is taken aback by this news, but we’ll all have to wait until next episode to find out more.
Questions and Theories
Of course the biggest questions all relate to how/why Tulip got married to Viktor. From the previews of next week’s episode, it looks like it happened after the failed bank heist from season one that separated Jesse and Tulip in the first place, but beyond that is anyone’s guess.
Will we be seeing more of Teddy Gunth? Plot-wise, there’s little reason the crew would be headed back to a small talent agency, but I hope the writers find a way to work him back in somehow.
Best Line
“I used to go to prostitutes. Now I am one” – actor in Katrina commercial
