Writer. Podcast contributor. Costume design enthusiast. Lover of fantasy movies…
This episode of Preacher asks the question: what wouldn’t you do for the ones you love?
In the pre-title card scene, we see a couple in the process of selling something important. They need the money to keep their house and the husband is willing to give anything to get it. Their desperation is palpable and Japanese man making the offer takes advantage of that, pushing them to sell more than they intended. They agree, paperwork is signed, and the man brings out a briefcase filled with sophisticated scientific equipment. He uses it to draw out an opalescent material from the husband. It barely fills a small test tube. For this, which turns out to be 15% of his soul, they receive $150K.
The man gets into an armored truck and drives to an expensive house. The soul essence is converted into a pill which is given to a woman suffering from what looks like Alzheimer’s. After ingesting the pill, she gets better. For this, the man is paid $2.7 million by her husband. I find it interesting that the first couple was poor and Black with no other options and the second was White and rich enough to get whatever they wanted even a soul.
Our trio is still camped out at Dennis’ place. He continues to be angry at Cassidy in French. Cassidy’s inability to understand is given a tinge of tragedy later in the episode when their relationship is revealed. Tulip is cooking. I find that the act and the recipes she uses adds an interesting layer to her background. In this case, she makes pancakes with their names spelled out in M&Ms. Condiments include whipped cream, fudge, and syrup.
Viktor’s daughter has brought the Saint to their apartment building. In a move that cements her as one of the smartest people in the show, she points him to a random door and promptly runs away while he’s distracted. It’s the wrong door, so the Saint proceeds to kill everyone on the floor by gun and by sword. The walls don’t look sturdy enough to block out all of the screaming but somehow no one notices until Jesse picks a bullet out of a tub of yogurt. Realizing who that bullet belongs, to they flee before the Saint makes it to their room.
Where do they go? The library! I approve of researching one’s enemy instead of running around without a plan, waiting to be picked off in a gruesome way. Thankfully for the audience, Tulip opts to get her information via audiobook so we get a nice narration of the Saint’s backstory. Unfortunately, they forget to warn Dennis. By the time they remember, the Saint already has him.
What wouldn’t you do for the ones you love? Sell your soul? Pay a considerable amount of money for a soul? Murder as many people as it takes to find a way to see your wife and daughter again? Thanks to their research session, Jesse knows what the Saint wants, which means that he can strike a bargain. He sent Eugene to hell, why can’t he send the Saint to heaven? Before he can do that, the Saint needs one thing to get him up there — a soul. The Saint hasn’t gotten this far by being stupid, so he keeps Tulip, Cassidy and Dennis hostage to make sure Jesse comes back. If he doesn’t, the Saint will kill them.
Jesse draws on his dark, hidden background to gain entry into the soul dealing scene in New Orleans. Unfortunately, the Japanese have cornered the market. Jesse needs into that the Japanese man’s armored truck. What would you do for your loved ones? We find out that Dennis is actually Cassidy’s son. Occasionally there’s a selfishness to his interactions with Tulip and Jesse, especially in the last episode. Though there is a lot of animosity on Dennis’ part, the love and regret Cassidy feels is evident in the gentle way he handles his son despite it. Tulip sees this in an attempt to get Dennis — who is getting sicker without his medicine — set free. Of course, it doesn’t work.
You can’t reason with someone without a soul.
Jesse finds no match for the Saint in the mostly normal souls contained in the armored truck. Knowing that he’s approaching the Saint’s deadline, Jesse tests himself. It’s a match. He doesn’t take long to contemplate what that says about him. To save his friends, Jesse gives up part of himself.
Jesse almost doesn’t make it back in time. Cassidy grabs the Saint’s saber, preventing him from stabbing Tulip and gets his fingers sliced off. It gives Jesse the extra time he needs to dramatically burst through the door. The Saint now has the soul he needs to make it into heaven and it turns out to be his undoing. With a soul, he’s now susceptible to Genesis. I have so many questions about how this souls transfer works. Jesse can’t send the Saint back to hell as long as he has that piece of his soul. Does that mean they’re linked now? Ultimately, Jesse orders him into the armored truck and leaves it and the Saint at the bottom of the bayou. We will see if this turns out to be a temporary hurdle for the Saint or a permanent solution for our trio.
This was a tightly plotted episode based on an interesting premise. After last week, I needed a reminder of why I like Cassidy and especially Jesse. This episode gave me that. We were also given the much anticipated showdown between Jesse and the Saint. Jesse emerged with a victory that due was more to luck than skill. While I thought his solution to the Saint of Killer issue was anticlimactic, Jesse has ensured that the Saint will be out for revenge when he eventually escapes. I enjoyed this episode and can’t wait to see where this goes next week.
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Writer. Podcast contributor. Costume design enthusiast. Lover of fantasy movies from the 1980s and bizarre deep sea creatures. Can be found tweeting about comics, Yuri on Ice, Doctor Who or Star Wars at @jane_anon or on the Nerds of Prey podcast.