We go back to Annville to discuss “The Possibilities”, Preacher‘s third episode. As the angels make their intentions clear and Cassidy makes some compromises, how does Jesse react to discovering the true extent of his powers? We’ll talk about all that and more below so spoilers ahead.
1. The Morning Starr
Like last week’s episode, “The Possibilities” opens with a scene that doesn’t mean too much for TV audiences but leaves comic book fans like me foaming at the mouth. Tulip meets up with an acquaintance who has info on Carlos, the guy who betrayed Jesse and Tulip a couple years back. The acquaintance then hands stuff off to a bald guy in a white suit watching some films at a snuff theater. Anyone who’s read the comics will recognize the impeccable fashion of Herr Starr, the comic book’s actual main villain and arguable best character. I won’t say too much about it here, besides that it’s weird he’s already wearing his hat considering his head hasn’t been carved into a penis shape yet.
Speaking of comic book stuff, I’m sort of getting weirded out by how soon the show is pushing all of these characters in here. I was kind of under the impression that we’d be moving up Odin Quincannon to something like a Season 1 boss for Jesse and then get into Herr Starr and the Saint whenever the Angels set up Season 2 by spilling the beans on what’s been going on in Heaven. While I’m excited that I can go back in time and tell fourteen year old James that he’s going to see Herr Starr on the tee-vee one day, I don’t know if that’s going to make for the best show.
2. Jesse Buster, Brooding Man At Large
Jesse’s arc in this episode revolved around him testing the limits of his power but not allowing it to consume him completely. It’s pretty much taken a hold of him when he tests it on Cass in the church, but JC backs away from it after he almost kills Donnie in a fight. That compels him to tell Tulip that he can’t go kill whoever Carlos is because God will sort it all out.
On one hand, I’m okay with them getting through the whole “absolute power corrupts absolutely” thing as fast as possible to save that horse from getting beaten to death later down the road, but it doesn’t need to be nipped in the bud right away. Especially if we were about to go on a journey to find out what happened between Jesse and Tulip in the past. I love that Tulip’s kind of a surrogate for the bloodthirsty audience that wants Jesse to go DO THE THING rather than stay behind and hang out with W. Earl Brown’s son. So even though we didn’t find out who the hey Carlos is this week, it feels like we’re just going to have to wait. That’s what this episode felt like, for the most part. A whole lot of waiting.
3. Angel Clones
I love Fiore and DeBlanc but I just wish their regeneration thing was better explained visually. There’s just a lot of rough cuts between them being killed and showing up somewhere else completely fine. I get that they’re heavenly beings whose bodies are more or less a formality, so they can just make a new one while the last body is still under Cass’s truck, but it just doesn’t read very well. I’m kind of looking forward to their new deal with Cass because it means they won’t be killed on sight for the forseeable future.
4. Donnie With This Shit
If you want to know how little I care about Donnie, I forgot who he was last week when he was Quincannon’s lackey. This week, he’s still frustrated with Custer breaking his arm and, well, his revenge doesn’t go so great considering Jesse makes him put a gun in his mouth. Normally, I’d say the dude could use a break but considering he told his son that he’s not beating his wife they’re just engaging in some S&M business, he kind of has it coming.
Continued belowQuick thing about the S&M thing. I know that’s a cover for him hitting his wife and her saying the same thing in the first episode is not the same as saying she doesn’t hit her. It was pretty clear in the first episode that Donnie’s controlling of Betsy so I wouldn’t be surprised if the S&M thing is a cover he made her agree to. But it’s also a pretty weird cover to take on rather than a traditional “I fell down the stairs again.” Is there a chance that Donnie and Betsy are just into S&M? Is this whole show about one man being kinkshamed by a super powered priest? I kind of hope not, but the glance shared between Donnie and last week’s bus driver makes me thing there’ll be some Creeps Against Custer movement in the near future.
5. Routine Hugo Root Exaltation
This isn’t so much a thought as it is a reminder that Hugo Root’s the most consistently good character on this show. His combined feelings of shame/over-protectiveness towards Arseface are the most grounded parts of this show and help it feel like it’s taking place in a real city, not just in a sick twisted Garth Ennis fantasy land.
