Pour yourself a pint of AB positive, it’s time for a new Preacher y’all! After last week’s tight focus on a new villains, we’re going to spend lots of time with all of our heroes . So belt out your worst rendition of “Closing Time,” because here be spoilers for season two, episode eight, “Holes.”
1. Better to rule in hell
This episode was jam-packed, so we’ll go character by character. First up is Eugene. Since hell is basically a jail, Arseface is getting RIPPED. He’s also got a serious guilt complex, calling himself the 2nd evilest person in hell, after Hitler. Poor Eugene commits the one unforgivable sin in hell- he does a good deed, so he’s condemned to the hole. In it, he’s forced to live out the worst memory of his life, only this time it’s worse, because he’s got to watch Tracy give a handjob to Jesse.
This sequence… didn’t exactly work for me. It was weird, especially the not-very-good rendition of “Closing Time,” and it didn’t really add much to Eugene’s predicament. He resents Jesse for sending him to hell? Obviously. And Hitler wants to help him escape? As the members of the band Semisonic might say, no duh.
2. The best dad you’ve ever seen
Man, this was the kind of episode that ended with a vampire singing a sad dirty song to his dying son. Not a lot of laughs. For an ostensible action comedy, there was little of either in this episode. Cassidy contemplating the curse of the immortal was fascinating stuff, but we end before we reach a real resolution. One thousand kudos to Joseph Gilgun though, who showed us a different side of his free-wheeling vampire. It was stock vampire stuff (watching everyone you love die!) but Buffy got seven seasons out of that kind of angst, and most of those vampires weren’t nearly as good actors.
3. Fixing all the holes
Tulip has been in prestige-drama land for a couple of episodes, and while I really feel for her, it’s pretty hard to watch her get so sidelined. She’s so shaken up from her encounter with the Saint that all she can do is buy a new fridge for Dennis and plaster over all the walls in the apartment. She bonds with Jenny, the sweet seeming neighbor… who’s really a Grail spy. “The best way to know your target is through concealed intimacy,” Jenny tells her partner. Here’s to hoping that it doesn’t stay concealed for long, because Tulip really needs to kick some ass. She hasn’t been able to properly let loose since she killed that assassin in the second episode. Ruth Negga is a goddamn revelation, making even the quietest scenes memorable, but why not give her some material to work with?
4. Zoom and enhance
Surprisingly, it was Jesse’s story that brought the comic relief, mainly because those two techies at the Dork Dock really charmed me for some reason. Unfortunately, his story also goes nowhere fast, but is filled with foreshadowing and little touches to keep up the sense of momentum.
In the comic, Jesse’s search for God is similarly frustrating, but he doesn’t spend nearly as much time in actual pursuit of God. He goes to the parties of the super rich, hunts serial killers, and faces the weird and horrifying monsters of the secret corners of America. Again, the Preacher cast is so good that they can make waiting in a fake Best Buy into compelling television, but I’d rather be watching them getting a move on. This episode was entertaining, and I’m being pretty hard on it, but much like last season, we feel mired in one place. This show feels like it could be so much more.
5. Abuse of Power: Life and Death edition
Jesse didn’t use his Voice a single time in this episode, but Cassidy asked him to. Dennis’s impending death was certainly our main through-line, and puts the focus on another character. Mainly Cassidy, and his vampiric powers. At the end of the episode, Cassidy calls Seamus, who I assume to be his sire. Seamus is utterly uninterested in Cassidy’s dilemma. Cassidy has been the poster child of great power and no responsibility, so giving him such a weighty decision is the stuff of great drama. We don’t see him choose here, but I’m on the edge of my seat for when he does. Wouldn’t it be great if Dennis turned out to be the eleventh hour villain of the season?
Sing it with me now:
