Hey Folks!!!! Sorry for the delay in last week’s recap, but GUESS WHAT??? My co-host Johnny Kolasinski have launched a PREACHER PODCAST!! It’s called “Book of Genesis: A Preacher Podcast” and you can find it at an iTunes near you! I’ll still be doing recaps (in a more timely fashion, I PROMISE), but you now have another companion should you need it.
Enjoy!
Okay, down to business. This show just keeps knockin’em outta the park, right? I loved every inch of this episode, except for the fact that it might be setting up Eugene’s rescue for next season and I can’t bear to think of that poor kid roasting in anguish that long.
Hang in there, Cutie!
This cold open finds us in VAIL, in the early 90s by the looks of the outerwear. A family rides a ski lift in the middle of a blizzard, up, up and up. It’s revealed to be Odin’s family, on a vacation without him because, according to his wife, he’s married to that disgusting job. Uh-oh, I think I see where this is going. An older woman, presumably Odin’s mother helps his daughter put on her mittens, when she hears something above. Uh-oh, now I know where this is going. Before Daughter can comply, the ski lift breaks, and we watch as Odin’s entire family falls to their deaths. Smash cut to Odin’s office and we hear a phone call he made to John Custer, begging the preacher to come immediately… Something terrible has happened. The camera pans out to reveal crates containing the bodies of Odin’s entire family (and a cow, more on that later), and the broken empire over which he now presides. Just in case you thought one character on this show would be black and white.
THIS SHOW IS WAY TOO GOOD AT PLAYING DEVIL’S ADVOCATE
Cut to Odin’s office the night Jesse and John visited him (you know, the scene I thought was in a hospital? The one where John storms out saying you can’t help some people?), and John is shocked at what he finds. It’s not just Odin’s family, ya see? It’s Odin, in the middle of what remains of his family, holding up a pair of intestines. He’s cut apart the cow and his daughter in his mad grief, and is comparing their parts, insistent that he can’t tell the difference. Using that slippery slope logic, he reasons that God doesn’t exist, the world is shit and John Custer should denounce him. I’ve never seen a show so good at executing the horrific, the macabre, and the heartbreaking all at the same time. Poor Odin.
We fade to present-day Odin presiding over the first wave of attack against the church. Let me save you some time, it doesn’t go well. Jesse is too busy trying to undo what he did two episodes ago to have time for anything else. I’M thoroughly enjoying Civil War uniforms some of these dudes are sporting, but Jesse has exactly no time for this cosplay bullshit. Much to Odin’s confusion, as quickly as they enter, the men leave, sans weapons, which they have apparently peacefully surrendered. Donny knows what’s going on, but it’s not like anyone would believe him, so he just quietly freaks out.
The next day, Jesse continues to sit in the church and drink hopelessly. Exhausted, he pleas with God one more time to bring Eugene back, and in return, he promises to never, ever use the Voice again. I don’t really expect this to work, but it does!! BLESSED BE, SWEET LITTLE EUGENE FINDS HIS WAY HOME!!! Jesse is elated at his friend’s return, adorably running about to make Eugene comfortable and finding him a glass of water (with a straw). Eugene, though shaken, seems to be in one piece. At first he thinks his freedom might be some kind of trick because “they do that down there” (chilled to the bone, thank you very much), but seems to embrace his freedom after a few minutes. Apparently he just heard Jesse’s call at one point and started digging. Agog that Eugene literally dug his way out of Hell, Jesse gapes, and Eugene whispers that “It’s not that far.”
Well, now I’m pissed I didn’t get to see it. Hmmph. Go back down and come up again.
Jesse, utterly relieved that at least this mistake won’t have as permanent consequences as the one he made with his father, tells Eugene that the kid was right–Jesse wasn’t meant to have this power. That the only real salvation is found when those lost come to it themselves. Aww, lesson learned! Glad that’s all taken care of. J/K, it’s not, but wasn’t that a nice breather?
When Jesse expresses his desire to be rid of Genesis and his need for help, Eugene mentions, “The guys from the motel?” Jesse catches almost as quickly as me that he never told Eugene about Tall and Small, and while Eugene insists that he did, it’s clear to Jesse something isn’t right here. The camera pans to Eugene’s face, and I’m terrified it’s going to morph into some cruel demon released from Hell on its own journey to find Genesis, but whew! It’s not! Jesse’s just totally out of his mind and hallucinating. So Eugene is a figment, but at least he’s a nice one. He sadly says, “You’re not really here,” as Eugene sits next to him. And a prince even in imagination, Eugene reassures Jesse that he’s “sure they’ll figure something out.
Aww! Best buds!! Also, shit.
Outside, the newer, cheerier Odin addresses the troops and fills their heads with visions of a fancy new plant they’ll get once the church is torn down. It’ll have a food court! This rallies the men up right good, and they charge into battle. Much like the first wave, the second does not go well. Jesse isn’t about to let the promise of a psychotic break stop him from protecing what’s his, no sir. He gets right up in the bell tower armed with a rifle and a Molotov cocktail and gets down to fucking business. First he expertly shoots at the idiots charging toward him, and then, when the bulldozer persists, he hurls the Molotov at it, scaring off the driver.
I think the word you’re looking for is, “RETREAT!!!!!!!”
Odin is furious that everyone’s running, and exclaims that they have nothing to be afraid of! He’s a preacher! He won’t hurt anyone! Tell that to Clive’s penis, Sir. You remember Clive right? Well, Clive, undeterred and committed to the prospect of a food court continued the assault alone. He walks back behind the rest of the men and they hail him as a hero… until he matter-of-factly explains that Preacher shot his dick. Okay, I love how badass Jesse is, but Imma need a “Batman Begins” ep to explain how the Hell he became, well, Batman. Hats off, though, truly. Nice, nice shootin’.