Con SuiteThe Reactor

Recap: Preacher – Damsels

By Miclpea
SPOILER ALERT-Preacher- Season Two-Do not read if you have not seen episode three of Preacher.

Quote of the Week- “It’s the end of the world. “

What does God, New Orleans, a “super-secret, crypto-religious fascist organization with designs on total world domination,” Hitler, Eugene (Arseface), a damsel in distress, a mysterious man with a scarred face, and Denis have to do with each other? Damsels only hints at the answer to that question. Clearly the fun will be in seeing if the episode, Damsels,  can ties all these disparate elements together.

Ian Colletti as Eugene

Damsels opens with Eugene (Arseface) reliving the day when his best friend shot herself and he attempted suicide. The repeated sequence of events is reminiscent of what The Saint of Killers had to endure in Hell. The difference in this situation is that Arseface is in a prison cell with a guard. This is the first time that we have seen Arseface this season. For those who have the read the comics, you know he has a very important role to play in the future (whether this plays out in in the same fashion in this series is yet to be determined). Later, Arseface walks out of his unlocked cell where he sees what appears to be an endless line of cells going in both directions. As he calls out for anyone, he is answered by Hitler.

Meanwhile Tulip, Jesse, and Cassidy are still on the road to New Orleans. Uncharacteristically, Tulip is driving at the speed limit. She really does not want to go to New Orleans as her estranged ex-boss is there. Jesse knows that something is troubling Tulip but he is unable to convince her to reveal it. While they are driving, Jesse listens to the song, A Walk to the Peak, numerous times in an effort to better understand God.

When they arrive in New Orleans, Tulip feigns illness in order to hide from Victor’s people. Cassidy goes with her to protect her and to find them a place to stay. He takes Tulip to an old friend, Denis (played by Ronald Guttman); who, it appears, only speaks French. Cassidy does not speak French. Oddly, Denis lets them stay at his place. Denis does not speak English but he is watching a television show in English, The Three Stooges. With an actor of the caliber of Ronald Guttman, it is safe to say that Denis will play a major part at some point. Although, at this juncture, the only question we want answered is how do Cassidy and Denis know each other?

Ronald Guttman as Denis

Meanwhile, in a montage of jazz clubs, Jesse is searching for God. It reminds one of the song about searching for love in all the wrong places. Jesse finally meets a bartender (played by Malcolm Barrett – Timeless) who directs him to a jazz club. At the jazz club, there is a singer who is the quintessential blonde femme fatale from the detective noir novels of the previous century. Of course, she is kidnapped and Jesse single-handedly saves her from her kidnappers who are masked men dressed in white in a great fight sequence. Jesse learns from the singer, Lara Featherstone (played by Julie Ann Emery), that there is a super-secret, crypto-religious fascist organization with designs on total world domination after her. She asks Jesse to demonstrate his power since she is puzzled how he stopped the masked men in white. He demonstrates the voice of Genesis, which is how he stopped the kidnappers.

Julie Ann Emery as Lara Featherstone

Jesse puts her in a taxi to the airport but unbeknownst to Jesse is that the bartender and Lara are part of the super-secret, crypto-religious fascist organization with designs on total world domination. Lara and her organization had staged the kidnapping to test Jesse’s power. Their ruse was rewarded as they identify Jesse as the “real thing.” Jesse’s file is dropped on the desk of Herr K. Starr (played by Pip Torrens), a facially scarred man in a high-rise building overlooking London. It is not clear why they have targeted Jesse but Herr Starr is obviously a bad person.

Jesse continues his search for God after Lara leaves in the cab. He sees a poster about the destruction of Annville which mesmerizes him until he receives a call from Tulip. She wants to confess to Jesse her involvement with Victor but he is so involved with trying to find God that he is unable to waste the time drawing the truth out of her. Jesse becomes more impatient with her until he finally tells her that he has to go. Hurt by his brush off, Tulip hangs up on Jesse and tells Cassidy she is going for cigarettes.

Ruth Negga as Tulip O’Hare, Dominic Cooper as Jesse Custer

Earlier, Tulip had encountered one of her old friends that she knew would tell Victor that she was in town. Tulip arrives at the laundromat to buy cigarettes but she only has a $100 bill. She exchanges the $100 bill for a $5 bill with a man in the laundromat. The logic of this action become apparent when Victor’s men arrive. Tulip knew the money would not mean anything when Victor’s men found her which she knew was inevitable when she saw an old friend on the street.

After the call from Tulip, Jesse heads to another jazz club where he requested the jazz ensemble to play A Walk to the Peak, which is a strange cacophony of sounds. A jazz patron, an older bearded man, who is grooving to the music asks Jesse if he can feel what the music means. Jesse says he has been trying to understand it but has failed. The jazz patron explains to Jesse that the song is talking about the end of the world.

Preacher has done it again; we are left with more questions than answers. But I would venture to say that it is the bizarre circumstances that have spawned the questions which make this show so amazing. We have the following.

  • A jazz song requested multiple times by God at a gentlemen’s club called A Walk to the Peak about the end of the world
  • A femme-fatale who belongs to an organization that is a super-secret, crypto-religious fascist organization with designs on total world domination
  • Arseface meets Hitler in Hell.

This is the absurdity that is Preacher. And what about Tulip and Victor? Who is he? Why is she afraid of him? How does Cassidy know Denis? Why does Denis let Cassidy into his home? What is their history? There are so many questions from this episode and so few answers. And let’s not forget The Saint of Killers. When will we see him again? The insanity and fun continues with Preacher.

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Miclpea

I love going to conventions around the US and Canada. I'm an ardent fan of all things science fiction and especially The Expanse. I'm a senior writer for Friends of CC and I have co-written a science-fiction script called Punctuated Equilibrium.