UK TV review: Preacher, Episode 8
Review Overview
Writing
9Performances
9Genital mutilation
7Chris Bryant | On 19, Jul 2016
Warning: This review contains spoilers.
“You dug your way out of Hell with your hands?” “It’s not that far.”
Preacher’s questioning of life, the universe and everything comes to a head in Episode 8, as he realises that everyone must atone for what they’ve done.
It’s a quiet, sobering episode, with a huge focus on Custer’s agonising battle with both Good and Evil. The hallucinations of Eugene, the church-desecrating, and the genital-mutilating might suggest the holy protagonist has lost it, but Cooper’s mastery of his character ensures that what is shown on-screen never seems like insanity; it seems like acceptance. It’s a bullet-riddled display that blind faith might not be enough.
With Jackie Earle Haley’s stone-cold businessman on Custer’s front steps demanding his church, Episode 8 is built around a siege mentality. Flashbacks add a third dimension to Preacher’s unpredictable meat-merchant. Fear not, though: a little backstory makes Quincannon no less intimidating, and no less enjoyable to watch dish out dispassionate marching orders. Serving up violence and comedy as dark as each other, Custer’s attackers manage to toe the (apparently real) line between public execution and family barbeque.
When the siege isn’t messing with Jesse’s home, it’s messing with his mind. Having battled with the weight of Genesis this long, and aided by a fair amount of whisky, Custer’s mental state matches his external exhaustion. His hallucinations play alongside his guilt-driven decision to return Genesis to the coffee tin whence it came. And, as the show has proven, controlling the combined powers of Good and Evil is never straightforward.
With an episode lacking in Cassidy, the notable comic beats are carried off well; and with an episode largely lacking in Tulip (who is off befriending rescue dogs, obviously), the levels of anarchy and stoic-faced mess are also kept at a reasonable level. In their place, Derek Wilson’s mean henchman act displays some self-sacrificing quick-thinking in a twist that’s difficult to argue with. Literally.
Overall, the episode feels robust, surgically crafted and ruthlessly edited to show the difficulty each character is facing. Preacher does what it does wonderfully: having set up a cast of freaks and lunatics, it sets about continually forcing them into situations the audience can connect with. A murderous preacher seeing visions of a boy named Arseface returning from Hell doesn’t sound like an emotive arc, and yet feeling what Custer has put the tormented boy through connects just as strongly as any other show, with a sprinkle of imagination. Eventually, Custer comes to a conclusion, a dumbfounding ceasefire with Odin based around a single promise that no one can be sure the preacher can deliver on. Custer realises that every must atone for what they’ve done – including God.
Preacher is available to watch online in the UK exclusively on Amazon Prime Video, as part of a £5.99 monthly subscription. Episodes arrive every Monday, within 24 hours of their US premiere.