Tag, you’re it, except with this it – you really don’t want to be, as some angelic/demonic force kills (well, explodes) those it inhabits, but only if you’re a preacher (or so it seems). But when it meets Preacher Jesse Custer (Dominic Cooper) it doesn’t kill him, but gives him godly powers, for whatever it is, it’s likes his soul, and possibly because it’s anything but pure.
A supernatural series, Preacher looks at the devil within, both figuratively and literally; showing and seeing what makes you good, what makes you holy and what makes you bad. For a start you have to question, how the hell did Jesse Custer get the job of a preacher? He’s barely able to deliver his sermons, has a past littered in crime and a temper that lashes out without restraint. His father may have been a man of God, but as far as I know that’s not passed down like an aristocratic title? Still, he tries to follow in his footsteps, and through his childhood church – though it’s now run-down, and barely has enough people to fill a single pew.
But in meeting this ‘it’, Jesse now has the power to get people to do whatever he says, and from this he sets about casting his own commandments, changing the townsfolk, losing all sense of what’s wrong and believing himself to be the most righteous of all.
This absolute faith in himself and his moral compass (which personally looks broken), comes to affect the town, and most importantly those closest around him, including the other two main characters. Firstly, there is Tulip (Ruth Negga), a bad-ass, kick-them-in-the-ass inventive lady, who impulsively acts on her own strong sense of what’s right. In her opening scene she could be auditioning both for the villain in a James Bond movie, whilst being assured as the next 007. Oh, and did I mention she’s Jesse’s ex-partner in crime and life? Then there’s Cassidy (Joseph Gilgun), who in his first on-screen appearance is just a simple lad’s lad of a barman (though the bar is in a private and very large aeroplane), but his whole character is quickly thrown into chaos by just a simple trip to the toilet. Okay it’s to do with the bible he finds there, but it is by far one of the best scenes of the series. Cassidy’s story is so richly full, after all he is a vampire, and yet he acts like a newborn who’s experiencing things for the first time. Overly excited about anything and everything, it makes Cassidy both sweet, funny, and a trickster, not to mention he’s pretty clingy for friendships.
Dominic Cooper is perfectly cast as Preacher Jesse Custer; a complicated man conflicted by his past, desires, and a wish to do good, though you may soon question this, and with it whether you even like him. Although in a town that doesn’t seem to have any great sense of good, you can understand how he might have gone wrong, for example the most powerful businessman is a megalomaniac who runs and owns a huge abattoir (and purposefully listens to the cattle being killed). His sidekick is a henchman that likes beating his wife up and she likes it too, then there’s the Sheriff’s son – Arseface (Ian Colletti), named due to his disfigurement from a gun, his story and character arc being one of the best throughout the series. He might also be an exception to the town’s cruelty.
In Preacher you are shown all the shades of what it means to be human, as well as laugh, cry and love the action scenes – which could belong in any great action-comedy such as Deadpool, Kingsman, and Hot Fuzz to name a few.
But it’s not all action, supernatural happenings or the philosophising on right and wrong, there’s also a great deal of mystery, such as Jesse’s recurring nightmares of his father – did he witness his killing, or more accurately execution, and why? Preacher having more plots and subplots than holes in a sieve, leaving you to wonder how they’ll tie together. But not to worry, they do, and when they intersect you get a sense of the creators’ great plans for the series, they’re developing points never leaving you bored or without reason.
Creator: Sam Catlin
Other notable works:
- Breaking Bad 2008-2013
Creator: Evan Goldberg
Other notable works:
- Invincible 2021 –
- Black Monday 2019-2021
- The Boys 2019 –
- Future Man 2017-2020
- The Disaster Artist 2017
- 50/50 2011
- Superbad 2007
Creator: Seth Rogen
Other notable works:
- Invincible 2021 –
- Black Monday 2019-2021
- The Boys 2019 –
- Future Man 2017-2020
- The Disaster Artist 2017
- 50/50 2011
- Superbad 2007
- Undeclared 2001-2003
Based on the DC Vertigo comics Preacher by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon.
