Preacher Season 2: An Epic Start

The first season of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s “Preacher”ended with an epic twist for fans of the Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon comic series. As it turned out, the entire season was a prequel to Ennis’ Vertigo books.The expanded second season, follows West Texas preacher Jesse Custer (Dominic Cooper), his badass ex-girlfriend Tulip (Academy Award nominee Ruth Negga) and an Irish vampire named Cassidy (Joseph Gilgun) as they embark on a road trip to find God.

The first season was all about character development, spending quality time introducing the players in town, and bringing together Jesse, Tulip, and Cassidy. In watching the first three episodes of Season 2 it’s become clear that it was a necessity to deliver a prequel before jumping directly into the goods. Rogen and Goldberg have done a tremendous job building and attempting to fill in any plot holes that riddle the comics.

Much like the debut comic, the Season 2 premiere dives right in, wasting zero time igniting an epic bloodbath. Our three anti-heroes have (finally) hit the road in search of God all while the Saint of Killers (Graham McTavish) is hunting them down in order to retrieve Genesis from Jesse. The opening scene is something right out of ‘Terminator’, with the Saint blowing people’s limbs off and their heads open. It’s a massacre that’s orchestrated with the perfect amount of comedic energy from our three heroes who don’t give a damn. Already a trio of badass, Jesse’s new power has given them otherworldly power that results in 100% more badass capabilities.

While the series’ overall arc is the same – find God and make him answer for abandoning his creation – it’s now clear that Rogen and Goldberg are doing their own thing. Everything about AMC’s adaptation is different, which is pretty cool because it’s leading to extraordinarily interesting places. For example, the second episode focuses solely on Fiore (Tom Brooke), one of two Adephi angels tasked with hunting down Genesis. Being that he hired the Saint of Killers, Jesse hunts him down in Vegas to request he call off the mission. The episode is unique in that its focus is on what it would be like to be an immortal angel with nothing to live for. The result is shocking, hilarious, and heart-warming, making it one of the series’ most standout episodes.

The series not only explores many new locations, including Hell, but it’s really showing the depth of each of the show’s characters. While the second episode takes us into the very newly created world of Fiore, the third gives us Eugene’s (Ian Colletti) heart-breaking backstory of how he became known as Arse-face. The biggest moment, however, is the reveal of the season’s new villain, the infamous Herr Starr (Pip Torrens). While he’s merely given a cameo in the third episode, his posse makes an appearance and Jesse is forced to use “the word” on them. The Grail has officially been worked into the series and it couldn’t be more exciting.

The second season of “Preacher” appears to fully deliver on its promise. The motley crew is on a full-blown road trip that’s leaving bloody entrails in their wake (literally). Rogen and Goldberg have hand-crafted a fresh take on the source material that’s as much of a gift to the fans as Ennis’ comics. What’s even better is that because of the changes there’s no way to know what’s up their sleeves, only that they’re going to take the eclectic mix of blood, violence, emotion, and humour to the absolute extreme.

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About Saurodeep Basak

A caffeine dependent life form. Full-time procrastinator. A man-child. I have this new theory that human adolescence doesn’t end until your early thirties. A man of mystery and power whose power is exceeded only by his mystery. The only thing stopping me from shining in life is my sheer lack of motivation.