By The Nerdling
Jesse hatches a plan to save Gran’ma. Cassidy is introduced to a whole new lease on the afterlife. Herr Starr steps up his original plans. Two of the most unlikely characters team up.
Spoilers for why TC needs to go to the Petting Zoo
Put Your Tongue Here
Gran’ma needs souls to recover from Tulip killing her and Jesse bringing her back. She has maybe a day before her heart gives and both she and Tulip die again. To keep TC and Jodie from taking Tulip’s soul in retribution, Jesse suggests they rob Sabina Boyd’s bank vault where her soul cache is stored. It is Sabina’s fault Tulip had the idea to kill Gran’ma in the first place. In the mean time they fake Marie and Tulip’s death to get the Boyd’s off their backs.
Tulip gets the lay of the bank while TC and Jodie time the response of the police when the bank alarm is triggered. The only hiccup in the plan is the only way to access anyone’s bank vault is through their saliva. Jesse procurers Sabina’s spit when he charms a kiss out of her, much to chagrin of Tulip who thought the plan was to get the rival Voodoo practitioner to spit in his face.
The plan is a go. Jesse and Tulip rob the bank while TC delays the police by going to a petting zoo. Jodie shoots up the Boyd’s place on the orders of Marie and kidnaps Sabina. Gran’ma gets her souls, making a full recovery, and she is grateful to Jesse for making it happen. But she is still not forgiving Tulip for causing all of the mayhem they have experienced since she arrived.
Marie takes Sabina’s soul and is about to take Tulip’s when Jesse finds them. He shoots Sabina (saving her from a stint in the Tombs), justifying “a person ain’t nothin’ without their soul.” He agrees to cooperate in paying off his debt, but he will not let Marie take Tulip. Jesse calls Herr Starr, who is very ready to hear from the preacher.
The Secret Sauce
Disoriented from all the elephant tranquilizers, Cassidy wakes up to greetings from Les Enfants du Sang and their enigmatic leader Eccarius. The group of vampire groupies welcome Cassidy with open arms while Eccarius shows off powers Cassidy didn’t even know a vampire could possess such as glamoring people, flying, and lightning quick movements. Cassidy is curious how Eccarius can do all these things he can’t and follows him back to the basement of the home of a groupie where Les Enfants meets.
Eccarius’s powers comes from turning others into vampires. Cassidy is not happy about this. He feels Eccarius is damning people to “turn into a cat for laughs,” but the older vampire doesn’t see it that way. He picks good people who willing want to participate and will uphold his traditions. Cassidy didn’t gain powers when he turned Denis because his son was not a good person. Eccarius brought Cassidy into the fold because he was looking for a friend and figured Cassidy was too.
Cassidy takes off to a crack house not ready for what Eccarius’s offer of friendship. After a phone call from Tulip, who wanted to tell him about her wild day, Cassidy returns to Les Enfants. He has outlived so many of his friends and he knows he will outlive many more in the future, telling Tulip as much. Now he is ready for a more permanent bond.
Elsewhere in the Preacher-verse…
Herr Starr is visited by the Allfather. The two dine on horse while the Allfather lets Starr in on the plans of the Grail. They are going to launch all of the world’s nukes and bring about the apocalypse. “Only fire can separate the True Believer from the False,” the Allfather explains, paving the way for Humperdoo to completely take over. Starr does not want to bring about the end of the world, he just wishes to have it cower under his boot. Time to team back up with Jesse Custer.
Eugene makes his way back to Anneville (remember that place?) to find it is all gone. Instead of letting his grief overtake him, Eugene takes the more optimistic approach. He feels God must have a plan for him since his time in hell saved him from dying in the blast that killed his home town. Not long after his arrival at an orphanage, he is adopted. By The Saint of Killers. Who actually doesn’t adopt him, just takes the kid and sends his case worker through a wall when she tries to get him to sign the proper paperwork. Eugene is not deterred by the Saint’s arrival or his words of God’s apathy. Their upcoming adventure is all a part of the plan.
Thoughts
I want more of Eugene and The Saint. That might be the best pairing the Preacher writers have ever come up with. His unbridled optimism is a perfect foil to the inhuman killing machine.
The sign on the orphanage where The Saint found Eugene says “Inventory Low! Make us an offer!” It is funny, but given the recent separations of families going on in Texas, it is also really dark. Even for this show.
Love Starr’s description of the Allfather, “he makes me look like a contentious objector.” Paired with the story of how the Grail leader sat on and popped a person’s head for touching his hot pocket really goes a long way to sell this character as someone to be terrified of.
Preacher has featured some pretty grotesque moments on this show, but the carving of the horse and Allfather’s purge after his dinner with Starr might be the two most discussing moments of the series.
I don’t want to know the story as to why the police would drop everything when they hear TC is at a petting zoo.
Till Next Week!
The Nerdling was born in the majestic land known as Texas and currently resides there after several years of journeying through Middle Earth in a failed attempt to steal the one Ring from that annoying hobbit, serving the Galactic Empire for a time, and then a short stint as a crew member on the Serenity. Since moving back to her homeland, Nerdling flirted with a hero reputation. Saving children from the dangers of adoring domineering, sparkly vampires (champions with souls are the only vampires worth loving) and teaching normals the value of nerdom, all while rooting for her beloved Dallas Stars. Then came the Sokovia Accords and her short spell of saving others came to an end. With Darth Vader’s reputation rightfully returning to badass status, Nerdling is making her way back to the Empire. They do have cookies, you know. You can find her on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
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