'Preacher' Recap: 'Angelville'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

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When it comes to television as a whole, we the audience have grown quite accustomed to certain storytelling elements when it comes to a single season of any given series. We know that a complication will arise for our characters, and that they will do their best face it before everything is wrapped up in a pretty little bow in the season finale before we move on to new challenges next year. It’s a formula that works and works well and it’s also a formula that some television shows, like say, AMC’s Preacher, have made a point of ignoring at just about every single turn.
 
Because thus far during its two-year run, very little has been resolved when it comes to the overall plot. Jesse simply has not found his place in the world regardless of how hard he’s worked to figure that out. God has been missing from Heaven for an extended period of time and the search to find Him ended in failure, despite the fact that Jesse and his friends came face to face with the Almighty in the weirdest way imaginable and really, it’s been refreshing to see this series work in a slow burn fashion when other shows are all about getting to the finish line as quickly as possible and well, as I settled in to watch the season three premiere of this awesome show, ‘Angelville’, I found myself wondering, was Preacher going to give in and do what other shows are doing and start moving the plot along, or would it continue to do its own thing?
 
As it turns out, the answer to that question is the latter of those two options because it was evident during this tale that the slow burn is here to stay, despite the fact that this episode was in essence a race against time to save Tulip from the void of death. But that doesn’t matter here, because this series knows how to balance drama and action seamlessly and because of that, we were treated once again to one of the show’s favorite thematic concepts; facing one’s past. Because a fair chunk of this tale dealt with Jesse having to pay the proverbial piper for his past actions in Angelville and it was fascinating to meet his family and see the disdain in their eyes for his sudden and disastrous departure and it was equally fascinating to see how much Jesse was willing to sacrifice in order to save the love of his life. 
 
Speaking of Tulip for that matter, she too was able to take a stroll down memory lane in Purgatory and we learned a lot about her broken childhood and how much her past leaves her in a dark and desolate place and how much Jesse and possibly Cassidy mean to her in the real world since they were the anchor to bring her back to the land of the living and while this exploration into the past and how it hangs heavy over all of us was fascinating, kudos to the show for moving its biggest plotline along just a smidge since Tulip actually spent a moment with God on her way back to the land of the living, and it would seem he had quite the important message and mission for her, but we only heard a snippet of that and it should be interesting to see as the season rolls on exactly what her mission is from the Lord.
 
But in the here and the now, we get to bask in the fact that Tulip is back, and that some juicy things are going to happen while we’re in the Bayou since Grand’Ma has some plans for her baby grandson and none of them can be good because I’m fairly certain that bringing back a loved one from the dead carries with it an incredible price, one that’s likely increased by tenfold since Jesse in essence brought the family business to a screeching halt back in the day and of course, there are still other problems waiting in the wings for our heroes as well. After all, Herr Starr and his Grail lackeys are still on the hunt for their Messiah, and the Saint of Killers is undoubtedly pissed about not getting what he wants which means that I’m expecting this season to be downright incredible and engrossing and the best part is, the show is going to take its time in dealing with all of that, because this series knows exactly how to tell a story, the right way. Until next time.

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