‘Preacher’ Recap: ‘Bleak City’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

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I have to admit, that I’ve been quite impressed with the fact that the final season of Preacher has been so supremely introspective when it comes to its characters. After all, one would think that the last ride of Jesse Custer and his friends would feature as many wild moments as possible. But while there have been some great moments to enjoy, character growth really has been a priority since the past couple of episodes have focused heavily on where Jesse and his friends are in life and where they are going, all while the specter of God’s great Apocalypse grows behind the scene. But, while this has been fascinating in its own right, I think we all knew it was only a matter of time before our intrepid characters would start to move forward and apply some of the things they’ve been learning over the past few weeks, and it would seem that time is now.

For last night’s episode of the show, ‘Bleak City’, saw everyone start to wake up from the proverbial fog they’ve been surrounded by, and act upon the revelations that dropped into their laps in the previous episode and well, this move made for one satisfying tale. Because this story saw Cassidy drop his arrogance as he came to realize how unhelpful it was at this point and that the right thing to do was to saddle up and help his mate, despite their differences, since Jesse was willing to come save him and he wasn’t the only one to see the light and start doing some good, since Tulip had her wakeup call as well. Because despite the hurt in her heart and the weight of her past mistakes, she does still love Jesse dearly and came to realize in this particular tale that the time has come to deal with those mistakes and figure out a way forward with or without Jesse and she joined Cass on the quest to help Mister Custer out.

Speaking of Jesse, he too was on the road to redemption in this tale, since he realized that it is high time for a preacher to start doing good things again and that’s what we saw him try to do in this tale. For he was patient and kind with the young man who discovered Jesse’s new status as an international criminal and his good deeds didn’t end with using Genesis to order the young man to no longer stutter. Because Jesse came face to face with Eugene once again and was able to infer that the Saint of Killers would harm the young man if he didn’t intervene in some form or fashion. Which prompted Jesse to save Eugene before he could be harmed and take the time to set things right between the two of them by offering up an apology for sending the young man to Hell without giving it a second thought.

But while all of that made for some feel good moments and some wonderful character development, one cannot forget that sometimes damage is done when it comes to our actions and that means there are consequences for our mistakes, and that is a lesson that Jesse learned the hard way in this tale. Because it turns out, that despite Eugene receiving the apology he never thought he would get, the anger and fury buried within his soul over being banished didn’t fade in the slightest, and that meant, it was time for a little payback. The kind that is a game changer to say the least since Eugene pulled a gun on Jesse and put a bullet in the preacher’s back, leaving us in uncertain territory. For that closing shot, with the Saint and Eugene standing over an ailing Jesse Custer was ominous indeed.

However, I’m sure Jesse will be fine, since the season premiere hinted at Jesse getting close to the Lost Apostle in Australia. But man, it’s a tough road to get there and this complication only makes things tougher. But in the here and the now, what a delight this episode turned out to be. For not only did it help our characters to achieve to new heights development wise, it continued to delight us with the show’s trademark, quirky and hilarious moments. Because you can’t go wrong with an epic angel and demon fight, or watching Herr Starr beat the living tar out of Adolf Hitler, and now that we’re seemingly done with some of the deeper moments for the characters, I cannot help but wonder what kind of incredible moments await us as Jesse and friends fight to stop God’s grand design to bring about the end of everything. Until next time.  

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