‘Preacher’ Recap: ‘End of the World’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...

I think it is safe to say that fans of AMC’s Preacher, had one particular question on their minds when they settled in to watch last night’s series finale of the show, specifically; how is it going to end? Which is quite frankly, a solid question to ask. Because how does one wrap up a story that has taken us to every corner of the afterlife, and allowed for us to hang out with vampires and undying assassins and a group of religious zealots who worship a wildly manipulated version of Jesus Christ, and for that matter, has also taken the time to show us the flaws and of the Almighty and his foil, Beelzebub? Well as it turns out, the best way to end a series this off the wall, is to give it the most logical and traditional conclusion imaginable and for proof, just take a look at how things turned out at Masada.
 
For the final battle at Grail HQ in ‘End of the World’, did everything by the book and that’s a wonderful thing. Because it meant that a great many plot threads were brought to a close in quick and logical and fashion, since this grand melee saw Adolf Hitler finally die, at the hands of Jesus Christ no less, and it saw Featherstone pay the price for her faith after making nice with Tulip. Plus, we also saw our favorite angel and demon parents sacrifice everything for their darling baby Genesis and by bidding farewell to these characters; the story was free to finally allow for Tulip and Cass to bury the hatchet and stand tall with an equally triumphant Jesse, and for their troubles and their trials, they were finally able to save the world from a fiery nuclear end and go on with their lives.
 
Yet while those events would have made for a satisfying ending, the series still had more traditional plot elements to introduce into this saga, since eventually, Jesse was able to come face to face with the Lord and ask all the important questions that have been haunting him, and smack the Lord around in the process. And while one might think that tossing God around the Alamo and denying Him the one thing He craved, is more in line with the show than anything else, Jesse’s journey here is about as traditional as it gets. Because by confronting the Lord, Jesse in turn confronted his past and his internal demons and releasing Genesis is part of his growth process as well since that serves as a grandiose metaphor for releasing his pain. If anything, it was just nice to see Jesse Custer finally grow beyond the pain he carries in his heart, and find peace in doing so, and he wasn’t the only one to accomplish this particular feat. 

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For at this point, you’ve probably noticed that we’ve glossed over what happened to the Saint of Killers at the Battle of Masada and that’s because now is the right time to talk about it. Because his death at Jesse’s hands wasn’t designed to be some quick throwaway moment, oh no, it was about William finding peace with his past as well. Because Jesse helped him to realize that God would probably go back on the deal they made and make him suffer again, so by confessing his sins to the Padre and dying honorably, he could return to Heaven and finally confront God for His actions and this led to a stunning moment, wherein the Saint put down the Almighty and that was perhaps the most heroic act yet in this finale. Because by finally finding peace through revenge, the Saint of Killers saved all of mankind.
 
Because now there was zero chance that God would bring forth the apocalypse, He so desired and life, could finally just go on. Which is why it was so satisfying to learn that Eugene got his rock star wishes, and that Jesus finally found a sense of normalcy to enjoy and heck, even Herr Starr finally found a little slice of peace and quiet since he managed to evade prosecution for his role in the attempted apocalypse. But more importantly, Jesse and Tulip were finally able to lead normal lives and have a daughter who would grow up to look just like her mom and have a family of her own and that made the final moments of this tale quite bittersweet. For the discovery that both of his friends were gone drove Cassidy to a new place mentally, one where he realized that always running and hiding from things and people that meant something to him was a mistake, and after having a lovely chat with his mates’ daughter he finally freed himself from his vampiric bonds and that’s oddly satisfying in a strange way.
 
For one cannot help but wonder if Cass let his own life go in the hopes of seeing his friends in the afterlife, so he could properly spend time with them for all eternity and I suppose the lesson inherent here is to cherish every moment that we can with those we care about and love, because they’ll never come again and well, that’s the perfect way to close out this fantastical saga. Because in essence, everyone got their ‘happy ending’ and found peace and some semblance of joy and you really cannot ask for much more than that and well, when all is said and done, I am going to miss the hell out of this series. Because this one was always a breath of fresh air since it held nothing back and was always willing to go to wild places and you just don’t see that on television anymore. So, from the bottom of my heart, my thanks go out to the cast and crew of this unique saga for being pioneers and taking us on one amazing ride, one that I’m not sure any of us will ever forget.

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