'Preacher' Recap: 'On the Road'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

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

AMC's Preacher debuted last summer on the network and quickly established itself as an outright breath of fresh air on television. It was funny, it was quirky. It mixed together elements of horror and comedy and outright fantasy and it also provided us with a unique and fresh story for the small screen, one adapted from the comic book of the same name. Yet, as I reflected upon season one, right before season two kicked off last night, I came to realize that this series had yet to reach its maximum potential.

Now, that's by no means meant to be an insult toward the show, because I do enjoy it, and its colorful characters and world dearly. But truthfully, at times it felt like the show was holding back last year. For every wild and crazy moment, like say...Angels ripping each other to shreds in a hotel room, or having an Angel Phone conversation with an Angel that's pretending to be God, there was a balancing moment to bring the quirky back down from eleven. In fact it wasn't until the second half of the season one finale that the show seemed to embrace its wild nature, giving me hope that season two would finally kick into Ludicrous Speed and boy...did it ever, because last night's premiere, 'On the Road' was the stuff of pure magic.

Just take the opening of the show for example. Every joke worked to a tee, and every little wild moment, like the subtle cut to make the car chase scene seem like a classic 1970's flick, turned out to be completely and utterly amazing. Not to mention, the show wasted no time in upping the gore quotient as well, because the shootout with the Cowboy was nothing short of spectacular. In fact, I've seen big budget action flicks whose gunfights don't even hold a flame to this one and the blood and guts that came with that led to one of the wildest moments in the short history of the series. You know which one I'm talking about, it's the one that taught us that Yoo-Hoo and hot sauce get the taste of blood out of your mouth in proper fashion. 

But in addition to basically 'letting loose', Preacher also managed to change up how it tells its story as well. Last year if you recall was something of a super slow burn as Jesse gradually learned how to use his powers and such. This time around however, the show is wasting no time at all when it comes to the plot. They're on the trail to find God, they're getting clues along the way and even though Mike claimed to know nothing about the supposed map that leads to God's whereabouts should he decide to walk the Earth, something tells me he was possibly lying about that and that plot point may come up again later on. But until then we should be treated to plenty of incredible moments as they search for the Supreme Deity, and hopefully those moments are just as entertaining as the ones we experienced with the gang at the strip club, and really it's just refreshing to see the plot move at such a brisk pace and leave you hungry for more. 

If anything, it really feels as though this show has finally found its comfort zone and is ready to throw caution to the wind and have as much fun as possible with this outlandish story and that...means the fans of this show are in for quite a treat, and I love everything that last night's season premiere set up for us. After all, Jesse and the gang are hot on the trail of God, the Cowboy is with them every single step of the way and judging from the trailer at the end of the episode, they're in for plenty of wild adventures that feature familiar faces from last year...and a few new threats along the way. Either way, bravo to Preacher for finding its voice and delivering the goods. So strap in everyone, because we are going to be in for one hell of a fun ride. Until next time.

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