'Preacher' Recap: 'The Light Above'

WRITTEN BY JOHN EDWARD BETANCOURT

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

As the years roll on, I’ve come to realize that perfection is something that simply cannot be achieved, but there’s no harm in striving for it, especially when it comes to storytelling. Because pushing toward such a thing, means that everyone involved in such an attempt brings their A game to the table and well, it’s clear that a push for perfection is precisely what the cast and crew of Preacher had in mind for this year’s season three finale because not only did ‘The Light Above’ deliver the finest episode to date when it comes to this incredible season, it offered up some stunning moments alongside a thoughtful story concept in a tale that managed to bring together every single plot thread introduced this year.
 
In fact, it’s that story concept that I mentioned that continues to stay at the top of my mind a day after watching this one, because something that this series has never done, is offer up some deep philosophical notions and that’s not a bad thing by any means, it just means the opportunity to do so didn’t arrive until this moment and well, it was worth the wait to say the least since this finale more or less served as a cautionary tale when it comes to revenge. Because plenty of characters on this series have been seeking that kind of fulfillment all year long and well, they finally received their opportunity to obtain it, and there were some ugly consequences to follow from achieving their angry goals.  
 
Take for example, the Saint of Killers, someone who has in essence lived a life dedicated to revenge and has seen some consequences for his actions with the whole, going to Hell thing. But in this particular episode, his fury went to a whole new level when the Angel of Death teased him about the cruelty that his daughter endured in death, and that inspired him to ask some questions when he finally returned to Hell, specifically, if Satan had a hand in planning that kind of indignity and well, he did and the Saint turned on the Dark Lord and put a bullet in his brain, giving the Saint some satisfaction. But his vendetta may have caused more harm than good, since Hitler saw an opportunity to seize power and it would seem the new Prince of Darkness is now one of history’s greatest monsters. 

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But the Saint wasn’t the only one to see their quest for revenge blow up in their faces. For Jesse Custer’s vindictive fury is leaving a wake of problems in its own right, despite the fact that he found some supreme satisfaction in exacting revenge in this tale. Because this story did see him finally stand up to Jody and beat him for the first time ever, and he finally got to fulfill his dark wish when it comes to Gran’Ma as well since he was able to put fear into her heart before finally living out his dream of draining her of her soul before settling all of Angelville ablaze and while it would seem that no bad could come from that, the deal that Gran’Ma made with the Devil has in essence damned Jesse Custer to Hell, something that he deems to be worthwhile at the moment and the consequences of his revenge fueled spree didn’t end there.
 
After all, Jesse did do a fine job of pissing off Herr Starr and The Grail as a whole by releasing their Messiah onto the streets of New Orleans and well, hell hath no fury like an Herr Starr scorned and he is going to make Jesse pay for the humiliation he’s brought upon the Grail and Starr and his special plan for vengeance kicked off with the Grail kidnapping Jesse’s best friend shortly after Cassidy dealt with Eccarius in proper and unique fashion and well, that’s where season three leaves us, with Starr standing watch over the Army of the Grail, waiting patiently for Jesse to come rescue his biffle, so that he can finally have the upper hand over Jesse for a change and truly, what a brilliant way to end the best season of this series to date.
 
Because it can’t be easy to tie together as many plot threads as this season introduced, but this finale managed to pull that off in stellar fashion and I love that many an issue that’s been hanging over our character’s heads have been lifted since Jesse finally dealt with his past and Tulip appears to be free of the O’Hare curse. Which means that now our characters can move forward in life and I can’t wait until season four to see how the two unresolved matters in this episode are dealt with. After all, it will be no easy task to save Cassidy from the clutches of the Grail and of course, I’m now dying to know what God’s plan is, since he took the time to save Tulip and asked her nicely to help steer Jesse away from his search for the Almighty. Either way, what a great season, what a great finale, and I’ll be counting down the minutes, until next year.

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