'Preacher' Recap: 'The Tombs'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

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​The more time I’ve had to think about the ending of last week’s episode of Preacher, the more I’ve found myself worrying about Jesse Custer’s mental state. After all, saving his best friend or not, there was a real negative weight and gravity to Jesse’s actions when it comes to Cassidy, and it definitely seemed as though said actions, while noble in his own mind, were a direct result of the dark and disturbing place that Angelville has turned out to be and for the first time ever on this series, it seems as though Jesse’s soul and mind are corrupted and as it turns out, Jesse’s true mental state and motivations were put on display in last night’s episode of the show, ‘The Tombs’.
 
However, as this show is wont to do, the exact answers to our questions weren’t presented to us in quick and simple fashion. We had to work for it and I won’t lie, for a fair chunk of this episode, it truly seemed as though that Jesse Custer was irrevocably as lost as the souls that populate the Tombs. Because Jesse simply wasn’t himself in this tale, as he egged on the drunks and the junkies that found their way to the Tombs to enjoy a little bloodlust and there was real darkness on display in his eyes when he went so far as to hurt Cassidy both emotionally and physically, and that kind of behavior, along with what we learned about Jesse’s past, only added to the worry on my mind.
 
Because this tale also took the time to catch up with Tulip and Madame Boyd, and during their time together we learned about how the Madame, who is really named Sabina Boyd, used to date Jesse when they were teenagers, and that he broke her heart not once, but twice. The first time came about when he made it clear that he shouldn’t be hanging out with trash like her and the second time came about when her brother died in a fight with Jesse in the Tombs and all of this information gave Tulip pause as to what the love of her life is all about, and she even saw his darkness on display first hand as Jesse took the time to beat the living crap out of Cass.
 
But as it turns out, all of this…was a smokescreen. Because in reality, Jesse was trying to save his love and his best buddy, and anyone from his past from the horrors of Angelville and the power of his Gran’Ma and he put up an evil front to push them away. It’s something that Tulip was able to see through, but not Cassidy, who left Angelville in an honorable huff (since he didn’t use the Love Spell on Tulip after all) and after a brief but honest confrontation between Jesse and Tulip, it would seem that there is some peace between them at last, but trouble still waits on the horizon for this couple because Jesse is still under Gran’Ma’s voodoo thumb, but there may be a cure for that problem, if Tulip decides to take Madame Boyd’s violent and vengeful advice when it comes to Gran’Ma…
 
If anything, the ending of this particular tale turned out to be quite the relief. Because let’s be honest, one big reason we all watch this show is because Jesse Custer is a flawed hero, one that will throw down as necessary but believes in a better world and seeing him corrupted, would be a terrible thing and while it would seem that this particular issue is now resolved, new problems are now presenting themselves. After all, the Grail is following Cassidy back to the Big Easy and the Saint of Killers, is back on the prowl for both of Satan’s missing souls, and Jesse of course and well, I love the fact that just like that, the overall story is rolling again and that makes me wonder whether or not our time in Angelville, is coming to an end. Until next time.

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