Title: Preacher: “Finish the Song”
Network: AMC
Air Date: July 14th, 2016
Genre: Black Comedy, Horror
Wow, with only one more episode to go after tonight, Preacher really turned things up a notch. “Finish the Song” closed our Saint of Killers flashbacks, answered what happened between Jesse and Cassidy while also having Emily make a pretty dark move. This was certainly one of my favorite episodes of the series thus far. I’m happy to see Cassidy back in the mix along with his humor. Sheriff Root also has a pretty intense scene although, I would like to see a little more depth to that character. Anyhow, let’s dive into the madness of this all new episode of Preacher.
That opening with the Saint of Killers was absolutely crazy. After it was over I had to sit for a minute and reflect on what I just saw. I felt like Neo from the Matrix going “Whoa.” It was an incredibly dark moment for the episode and one that may not sit well with some. The Saint of Killers is a bad dude. We even find out he has the nickname “The Butcher of Gettysburg.” The only things this man loves are his horse, his wife, and his little girl and they were all taken from him. What kind of person might you be if you had nothing left to live for?
I hate to be “that guy”and be critical of something so small but, The Saint of Killers never reloaded. It’s funny that certain things stick out to different people. As an avid shooter, I know with him shooting dual revolvers he would have needed to reload for that many people but there was no break in the firing. Even so, that minor issue did not take away from the scene at all. Like I said, this scene may come off as over the top to some. I think the show runners knew that just the same. That’s why when the heads roll out, there’s only a brief moment where a woman mentions it being children.
Later in the episode, we revisit The Saint of Killers’ clips we’ve seen throughout the episode. Initially, I didn’t understand why we had to be shown all this again… and again. At first, I felt slightly angered that a chunk of time in the episode was getting a flashback …of flashbacks. Then it hit me as I remembered a description of hell that I had heard somewhere. Hell is reliving your worst moments over and over and over again. That’s exactly what we were being shown. This pain and loss and violence over and over. For the Saint of Killers, that is his hell, until Fiore and DeBlanc walk in.
Now I always had the understanding that being a bad person and doing evil things will get you sent to hell. Apparently, however, you can also use a travel agent. Boy do I have a few people in mind for gag vacations. This appears to be the “other option” that I mentioned in my review for “El Valero” in terms of getting Genesis back. I will say I am curious if DeBlanc is actually dead. We know here on Earth, if the Angels die they just come back but what happens if they die in hell? I did find it amusing that Fiore was bummed he couldn’t bring his comics to Hell in a carry-on. I had mentioned awhile back that Fiore and DeBlanc really remind me of children in a way. With them heading to hell, his concern was his comics.
Talk about Emily making moves this episode of Preacher… a dark move at that, essentially feeding the Mayor to Cassidy. Emily has come across as so innocent and then, bam… she serves up the Mayor. What I found most personal about the moment was when Emily was listening to the lines from the film Psycho, in particular, the lines from Norman Bates. “People never run away from anything… The rain didn’t last long, did it? You know what I think. I think that we’re all in our private traps, clamped in them, and none of us can ever get out. We scratch and, and claw, but only at the air, only at each other. And for all of it, we never budge an inch.” This line resonates deeply with Emily and leads to her sacrificing Percy to Cassidy.
I was happy to see the camaraderie continue between Cassidy and Preacher. As it turns out Jesse did put out Cassidy and that meant a lot to him. Now one thing I did notice here and I may be reaching, is a Big Lebowski reference. If you’ll remember, early in the season Cassidy puts down the Big Lebowski as being overrated. Then here Cassidy tells Preacher he can get him Angels hands no problem. While there is no direct reference and the lines aren’t identical, I felt that it was in the same vein as Big Lebowski. For those that don’t remember, when Cassidy killed the Angels the first time he buried them out back of the church. Therefore, he knows where Angel’s hands are.
Sheriff Root and Tulip had screen time here as well. Tulip headed to Albuquerque to take care of Carlos which looks as if it will have a brutal outcome. She walked towards him with a meat tenderizer and he was going to be the meat. Sheriff Root had a very emotional scene and I really would like to see more of Earl Brown. You could literally feel the series of emotions he portrayed while strangling that woman. First, it was rage and anger then…hurt and sadness. One can easily believe that these emotions are tied to the current situation with Eugene. I just found it to be a great scene for Earl Brown.
With only one episode to go, I can’t wait to see how things end in the season finale next week. Did you catch this episode of Preacher? If so, what did you think? Be sure to let us know in the comments below and check back for our review of the finale next week.
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