​ "The Lost Apostle" – Preacher S04E06 Review

Things happen in "The Lost Apostle"! They're very odd and confusing things. But this is Preacher, so what do you expect?

God and the Grail's plan kind of materializes. Apparently killing the New Zealand Deputy Minister a few episodes ago is part of the Grail's scheme to start the Apocalypse. By using the incident to provoke a nuclear war between Australia and New Zealand.

Also, the creative team seems to have been reading my reviews. Or more likely, we're one the same wavelength. The Saint gets some personality! Tulip and Cassidy get some time together! Jesse eventually reunites with Tulip and Cassidy! Granted, the reunion is pretty short. But the trio of actors display more chemistry in their minute or two of screen time then they've demonstrated separated into singletons and pairs.

Eugene gets slighted. Again. He's barely in the episode, and doesn't do anything. I'm not sure what role there is for him on the show, but after four seasons I wish the creative team would find one for him. It's their job to create the role, not mine. Unless they want to pay me to do it. If that's the case, they should drop me a line and prepare to write a check.

The episode opens with a schmaltzy recreation of Abraham's almost-sacrifice of his son Isaac. God (Mark Harelik) appears and tells Abraham it was a test and he passed. And we find out God is watching a movie while working on his Jesse-tracking diorama. And since I don't think I've said it before, I'll say it now: I like Harelik as God. Even in the movie, He conveys allmightness along with the kind of eye-rolling boredom you'd figure a Supreme Deity would end up with. Watch His face as He puts up with Abraham hugging him and sobbing at His feet. Kudos to Harelik.

Cassidy and Tulip roll into Melbourne after they hitch a ride on a freighter. Bringing along their car, and answering one of my questions from the last review: how were they going to get from the Middle East to Australia. Pulp Fiction-style music plays as the duo walk into an Australian police station and put up with the Australians' accents and lingo while playing "Ugly Americans". Eventually they end up talking to the deputy commissioner, who takes them to Eugene. Who eventually says the Saint has Jesse and they'd better hope Jesse is dead because being alive in the Saint's hands is so much worse.

One does wonder how last week's episode went after the ending. The last we saw, Eugene and the Saint were standing over the unconscious Jesse. Did the Saint abandon Eugene? Why didn't Eugene follow him? Do the police think Eugene killed the police from last week and "borrowed" their radio? They say that they found powder residue on Eugene's hands, but all they have on him is that he shot someone who isn't around. And the gunpowder in the gun Eugene "borrowed" wouldn't match the residue in the Saint's 19th century guns that he presumably used on the cops.

But that's all we get of Eugene this week. We then get the Saint leading Jesse through the Outback. And I like the chemistry between the two when the Saint isn't trying to kill or capture Jesse. Jesse is impertinent; the Saint is implacable but smiles once. The preacher tries to use the Saint's guns against him and discovers they won't fire against their owner. The Saint explains he plans to kill God. Why he wants Jesse with him isn't clear. Jesse figures the Saint needs him alive for whatever reason. So the Saint kills a family at their farmhouse to convince Jesse to cooperate with him so he won't slaughter more people.

Cassidy and Tulip somehow find the family dead, strung up from the ceiling of their dining room. They head down the highway and end up in the Outback. They stop at a diner and first Tulip lets Cassidy read the letter from Jesse to her she's never read. Then Cassidy scores fire retardant from a waitress to satisfy his drug craving, Tulip finds God's RV (??). She locates God's dog suit and his diorama, and a postcard showing Lost Apostle where Jesse is going to meet God. Tulip gets back with Cassidy, and they steal a small plane and fly to Lost Apostle.

During all of this, Jesus and Hitler are snacking and negotiating the division of souls after the Apocalypse. Starr is bored, and leaps into action when God calls from Australia where Grail operatives are preparing to deliver God's nuclear bomb. When he arrives in Australia, Starr meets God who asks about Humperdoo. It's not at all clear why God needs Humperdoo for the Apocalypse. And Starr talks like the Grail doesn't have Humperdoo, although I thought they did (this will be clarified next episode) and Hitler tracked Humperdoo down in his Grail cell and tested him with a musical number. Apparently the test showed "Humperdoo" was one of the clones rather than the real Humperdoo.

Regardless, while God waits for Jesse, he sics a dingo on Starr to rip out his genitals since he knows Starr doesn't have Humperdoo. This is probably the most amusing part of the episode, as Starr screams in pain as God calmly tells Starr not to fuck with Him. Although this also raises some questions. Isn't God... omniscient? So how did Starr think he could ever fool God into thinking he had Humperdoo? And if God is omnipotent, why does he use a dingo to rip off Starr's genitals instead of just smiting him?

Cassidy and Tulip rescue Jesse from the Saint by dropping fire retardant on the latter, blinding him long enough for Jesse to hop on the plane as it taxis by. Although as with God, I'm confused about what the Saint's powers are. He's said he can shoot through planets, and he fired a red-hot bullet from America through the earth to Australia to create a tunnel. Why does he suddenly have a range on his revolver so he can't shoot the plane?

I suppose that's the superhero fan in me talking. If they're going to introduce characters with "superpowers", I wish they would define what they can do and can't do.

Jesse and Cassidy chat a bit in the plane, with Cassidy wanting God to explain The Big Lebrowski to him. And we see the friendship that has presumably been driving Cassidy to find Jesse, his buddy. It's a nice reminder of why the two of them are friends, so I have no idea why the show has kept them separated for most of two seasons. Even Tulip smiles a bit when she hears them, even though she's still PO'd at Jesse for abandoning her in the Middle East.

When Tulip explains how they found Jesse, Jesse realizes it's a trap. At Lost Apostle. God sets off the nuclear bomb. Which probably sets off the Apocalypse since we had a scene of two Grail operatives posing as New Zealand agents planting the bomb and killing an Australian tourist who saw them. But one wonders why God doesn't just smite the plane and then trigger the Apocalypse.

For that matter, why does God need to set a trap? Set aside smiting: if He can sic a dingo on Starr, why can't He sic one on Jesse? It's odd because Jesse is already heading to Lost Apostle. Does God want him to get there without the Saint, because the Saint can kill God? But we see God can teleport because of omnipotence and all. The Saint can't shoot a departing plane, but he can shoot God anywhere on the planet?

Jesse falls out of the plane and Cassidy grabs him. However, since it's daylight, the sun burns Cassidy's arm. In a touching moment, Jesse tells Cassidy to let him go. Cassidy refuses and Jesse uses the Voice to make him. Jesse falls out of the sky and hits the Outback ground, dying from the impact. Which catches us up with one of the scenes in the season premiere.

We also briefly see after escaping Masada last week, a disguised Lara has snuck back in and is working as a barista at the Grail coffee shop.

There are four more episodes left in the last season, and one wonders where the creative team goes from her. We haven't seen Cassidy and Tulip linking up, which was the other flash-forward scene we got at the beginning of the season. But the writing is on the wall for that one, and Jesse dying is the most likely reason Cassidy would "cheat" on him with Tulip.

Since we have four more episodes to go, Jesse probably isn't dead. God could bring him back, although I don't know why He would since he can't stop the Saint, who wants God dead. Jesus could resurrect Jesse as well, to counter his Father's machinations. If he can: he mentioned last week that at least a couple of the "miracles" he's credited with are metaphors.

Overall, "The Lost Apostle" brought back the chemistry between Jesse, Tulip, and Cassidy that was the backbone of the show in series one but has fallen by the wayside in seasons 2, 3, and the first half of 4. It gave the Saint some characterization beyond "emotionless barely-talking killing machine." It established God as a bad-ass, even if it's not at all clear what He can and can't do. It provided some context to the Apocalypse and the division of souls between Heaven and Hell.

For the first time in a while, I want to see where the creative team goes from here. Again, I haven't read the comics so I have no idea if they are/aren't following some plotline or another. Maybe it all makes sense there. Maybe it will make sense by the series finale.

But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?