"Search and Destroy" Preacher S04E04 Review

Get on with it!

I like Preacher, really I do. The characters are entertaining in their own little microcosms, the overall plot is interesting, there's lots of little bits of weirdness and imagery capturing the imagination. But it doesn't seem to be going anywhere. Or maybe it's like the hands of the clock, where the movement is so slow you need to use time-lapse photography to perceive it.

The first season was basically a prequel to the comic book series, as we found out what put Jesse, Cassidy, and Tulip on the quest for God. The second season had them hanging out in an apartment in New Orleans. The third season had them hanging out in Angelville. And now the fourth season splits its time between most of the group hanging out in Masada, and Jesse heading for Australia.

Granted, once Jesse finds God then the reason for the show's existence goes up in smoke. But none of what comes before seems to have much impact on the present. Cassidy lost his son and made a friend, and none of that has anything to do with his time in a cell in Masada with an Archangel. Jesse encountered a man who was like a brother to him, and a woman who like a mother, and... Jesse is still a jerk who is looking for God. Heck, he's even more of a jerk than he started off.

The Saint is looking for Jesse, and I don't even remember why. The angels hired the Saint to track down Jesse, and Jesse returned a piece of the Saint's soul so Genesis could affect him. But then the Saint had that part of himself drained off, and now he's looking for Jesse again. But why? Maybe it's all he has to do, and all he has left is vengeance is the whole irony of his situation. But it doesn't come across as ironic. It just comes across as monotonous, and to provide some conflict on the show.

Ditto with the Grail. Starr wants Jesse dead because he carved a vagina into his head. That's apparently it. Jesse has no interest in stopping Starr, and actually helped him become the Allfather. I don't know how Frankie is/was connected to the Grail, or why they're trying to lure Tulip into their trap using Cassidy as bait. Jesse has left the Middle East, so it's not to get him. Yes, Tulip and Cassidy have thwarted the Grail in the past. But now the Grail seems to be getting exactly what it wants. Tulip doesn't care, Cassidy doesn't care, Jesse isn't around to ask if he cares. The only reason the Grail is on the show is because they keep trying to kill our three protagonists. Vengeance is nice, but that's all there is right now. If the Grail stopped striking at our heroes and just continued with its Apocalypse 2020 plans, it'd all be over.

And yes, it might make sense in the comics. I don't read the comics, sorry.

Granted, God is now working with the Grail for some reason to bring Jesse low. But why? Why does God need the Grail? Why does God need Humperdoo as he states tonight?

What does happen in "Search and Rescue"? First, God and Starr have another heart-to-heart. We learn God plans to give Starr back his good looks (?) if Starr gives him Jesse. And Humperdoo is part of God's plans, apparently more than Jesus is.

Cassidy then breaks free of his restraints by picking the lock using the Archangel's feather from last week. He sodomizes Frankie with the man's own shotgun and then blows his head up. Exit Frankie. Cassidy runs into Tulip briefly, covers for her, and she escapes while Lara recaptures Cassidy and tosses him back in the cell with the Archangel. And god, am I sick of that cell and the Archangel. The cell is like a second home to Cassidy at this point. He gets tossed in there, he escapes, he gets recaptured, he gets tossed back in.

Hitler and his soldiers arrive at Masada for what we eventually find out is a summit between Heaven and Hell. Jesus Christ is also there, and Tulip is dragooned into being his personal valet while she's disguised as a Grail operative. Tyson Ritter as Jesus is probably the best part of the show: he combines omnipotence with naivety, and is barely recognizable as Jesus given he also plays Humperdoo the botched Jesus clone.

Hitler goes looking for Humperdoo, bribes his way into Humperdoo's cell, and plays some soft-shoe to test Humperdoo's dancing skills.

What about Jesse? His plane went down last week so Jesse and Captain Steve (Ditch Davey) are stuck out in the ocean in a life raft. Steve still has no pants, and his legs are pretty banged up from the crash. Jesse first Voices him to be positive, which results in a lot of Steve yelling exuberantly and telling Jesse to cheer up. Then Jesse tells Steve to stop being positive because it's annoying, realizing Steve's legs are badly injured, and Voices him not to feel pain. For some reason, Steve sticks his hand in the ocean and a shark bites it off, but he doesn't notice because he's feeling no pain.

This is interspersed with bits of Jesse complaining God is an asshole, and he's testing them. Steve eventually bleeds out, and Jesse floats the body away only to watch it be eaten by sharks. And then Jesse realizes he's just off of an Australian beach.

Finally, the Saint and Eugene show up at the end, having walked as far as they can to the Gulf of Mexico. The Saint shoots his way through the planet to Australia and continues on his trek after Jesse with Eugene in tow.

There are lots of little bits, but then again Preacher has always been good at the little bits. Tulip (Ruth Negga) interacting with Jesus, Cassidy finally getting revenge on Frankie, a long shot of Starr's foreskin ear falling off and landing on a presentation packet with a photo of Jesse, Hitler playing music for Humperdoo to dance to, the Grail's base has a coffee shop. The moments are all very fun.

But it doesn't seem to add up to anything. Characters keep missing each other: Tulip almost gets together with Cassidy, and then almost gets together with Lara. And then Lara takes Cassidy away and Tulip is left to interact with Jesus. There's no Jesse, there's no Cassidy, there's no Lara. Tulip treats Jesus as just another schmuck she encounters along the way. She's meeting one of the guys Jesse has been preaching about, and who might actually know something about God and what Jesse wants to get from God. Instead of asking questions, Tulip apologizes for lying to Jesus and is forced to take him along when he wants to tag along on her rescue of Cassidy.

Yes, Preacher is intent on taking the mickey out of religion and God and Jesus and the whole shebang. Got it. But the fact Jesus is a waif, and God wanders around in a dog suit half the time and drinks coffee, and Humperdoo is a botched Jesus clone that likes to soft-shoe, are all givens. We know all this, and have known it for some time. The creative team seems content to coast along on that, rather than giving us anything new.

Overall, Preacher is still entertaining. There just isn't much narrative to the narrative. If you want to watch the Saint act cool, and Starr acting... Starr-like, and fun being poked at organized religion, then Preacher is the show for you. But one gets the impression if AMC wasn't cancelling the show, the creative team would continue on the track they're following. To separate our three protagonists, and have them crawl veeerrryyy slowly toward their vague objective. There's no sense so far they're wrapping things up this season. Jesse is going off to Australia to talk to God for no reason other than the production moved to Australia. Tulip and Cassidy apparently link up, but so what? I've never seen Tulip have any real feelings for Cassidy: it's more she's turning to him because Jesse treats her like dirt.

Why Cassidy is involved in any of this, I have no idea. He started back as a buddy to Jesse, but there's been no real reason to believe they've became friends. Jesse has screwed Cassidy over on multiple occasions and left him to be tortured in Masada while he went to Australia, along with abandoning Tulip. There's no strength to the relationship we're supposed to believe is at the core of the show.

Maybe the creative team will pull it all out in the last episodes leading up to the season finale. Stranger things have happened. And Stranger Things season 3 has happened. However, so far there's no indication anything is leading up to anything. Maybe it will all make sense in retrospect.

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