• Home
  • Movies
  • Music
  • TV
  • Video Games
  • Wrestling
  • Topics
  • Latest Comments
Search
Cult of Whatever logo
  • Movies
    Featured
    • The Living Daylights: Timothy Dalton as James Bond

      The Living Daylights is still awesome, thirty-five years later

      By Matthew Martin
      | March 28, 2022
      Movie Blogs
    Recent
    • Elvis: Austin Butler

      REVIEW: ELVIS beautifully mythologizes the King of Rock and Roll

      By Matthew Martin
      | June 25, 2022
    • The Black Phone: Ethan Hawke as The Grabber

      REVIEW: THE BLACK PHONE is a flat, dull, rushed non-horror movie

      By Matthew Martin
      | June 25, 2022
    • Jurassic World Dominion Logo

      REVIEW: Jurassic World Dominion – Here we go again…again

      By Matthew Martin
      | June 12, 2022
    • Three Men and a Baby: Tom Selleck and Ted Danson

      Three Men and a Baby is still awesome thirty five years later

      By Matthew Martin
      | May 31, 2022
    • The Bob's Burgers Movie Poster

      REVIEW: Bob’s Burgers The Movie is Bob’s Burgers The Show, which means it’s great

      By Matthew Martin
      | May 28, 2022
    • Top Gun Maverick: Tom Cruise

      REVIEW: Top Gun Maverick is a sequel that soars!

      By Matthew Martin
      | May 27, 2022
  • Music
    Random
    • Al Yankovic 3

      The secret to Weird Al's genius...

      By Matthew Martin
      | June 25, 2019
      Music Blogs
    Recent
    • The Beatles: Get Back

      What GET BACK reveals about the Beatles

      By Matthew Martin
      | December 15, 2021
    • Simon And Garfunkel at Feyenoord Stadium in Rotterdam1982

      The Boxer is a song about being conned

      By Matthew Martin
      | July 4, 2021
    • Lady Gaga: Chromatica Album Cover

      Lady Gaga’s discography is totally out of order

      By Matthew Martin
      | June 3, 2021
    • Michael Jackson Thriller Album Cover

      Thirty years ago music fans said “Nevermind” to Michael Jackson

      By Matthew Martin
      | March 21, 2021
    • Queen II Album Cover

      On Queen’s The Miracle, and the importance of track ordering

      By Matthew Martin
      | February 16, 2021
    • Linda Paul Mccartney 1976

      50 years ago, McCartney dropped “Lennon” and went solo…

      By Matthew Martin
      | June 5, 2020
  • TV
    Featured
    • Nancy Drew S03e01: Kennedy McMann as Nancy

      Nancy Drew S03E01 Review: The Warning of the Frozen Heart - Uh-oh!

      By Salome G
      | October 10, 2021
      TV Blogs
    Recent
    • Riverdale S06e18: Camila Mendes as Veronica Lodge

      Riverdale S06E18 Review: Biblical – Spooky chaos!

      By Salome G
      | June 29, 2022
    • Roswell, New Mexico S04e04: Heather Hemmens and Sherri Saum as Maria and Mimi DeLuca

      Roswell, New Mexico S04E04 Review: Dear Mama – Emotional?

      By Salome G
      | June 29, 2022
    • Evil S03e03: Katja Herbers and Aasif Mandvi as Kristen Bouchard and Ben Shakir

      Evil S03E03 Review: The Demon of Sex – Contrived?

      By Salome G
      | June 29, 2022
    • Dark Winds S01e03: kinaaldá Ceremony

      Dark Winds S01E03 Review: K’e – Swoon!

      By Salome G
      | June 29, 2022
    • Roswell, New Mexico S04e03: Sibongile Mlambo, Lily Cowles and Michael Trevino as Anatsa, Isobel and Kyle

      Roswell, New Mexico S04E03 Review: Subterranean Homesick Alien – Treading water?

      By Salome G
      | June 23, 2022
    • Obi-Wan Kenobi Series: Ewan McGregor and Vivien Lyra Blair as Obi-Wan and Leia

      REVIEW: Obi-Wan Kenobi had a good season and little else

      By Matthew Martin
      | June 22, 2022
  • Video Games
    Featured
    • Arkham Knight

      Batman: Arkham Knight - A fitting end to a trilogy

      By Tom Farr
      | July 18, 2015
      Video Game Reviews
    Recent
    • Legend Of Zelda

      Can a Legend of Zelda movie work?

      By Matthew Martin
      | April 6, 2022
    • Super Mario 64

      Which system had the better launch: A battle of four Nintendo consoles

      By Matthew Martin
      | December 1, 2021
    • Luigi's Mansion

      Happy twentieth to Nintendo’s underrated gem, the Gamecube

      By Matthew Martin
      | November 18, 2021
    • Metroid Dread

      Metroid Dread – Post Game analysis and sequel needs

      By Matthew Martin
      | October 29, 2021
    • Mario Headphones

      The SNES Turns 30: A look at some of the system’s best soundtracks

      By Matthew Martin
      | October 22, 2021
    • Metroid Dread Poster

      REVIEW: Metroid Dread reawakens the old gamer in me

      By Matthew Martin
      | October 11, 2021
  • Wrestling
    Featured
    • Wwe Payback 2017 Poster 2

      Your SO OF COURSE preview of WWE Payback 2017

      By Matthew Martin
      | April 30, 2017
      WWE Blogs
    Recent
    • AEW Double or Nothing 2022: CM Punk vs Adam Page

      REVIEW: AEW Double or Nothing 2022 delivered an up-and-down show

      By Matthew Martin
      | May 30, 2022
    • MJF on AEW Dynamite 17th November 2021

      Getting AEW to the next level…

      By Matthew Martin
      | May 29, 2022
    • Raw 210501: Triple H and Stephanie McMahon

      May 21, 2001 – A (forgotten) date that will live in WWE infamy

      By Matthew Martin
      | May 20, 2022
    • WWE WrestleMania 39 Logo

      Your WAY TOO EARLY predictions for WWE WrestleMania 39!

      By Matthew Martin
      | April 20, 2022
    • WWE WrestleMania 38 Poster

      Your SO OF COURSE preview of WWE WRESTLEMANIA 38!

      By Matthew Martin
      | March 30, 2022
    • Wrestlemania 31 Paige Aj Lee 2

      BOOK REVIEW: The Women of WrestleMania is a balanced take on an under-valued slice of history

      By Matthew Martin
      | March 16, 2022
  • Topics
    • site logo
    Latest
    • Riverdale S06E18 Review: Biblical - Spooky chaos!
    • Roswell, New Mexico S04E04 Review: Dear Mama - Emotional?
    • Evil S03E03 Review: The Demon of Sex - Contrived?
    • Dark Winds S01E03 Review: K'e - Swoon!
    • REVIEW: ELVIS beautifully mythologizes the King of Rock and Roll
    • REVIEW: THE BLACK PHONE is a flat, dull, rushed non-horror movie
    • Latest Comments

    Preacher S02E09: Puzzle Piece – Coming back to life, slowly

    By Kevin Boyle
    | August 15, 2017
    TV Blogs

    Puzzle Piece is yet another episode of Preacher where it looks like a lot happens but the plot is still moving slowly. I wouldn’t blame you if the pace was too slow for you, since Preacher isn’t living up to the promises it made to the audience. It’s too slow for me, with only my own morbid curiosity about what else Preacher will resort to in order to continually stand still. In saying that, at least something happens this week, as Puzzle Piece sets up the eventual confrontation of Jesse and Herr Starr. How the episode gets to this point is problematic to say the least, with some aspects that worked, some that didn’t, and one scene that stands out amongst it all as something that needs further analysis.

    The scene I’m referring to is the rape of Herr Starr. This scene has caused uproar in the critical, and the fan community, and no wonder. Of course, this scene is a loose adaptation of what happens to Herr Starr in the comics, with Starr giving Hoover the job of securing him a prostitute to act out a rape fantasy in which he is the aggressor. It’s the same in the show, with Hoover messing up the “no means yes” scenario leading to Herr Starr getting raped by three men. The show, like the comic, plays this scene for laughs, hoping that the audience will believe that Starr gets what he deserves, especially after seeing the way he treats literally everyone he meets with humiliation and murder. The problem here, and indeed in the comic (although it was written in the 90s when male rape was an accepted punchline, which tied into gay panic jokes of the time) is that it trivialises the issue of male rape, and the issue of rape in general.

    Preacher S2e9 Pip Herr Starr

    A case could be made that the show is satirizing the current trope of empowerment through sexual assault, as seen in shows like Game of Thrones, House of Cards, and Sons of Anarchy, because Starr uses the experience positively as it plays a vital part of his epiphany in terms of what to do about Jesse. A case could be made, but it just feels like the show’s writers put this in because it was in the comic. Preacher has always had a simplistic view of sex that verges on kink, look at Donnie and his wife’s S&M relationship in series one, and it’s go-to reaction to anything like this is to make fun of it, which is the tone that is apparent in the Herr Starr scene. It’s not surprising as two of the show’s creators, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg have previous in this department: just look at what happens to Jonah Hill in the directing duo’s film This is the End. The fact is, Preacher the show has been very liberal about what they take from the source material, so they could have found another way for Starr to get to the head-space needed to spare Jesse’s life. And yes, Preacher is a violent show, but it knows how to differentiate what set pieces are there to entertain (Cassidy and Tulip’s intros do this nicely), and the kind of violence that damages its characters: like Jesse beating up his friend in Dallas or the Saint wiping out Ratwater. This is what makes the inclusion of the Starr rape all the more puzzling in how it was handled. Preacher is picking and choosing what issues it deems worth dramatic weight. If they can at least give lip service to Jesse robbing Tulip’s, and everyone he uses the Word on, agency, their free will, why does the show ignore these instincts elsewhere.

    The episode itself was fairly hit and miss. Apart from the Starr scene, everything that involved The Grail was top notch. Featherstone and Hoover are a compelling team, one as the company woman, and the other not so much, as we are shown the full power of the resources that could wipe Jesse out any time they want, as long as B.R.A.D is working. We also get more characterisation of Starr, Pip Torrens continues to be pitch perfect, as a powerful man bored by his own success. Starr and Jesse have a crucial thing in common, they are both looking for something to change their lives: Jesse and his intangible search for God, and Starr for something that is worthy of his attention.

    Preacher S2e9 Malcolm Barrett Julie Ann Emery Lara Featherstone Fj Hoover

    Puzzle Piece is an episode were nothing goes right. That’s not a criticism, it’s literal. Throughout the episode nothing goes to plan. Starr’s gun jams so he can’t shoot Hoover: allowing Featherstone to skilfully engineer a reprieve for both of them. Cassidy saves Dennis, but his newfound bloodlust, and zest gets in the way of Jesse’s plans at every turn. The Grail’s SWAT team is easily picked apart by Jesse and Cassidy, in a very well put together sequence, and even Tulip’s normally great instincts has her shooting an innocent man by mistake. Oh, and all of this leads to the death of Harry Connick Jr; if you know who he Is the joke might have landed a bit better, but it’s just the Tom Cruise gags reheated.

    Preacher S2e9 Dominic Cooper Ruth Negga

    5/10 – Jesse, Tulip, and Cassidy are still in the malaise of New Orleans. Remember when you thought that Preacher was going to be a fun, supernatural road trip show, like a more anarchic, more violent Supernatural? Well, we are all still waiting. If anything, New Orleans feels like more of a dead end than Annville was.

    Share this article:

    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit

    Tags

    Preacher

    COMMENTS

    Please read our Commenting Policy before you join in with the discussion.

    Note: If you have email notifications enabled, please check your email spam folders to ensure emails are not missed.

    Subscribe
    Connect withD
    I allow to create an account
    When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
    DisagreeAgree
    Notify of
    guest
    Connect withD
    I allow to create an account
    When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
    DisagreeAgree
    guest
    0 Comments
    Inline Feedbacks
    View all comments

    You might also like

    • Preacher S02E08: Holes – Everyone is in their own personal hell, including this reviewer

      By Kevin Boyle
      | August 8, 2017
    • Preacher S02E07: Pig – While Jesse, Tulip, and Cassidy kill time, Herr Starr kills everyone

      By Kevin Boyle
      | August 1, 2017
    • Preacher S02E06: Sokosha – Jesse goes soul searching and the show has some fun again

      By Kevin Boyle
      | July 25, 2017
    • Preacher S02E05: Dallas – Against all odds Preacher turns its worst plot into compelling television, just

      By Kevin Boyle
      | July 18, 2017
    • Preacher S02E04: Viktor – For an episode that counted Hell as a location it left me cold

      By Kevin Boyle
      | July 11, 2017
    • Preacher S02E03: Damsels – It feels like the end of the world in a brilliant set up episode

      By Kevin Boyle
      | July 4, 2017
    • Preacher S02E02: Mumbai Sky Tower – Character overtakes action in another great episode

      By Kevin Boyle
      | June 27, 2017
    • Preacher S02E01: On the Road – Finally this is the Preacher that was promised!

      By Kevin Boyle
      | June 26, 2017
    • Preacher S01E10: Call and Response – The cosmic joke is on Annville in the Preacher finale

      By Kevin Boyle
      | August 1, 2016
    • Preacher S01E09: Finish the Song – Everyone’s trapped by their own mistakes

      By Kevin Boyle
      | July 26, 2016
    • Preacher S01E08: El Valero – Hell is crowded, and not far away!

      By Kevin Boyle
      | July 19, 2016
    • Preacher S01E07: He Gone – Jessie’s no longer one of the good guys

      By Kevin Boyle
      | July 13, 2016
    • Preacher S01E06: Sundowner – Even when everyone talks it out, it still goes to hell

      By Kevin Boyle
      | July 4, 2016
    • Preacher S01E05: South Will Rise Again – The return of The Cowboy brings a return to form

      By Kevin Boyle
      | June 28, 2016
    • Preacher S01E04: Monster Swamp – Everyone slows to a crawl on an uninspired Preacher.

      By Kevin Boyle
      | June 21, 2016
    • Preacher S01E03: The Possibilities – It’s the inevitable morning after on a solid Preacher

      By Kevin Boyle
      | June 14, 2016
    • Preacher S01E02: See – Preacher kills it’s second episode with a chainsaw.

      By Kevin Boyle
      | June 6, 2016
    • Preacher S01E01: Pilot – It’s the time of the Preacher in AMC’s hilariously blasphemous new show.

      By Kevin Boyle
      | May 23, 2016

    FIND THE TOPICS YOU WANT...

    TV Topics

    Recommended for you

    • Riverdale S06E18 Review: Biblical – Spooky chaos!

      By Salome G
      | June 29, 2022
    • Roswell, New Mexico S04E04 Review: Dear Mama – Emotional?

      By Salome G
      | June 29, 2022
    • Dark Winds S01E03 Review: K’e – Swoon!

      By Salome G
      | June 29, 2022
    • Evil S03E03 Review: The Demon of Sex – Contrived?

      By Salome G
      | June 29, 2022
    • REVIEW: Obi-Wan Kenobi had a good season and little else

      By Matthew Martin
      | June 22, 2022
    • Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – Episodes 6-7 review (the best and the not-so best)

      By Matthew Martin
      | June 18, 2022
    • The Orville season three review part 1 (episodes 1-2 bring ups and downs)

      By Matthew Martin
      | June 12, 2022
    • Stranger Things S04 Part 1 Review: Almost perfect!

      By Salome G
      | June 5, 2022
    • Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Every episode ranked! (Part 5/5)

      By Matthew Martin
      | May 30, 2022
    • The Flight Attendant S02E08 Review: Backwards and Forwards – A satisfying conclusion

      By Salome G
      | May 27, 2022
    • Star Trek Picard Season 2 (not a review but a rant)

      By Matthew Martin
      | May 10, 2022
    • On a scale of 1 to really messed up, how well does The Boys translate to the small screen?

      By Jason Collins
      | March 15, 2022
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Affiliate Disclosure
    • Cookie Policy and Settings
    • Terms of Use
    • Photo Credits
    • RSS
    All Cult of Whatever articles, logos, illustrations and graphics are copyright CultOfWhatever.com. All other trademarks, logos and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. © 2021 CultOfWhatever. All Rights Reserved.
    • facebook
    • twitter
    wpDiscuz