Preacher S03E04: The Tombs – I am very entertained

In the last couple of weeks, Preacher has proved to me that the show is very far from a lost cause. While the show is still dealing with the deeper issues of waste and mediocrity that was the second half of season two, season three has been course correcting from those mistakes in an effort to bring Preacher back to the type of show it was always meant to be, pure b-movie pulp mayhem. With each passing episode of this improved season, Preacher is trying to clean up the mess of the previous season while also redefining its characters, and their relationships towards one another, into a story that is more coherent while being really fun to watch.

The Tombs may be the best episode the show has done since the Saint of Killers was taken back to Hell, which makes even more sense due to the fact that the opening finally gives us the Saint’s talk with the Devil. It’s great that Graham McTavish is back as the Saint, who is still bloody terrifying, and his scenes with a pleasingly silly Satan, in a Hell that balances a cool mix of practical and CGI effects that look both terrible and really, really cool, is a welcome change of pace to the main plot in Angelville. These scenes bookend the episode, and their purpose is pretty simple: getting the Saint back to Earth to cause more chaos. Before that happens, we are treated to the Devil making a pathetic show of his power by getting the Angel of Death to whip the crap out of the Saint, something that seems to bother him as much as a fly landing on his back. The Devil, who has his own plans now that God has left on his mid-life crisis tour, has his own plans to expand Hell, but he needs the Saint, who escaped Hell, to find and bring back another to jailbreakers. While it’s not said who these two fugitives are, its Hitler and Eugene obviously, the show more than makes up for it by giving the Saint a triumphant stroll out of the depths of Hell. This is cool stuff.

What’s even better is that Preacher has found a sly way of making things a little trickier for the Saint, he has to get the job done without his guns. Not only does this keep him from being unstoppable, it also gives the show’s writers a chance to be more creative with a character that functions as nothing more than a blunt object up to this point. It’s great to have the Saint back, while also having the promise of the return of Eugene (I could care less about Hitler), all of which should give Preacher some variety outside of Angelville.

With the Saint back on the loose, The Tombs also provided another improved hour for Jesse, Tulip, and Cassidy. Picking up where Gonna Hurt left off, Cassidy was The Tombs newest fighter and Tulip continued to her comeback tour on the road back to the character that we were promised in Preacher’s very first episode. Each character was proactive in that they had problems to solve. Jesse’s mission was to get Cassidy out of Angelville in such a way that wouldn’t get the vampire killed by Jody and TC. This led to one of the funniest exchanges Jesse and Cassidy have had in quite some time, as Jesse dismembers Cassidy as he tries to sneak him out of Texas by mailing him to New Orleans in a cardboard box. This feels like Preacher at its best, a little nonsensical, but with a huge amount of gallows humor. Unfortunately, Cassidy goes against this admittedly silly plan and comes back to the Tombs to fight Jesse.

Considering how creative Preacher’s set-pieces can be, Jesse vs Cassidy was a little underwhelming, but it did serve the purpose of getting Cassidy out of Angelville with the help of Tulip. This also gave the show the chance to address Cassidy’s feelings for Tulip, feelings that she has never shared, and for once Cass, and the show makes the right decision not to give Tulip the love potion.

The Tombs was also week 2 of Tulip as the show’s best character. While she doesn’t get as much to do as last week, she really just spends the episode trying to find her way back to Angelville, she gets the rundown form Jesse’s ex-girlfriend, and his grandmother’s main rival, that Jesse is an awful person. Season three has hinted at the overarching theme of how a toxic environment can create a toxic person, Tulip’s purgatory was based on her repeating the behavior of her father and Jesse has clearly been tainted by his time in Angelville.

It’s here where The Tombs runs into trouble. As much as Jesse’s awful behavior has usually been a smokescreen to try and get the people he cares about out of trouble, we haven’t seen enough of his relationship with Tulip that it makes sense that Tulip would immediately see through it. As much as The Tombs is another example of how the show improving, it’s still hard to ignore the damage that season two has inflicted on the show. Instead of a season that dug into Jesse and Tulip, and their relationship with each other, we have only been given hints of positive times, and these are usually at the end of a drawn out, and mostly boring conflict between the two. It happened in season one, and it was even worse in season two.

9/10 – Even so, The Tombs is an immensely enjoyable episode of Preacher, an episode that feels like the show that has been hinted at for too long now. Season one was patchy (and I didn’t mention the comics once) but promising, season two was one half brilliant and one half a total waste of time (I’ll be complaining about season two on my damn deathbed), but season three may finally give Preacher the balance it needs to be the fantastic nonsense I always wanted it to be.

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.

2 Comments

Inline Feedbacks

View all comments

KeeperofUnicorns

2 years ago

I tried bing-watching the show but couldn’t get further than the first three episodes. It was just boring and dark. This last episode had its humorous moments, but it’s hard to understand the plot without watching the previous seasons.

Rick

Why isn’t Cassidy a better combatant? Remember when he dispatched an entire planeload of Vampire hunters in the Pilot? What happened to THAT Cas?

Cookie	Description
_pxvid	This cookie is used for detection of the browser and distinguishing whether it is a real user or malicious bot.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-advertisement	The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Advertisement".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics	This cookies is set by GDPR Cookie Consent WordPress Plugin. The cookie is used to remember the user consent for the cookies under the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-non-necessary	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Non Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance	This cookie is used to keep track of which cookies the user have approved for this site.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-preferences	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Preferences".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-uncategorized	The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Uncategorized".
CraftSessionId	This cookie name is associated with the Craft web content management system, where is functions as an anonymous session identifier.
csrftoken	This cookie is associated with Django web development platform for python. Used to help protect the website against Cross-Site Request Forgery attacks
DSID	To note specific user identity. Contains hashed/encrypted unique ID.
JSESSIONID	Used by sites written in JSP. General purpose platform session cookies that are used to maintain users' state across page requests.
PHPSESSID	This cookie is native to PHP applications. The cookie is used to store and identify a users' unique session ID for the purpose of managing user session on the website. The cookie is a session cookies and is deleted when all the browser windows are closed.
viewed_cookie_policy	The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.

Cookie	Description
b30msc
btc
CMST
cref
d
gpl
i
icts
ig_did
mdata
na_rn
na_sc_e
na_sr
na_srp
session_depth
visitor-id

Cookie	Description
__gads	This cookie is set by Google and stored under the name dounleclick.com. This cookie is used to track how many times users see a particular advert which helps in measuring the success of the campaign and calculate the revenue generated by the campaign. These cookies can only be read from the domain that it is set on so it will not track any data while browsing through another sites.
__stid	The cookie is set by ShareThis. The cookie is used for site analytics to determine the pages visited, the amount of time spent, etc.
_ga	This cookie is installed by Google Analytics. The cookie is used to calculate visitor, session, camapign data and keep track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookies store information anonymously and assigns a randoly generated number to identify unique visitors.
_gat_gtag_UA_60765351_1	Google uses this cookie to distinguish users.
_gid	This cookie is installed by Google Analytics. The cookie is used to store information of how visitors use a website and helps in creating an analytics report of how the wbsite is doing. The data collected including the number visitors, the source where they have come from, and the pages viisted in an anonymous form.
ad-id	Provided by amazon-adsystem.com for tracking user actions on other websites to provide targeted content
demdex	This cookie is set under the domain demdex.net and is used by Adobe Audience Manager to help identify a unique visitor across domains.
DigiTrust.v1.identity	Registers data on visitors’ website-behaviour. This is used for internal analysis and website optimization.
dmvk	This cookie is set by DailyMotion who display videos, it registers statistical data of visitors' behaviour on the website.
gid	This cookie is installed by Google Analytics. The cookie is used to store information of how visitors use a website and helps in creating an analytics report of how the wbsite is doing. The data collected including the number visitors, the source where they have come from, and the pages viisted in an anonymous form.
GPS	This cookie is set by Youtube and registers a unique ID for tracking users based on their geographical location
is_unique	This cookie is set by StatCounter to determine how people are using the website
is_visitor_unique	This cookie is set by StatCounter to determine how people are using the website
sc_is_visitor_unique	This cookie is set by StatCounter to determine how people are using the website
v1st	This is set by DailyMotion to display videos.

Cookie	Description
__asc	This cookie is used to collect information on consumer behavior, which is sent to Alexa Analytics.
__auc	This cookie is used to collect information on consumer behavior, which is sent to Alexa Analytics.
__qca	This cookie is associated with Quantcast and is used for collecting anonymized data to analyze log data from different websites to create reports that enables the website owners and advertisers provide ads for the appropriate audience segments.
_cc_aud	The cookie is set by crwdcntrl.net. The purpose of the cookie is to collect statistical information in an anonymous form about the visitors of the website. The data collected include number of visits, average time spent on the website, and the what pages have been loaded. These data are then used to segment audiences based on the geographical location, demographic, and user interest provide relevant content and for advertisers for targeted advertising.
_cc_cc	The cookie is set by crwdcntrl.net. The purpose of the cookie is to collect statistical information in an anonymous form about the visitors of the website. The data collected include number of visits, average time spent on the website, and the what pages have been loaded. These data are then used to segment audiences based on the geographical location, demographic, and user interest provide relevant content and for advertisers for targeted advertising.
_cc_dc	The cookie is set by crwdcntrl.net. The purpose of the cookie is to collect statistical information in an anonymous form about the visitors of the website. The data collected include number of visits, average time spent on the website, and the what pages have been loaded. These data are then used to segment audiences based on the geographical location, demographic, and user interest provide relevant content and for advertisers for targeted advertising.
_cc_id	The cookie is set by crwdcntrl.net. The purpose of the cookie is to collect statistical information in an anonymous form about the visitors of the website. The data collected include number of visits, average time spent on the website, and the what pages have been loaded. These data are then used to segment audiences based on the geographical location, demographic, and user interest provide relevant content and for advertisers for targeted advertising.
_kuid_	The cookie is set by Krux Digital under the domain krxd.net. The cookie stores a unique ID to identify a returning user for the purpose of targeted advertising.
_px2	This cookie is set by PerimeterX who provide security analyst oversight.
_pxff_tm	This cookie is set by PerimeterX who provide security analyst oversight.
_pxhd	This cookie is set by PerimeterX who provide security analyst oversight.
ab	This cookie is generally provided by agkn.com and is used for advertising purposes.
ad-privacy	Provided by amazon-adsystem.com for tracking user actions on other websites to provide targeted content to the users.
ayl_visitor	This cookie registers data on the visitor. The information is used to optimize advertisement relevance.
bafp	This cookie is from Media.net and is used to deliver targeted advertising across their network sites ensuring users see relevant advertising.
bafp_t	This cookie is from Media.net and is used to deliver targeted advertising across their network sites ensuring users see relevant advertising.
bfp_sn	This cookie is from Media.net and is used to deliver targeted advertising across their network sites ensuring users see relevant advertising.
bfp_sn_pl	This cookie is from Media.net and is used to deliver targeted advertising across their network sites ensuring users see relevant advertising.
bfp_sn_rf_8b2087b102c9e3e5ffed1c1478ed8b78	This cookie is from Media.net and is used to deliver targeted advertising across their network sites ensuring users see relevant advertising.
bfp_sn_rt_8b2087b102c9e3e5ffed1c1478ed8b78	This cookie is from Media.net and is used to deliver targeted advertising across their network sites ensuring users see relevant advertising.
bfp_sn_t_8b2087b102c9e3e5ffed1c1478ed8b78	This cookie is from Media.net and is used to deliver targeted advertising across their network sites ensuring users see relevant advertising.
bfp_sn_td_2d31c94105a0aa6d1ceaea0c86c6b656	This cookie is from Media.net and is used to deliver targeted advertising across their network sites ensuring users see relevant advertising.
bito	This cookie is generally provided by bidr.io and is used for advertising purposes.
bitoIsSecure	This cookies are generally provided by bidr.io and is used for advertising purposes.
bsc	The cookies is set by ownerIQ for the purpose of providing relevant advertisement
CMID	This cookie is linked to advertising and tracking the products users were looking at.
CMPRO	This cookie is linked to advertising and tracking the products users were looking at.
CMPS	This cookie is linked to advertising and tracking the products users were looking at.
dc_id	This cookie is used to deliver adverts more relevant to you and your interests. They are also used to limit the number of times you see an advertisement as well as help measure the effectiveness of the advertising campaign. They are usually placed by advertising networks with the website operator's permission. They remember that you have visited a website and this information is shared with other organisations such as advertisers.
did	The purpose of the cookie is to identify a visitor to serve relevant advertisement.
didts	The purpose of the cookie is to identify a visitor to serve relevant advertisement.
dpm	The cookie is set by demdex.net. This cookie assigns a unique ID to each visiting user that allows third-party advertisers target that users with relevant ads.
eud	This cookie is from Rocket Fuel and is used to deliver targeted advertising across their network sites ensuring users see relevant advertising.
euds	This cookie is from Rocket Fuel and is used to deliver targeted advertising across their network sites ensuring users see relevant advertising.
everest_g_v2	The cookie is set under eversttech.net domain. The purpose of the cookie is to map clicks to other events on the client's website.
evo5_popin_instance	Prevents an interaction from reoccurring for visitors not accepting 3rd party cookies.
id	This cookie is set by DoubleClick (which is owned by Google) to build a profile of the website visitor's interests and show relevant ads on other sites.
IDE	Used by Google DoubleClick and stores information about how the user uses the website and any other advertisement before visiting the website. This is used to present users with ads that are relevant to them according to the user profile.
io.narrative.guid.v2	This cookie is generally provided by io.narrative.io and is used for advertising purposes.
KADUSERCOOKIE	This cookie is generally provided by pubmatic.com and is used for advertising purposes.
KTPCACOOKIE	This cookie is generally provided by pubmatic.com and is used for advertising purposes.
matchliveramp	This cookie is provided by w55c.net and is used for advertising purposes.
mc	This cookie is associated with Quantserve to track anonymously how a user interact with the website.
mxpim	This cookie is generally provided by mxptint.net for advertising purposes.
na_tc	This is a Social Media sharing tracking cookie.
NID	This cookie is used to a profile based on user's interest and display personalized ads to the users.
nnls	The purpose of the cookie is to identify a visitor to serve relevant advertisement.
pxrc	The purpose of the cookie is to identify a visitor to serve relevant advertisement.
pxvid	This cookie is set by PerimeterX who provide security analyst oversight.
rlas3	The cookie is set by rlcdn.com. The cookie is used to serve relevant ads to the visitor as well as limit the time the visitor sees an and also measure the effectiveness of the campaign.

Cookie	Description
__jid	Cookies set on the website by the third-party commenting platform Disqus.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional
disqus_unique	These cookies are set by Disqus so that users can comment on website/platform.
G_ENABLED_IDPS	The cookie is used by Google and is used for Google Single Sign On.
mid	The cookie is set by Instagram. The cookie is used to distinguish users and to show relevant content, for better user experience and security.
na_id	This cookie is set by Addthis.com to enable sharing of links on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter
ouid	The cookie is set by Addthis which enables the content of the website to be shared across different networking and social sharing websites.
ov	This is a generic functional cookie that provides enhanced functionality and personalisation.
ts	This cookie is generally provided by PayPal and supports payment services in the website.
vuid	These cookies are used by the Vimeo video player on websites.

Preacher S03E04: The Tombs – I am very entertained

You might also like

FIND THE TOPICS YOU WANT...

Recommended for you