There are two types of people in this world (“Only a Sith deals in absolutes”), and to tell them apart, just ride a roller coaster with them and see which gets them more excited: the crank up or the ride itself. For some people, nothing beats the anticipation or the build-up of what’s to come, and that the event itself will rarely compare to their expectations or imaginations. Yet for others, it’s all about those payoff thrills and they can never get there fast enough. Such ideas of tension or anticipation are just frustrating delays that to them, will never compare to the end result. Some TV seasons can be like roller coaster, spending a long time slowly cranking us up before releasing everything in the final few episodes. Preacher has certainly been like that these past 2 months or so. Although each episode has its own little taste of craziness for the most part, it has been building to climactic events. Now, in its penultimate episode, we have definitely reached the top and are hurling back down to Earth at breakneck speeds with our arms raised high. This week embraces the madness and my God, it is awesome!
Finish the Song – Following his arrest, Jessie goes on the run while working on his plan to get God attending his final Sunday sermon. Tulip seeks Emily’s help in nursing Cassidy back to health while Fiore and Deblanc seek help in a very unlikely place.
All across the episode, there’s a sense of pulling the pieces together and the results are excellent. Tulip’s rather sudden summoning and baton passing to Emily over nursing a feral Cassidy is rewarding on so many levels. Firstly, it brings Emily fully onboard to the existence of the supernatural, which she takes in her stride just like another obstacle in her church duties. It puts her closer into the weird world of Jessie, Cassidy and Tulip, which sets them up to be a more united Scooby Gang style unit in season 2. However, the real joy here is everything Emily does following Tulip’s departure. For what could have been a mundane vampire babysitting story it becomes the episodes best feature as at swings so far one way into lighter comedy over Emily’s inhibitions to cute little animal sacrificing, before unexpectedly turning darker than Batman’s wardrobe. Lucy Griffiths’s Emily is really becoming an unsung hero of the show. For all the bigger flashier faces that surround her, it’s only by viewing them through her as such a great grounded and believably normal character that they can show their strengths. She’s the Xander Harris of the team but just like that Zeppo, she could not be more crucial to its success. By contrast, Jessie plays his smallest role in any episode to date and that is a very refreshing change. As awesome as Dominic Cooper is, the show has shown a tendency to dwell on him too much but here he steps back yet still manages to advance his story. We easily see where he’s going with the whole “get God to the church” Hail Mary play with minimal screen time which leaves more available for an enjoyable reconciliation with Cassidy.
The ever reliable Fiore and Deblanc do not disappoint this week as in desperation, their journey takes them to Hell with a lot of top notch comedy along the way. What’s more, we get a few subtle notes that cast a new light on the nature of their relationship. While it’s always been clear they have a friendship rather than just a working arrangement, in this episode, it’s at least implied that they may actual be a romantic couple on some level. Even if that doesn’t have a physical element (well they’re Angels, it makes sense for them to have old fashioned values on the subject) their mutual connection appears to be their driving motivation here. The biggest thing stopping them from just turning themselves into the forces of the Heavens is that they know the consequences would most certainly involve their permanent separation. Two individuals choosing to go to Hell so that they can still be with each other; if that is not an expression of love then (...yep you guessed it), what the hell is? It endears them to us as characters more than any of their humour by showing us there’s more to their misguided actions than we initially understood. In fact, when DeBlanc reassures a sombre Fiore over having to leave his comics behind it’s a genuinely touching moment. For the second week running, let us pray, dear God, please let this pair come back for Season 2.
Once again, this episode begins with another Old West flashback but having laid the groundwork previously this allows it to be more light hearted without losing its grittiness. The tuneful episode naming massacre is absolutely brilliant in its camerawork and choreography as we slowly pan in to the pretty voiced patron forced into an encore while all manner of bloody killings take place around him. However, once the initial shine has faded over the spectacle the prior problem of direction and meaning returns. As much as we enjoy seeing Graham “Dwalin” MacTavish as this rugged and beaten down former military butcher it comes with painfully little relevance or connection to Jessie and the rest of the show..... until now. The build-up to the reveal may get a bit too trippy for its own good but the climactic scene could not have been done better. Perfectly timed so make viewers connect the dots in a split-second and setup something rather epic for the finale. Preacher, we may have looked at you with a raised eyebrow over this before but now we tip our ten gallon to you.
Although some earlier episodes may have given us a better scene (like that magnificent hotel room fight), this is all round Preacher’s best episode yet that consistently delivers great moments all the way through. Its biggest success is that despite the opening rollercoaster analogy, Finish the Song manages to feel like both a payoff and build-up episode. It both delivers a lot of immediate gratification and reveals some big plot points all while still feeling like its building towards next week’s finale. A finale that may or may not live up to this week’s anticipation but either way, this episode is a blessing.