The Coffin: I really like where this season is going.
The newest episode of Preacher — entitled “The Coffin” — continues to impress, as this show is finally digging into more and more of the weird corners that make it so unique. And, hey, Humperdoo’s soft-shoe routine was pretty cool too.
Last week had a special emphasis on the Saint of Killers but, this week, it’s the Grail we’re spending more time with.
Herr Starr is basically in panic mode. Since Jesse rejected him twice now, he’s had no choice but to back Humpderdoo as the new Messiah — a completely pointless endeavor as they’ve been prepping him for weeks and he hasn’t learned a thing.
Scratch that, he can do one thing really well — tap dancing.
The Pope (at least, I think it’s the Pope, played by Jonny Coyne) calls Starr to check in with how Humperdoo is coming along. Given that the song-and-dance routine is about the only thing Humperdoo, he figures he might as well show him.
The Pope, somehow, is impressed — even though it doesn’t soothe Starr’s worries. He’s had enough of Humperdoo and needs a new way to bring Jesse into the business. And, lucky for him, Laura Featherstone has an idea.
More on that later, but let’s first take a trip back to Angelville.
JC and Jody have learned that Cassidy, once again, has escaped. This time, they aren’t buying any kind of excuses — they know who’s responsible, and they’re ready to make them pay.
Thus ensues one of the greatest scenes of the season yet, I think, as there’s an outrageous four-way fight montage between JC, Jody, Tulip and Jesse in a bedroom, set to the tune of “Werewolves of London.”
While Tulip eventually gets the upper hand on everyone, she’s sabotaged by Gran’ma and her Voodoo magic, which then forces her to surrender.
Now, Gran’ma is mad. Cassidy has escaped, Tulip is anything but grateful to her for saving her life and Jesse is trying to backstab her every opportunity she gets. She’s not letting this one go.
Jesse gets sent to the under-water coffin that he was always placed in as a child — because Jesse is obviously family. Mad as she might be, she’s not going to kill him or anything like that.
Tulip, on the other hand, is fair game. For the time being, they lock her up in Jesse’s bedroom so that JC and Gran’ma can figure out what they want to do with her, while Jody keeps watch.
There’s a pretty weird, slightly uncomfortable scene between JC and Gran’ma as they try to unwind a bit and get caught up in some weird fantasy game (Preacher is always weird — which is good — but when they try to go too far off the beaten path to be weird just for shock-value and not story, it can get annoying), but Gran’ma eventually just decides to screw it. She’s just going to take Tulip’s soul, even if it makes Jesse mad.
Good thing Tulip is smarter than all of them. She’s managed to secretly chain Jody up in the locks she was being kept in, so that when JC comes to get her, she quickly knocks her unconscious and heads downstairs.
Gran’ma is waiting for her. After a long, cold and hard stare between the two of them, they spot the knife on the table at the exact same time.
They both lunge. Another fist-fight ensues (there’s no cool music this time) as they’re battling for their lives — a much more climatic moment than I was expecting this early on in this season.
Once again, Tulip comes out on top. She doesn’t actually stab Gran’ma, but she is able to suffocate her to the point where she’s seemingly dead.
One problem that Tulip didn’t know about: she’s been cursed. Upon Gran’ma’s heart stopping, Tulip’s heart also instantly stops. Now they’re both lying there dead — which triggers another visit by God, who’s stopped by to remind Tulip that she’s always losing.
Luckily, Jesse managed to escape the coffin he was trapped in with some quick-thinking and extra cigarettes. He comes flying in and, upon seeing the mess, immediately starts trying to revive Gran’ma. Jody and JC soon enter and tell him that the only way that’s going to work is if he revives Gran’ma — apparently they knew about the curse.
They give Gran’ma some adrenaline, which brings them both back — but not for long. Gran’ma is weak after all that and, according to JC, there’s only one thing that will make her strong again: a soul.
Their bit in the episode ends on a comedic note, as they all stand-up to begin fighting again, with the loser being the one who apparently has to sacrifice their soul. Something tells me it won’t actually be any of the four though, as they’re all main characters, and they’ll find a fifth-party member to make the sacrifice.
Cassidy is absent through all of this. Now that he’s alone and bored, he reverts back to heavy drinking and elephant tranquilizers as there’s nothing better to do. Even a vampire dating app doesn’t do much for him, as everyone on it seems to just be ‘wannabe’ vampires.
Yet, one night, when he’s nearly passed out at the bar, something weird happens. The Grail comes in and gives him cue-cards to read. These cue-cards say that Cassidy has been kidnapped and that the only way he’ll be set free is if Jesse agrees to be the Messiah — this is the plan that Featherstone came up with.
Then something even weirder happens. A bunch of people in dark hoods come flying in, knock the Grail unconscious and take Cassidy. Who knows if the Grail was bluffing on their kidnapping threats, but now Cassidy is actually in real trouble.
Or is he? He’s taken to a secret location, where one of his kidnappers takes off her hood and reveals herself to be Lisa (Lucy Faust) — the person he went on a vampire Tinder date earlier in the episode.
We then learn that Cassidy’s abductors are none other than Les Enfants du Sang — which, if the show sticks closely to the comics, is a group of vampire enthusiasts who worship a different vampire by the name of Eccarius.
Not quite sure what that all means yet, but I’ve always found it weird how Cassidy was the only vampire in Preacher. Now that the show is really continuing to build and add more into this world, that might be about to change.
Mostly, I’m just really impressed with how everything is coming along this season. Season two of Preacher felt so long and stretched out, but we’re expanding quickly in Preacher season three, which is great.
Tune into AMC tonight for the next episode of Preacher, and check out our other Preacher recaps by clicking here!
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