Preacher Reaches Its Comic Beginnings in the Season Finale, “Call and Response”

All season, AMC’s Preacher has been doing the unexpected by delivering the backstory for its characters that was never really a major part of the comic series that it’s adapting. Things have been slowly building and building toward an explosive climax, and that climax finally came in the huge first season finale, “Call and Response.”

Kicking things off, the episode opens with some shots of Annville (and, man, how perfect has the soundtrack for Preacher been all season??) as the town prepares for God to come to town as Jesse is still being hunted by the police. The preacher has promised the town that God will actually be present in their quaint little town, and everyone around begins preparing for the moment (“Better safe than sorry,” one citizen tells Tulip). Tulip starts tracking down her boyfriend (eventually finding him), while Sheriff Root locks up Cassidy in an attempt to find out where Eugene is. He knows full well that Cassidy is privy to Eugene’s current location, and he tries to use Cassidy’s arrest record to his advantage in order to convince Cassidy to spill the beans. From what I can remember, this is the first time the sheriff and Cassidy have shared a scene together (it’s at least the most extended one so far), and it’s unexpectedly wonderfully getting to see so much buildup lead to a moment like this.

Tulip and Jesse, after she gets over the shock of his current whereabouts, have a wonderful conversation about their relationship that leads to the conclusion of Tulip’s quest to get revenge on Carlos, and it features a great flashback that details exactly why she has it in for the man (as well as, once again, giving us a look at Jesse’s comic-accurate longer hairstyle). This flashback isn’t entirely necessary to the plot (we could have assumed as much based on what we’ve been shown before), but it adds on more layers to Jesse and Tulip’s relationship that’s welcome on the series. One moment in the flashback in particular does so much for these two characters’ backstory that I can’t believe I didn’t anticipate it before.

Needless to say, Tulip is not at all about Jesse’s plan for Annville. The expression of this comes through one of the absolute best scenes on the series so far as Jesse and Tulip lay everything out on the table. Ruth Negga gives an dominating performance (rivaling her scene from a few episodes back between her and Emily), and the emotion and history between the two is perfectly captured and put on display. We also get a great moment of the show’s trademark dark comedy, and I continue to be impressed by how likable Dominic Cooper makes the incredibly flawed character of Jesse Custer.

Speaking to Preacher‘s dark comedy, the scene in which the preparations for the service take place is so perfect. I actually can’t believe how enjoyable the setup ends up being. Afterward, we get the big part of the episode — the thing that the entire season has been leading toward. I’m not going to talk about it at all because I don’t want to ruin a single second for anyone that hasn’t seen it yet, but wow. The wait was worth it. Despite the criticism that the series wasn’t really matching up with the comic (something that I can’t speak to since I haven’t read the source material), the conclusion to the season justified every moment of backstory that we’ve sat through (which, again, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed).

The conclusion to “Call and Response” essentially wipes the slate clean, and it completely sets up the series to sync up more with the source material. The next season of Preacher is clearly going to be a complete departure from what was, more or less, a prequel to the main story, and I absolutely can’t wait to see what happens next. Season two can’t come soon enough, y’all.

What did you think about Preacher‘s first season finale? Are you looking forward to the show’s return in 2017? Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below!

[Photo Credit: AMC]