As we enter the back half of Preacher, things slow down as Jesse, Tulip, and Cassidy deal with personal issues. We also meet that go-getter Herr Starr. Here’s our recap of “Pig”!
After the events of “Sokosha” the group is trying to put the pieces back together from their encounter with the Saint of Killers. In “Pig”, the story focuses a lot of individual character issues and tensions while we get background about Herr Starr and The Grail mixed throughout.
So, what’s happening with Jesse, Tulip, and Cassidy?
The short answer? Inner-turmoil and angst. (You saw Jesse’s reaction to Tulip and Cassidy’s “good luck” kiss in the Hurt Locker. Be still my shipper heart.)
The long answer? Grab some tea and let’s break this down…
Jesse
The man gave up 1% of his soul, and he’s obviously having some seller’s remorse at this point. Not that he wanted Tulip, Cassidy or Denis to die, but he gave up something very precious. Jesse, for all his darkness, does hold Christian beliefs. That piece of his soul is important, so much so that he won’t send the Saint of Killers to Heaven OR Hell because he’ll be getting in on Jesse’s dime.
During this episode, Jesse has a heart-to-heart with a man yelling about the end of the world from his street corner post. He wants to feel like he did the right thing by giving up a tiny bit of his soul, but the man doesn’t have anything to boost Jesse’s spirits.
“I would tell your parishioner that if he wants to help his friends, he should give a kidney. And if you’re looking for signs of the apocalypse, I would start with men selling off their souls.”
We’ll have to wait and see what Jesse will do now, but with Herr Starr coming to New Orleans, he’ll need to snap it into gear quick. I seriously doubt that Starr will come without some high quality, noise cancelling headphones.
Tulip
After her near death encounter last week with the Saint of Killers, Tulip is proving to be a little more reckless than normal and experiencing horrible nightmares.
Since she doesn’t like feeling out of control, and that moment when the Saint of Killers had her by the throat, showed her just how out-of-control she is in that situation. So what is a badass assassin to do? Well, you go get shot at by some crazy dudes that think it’s a game to shoot people in bulletproof vests for money.
There’s also the issue of her relationship with Jesse. It’s strained to say the least. He’s wrapped up in finding God and his jealousy over Tulip having a life outside of him, and Tulip is getting fed up with his closed-off demeanor. They’re going to have to ‘come to Jesus’ conversation soon, or it will remain obvious why they’re not good together.
I’ll be real honest. I feel like Tulip deserves better than Jesse right now…that may be my Cassidy/Tulip shipper coming out, though.
P.S. Jesse didn’t tell her the truth about where the Saint of Killers is and totally brushed off her concerns about things not feeling right after their encounter with the Saint of Killers.
Cassidy
After confessing that Denis is his son to Tulip last week, we see him try and make the deadbeat dad effort. He buys Denis a Playstation and new T.V., he takes him out to bars with them, he tries speaking to him even though he doesn’t understand French.
With the help of a Tulane professor in “Pig”, we find out what Denis has been trying to tell Cassidy.
He’s dying.
“Congestive heart disease. He’s been telling you that you’ve been an awful, selfish, absent father. He keeps repeating that there’s something you can do that would make it all up to him.”
“Yeah? What is it? I’ll do anything.”
“He says that he wants to live forever and he thinks that you can help him do that.”
“No! Absolutely not. Do you hear me? No.”
When Denis leaves the bar, the professor tells him:
“Then, he said, he will die hating you.”
“Yeah, most people do.”
It’s a true father/son moment, but for a far more intense request.
Cassidy has a hard road in front of him when it comes to Denis.
The Group
It’s pretty apparent from this episode that they won’t be able to fight against Herr Starr unless they come together. Right now, they’re very divided and each facing a different problem of their own.
What will probably bring them back together is Herr Starr and fighting him when he gets to New Orleans. The only issue with that is how do you fight a man like Starr? One who has no limits and will do whatever he feels is necessary to solve the problem?
Finally, who the hell is Herr Starr?
A good portion of the episode is background about Starr and how he become who he is and what exactly it is that he does for The Grail.
Starr was chosen to participate in an “open call” sort of for The Grail as they looked for a new member. He is dry and no-nonsense and literally beat everyone at every challenge without even blinking.
On the last challenge, shooting a target to prove you’re a decent shot, Starr wasted no time in shooting his opponent in the head…right after the guy told him good luck.
That’s when Starr got brought in and told about The Grail, and let’s be real, he was hoping for something a little darker.
“For over 2000 years, this organization has been at the very heart of world affairs. What do you think is the source of our enduring power?
“I would imagine a combination of economic influence and sexual blackmail.”
“Some, of course, but the true inspiration of our authority is Christ. You seem disappointed.”
“I was hoping for something more in the vein of atomic warfare not myths and legends.”
“This is no myth. Christ lives on.”
“Yes, yes, he lives in our hearts.”
“No, Herr Starr. Christ lives in a top secret location guarded by machine guns.”
“Does he?”
“Yes, you see, before he sacrificed himself for our sins, our Lord gave a final gift to humanity. He fathered a child. For generations The Grail has protected this holy lineage in preparation for one event–the end of the world.”
After his speech, they go out to the balcony for a drink, and Starr promptly pushes his superior over and takes his seat inside with the picture of Christ behind him.
Starr is a major asset to The Grail and leader of the Samson Unit, which is responsible for getting rid of all false Gods. During this episode, he was sent to Vietnam when a pig started floating the locals (and tourists) got whipped up into a frenzy.
He poisoned the water and the media blamed that on making the pig float as well as killing all the people in the village. Starr doesn’t care about taking human life, and now he’s on his way to New Orleans to deal with the preacher.
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On the next episode, “Holes”, Jesse finds a way into Grail Enterprises and it looks like something terrible has happened to Denis. Also, we visit Eugene in Hell again…
Preacher airs Mondays on AMC at 9/8c.
