Producer: AMC
Writers: Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Sam Catlin
Directors: Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg
Featuring: Dominic Cooper, Joe Gilgun, Ruth Negga, Lucy Griffiths, Ian Colletti
ReleaseDate: OUT NOW!

Preacher Episode 1 Pilot feels as if Justified was written by Stephen King, but not quite hitting that high watermark. The show continually toes a line, sometimes going too far, occasionally vacillating between poetic subtlety and noisy obviousness. But for directors Seth Rogan and Evan Goldberg that may be all you can expect, especially given the original DC comic book source material.

In Preacher Episode 1 Pilot, spiritually lost and emotionally scarred roughneck Preacher Jesse Custer (Dominic Cooper) returns to Anvil, Texas, but has little enthusiasm for his job or the townsfolk. Meanwhile, a supernatural energy (from God?) is seeking a host and finally settles on Jesse. Preacher, who already fights like a brutal James Bond on meth, gains the power to make people obey his words, but he doesn’t know that yet.

Along the way, we meet charming rogue vampire Cassidy (Joe Gilgun) and femme fatale Tulip O’Hare (Ruth Negga), who has the episode’s best scenes. When she demands he join her on a heist Jesse asks, “Or what?” “Or something,” she says, in a way that definitely means something.

Even audiences desensitized to graphic bloodletting thanks to The Walking Dead and its ilk may find watching a man cut out his own heart to be excessive. But the context of Preacher Episode 1 is nothing but excessive. When Jesse visits the horribly disfigured Eugene Root (called “Arseface” in the comics) the camera gets close enough to see pores and lingers, daring the viewer to deal with it.

Overall Preacher Episode 1 is entertaining and there’s still plenty to see and a lot of the dialogue hits home. The mystery over Jesse’s power is enticing, there’s at least one honestly suspenseful moment in the creepy church, the fight scene is well-choreographed and production values are decent.

And that, in the end, is enough to keep you watching Preacher Episode 1 Pilot.

 

Reviewer: Joe Lovece
Reviews Editor: Steve Hooker