By: Jaclyn Cascio (@jaclynator)
This week, Preacher dropped the gore in favor of exploring all the feels. Read on for a review of this week’s episode to find out if the exploration was worth it!
The cold open of “Holes” wasn’t as confusing as the past few episodes have been. Instead, we finally touched base with hell again to check on Eugene (Ian Colletti). The plot is certainly thickening in the fiery pit of damnation, with the hell-runners learning that they have a stowaway in their midst. For the sake of survival, Eugene has been trying to blend in, but it’s clear that no matter what he does, his heart is still innocent. Seeing Eugene is always a treat as his kindness constantly serves as a direct contrast with the morally ambiguous shenanigans of the God-hunting trio. His adventures in hell seem to have little relevance to the story of Preacher, however. Perhaps Hitler’s (Noah Taylor) talk about escape will eventually bring the stories back together. Even a tenuous tie would be enough to build cohesion within the story, and while this week did not provide that tie, we can hope that unity will be the order of the day before the sophomore season of Preacher is over.
While Eugene continues to marinate in hell, Tulip (Ruth Negga) has been experiencing her own living hell on Earth, as the trauma of her near-death experience with the Saint of Killers (Graham McTavish) continues to haunt her. She’s managed to shut herself off from everyone else, suffering in silence. This week, she made some home repairs that might be symbolically healing, even if lacking in excitement. Her personal therapy brought her face-to-face with the white-suited organization with an interest in Genesis, promising some future pay-off. Exposing the more emotional side of the typically tough Tulip adds depth to her character, but brooding is only interesting for so long – I’m crossing my fingers that her pain will translate into something wacky in the future!
While the emotional journey of Tulip may soon become tedious, and Jesse’s (Dominic Cooper) single-minded search for God has yielded nothing of interest since the team’s initial arrival in New Orleans, Cassidy (Joseph Gilgun) has a dilemma of his own. His son, Denis (Ronald Guttman), is actively dying and has only requested that Cassidy give him eternal life as a blood-sucking supernatural being. Torn between saving his son and potentially damning him, Cassidy has a big decision with many possible unforeseen consequences, making his current trial the most interesting of the three main characters. Add in a callback to season one and the mysterious voice (of Seamus) on the other end of the line, and the enigma of Cassidy only gets more and more interesting! With more than one lifetime of backstory under his belt, Cassidy could easily be the most interesting character of Preacher, but we are often denied the privilege of knowing more. This week, “Holes” at least gave us tiny glimpses into his past and his emotional state. Just a taste is better than nothing at all, and even the tease this week was enough to keep me coming back for more of the crazy vampire!
While emotions ran high, more than one cast member sang a tune, making “Holes” a strangely musical episode of Preacher. Without any action, blood and gore, or strange montages, the music may have been the only ode to weird to be found in this week’s episode. While exploring the sentimental side of the characters adds depth to them, without the off-kilter black humor we’ve come to expect of the show, the episode didn’t quite feel like it was 100% Preacher. Truth be told, “Holes” is far from the strongest episode of the season. Taking a break from arterial blood sprays and strange conversations about foreskins is an understandable choice, but taking the cast of Preacher too close to normal is an unfortunate flaw of this week’s episode. A little strange can go a long way!
The emotional content of this week was an interesting turn for Preacher, and may help the audience relate to the characters as they go through extraordinary circumstances, but “Holes” was lacking in the oddball humor that has become the hallmark of the series. The show has never been one to take itself too seriously, so we can only hope that next week will throw in some of the eccentricity that makes it great!
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via The Nerd Machine
http://www.nerdhq.com/preacher-holes-review/
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