The first episode of Preacher was on BBC Two the other night. Did anybody else see it? Like most people I read the comics back in the day, but you know how it is: I loved them so much at the time I’d no doubt think they were dead lame now. So I haven’t gone back. Even so, I was interested to see the show, which I thought was…
Really good!
For anybody not familiar with the plot of Preacher, it’s about a Preacher. To say much more would be to give shit away, and besides the first episode (sorry, ‘pilot’) didn’t go much further than that anyway. Okay, it goes a bit further. There’s this Preacher (Dominic Cooper) suffering a crisis of conscience which has in turn precipitated a crisis of faith. Or it might be the other way around. He has an ex-girlfriend, Tulip (alert: best character in the show) who is a kickass assassin. Maybe he used to be an assassin too. I don’t remember that from the comics (just his terrible haircut and constant smoking), and the pilot didn’t make it totally clear.
ANYWAY. So there’s those two, plus an Irish vampire guy played by Joe Gilgun, who also played Woody in This Is Ireland ’92. Cassidy’s just sort of ‘in the mix’ at the moment. A bit of comic relief. Most importantly is a kind of extraterrestrial force that finds a host, explodes and then moves on. Where it ends up is kinda important so I won’t spoil it by saying.
So that’s the plot, but what’s it like? Well, tonally uneven, it comes like a cross between Carnivale, Utopia and Twin Peaks, which although they’re fine reference points isn’t necessarily a good thing because it never quite nails a style all its own. I was particularly unimpressed by Cassidy’s entrance, which felt like something Matthew Vaughn might direct – and not the good, Kick Ass Matthew Vaughn, either, but the smug, blokey Kingsman Matthew Vaughn.
Tell you what, though, I never stopped being not-bored. Never for a second did I consider flipping open the old laptop. Preacher while flawed is eager to please and constantly entertaining. I’m feeling good about the next episode, which I gather is on BBC Two on June 6.
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BBC Two? It’s on Amazon prime.
I quite liked it. The characters were spot on but i’m worried they are going to keep it in the town all season when Preacher should be a road movie.
No wonder I couldn’t find it on iPlayer ?
Sorry!
I started watching it, but fell asleep.
Whether that was due to it not being very good or that I was overly tired I couldn’t say. I will try and finish it and give a more considered verdict.
Well it SOUNDS amazing. Will give it a go. Have a huge secret crush on Joe Gilgun anyhow. (Ooops!)
My wife and eldest daughter liked it a lot. I’m a delicate flower and found its high gore level off putting.
Yes!
Normally, I love a bit of violence. Irréversible, bring it on. But in Preacher I felt it was a bit try-hard.
Preacher, while being incredibly daft, and not a little too juvenile, is still one of my favourite comics from that era. Not sure about Cooper as Jesse, don’t think he swaggers enough in other things I’ve seen him in. What’s he like in this?
Likesay above, I don’t remember the comics that well, but from what I recall they pick up ‘on the road’, with Jesse somewhat reconciled to his true nature.
Not so here. We’re still in town, and in this iteration Jesse’s crisis of faith and desire to change is wrestling with a gift for mayhem and a tendency to see violence as a quick-fix solution. In that respect, Cooper is excellent. Physically he looks as though he can handle himself and he projects enough of a wounded inner hurt that they don’t need to rely on obvious character crutches like being a boozer or crying over old photographs.
Also, his Texan accent is better than Andrew Lincoln in The Walking Dead.