Preacher Ep. 102 – The Possibilities
After two promising episodes Preacher came back to Earth this week with The Possibilities, a pedestrian episode that featured less of the black humor and gore that marked the start of the series.
Tulip is asked by a woman named Dany to kill her husband. She says no and laments the day she and Jesse parted ways and things “all turned bad”. Dany hands Tulip a piece of paper with an address on it and causes her to drift back into the past. Vengeance is on Tulip’s mind causing the anger that lays hidden beneath her quirky and humorous exterior to cooly ooze to the surface. There’s more to Dany than meets the eye and her clandestine meeting with a stranger dressed in white only adds more intrigue to her earlier meeting with Tulip.
The genie is out of the can so to speak and Fiore and Deblanc get in touch with the local authorities regarding their mission. They meet with Sheriff Root and without giving away any details, request some space in their pursuit of their target. After the beating they received from Cassidy, their resolve is hardened and are well prepared for any “surprises”.
Custer, now aware of his powers, struggles for answers as he comes to grips with them and searches for how he got them in the first place. He wonders about their purpose and his manipulation of Cassidy demonstrates the duality of the dangerous power that resides within him. The contrast between the Cassidy/Custer scene and the one before it involving Tulip and the policeman is an interesting one. Both scenes play off the power of suggestion. While Tulip uses her smarts, charms and a key prop to manipulate the jam she’s in, she’s prepared to do whatever it takes to reach her destination. Custer’s powers of suggestion are more direct, but the manner in which he controls Cassidy and the effect the entity has over him scares him.
The Possibilities explores the fine line between the subtlety and brute force that people employ to get the results they want. Tulips’ interaction with the policeman, her constant attempts to pull Jesse back into the life he once knew, Custer’s new found abilities, Fiore’s and Deblanc’s pursuit of Custer or even Donnie’s kid’s schoolyard retribution are all examples of this.
The Possibilities is not completely devoid of the show’s trademark humor however. Joseph Gilgun continues to be a scene stealer and has several quality moments on screen particularly when Cassidy learns the truth about the angels after they do their “Kenny from South Park” routine. Overall, the episode is enjoyable but it doesn’t reach the heights of Preacher’s previous efforts. While the character development and acting were two of the episode’s strong points, a return to the outrageous would be welcome next week.
