S01.E01: Pilot

[Skyfall]

12 hours ago, AimingforYoko said:

Gilgun is Cassidy, the vampire. Ian Colletti plays Arseface.

OH thought you meant subtitle my bad

9 hours ago, Bruinsfan said:

Not a fan of the Irish, eh?

I have Irish blood in me xD

[halkatla]

I read all the preacher comics 15-17 years ago and loved it. It´s the only comic book I´ve ever read, so it´s very special to me, but I´ve forgotten most of it, except for Arseface of course. I didn´t know they were making a tv show out of it, but it was a great surprise. I didn´t recognize Tulip, didn´t like the way they changed her. Jesse and Cassidy felt like themselves. I wish I had bought the books when they came out, so I could read them again to see what has been changed and what hasn´t.

[Tara Ariano]

In case you missed it, here's the Previously.TV post on the episode!

Should You Attend Preacher's Services?

Every other attempt to adapt this cult comic has been DOA. Is this one any different?

[atomationage]

I've found four Preacher graphic novels at the library, Ancient History, Dixie Fried, Proud Americans, and War in the Sun.  It looks like there is more than one comic book in each graphic novel.

[Starving Writer]

I've read the comics. Multiple times. The comic book series is probably my all-time favorite comic book series ... Ever!

 

Unfortunately, that, combined with the fact I watched this right after that heart breaking episode of "Game of Thrones," made it hard for me to focus on this episode as it was. I had too much feels from GoT, and my head kept on making comparisons with the comic book series. 

 

I need to rewatch this episode and try to judge it on its own merits. It's clearly going in its own path (which it has to ... a direct adaptation would, frankly, be horrible). 

 

One problem is that pretty much all of the good stuff was in the various trailers. So I felt like I had already seen everything. Maybe the second episode will hold my attention better. 

 

I will say, however, that the Custer fight at the bar was awesome. And although I was initially skeptical, Ruth Negga's Tulip won me over. 

 

I'll give the first season a chance. 

[Lamima]

It's okay. Way better than the shit that is Fear TWD. So, I'll take it...for a bit. Jury still out.

I never read the comics so I am going in a blank slate. I found the show to be a cross of Into the Badlands (or someone upthread said Kill Bill, I can see that) and Twilight Zone.

Can't understand Cassidy. The Jesse actor is hot. I enjoyed the Tulip stuff (got the Twilight Zone feel with her scenes as well as the Arseface scenes). I was wondering if Emily was Jesse's sister and found her seeming to crush on him a bit odd if she was his sister...but she's not so I did pick up her pining for him. I liked when Jesse was kicking butt in the bar and they froze on his face for a second to show him slightly smirk...that was awesome. Also awesome was Tom Cruise exploding.

[atomationage]

I just read one of the novels and re-watched the show.  I think it's great, finally a worthy successor to Breaking Bad.  Back when the "Dead" started, I probably thought as highly of Andrew Lincoln as I do of Dominic Cooper now, but I could never get past the first "Dead" episode. 

I didn't mind Joseph Gilgun on a second view.  I always blamed him for what happened to Misfits.  I thought his kicking ass scene was the least believable of the three of them. 

44 minutes ago, Lamima said:

I liked when Jesse was kicking butt in the bar and they froze on his face for a second to show him slightly smirk

I thought it was more than a slight smirk. 

[rozen]

Welp, that was random and hilarious. Cassidy's "grl srsly?" face when one of the pilots doused him in holy water was hilarious. Sucks when your coup de grace turns out to be hogwash!

Wonder how Sarah dealt with the flaming helicopter full of dead bodies once she got home. Is she the end game Mary Sue that Preacher is supposed to work towards? Would be much more fun if murderous psychopaths just accepted they were made for other murderous psychopaths (Tulip!) instead of fifteen seasons of the main character getting only moderately less terrible, calling it a win, and pretending he's capable of having a functional relationship with a normal person.

If the mom's fine with getting her shit pushed in, fine, but how can she have such disregard for her son? Or never bother to explain that this is what she wants, so he wouldn't try to save her and get a whupping? Hope Jesse calls CPS for that kid, he deserves better.

I wonder if that nebbishy guy gutted himself because he interpreted things literally, or because Jesse was fed up with him and that influenced how the order was received? I don't think I'm ever going to be down for Kilgrave-like powers, even for a "good guy". Too dangerous.

Edited May 25, 2016 by rozen

[BruceAE]

Hmm.  I enjoyed the pilot, but not as much as I was hoping.  The comic moved fast in hindsight, moving straight into a road trip/chase scenario.  The TV show is taking its time.

The Arseface scene was great.  Stills of the makeup left me cynical, but it really worked well in the show.

Someone up thread opined that Comic!Tulip had been split into two characters - assassin cliche tough girl Tulip and iPad-smasher.  That kind of makes sense given what I saw, but it is a shame.  Comic!Tulip was probably the character I empathised with the most early on (the botched hit being what won me over).

I guess I have to let the show be its own thing.  At least it's set in Texas, the characters have the right names, and Dominic Coopers Jesse is an improvement over the sometimes 2-d Comic!Jesse.

[ghoulina]

I've never read a comic book in my life, so I'm not familiar at all with the source this is based on. But my BIL is a huge fan of this particular graphic novel, and he told me they were making a show about it and that I should check it out. I generally like to try most things AMC comes out with, since some of my absolute favorite shows air(ed) on this network, so I gave it a go. 

I'm up in the air right now. I think there is some really fine acting and cinematography going on, as well as a very fun soundtrack. I did find this episode to be a bit all over the place, but at the same time, I don't need to have my hand held and everything laid out for me right away. 

I think it's an interesting concept, unlike anything I've ever watched before. So I'll probably stick with it through the whole first season. If anything, the exploding of Tom Cruise has earned them quite a bit of esteem in my eyes. 

[candall]

Well, I semi-watched the pilot 1.5 times and netted nothing but hodge-podge, although it's nice there's enough budget for quality production values and decent soundtrack material. 

The only people who seem really enthralled, however, are the ones who feel affection for the source material--so I have to wonder if another viewing with closer focus, plus sieving for grist from Hardwick's aftershow, scouring pages of posts and searching for annotated recap clues will pay off in the end. 

Into the Badlands may have left me skittish, but tell me again . . .how many times have they tried to make this story fly?

[1TrackMind]

When Tulip was talking to Jesse in the car, and had that baseball cap on, my brain went "wow, Ruth Negga could play an adult Clementine( Telltales the walking dead games)" anyone else see it?

[MrWhyt]

On 5/24/2016 at 2:01 PM, atomationage said:

I've found four Preacher graphic novels at the library, Ancient History, Dixie Fried, Proud Americans, and War in the Sun.  It looks like there is more than one comic book in each graphic novel.

what you found are technically trade paperbacks, collections of the monthly comic issues.

[formerlyfreedom]

Just a reminder, any comic talk should go over in The Gospel: Preacher Comicbook Talk. Thank you!

[Sandman87]

I can remember seeing the comics in my local shop and just barely deciding not to get them (I was spending too much on comics already). I regret it now, because the episode has impressed me immensely. The whole thing had a No Country for Old Men feel to it, but with sufficient comic relief thrown in to keep things from getting depressing.

Dominic Cooper looks like Commander Riker's little brother.

Tulip is better when she's not talking. Kicking butt, yes. Doing cheap pop psycho-philosophy, no.

Cassidy is already my favorite TV vampire after only one episode. The bit with him tapping the airplane pilot like a blood keg was the second funniest thing I've seen on the tube all week. The funniest was, of course, Exploding Tom Cruise.

A big thumbs-up to whoever selected the music for the episode.

You could see the "open your heart" result coming from a mile away. Not that that's a bad thing, mind you.

[meep.meep]

Very very little brother.....

How'd that guy get on a plane with a bowie knife under his shirt?

I liked the music too.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

1 hour ago, meep.meep said:

How'd that guy get on a plane with a bowie knife under his shirt?

He didn't.  It wasn't obvious, but when he got to the nursing home, he first went over to a table with food, and I believe that's where he picked up the knife.  I guess he would have found something else to use if the knife hadn't been there.

For what it's worth, he didn't exactly "open his heart" to his mother. He opened his chest and plucked out his heart. Still, it made for a great visual.

[walnutqueen]

On 5/28/2016 at 0:21 PM, candall said:

Well, I semi-watched the pilot 1.5 times and netted nothing but hodge-podge, although it's nice there's enough budget for quality production values and decent soundtrack material. 

The only people who seem really enthralled, however, are the ones who feel affection for the source material--so I have to wonder if another viewing with closer focus, plus sieving for grist from Hardwick's aftershow, scouring pages of posts and searching for annotated recap clues will pay off in the end. 

Into the Badlands may have left me skittish, but tell me again . . .how many times have they tried to make this story fly?

I was totally enthralled, and never read comics.  I'm all in.

[SnarkyTart]

7 hours ago, walnutqueen said:

I was totally enthralled, and never read comics.  I'm all in.

Is there more room on that boat? 

There are so very few recent TV series that I find watchable these days, and it was a huge pleasure (and surprise!) to stumble across this pilot episode.  I was completely unfamiliar with the comics and thoroughly enjoyed this show. 

Now I may be able to forgive AMC for the offensively stupid Fear the Walking Dead.  

[Morgan of Hed]

Yup, never even heard of the comics and I'm in. 

[metalchik]

I'm another one that doesn't read comics and have never heard of this.  I liked it and am interested to see where it goes.

Can someone explain the Arsehead/Assface guy?  Did he do something to look like that?  Is this something we will find out in the future?

[formerlyfreedom]

@metalchik, you might want to head over to the comicbook topic to ask that - it's not been in the show yet.

[ganesh]

Kind of weird to premiere the show and then take a week off though, no?

[bilgistic]

I call bullshit on that. I was ready for a new show on the day before my day off. I'm mad at you, AMC!

[NorthstarATL]

I remember when the comic debuted, and it seemed to be really popular, but, as with The Walking Dead, I couldn't stand the art, and gave it a pass. Now, with a void on Sunday nights, I decided to give the live action version a shot, liking Dominic Cooper well enough, but hating Joseph Gilgun enough from "Misfits" to almost pass this up as well. It was okay, I guess. I can see why the comic was popular back when it came out, because a lot of the content probably seemed edgy/new when it came out. But not so much now. Nothing seemed particularly fresh, except that the action scenes were well-staged. I'll give it another shot, though, since this was setup.

[Giselle]

On ‎5‎/‎28‎/‎2016 at 0:21 PM, candall said:

Well, I semi-watched the pilot 1.5 times and netted nothing but hodge-podge, although it's nice there's enough budget for quality production values and decent soundtrack material. 

The only people who seem really enthralled, however, are the ones who feel affection for the source material--so I have to wonder if another viewing with closer focus, plus sieving for grist from Hardwick's aftershow, scouring pages of posts and searching for annotated recap clues will pay off in the end. 

Into the Badlands may have left me skittish, but tell me again . . .how many times have they tried to make this story fly?

I've never read the comics but was enthralled and became more so as it went along the African preacher, the bovine kiss, Tom Cruise pink mist, when I heard the bloody wedding band bit... Good God! I thought "Holy hell what will they do or say next."

[Muffyn]

On 5/22/2016 at 10:50 PM, thuganomics85 said:

So, judging from Brian Huskey's fate, did Jesse get some kind of power where people will do what he says, but they take it literally or something? I had no idea what to make of all that, and why he didn't combust like those other preachers (and Tom Cruise!) did.

With no prior knowledge, I am fanwanking that he did not explode because he saw himself as having gained more desire to try to spread the word of god.  The African preacher thought he became god.  I can assume Tom Cruise might also interpret his changed status that way.  If we take a "no god but god" approach, then people given the power who interpret it wrong and elevate themselves are most likely to use the power wrong, so they must be destroyed/exploded.  

I enjoyed this pilot.  I too had no prior knowledge which can help.  I can take it as a show without trying to compare it to source material.  It's different.  That's worth a lot to me. 

[Giselle]

1 hour ago, Muffyn said:

With no prior knowledge, I am fanwanking that he did not explode because he saw himself as having gained more desire to try to spread the word of god.  The African preacher thought he became god.  I can assume Tom Cruise might also interpret his changed status that way.  If we take a "no god but god" approach, then people given the power who interpret it wrong and elevate themselves are most likely to use the power wrong, so they must be destroyed/exploded.  

I enjoyed this pilot.  I too had no prior knowledge which can help.  I can take it as a show without trying to compare it to source material.  It's different.  That's worth a lot to me. 

Tom Cruise thinks he is God. Xenu might think different.

[Captanne]

A fan of this sort of genre, I am reminded of Banshee (four seasons on Cinemax.)  I enjoyed Banshee but was bored by the pilot of Preacher.  I kept thinking, "There has to be a plot here, somewhere.  Maybe it will happen in the next episode?"

So, my three episode rule stands.  I'll watch two more and if it can't come up with a plot, I'm out.

[maczero]

On 6/1/2016 at 8:10 AM, NorthstarATL said:

I remember when the comic debuted, and it seemed to be really popular, but, as with The Walking Dead, I couldn't stand the art, and gave it a pass. 

Was Dillon the artist?  His work turns me off too.  All his characters have gapped teeth and large dead eyes?  

[NorthstarATL]

1 hour ago, maczero said:

Was Dillon the artist?  His work turns me off too.  All his characters have gapped teeth and large dead eyes?  

I'd have to look it up. The ads were running in other books at the time, so you had an idea of what the series looked like.

[Mojeaux]

I’m part of the “never read the comic and am totes on board” brigade. Mr. Mojeaux is going along with it for now, although it’s a bit too out there for his taste. It’s just too over-the-top bizarre for me to resist.

[PatternRec]

On 6/8/2016 at 8:16 AM, maczero said:

Was Dillon the artist?  His work turns me off too.  All his characters have gapped teeth and large dead eyes?  

Yeah Steve Dillon did the entire run, with the exception of some miniseries that were all back story stuff. 

[snowblossom2]

Just watched the pilot and read the recap. Not having seen the second episode yet, my understanding of the wife saying she liked the abuse/BDSM was a lie because when you see Jesse mention telling the sheriff, she looks nervous and that's when she says it. She didn't / was fearful of reporting the abuse to the authoritie

[wayne67]

Wasn't a fan of Tulip or those kids gleefully participating in mass murder. 

Oh well. I'm sticking with it to see what happens with the vampire. 

[Ubiquitous]

I finally caught this on demand last night. I never read the comic but I am on the fence. I found myself getting bored; enjoyed Tulip's "arts and crafts project" with the children and Jesse's bar fight; and felt queasy when Jesse visited SphincterFace. I kinda liked Cassidy but have no idea what was going on with him nor could I understand what he said, so I assume I missed the reason he went berserk on that private jet.

On ‎5‎/‎23‎/‎2016 at 1:50 AM, thuganomics85 said:

So, judging from Brian Huskey's fate, did Jesse get some kind of power where people will do what he says, but they take it literally or something? I had no idea what to make of all that, and why he didn't combust like those other preachers (and Tom Cruise!) did.

I assumed Brian took his advice a bit too literal (heh) and the previous people exploded b/c they weren't right. It reminded me of Angels and Demons possessing people on Supernatural. Some people just aren't measnt to be hosts.

 

On ‎6‎/‎20‎/‎2016 at 10:55 PM, snowblossom2 said:

Just watched the pilot and read the recap. Not having seen the second episode yet, my understanding of the wife saying she liked the abuse/BDSM was a lie because when you see Jesse mention telling the sheriff, she looks nervous and that's when she says it. She didn't / was fearful of reporting the abuse to the authorities

That did not occur to me.