S01.E09: Finish the Song

[formerlyfreedom]

Jesse's in the wind while those close to him face life-changing decisions; the Cowboy comes back to Ratwater seeking his revenge.

[AimingforYoko]

Damn, Emily. Miles was a persistent asshole but that was [Rick James]Coooooooold Bloooooooded.[/Rick James] Funny how Jesse seems to be finding his humanity when all around him were losing theirs.

[Lantern7]

"HELL"

Thanks, show, but I think more than half the audience could have pieced that together.

Good episode. I probably should be following the show closer . . . who was the "basket case" in the tub that Hugo mercy-killed?

I guess you can't go to aitch-ee-double-hockey-sticks with an online travel agency. Good to know. Kinda reminded me of the DMV from Reaper.

[peridot]

Damn, that town is full of screwed up people.  Emily didn't even care that Jesse was going to see what she had done.
I'm glad that Jesse and Cassidy made up though.

I laughed when Fiore didn't even hesitate when the travel agent wanted him for 20 minutes. 

I'm glad the show is finally getting interesting.
 

6 minutes ago, Lantern7 said:

"HELL"

Thanks, show, but I think more than half the audience could have pieced that together.

Good episode. I probably should be following the show closer . . . who was the "basket case" in the tub that Hugo mercy-killed?

I guess you can't go to aitch-ee-double-hockey-sticks with an online travel agency. Good to know. Kinda reminded me of the DMV from Reaper.

The woman in the tub was the Angel that Jesse, the Angels, and Cassidy took down.

[AimingforYoko]

3 minutes ago, peridot said:

Damn, that town is full of screwed up people.  Emily didn't even care that Jesse was going to see what she had done.
I'm glad that Jesse and Cassidy made up though.

I laughed when Fiore didn't even hesitate when the travel agent wanted him for 20 minutes. 

I'm glad the show is finally getting interesting.
 

The woman in the tub was the Angel that Jesse, the Angels, and Cassidy took down.

Yeah, that was the Seraphim. She was there for Fiore and DeBlanc.

[SoSueMe]

Once I figured out it was Hell, I was looking for Eugene....

15 minutes ago, Lantern7 said:

"HELL"

Thanks, show, but I think more than half the audience could have pieced that together.

Good episode. I probably should be following the show closer . . . who was the "basket case" in the tub that Hugo mercy-killed?

I guess you can't go to aitch-ee-double-hockey-sticks with an online travel agency. Good to know. Kinda reminded me of the DMV from Reaper.

Ahhh, someone besides me watched Reaper :)

[tennisgurl]

That was, yet again, pretty weird. Thank GOD we finally seem to be getting closer to some kind of point to that awful episode of Deadwood AKA those Old West flashbacks. So all these flashbacks have been this guy in hell? Or they started as flashbacks, then when they started fast forwarding and rewinding, and all that was hell? Whatever, show, lets just get closer to that point I mentioned earlier. 

Damn Emily. That was harsh. I mean, yeah that guy was pushy and kind of a jerk, but feeding him to a starved Cassidy? Then not really seeming to give a crap? That is pretty intense Em. There wasn't a blood bank or a butchers shop you could have stopped by? 

Everyone on this show is five kinds of fucked up. At least Jessie seems to be getting his act together at least. I really liked him making up with Cassidy, even if it was while Cassidy was covered in the mayors blood. 

I always like the Celestial Bureaucracy stuff, so I enjoyed everything with the Angel Duo attempting to get into hell via the DMV to hell. I hope we get more mythology soon, because this seems like an interesting take on celestial mythology. And maybe have some more stuff happen? Lets get this show on the road!

[pezgirl7]

16 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

Damn Emily. That was harsh. I mean, yeah that guy was pushy and kind of a jerk, but feeding him to a starved Cassidy? Then not really seeming to give a crap? That is pretty intense Em. There wasn't a blood bank or a butchers shop you could have stopped by?

Tulip said she tried that but Cassidy wasn't healing, that's why she was using live animals. That's pretty much what I thought in the last episode when Tulip fed him the dog. I thought it was pretty harsh of Emily to basically have a hand in the mayor's murder, and not care. Although Cassidy and Jesse didn't seem too upset about it either.

This episode was very graphic. Between the slaughter in the saloon, Cassidy looking all gross, and the Seraph in the bathtub, I was glad The Walking Dead has desensitized me!

People in Hell seem to be living through their own personal hell, so I wonder what Eugene's is? Is he reliving the rejection and the shooting over and over?

[johntfs]

Figure Jesse and Tulip are the big romance, but I hold out hope for Emily and Cassidy.  After all, she already made him dinner...

[Sandman87]

Ratwater undergoes a sudden unexpected population decrease courtesy of the 1881 cowboy, who's been stuck in a Groundhog Day hell there. I'm a little unclear on whose heads those were that he tossed on the floor before he opened fire. And whatever model of gun he favors appears to be able to fire about 20 shots without a reload, unless he had a few more guns than just the two. And nice fake-out on the episode title.

What kind of commission would a travel agent earn booking trips to Hell under the table? Probably at least double the normal rate. Wonder what the bus driver gets paid too. Must be some sort of world-wide underground supernatural economy here, because if a nowhere town like this one can make the connection, then pretty much any town must be able to.

Emily gets two birds with one stone! No more slimeball mayor trying to use his position of power to force his way into her life, and Cassidy gets to heal. Seems appropriate that a scene from Psycho is what inspired her. She doesn't seem overly concerned about the vampire thing, or that Jesse knows what she did.

[Lantern7]

Forgot to mention this last night . . . anybody else expect the editors to slip in clips of Peter Capaldi pounding on a crystal wall at the end?

[Mr. Sparkle]

9 hours ago, Sandman87 said:

I'm a little unclear on whose heads those were that he tossed on the floor before he opened fire.

Came here to ask the same thing. His wife and daughter? 

Edited July 25, 2016 by Superclam

[DualWolf]

I think the heads were of the school children wrapped up in the US flag from the pole outside the schoolhouse.

[SoSueMe]

hahahaha

Serial killer and architect. Love those guys.

[SoSueMe]

Does anyone here have a clue about the hillside concrete formation at the bus stop? So cool, I wonder if it serves some purpose or is just a landscaping feature.

[Fisher King]

I don't know about you guys but the song the dude was singing in Chinese was beautiful & heart-wrenching. A nice little piece of pleasantry before the gunslinger rudely interrupts. I thought he might let the singer live but noooo. At least getting Michonne'd is better than the agony of bleeding out from a gunshot wound. I assume.

I was still pretty miffed about Tulip feeding the dog to Cassidy last week. It was damned cold of Emily to lure Miles to the house for the same purpose.

18 minutes ago, SoSueMe said:

Does anyone here have a clue about the hillside concrete formation at the bus stop? So cool, I wonder if it serves some purpose or is just a landscaping feature.

That looked like the same location where Walt waited to "disappear" in Breaking Bad. Not sure of the significance, but the design is really cool.

 

ETA: Thanks for info about Miles & the murders. I feel better about his sacrifice to heal Cassidy now. And yes, the poor guinea pigs! Can we stop with the animal abuse now please, show?!

Edited July 25, 2016 by Fisher King

[Bruinsfan]

10 hours ago, Sandman87 said:

Must be some sort of world-wide underground supernatural economy here, because if a nowhere town like this one can make the connection, then pretty much any town must be able to.

I just assume Annville is a lot closer to Hell than most places, so it's kind of like booking travel across the border to Tijuana from San Ysidro.

The guinea pigs caused me far more distress than the dog last week (or Myles, who has knowingly helped cover up multiple senseless murders himself). I used to have one as a pet, and those little squeaks made me very nostalgic.

[fastiller]

36 minutes ago, SoSueMe said:

hahahaha

Serial killer and architect. Love those guys.

Did I get a couple-y vibe from them?  Am I late on this train?

13 minutes ago, SoSueMe said:

Does anyone here have a clue about the hillside concrete formation at the bus stop? So cool, I wonder if it serves some purpose or is just a landscaping feature.

I don't have a clue, but I did wonder if it's not the outside part of the drain that the kids lured Eugene into a few weeks back.

[SoSueMe]

1 minute ago, fastiller said:

Did I get a couple-y vibe from them?  Am I late on this train?

I don't have a clue, but I did wonder if it's not the outside part of the drain that the kids lured Eugene into a few weeks back.

Definitely a couple I think, they didn't want to be separated and DeBlanc kept Fiore from being used by the travel agent.

[Bruinsfan]

That plaintive warning about being kept apart did have a couple-y feeling to it.

[Shriekingeel]

Yeah, I hate every character on this show at this point, even Emily, who I previously assumed was a default human being kept around for reference. 

[SoSueMe]

8 minutes ago, Shriekingeel said:

Yeah, I hate every character on this show at this point, even Emily, who I previously assumed was a default human being kept around for reference. 

It kind of makes me wonder if the town is being played with by 'higher powers'.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

13 hours ago, Sandman87 said:

Emily gets two birds with one stone! No more slimeball mayor trying to use his position of power to force his way into her life, and Cassidy gets to heal.

And no one to pick up her kids, feed them dinner and breakfast, help with their homework, wash her dishes....

2 hours ago, Fisher King said:

2 hours ago, SoSueMe said:

Does anyone here have a clue about the hillside concrete formation at the bus stop? So cool, I wonder if it serves some purpose or is just a landscaping feature.

That looked like the same location where Walt waited to "disappear" in Breaking Bad. Not sure of the significance, but the design is really cool.

Good catch: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/preacher-breaking-bad-easter-egg-s1e9-finish-the-song-amc-a7154751.html

[Sandman87]

She can probably get Tulip to help out, now that they're at the "feed my pet vampire while I'm out of town" stage of friendship. Or would that be "feed my vampire some pets?" Whatever.

2 hours ago, Bruinsfan said:

I just assume Annville is a lot closer to Hell than most places, so it's kind of like booking travel across the border to Tijuana from San Ysidro.

When the Angels got on the bus, I half expected that when they got the Hell they'd be back at the same bus stop where they started. Because I've seen that same gag done with an elevator on Angel.

2 hours ago, Bruinsfan said:

The guinea pigs caused me far more distress than the dog last week (or Myles, who has knowingly helped cover up multiple senseless murders himself). I used to have one as a pet, and those little squeaks made me very nostalgic.

There's something very wrong with us. We're fine with people getting killed, but animals are off limits.

[SoSueMe]

4 minutes ago, Sandman87 said:

There's something very wrong with us. We're fine with people getting killed, but animals are off limits.

True that. I usually feel like humans deserve it far more than animals. Except for innocents, of course.

It also amazes me how much graphic violence I can watch, I'm very much a pacifist tree-hugger irl. As someone upthread said, The Walking Dead has desensitized me.

[fastiller]

44 minutes ago, SoSueMe said:

It also amazes me how much graphic violence I can watch, I'm very much a pacifist tree-hugger irl. As someone upthread said, The Walking Dead has desensitized me.

I was desensitized by Banshee.  That was another show with massive amounts of graphic violence.  I was having a conversation with a coworker (after some post-work drinks, mind you) wherein he was contending that one of the scenes in Game of Thrones (eyes being gouged out, I think) was the most violent thing he'd seen on TV; I showed him one of the more choreographed fights from Banshee (where one person literally rips the throat out of the other person's neck).  He had to concede GoT has some violence but so do other shows.

[thuganomics85]

Damn, I never would have predicted they'd go that dark with Emily.  She truly did serve him up on a platter for Cassidy, more or less.  He certainly was sleazy and pretty much threw in with Quincannon in the end, but that's still pretty ice cold.  Out of all the characters, she has certainly become one of the ones that I can never predict where they are going to go with.

Totally forgot about the demon that gave them such a hard time episodes ago, so that's what they did to her!  But now she tricked the sheriff into killing her, so I'm sure she'll be raising some hell come finale time.

Tulip is finally preparing to get her revenge.  Since it's in Albuquerque, I'm choosing to believe that this Carlos guy is connected to Gus Fring's organization somehow.

So, The Wanderer was in Hell this entire time, and all of his stuff was him reliving the death of his wife and daughter, I guess?  But now the angels got him, and are asking him to kill Jesse.  I guess they have some way of getting him out of there.  And I'm assuming the one angel he shot, will come back like they normally do.

I guess Jesse will somehow still get back to church Sunday to bring God down, despite being wanted for Eugene's "murder."  Have no idea how the finale will play out.

[Fisher King]

Thanks for that verification on the bus stop & the article, @ItCouldBeWorse!

1 hour ago, Sandman87 said:

She can probably get Tulip to help out, now that they're at the "feed my pet vampire while I'm out of town" stage of friendship. Or would that be "feed my vampire some pets?" Whatever.

When the Angels got on the bus, I half expected that when they got the Hell they'd be back at the same bus stop where they started. Because I've seen that same gag done with an elevator on Angel.

There's something very wrong with us. We're fine with people getting killed, but animals are off limits.

Am lmao at " the "feed my pet vampire while I'm out of town" stage of friendship." !!

And I liked the honesty of the response to Emily's inquiry about where Tulip was going. "To kill a man in Albuquerque."- Hey that's where the bus stop is located, where the angels were (and Walt's BB spot).

Yes, I'm in the desensitized-to-human-slaughter club due to all the shows mentioned. But lay off the critters.

Edited July 25, 2016 by Fisher King

[ItCouldBeWorse]

1 hour ago, Sandman87 said:

She can probably get Tulip to help out, now that they're at the "feed my pet vampire while I'm out of town" stage of friendship. Or would that be "feed my vampire some pets?"

Emily might actually be too cold-blooded for Tulip.  Even Cassidy said something like "poor guy" about the mayor's corpse.

Edited July 25, 2016 by ItCouldBeWorse

[Dirtybubble]

3 hours ago, Bruinsfan said:

That plaintive warning about being kept apart did have a couple-y feeling to it.

This.  And the scene with them getting on the bus poor guy had to leave his comics behind was sweet.  IDK I like relationships like this.  You don't need to beat us (the viewers) over the head with hey they're gay, hey they're in love kinda stuff.  Just sweet, simple little scenes like this is enough.  Even if they aren't a couple so to speak (can angels even be a couple ???) it does show a sweet side to both of them =)

2 hours ago, Shriekingeel said:

Yeah, I hate every character on this show at this point, even Emily, who I previously assumed was a default human being kept around for reference. 

I have NEVER like Emily.  In the first or second episode when she smashed her kids iPad just did it for me.  Ugh I always got a mean almost selfish vibe from her and well now we see it.  I kinda hope she bites the big one next week.

 

Side Note:  Where the FLIP WILSON did homeless people get pancakes and syrup from?!  Plates and utensils?!  Is Root the only law enforcement officer in this little town?  You would think going to investigate a bloody hotel room would require at least some back up.  Little stuff like that bugs me...

Edited July 25, 2016 by Dirtybubble

[SnarkyTart]

For me, "Ash vs Evil Dead" was the final piece in the desensitization process.  While TWD can be truly gross and graphic, it's rarely, if ever, played for laughs, unlike Ash.  The type of graphic violence in Preacher is sort of a combination of those two.   

Good episode last night.  I enjoyed it, with perhaps my only complaint being how many times they re-wound the gunslinger shooting up the bar sequence.  Three or four times were enough to convey his hell was that groundhog day.  More than that was a waste of time, at least for me.

[tennisgurl]

2 hours ago, SoSueMe said:

It kind of makes me wonder if the town is being played with by 'higher powers'.

I would not be even a little surprised if it turned out that the whole town was on top of a Hellmouth. Or maybe it was cursed after all of its sinful ways in the Old West. 

[magdalene]

I think this town is about to become "Hell". I became convinced of this when Emily served her sleazeball bf to Cassidy for lunch. That, and finally making sense of the whole gunslinger in ground hog day HELL  story line. Also, I wouldn't be surprised if the "God" in this universe is actually the devil.  This would fit with the subversive tone of the series.

Well, I liked Jesse for the first time in quite a while. Still liking Cassidy. And Tulip.

[fastiller]

23 hours ago, Sandman87 said:

There's something very wrong with us. We're fine with people getting killed, but animals are off limits.

Well,  fictional people anyway. For me, that's how it works.  Especially  fictional  people who also happen to be jackwads.

Edited July 26, 2016 by fastiller
There is no such word as "exspecially".

[Sandman87]

4 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

Totally forgot about the demon that gave them such a hard time episodes ago, so that's what they did to her!

After the fight Fiore mentioned that he had "dis-articulated" her, presumably to keep her from dying & respawning. Also: She's a seraph (higher ranking angel) rather than a demon.

[ALenore]

I liked this episode.  Loved the use of the bus stop from Breaking Bad.  I noticed Jesse made a reference to "the Rodriguez brothers" who he had a run-in with, which I assume was a reference to the filmmakers who did Machete, El Mariachi, From Dusk 'Til Dawn, etc.  

I did notice that they buried the dog in the grave with the mayor, so I got that they did care about his death, didn't just want to dump him in the garbage.   

[MrPissyPuppy]

12 hours ago, Bruinsfan said:

That plaintive warning about being kept apart did have a couple-y feeling to it.

DeBlanc called Fiore "Dear" when they were getting on the bus.   I also got a couple-vibe from this episode, but not before.  

8 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

Totally forgot about the demon that gave them such a hard time episodes ago, so that's what they did to her!  But now she tricked the sheriff into killing her, so I'm sure she'll be raising some hell come finale time.

She's a seraphim, so one of the "good" guys and ranking higher than Fiore and DeBlanc.   

[Jordan61]

10 hours ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

And no one to pick up her kids, feed them dinner and breakfast, help with their homework, wash her dishes....

Good catch: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/preacher-breaking-bad-easter-egg-s1e9-finish-the-song-amc-a7154751.html

I caught that, too. Too lazy to check, but I think at the end of the BB scene a coyote ran across the street, in the Preacher scene it was a dog. AMC has done this before, on TWD Merle had some blue meth in his drug stash.

i also got a couple vibe from the Angels, but this is the first episode I noticed it.

I thought for sure Emily was going to feed Tulip's uncle to Cassidy, I wasn't expecting her to call up the mayor.

[SnarkyTart]

2 hours ago, Jordan61 said:

I thought for sure Emily was going to feed Tulip's uncle to Cassidy,

Haha, I thought the same.  Speaking of Tulip's uncle, we've seen him in every episode, but we've never seen him awake/conscious.  I know we're supposed to ass/u/me he's passed out all the time, but I'm beginning to think there's more to it than we've been shown.

[Bruinsfan]

14 hours ago, fastiller said:

Well,  fictional people anyway. For me, that's how it works.  Expecially  fictional  people who also happen to be jackwads.

Yeah, I'm sure I'd feel horrified if, say, something bad happened to one of Emily's kids or Tulip's comatose uncle. But just about all the human characters on this show are completely awful and deserve whatever they get. With Emily's actions in this episode, Mrs. Loach and Eugene are the only ones that have my sympathy, and I can't blame the former for wanting to kill the latter.

[Captanne]

Lordy, somehow I missed what Eugene did to the coma-girl.  What did he do that was so horrible (other than put her in the coma, which, for this show, is sort of a blessing.)

[netlyon2]

^^^ Captanne, according to what Jessie told Cassidy, Tracey Loach (coma-girl) was a popular and beloved teenager in Annville.  Eugene fell for her, but when he confessed his feelings, she rejected him.  He got a shotgun and attempted a murder-suicide, which left her in a coma, him with obvious injuries, and the town with a raging hate-on.

As other posters have pointed out, there are some potential holes in the story, most notably the fact that Eugene is not in a juvenile detention center somewhere for attempted murder.  Sure, his dad's the sheriff, but it seems unlikely that citizens who feel such seething vitriol would stand for Eugene to go free (especially since, IIRC, the first episode established that the sheriff is elected).

In any event, that was Jessie's original rationalization about being okay with sending Eugene to hell--that the kid was going there eventually.

Edited July 26, 2016 by netlyon2
Fixing an assumption

[Dizzychickstar]

Eugene is the reason she is in a coma; apparently his love for her was unrequited and he tried to kill her and himself.  

[Conan Troutman]

23 hours ago, SoSueMe said:

It kind of makes me wonder if the town is being played with by 'higher powers'.

Maybe it's some sort of purgatory? 

Anyway, fun episode. That groundhog day in hell stuff lasted a little bit too long for my taste and I could've done without slapping "HELL" in big letters over it, but whatever - the show can be pretty confusing, so better to err on the side of caution I guess. 

Emily's my favorite character along with Cassidy, loved how casual she was in getting rid of the mayor (after getting some inspiration from Psycho, to boot!). Yeah, that wasn't very nice, but who cares - this show is stock full of fucked up people, so I'm just rooting for the fun ones. I hope she sticks around for a while, but I'm not overly optimistic - that finale is going to be a bloodbath. 

13 hours ago, MrPissyPuppy said:

She's a seraphim, so one of the "good" guys and ranking higher than Fiore and DeBlanc.   

Huh, she's one of the good guys? I totally got the opposite impression. 

[Portia]

19 hours ago, Sandman87 said:

She's a seraph (higher ranking angel) rather than a demon.

Bonus points to you for using the correct singular form! My husband is 99.99% in the bag for this show, but the one thing  he can't  get past is DeBlanc and Fiore (or Hamburger and Hot Dog, as they're  known as at our house) referring to one being  as "a seraphim." 

So proud of myself for instantly recognizing the cemetery-like setting from Breaking  Bad!

Fell asleep when watching this episode. I'm  happy to have read  all your notes before  rewatching the ending.

[MrPissyPuppy]

4 hours ago, Conan Troutman said:

Huh, she's one of the good guys? I totally got the opposite impression. 

From the show, DeBlanc says,  "She's one of the seraphim.  Angels of the first order."   In response to Jesse asking what she wants, "Order and control.  (sarcastically) Peace."    

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7YAfkYkw2U 

[pezgirl7]

For those wondering what the concrete slabs are, I found this:

That’s a dam. It’s at the base of an arroyo and it’s used to slow the water from rushing down the mountain when they get these torrential rainstorms during monsoon season in Albuquerque.

I never got a couple vibe from the angels either until the one said "my dear".

[Unapologetic]

On 7/25/2016 at 4:07 PM, Dirtybubble said:

 

 

Side Note:  Where the FLIP WILSON did homeless people get pancakes and syrup from?!  Plates and utensils?! 

Um, probably the same place everyone gets food and plates from - the store or donations.  

[Captanne]

I'm back in with this episode.  Last episode almost lost me...because it consisted mainly of just bad storytelling.  I still hold that the Cassidy setup was much too opaque.

They committed to it this episode and I'm good with that.

I like that we finally tied up 1881 as well.  

[ghoulina]

I think this might have been my favorite episode of the season. Hard call, because the one that had the big seraphim fight montage was pretty great as well. But I just really loved this episode. 

Tulip and Emily's scenes together may be fast becoming my favorite on the show, and that's funny to me because I didn't really care for either at the start of the series. I know the whole feeding of innocent animals to Cassidy thing is disturbing, but I couldn't help but laugh when Tulip told Emily, "Don't go to PetWorld, they're on to me." HA! I just love Tulip's general demeanor about the whole thing; as if caring for a Vampire locked in the bedroom is perfectly normal. 

And Emily. Damn. Girl made me proud! When she first showed up at Tulip's and I saw all the animals, my thought was - "Why aren't they giving him humans? There's plenty of undesirables in this town!" But I really didn't think it would be Emily who would go that route. Good for her! That mayor was such a tool. I wonder if that was enough to get Cassidy back on track. He seemed to be functioning a lot better when he and Jesse were burying bodies/digging up angel hands. (LOVED the way that tied together, by the by.)

You know you're becoming fully immersed in this show when you're yelling at the sheriff - "Don't kill her, she's a seraphim!" and it doesn't feel weird at all. 

It was interesting to see that all the flashbacks were HELL. Or at least, that guy's hell. I quite like it - if there is a hell, that's a good depiction of what it should be like, IMO. I was hoping to see Eugene, though. 

I can't believe it's already the finale next week!