S04.E08: Fear of the Lord

[Snookums]

Cassidy and Tulip hide Humperdoo from the Grail, whose operatives are now searching both for their messiah -- and Starr; a tempted Jesse considers a powerful offer.

Original air date 2019.09.15

[AnimeMania]

Tulip and Cassidy have been living together for months and the first time they have sex, Jesse comes back the next day? Awkwaard!

I still can't figure out how they get their car from continent to continent.

I wonder what country Tulip, Cassidy and Humperdoo were living in?

[Lantern7]

We're picking up speed as that brick wall starts coming into view.

I got a few trade paperbacks on Comxiology, and it's a little funny to see stuff from the original comics on screen, albeit presented differently. I knew Jesse would lose an eye though this season's credits gave it away. Now, the bit where God bites off Jesse's eye? That was unexpected. Given that there's never been a huge outcry about how far the series has gone, maybe that's a reason why this is the final season.

Herr Starr remains a shining star, as bits of his canon get flicked into the mix. Kinda wish the bit with the cannibals ("wub") was expanded, but I'm good with what I got. And now, he's beautiful again, and he's presiding over the apocalypse. They got an air date for it!

Was it too obvious that Humperdoo wouldn't get Old Yeller'd? Who could kill him? Even if you want to send a message, he's just so pathetic. The breakdancing clone? Inspired . . . as was the device clearly labeled "SONIC NAUSEATOR." That some old-school Batman shit from 1966 right there . . . because at this point, why the fuck not?!?

Hey, Eugene exists. Poor bastard. It's like H-doo exists merely to make him look less sad by comparison.

[rmontro]

Judging from the amount of traffic here, this show is limping to its end.  

I find myself most watching now just to see what weird stuff they're going to do next. 

Funny some of the things they're doing with Humperdoo, like the way the deer trusted him.  And he even softened Tulip's heart, no easy task.

I'm glad Starr got his beauty back, things were getting to be a bit much, even for him.  Looking forward to the apocalypse!

[ItCouldBeWorse]

3 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

The breakdancing clone?

Not a clone. He was the actual Jesus.

[Lantern7]

6 minutes ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

Not a clone. He was the actual Jesus.

Ah. That makes it funnier, then.

[tennisgurl]

As this show goes on, I kind of just want to see what the writers room looks like. "So guys, how about Jesus starts break dancing, while Hitler is rocking out?" "Alright, so thats when God bites Jessie's eyeball out..." 

So we are finally heading towards some kind of conclusion, even if we have to take some of those weird, Preacher like detours, like Herr Star having a leg eaten by cannibals and having his dick turned into a faucet, before we can actually get on with things. At least this one had some backstory, and at least moved the plot along, even if it was a pretty weird impetus to get the ball rolling.

So Cassidy and Tulip finally have sex again, and Jessie shows up right away. Awkward!

[showme]

Will Jesse get his eye back？ Why did "God" bite his eye out in the first place? Is he really that sadistic?

[rmontro]

23 minutes ago, showme said:

Will Jesse get his eye back？ Why did "God" bite his eye out in the first place? Is he really that sadistic?

Considering the way "God" is portrayed on this show (and I assume, the comics), I wonder about the philosophies, psychology, and background of the people who originally came up with all this stuff.  Seems like somebody had some issues.

[DoctorAtomic]

On 9/16/2019 at 5:34 PM, Lantern7 said:

I knew Jesse would lose an eye though this season's credits gave it away.

Every week, I'm like, why is he wearing a patch. Tonight - OH NO!

I don't get why Jessie didn't use the voice either in hell, because he did use it when he first got there, and then on god, which was the whole point of the show.

Starr looks weird with hair, but I'm actually glad he's restored.

I guess their point is that Humperdoo is really the messiah since he communes with the animals and even Tulip can't off him.

I wish the show had been this batshit from the start. They really wasted the entire first season.

[Sandman87]

I imagine the production meeting for the episode went something like this:

"I've decided that this time we're going to be as gross as possible."

"Ooh, ooh! Can we do something like the 'Mr. Creosote' sketch? I've always wanted to do a vomit scene."

"Sure. Maybe we can work in some cannibalism and eyeball biting while we're at it."

--------------------

I guess losing body parts was Starr's hobby for a while.

I wonder if the "Jesus can't be messiah but Humperdoo can" thing was inspired by the story of Lancelot and Galahad and the Grail quest (Lancelot fails the quest because he sinned, but his illegitimate son Galahad succeeds.)

When Jesse started getting back his bad attitude during the conversation with God, and God said "I made you in My own image", I half expected Jesse to come back with "maybe that's why people are such assholes." But he didn't.

[Captanne]

Believe it or not, I was thinking about this as I woke up this morning -- I have a feeling that there is some "Odin" shit going on with the writer of this comic and Jesse's character.  Our Preacher may end up as a rival God to the Christian/Judaic God.  Hence the lost eye.  The irony is that the Old Guy with the White Beard is the one who starts Jesse on the look-alike (pun intended) with an Odin sort of omniscient being.  https://norse-mythology.org/tales/why-odin-is-one-eyed/

[DoctorAtomic]

6 hours ago, Sandman87 said:

I wonder if the "Jesus can't be messiah but Humperdoo can" thing was inspired by the story of Lancelot and Galahad and the Grail quest (Lancelot fails the quest because he sinned, but his illegitimate son Galahad succeeds.)

Oh right of course. That was why Starr said - we wouldn't be in this mess if you didn't go whoring around. 

[Captanne]

Nice tie in for the Holy Grail -- as that's what the cantina is called.

[Sandman87]

And speaking of the Holy (Bar And) Grail, Cassidy's comment about "I'll help you with all the bodies" when he thought it was the owner knocking made me wonder - just how many angel and demon bodies are there stacked up now in the lounge area? How long did the fight go on anyway? Long enough to make some holes in the sign outside. And who won? And how long have the bodies been sitting there? Months? Yuck.

[AimingforYoko]

On 9/17/2019 at 11:09 AM, showme said:

Why did "God" bite his eye out in the first place?

Remember Matthew 18:9(Rare translation) "If thine eye offends thee, pluck it out. Or rip it out with your teeth, you know, whatever works."

[Captanne]

I thought maybe there is an Odin thing going on there and Preacher becomes powerful enough to rival God.

[Latverian Diplomat]

On 9/17/2019 at 11:09 AM, showme said:

Will Jesse get his eye back？ Why did "God" bite his eye out in the first place? Is he really that sadistic?

On 9/17/2019 at 11:34 AM, rmontro said:

Considering the way "God" is portrayed on this show (and I assume, the comics), I wonder about the philosophies, psychology, and background of the people who originally came up with all this stuff.  Seems like somebody had some issues.

God was offended by the impertinence of Jesse looking him right in the eye. Since Jesse's eyes didn't burn out like they were supposed to He took a more direct approach.

This God is something of a pretender, claiming to have power, wisdom, virtue He doesn't actually  have.

This take goes back at least to the Gnostic idea of the Demiurge, the fallible creator who mucked up by creating a flawed  material world in the first place, requiring redemption through an emissary of the higher "real God".

More recently, Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials has a God who is extremely dishonest about creation and deeply flawed.

That said, there are plenty of thoughtful critiques of his work that reach the conclusion that "Yep, Garth Ennis has issues." 🙂 

[DoctorAtomic]

On 9/19/2019 at 6:26 AM, Captanne said:

I thought maybe there is an Odin thing going on there and Preacher becomes powerful enough to rival God.

Well, he kind of is with the voice. He literally can send people directly to hell. 

The loss of the eye to gain power is much much much older than the dinky ass bible. 

[rmontro]

7 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

The loss of the eye to gain power is much much much older than the dinky ass bible. 

He gained the power before he lost the eye though.

[DoctorAtomic]

I was referring to the Bible verse in terms of losing the eye, also this God is cheap af. And literally everything in literature about anyone losing an eye leads back to Odin. 

[rmontro]

17 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

I was referring to the Bible verse in terms of losing the eye

Which verse is that?  I'm not familiar with a BIble verse about losing an eye to gain power.  I'm not saying there isn't one, but one doesn't come to mind.

There is the verse about if your right eye offends you, pluck it out.  This does match up with Preacher in some ways, because Jesse lost his right eye because it offended "God", I guess.  Is that what you were referring to?  Then there's the "an eye for an eye" saying, but that isn't about gaining power.

[DoctorAtomic]

This.

On 9/18/2019 at 8:15 PM, AimingforYoko said:

Remember Matthew 18:9(Rare translation) "If thine eye offends thee, pluck it out.

It looks like my comment was out of sequence.

We're talking about Jessie losing an eye, and a couple of us naturally thought of Odin; to wit-

On 9/19/2019 at 6:26 AM, Captanne said:

I thought maybe there is an Odin thing going on there and Preacher becomes powerful enough to rival God.

So I was saying the Odin theme in literature is way older than the bible.

And, as you pointed out, there's a lot going on with a protagonist losing an eye in a story and what it could all mean.

[Bruinsfan]

On 9/17/2019 at 11:34 AM, rmontro said:

Considering the way "God" is portrayed on this show (and I assume, the comics), I wonder about the philosophies, psychology, and background of the people who originally came up with all this stuff.  Seems like somebody had some issues.

Ennis has the whole frickin' National Geographic Magazine archive.