Preacher
Episode 1.4 “Monster Swamp”
Directed by Craig Zisk
Written by Sara Goodman
Starring Dominic Cooper, Joe Gilgun, Ruth Negga, Lucy Griffiths, W. Earl Brown, Anatol Yusef, Tom Brooke, Ian Colletti
AMC
Air date: Sunday, June 19th, 2016, 9pm

Preacher Jesse Custer (Dominic Cooper) has agents of God after him. A pair of agents sent from Heaven are here to recapture the light force that has entered him. This force is powerful, and Jesse developed the ability to become very persuasive with his words, such as causing a man to accidentally rip his own heart out, waking a comatose woman, and making drunken Irish vampire Cassidy (Joseph Gilgun) dance and sing Johnny Cash. There’s also a strange man from a mysterious meat packing plant looming over the small Texas town of Annville.

Spoilers for this week’s episode of Preacher:

Preacher
Episode 1.03 “The Possibilities”
Directed by Scott Winant
Written by Chris Kelly
Starring Dominic Cooper, Joe Gilgun, Ruth Negga, Lucy Griffiths, W. Earl Brown, Anatol Yusef, Tom Brooke, Ian Colletti
AMC
Air date: Sunday, June 12th, 2016, 9pm

Warning – SPOILERS for Preacher Season 1 Episode 3 “The Possibilities”

Preacher Jesse Custer (Dominic Cooper) is being pulled in multiple directions. There is Tulip (Ruth Negga), his ex partner and girlfriend who is lustfully trying to persuade him back to his darker urges. There’s Cassidy (Joseph Gilgun), the Irish vampire who argues with him over faith and God’s path. There is the town of Annville, Texas, that is in desperate need of salvation. And of course, there is an otherworldly force possessing him that has the power to make people listen to his words… to the letter. Last week, two men came seeking this power, but Cassidy took them out using a chainsaw and the good book… to the head. Interestingly, the two men left very dead by Cass were seen very much alive by the sheriff at the end.

Spoilers below.

Preacher
Episode 1.02 “See”
Directed by Michael Slovis and Seth Rogan
Written by Sam Catlin
Starring Dominic Cooper, Joe Gilgun, Ruth Negga, Lucy Griffiths, W. Earl Brown, Anatol Yusef, Tom Brooke, Ian Colletti
AMC
Air date: Sunday, June 5th, 2016, 9pm

Warning – SPOILERS for Preacher Season 1 Episode 2 “See…

Two weeks ago, Preacher debuted on AMC and introduced the TV audience to Jesse Custer, a Texas Preacher who is trying to carve out of new life and leave a violent one buried in the past. This proves hard for Jesse (Dominic Cooper), as he and mysterious new friend; a vampire named Cassidy (Joseph Gilgun) beat up an entire bar full of hooligans, including abusive father Donnie (Derek Wilson), who ends up with a graphically broken arm. While Jesse’s past, particularly his ex-girlfriend and partner Tulip (Ruth Negga), are trying to bring him back to the dark side, a strange otherworldly force has inhabited him. This same force has been turning men of god (and Satan) inside out and outside in, all over the world, and seemingly has a home now in Jesse Custer. This force is so powerful, that when Jesse told an annoying congregant to “open his heart” to his mother, the man flew to Florida and ripped his heart out of his chest in the old folks home! Right on cue, two strange men stalking the mysterious force show up in Annville likely to cause trouble.

Spoilers below.

Preacher
Episode 1.01 “Pilot”
Directed by Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg
Written by Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Sam Catlin, Garth Ennis
Starring Dominic Cooper, Joe Gilgun, Ruth Negga, Lucy Griffiths, W. Earl Brown, Anatol Yusef, Tom Brooke, Ian Colletti
AMC
Air date: Sunday, May 22nd, 2016, 9pm

Full disclosure warning…

I know nothing of the Preacher comics, story arcs, or characters. Thanks to some helpful direction from friends on Facebook, to origin story videos on YouTube, I now have a loose idea of what to expect. Preacher is a series from DC’s/Vertigo comics, written and created by Garth Ennis back in the mid 90s. There were several attempts made to get the comic put to film as early as 1998 with Kevin Smith attached as a producer. After almost 15 years bouncing around studios, then off to HBO, the series was finally greenlit by AMC thanks to the efforts of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, who also co-wrote and directed the pilot. If you’re looking for a detailed analysis of all the similarities and differences between the comic and the series, I can’t help you. But I will say when it comes to other comic book interpretations, some of my favorite MCU films were based on comic characters I knew little to nothing about, such as Ant-Man and Guardians of the Galaxy. Uncle Ben told Peter Parker, “with great power comes great responsibility.” I’m telling you, “with no comic knowledge comes no irrational disappointment.” So onward we go…

Warning – SPOILERS for Preacher Season 1…