After how wild the previous episode was, Preacher dialed it back a bit for this episode. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It just deals with a different thing.
“LOOK FOR THE SIGNS, YOU SORRY SONS OF BITCHES! BECAUSE SHIT’S ABOUT TO GET REAL!”
Nothing much happens with our Unholy Trinity this episode. They finally visit all the jazz clubs in New Orleans, but to no avail. And they’re running short on funds as well.
I’m going to be honest, when Cass mentions that place where you get shot for money I thought it was a one-time joke. But that’s where they ended up going! I imagine they’d be pulling a con but not the way they did. I just thought it’d be Cassidy just getting shot, standing and then getting all the money from the people there. Pretending to play dead (well, technically he’s already dead) and stealing everyone’s money was a bit of a letdown in comparison.
Though this doesn’t mean things are going well for them. They all get some kind of new conflict (or an old conflict that gets worse). Cassidy feels tormented by Denis’ request (although this one feels more light-hearted because he ends up in a morgue because they think he’s dead). Tulip seems to have PTSD after her encounter with the Saint, and in typical Jesse Custer fashion he’s a macho prick about it so she feels worse.
And Jesse? He basically still wonders about his soul. Sure he only got rid of a one percent, but in the long run this might have been a bad idea. And he’s lying too, he keeps saying the Saint is in Hell. All of this is going to bite him in the ass at some point, and quite frankly I want to see what he does then.
“Like a ten-inch cock I’d have to see it to believe it.”
Most of this episode revolves around Herr Starr. I had been looking forward to his proper appearance ever since that cameo in season one, and we spend a lot of time with him.
There are two different fronts in this. We see him on the present, where he’s in Vietnam investigating the titular pig of the episode (which made me reconsider saying ‘When pigs fly’) and the past, as he gets inducted into the Grail.
Pip Torrens steals the episode. He’s perfect for the role and I’m looking forward to seeing him do more. I also wonder if the character will follow the route of his comic book counterpart, who kept getting grievously injured in hilariously horrifying ways.
The parts set in Vietnam aren’t that interesting. They’re there just as an introduction to the flashbacks, and that’s where we get all the meaty details on Herr Starr. I still find weird that he has a proper name, Klaus Helmut. He was just Herr Starr in the comic book.
“Something tells me you’re going to do great things here, Herr Starr.”
Starr’s origin seems to be similar to the comic books, he was in an anti-terrorist unit in Germany until the Grail recruited him. The main difference is that by the time the comic book starts he’s been in the Grail for decades, and in this episode he’s only been part of it for 13 years.
Still, he’s a rising star (no pun intended) if anything because of the way he approaches situations. Herr Starr is ruthless, humourless, and no-nonsense. He’s also quite kinky, which is where most of the humour about the character resides. It’s something you don’t expect at all.
The montage showing how he gets the Samson position at the grail is hilarious as well. Starr is not a people person, and he has an unconventional way of approaching situations. In the comic book they mention a moment he shot a hand-to-hand combat instructor because he never planned to be unarmed. This episode doesn’t do that exactly there’s a similar situation that gets defused quite unexpectedly.
Kinks or not, Herr Starr isn’t really a force to be reckoned with. But he has no idea where he’s getting into when it comes to Jesse Custer. And we also know exactly what is it the Grail do exactly, it was about time.
Angry Spaniard, adoptive Irishman. Writer, reader, tea drinker and video game player/designer.
