Preacher - S2E5 - Dallas

Previously on Preacher, “Viktor”

It’s really hard to like Jesse during this episode. Really, really, really, really hard. Custer’s anger and frustration towards Tulip is understandable to a fault. After suddenly and unceremoniously popping the question to her in “Mumbai Sky Tower,” Jesse’s true colors are finally beginning to show and they are not painting a pretty picture.

For most of the second act, viewers are forced to endure along with Jesse Custer and Tulip O’Hare as they tumble into a lifeless relationship in their desperate attempt to turn legit. After the traumatizing loss of their child in Dallas, Jesse and Tulip have shacked up with roommate named Reggie (Robbie Tann) who’s compelled to roll a blunt at least every other hour to live with that couple. Though it’s been months since Carlos’ betrayal, Tulip and Jesse have developed severely contrasting coping mechanisms; for Custer, it’s letting everything slide out of his control save for an ice cold six-pack of Blue Rooster beer. Tulip claims to be acquiring a new set of skills for a future in real estate yet we soon learn that she went back to the life she and Jesse know best.

Before Tulip’s betrayal is unveiled, we venture deeper into the monotony that has become O’Hare and Custer’s lives. Over and again, the two perform the same rituals with as much enthusiasm as a postal worker during Christmas. He may have tried at the start but Jesse’s new life becomes nothing more than a few paltry actions that require little exertion or effort. Buy beer, watch TV, have sex, take a pregnancy test, repeat. While the pair may have had lofty designs for the next chapter of their lives, neither one is emotionally equipped for the daily rigors of a pedestrian lifestyle.

Which brings us back to Tulip moonlighting under Jesse’s nose and his extremely inappropriate, yet anticipated, reaction: punching an innocent person senseless to curb his anger over O’Hare. A destructive and appalling slight to his personality, his attack on Reggie proves that Custer needs to look inward and channel his anger that’s ready to be unleashed at a moment’s notice. Tulip may have been confident that Jesse wouldn’t lay a finger on her, but the next outburst could always be that one time.

It’s apparent that Sam Catlin is being patient in revealing the true source of Jesse’s simmering rage: the L’Angell clan, led by his grandmother Marie, that abused and indoctrinated Custer with fundamentalist beliefs in his youth. How much of that grim story line will be featured in Preacher is anyone’s guess, but it’s clear the family does exist as evidenced by the briefest of flashbacks in Season One, and by Custer zoning out when a poster of Angelville caught his eye in “Damsels.”

In any case, “Dallas” proves that Jesse appears willing to turn a new leaf and accept that Tulip had a fairly good life while he sought purpose in Annville. For his own faults and criminal activities, Viktor (Paul Ben-Victor) is an honorable, endearing family man that looks after everyone who works for him. Sadly, their loyalty is paid with a torrent of bullets as The Saint of Killers saunters into Viktor’s room with a single word on his mind: “Preacher.” Seconds later, Tulip became a widow, and with nothing but the shadow of death looming over her, O’Hare’s stepdaughter admitted she knew where Custer was shacking up. You can’t fault Little Miss, she does have a whole lot more life to live… plus no one wants to die in a gangster’s closet. Now that the lull has passed and backstories are uncovered, our fearless trio can go about finding the meaning of life while being observed by an insidious, centuries-old cult while the deadliest being in the universe ceaselessly follows them during their travels. In other words, just another Monday.