Preacher Season 2 Premiere Annotations: On the Road

Welcome back brothers and sisters to our weekly feature, the Preacher Book Club, where we talk about the latest episode of AMC‘s Preacher, dissecting the episode at hand, annotating the changes made from the Garth Ennis/Steve Dillon comic book series and attempting to predict about what will be coming next. So let’s dive right into our thoughts and annotations on the Preacher Season 2 premiere!

“On the Road”

As you may recall, the first season of Preacher (while good) didn’t strictly follow the course of the comic books. Instead, it took it’s time by setting up the characters, the situations, and the places; unfortunately it all built up to a giant explosion that removed some of the best players (and most interesting characters from the comic) from the board. However, now the show is really on the path of the comic as we find our heroes on the road to find God.

The Saint of Killers massacre

The Saint of Killers has been following Jesse for some time now and as our trio is pulled over by cops, he makes his move. The attack on police is almost identical in some aspects to what we see on screen, right down to how some of the victims are killed (one with a giant hole in his abdomen, the other missing the top of his head).

To refresh your memory, the Saint was a man with a penchant for killing in the 1800s, but (in the comics) when he died and went to hell, he took over the position of the Angel of Death and later simply as an intrument of death for the heavenly host. With Genesis having escaped and inhabiting Jesse, his mission is to retrieve the entity and return it.

Cassidy and Tulip

Again we see the romantic inclinations of Cassidy towards Tulip, something that was briefly explored in the first season and which takes on a very different meaning in the comics as it’s very manipulative on Cassidy’s part. Maybe we’ll get there one day, or maybe the series will try to drive him and Jesse apart in a different way.

Mike

Neither Mike (nor Ashley) appear in the comic, and Mike’s entire role in the series appears to be “re-explain the series to people just tuning in that may have forgotten or may have not seen the first season.” Let’s call him Mike Exposition.

The L’Angelles

Jesse once again teases his mother’s side of the family, the rather evil and twisted L’Angelles. The group was teased heavily in the first season, but given the direction that our group appears to be heading towards (New Orleans, with the jazz and all), I imagine we’ll be seeing them soon. Also, the camera focuses on a swamp-themed aquarium behind Jesse while he thinks about his family, a nice teaser for them.

Tammy

Again, Tammy isn’t in the comics at all, but it’s a fun scene, expecially if you were watching Cassidy on the monitors in the background.

“The Amazing Ganesh”

It would appear that after enlisting the help of the Saint of Killers to find Jesse, Fiore found himself unwelcome in Heaven and took up a magic act. I’m sure our characters will go to him to get answers on who the Saint is, especially after how the premiere episode concludes.

For Steve

You may not know, but Steve Dillon, the co-creator of Preacher and artist for all its primary issues, passed away October 22 of last year. Dillon was a titan of the comic book industry, lending his talents to Judge Dredd, The Punisher, Animal Man, Hellblazer, and others. Before the first season aired, Steve revealed he really liked the TV show.

Parting thoughts: It’s nice to see the show finally on course with the comic, and also ramping up on the sheer insanity of the source material as well. Here’s to another good season!

You can watch a preview for the second episode of Season 2 and a look at the season ahead using the players below!