Preacher season 4 premiere: One step forward, two steps back

Preacher kicked off its fourth season with a two-hour premiere, and though there were a few standout scenes, episodes one and two didn’t make much ground in terms of plot development or coherence.

After months of waiting, the season premiere of Preacher finally arrived. We couldn’t help feel a little disappointed with the start of this season, however. Though there’s plenty of action and a handful of Preacher‘s signature “wait-what?” moments, the episode as a whole felt unfulfilling given the scope of the show.

We open with Cassidy and Tulip sitting side by side on a bed. They both look disheartened, and after an old Irish joke courtesy of Cass, we get our first surprise of the season — and it’s not Cass’ bleach blonde hair. Tulip and Cassidy kiss, and to our surprise, they don’t stop.

The relationship between Tulip and Cassidy has been one of the central points of tension during the entirety of Preacher‘s run, but we thought that after Tulip turned him down last season, things were over between them. Apparently not, however, and the next shocker tells us why: There’s a sudden shot of Jesse’s dead(?!) body, lying in the sand.

As it turns out, the events of this season will be taking place in the months leading up to that first scene between Cass and Tulip. Over the course of season four, we’ll be finding out just how Jesse ended up dying.

Before we can get there, however, we cut back to the present, with Jesse and Tulip mounting a jailbreak to rescue Cassidy from the clutches of Herr Starr and the Grail. Though they’re (mostly) successful, Cass and Jesse immediately begin arguing over Tulip, and just as they’re about to leave the compound, Cass makes the decision to stay behind.

Jesse and Tulip regroup, where Jesse confronts Tulip about his relationship with Cassidy, and she lies to him when he asks her if the two ever slept together. Though Tulip is adamant that they try to rescue Cass again, Jesse takes off in the middle of the night in search of God.

Tulip wakes up the next morning to find him gone, and the episode ends with Jesse getting on a plane to Australia and Tulip sneaking into the Grail compound (again).

If we had to pick one word to describe this episode, it would be repetitive. Like Tulip’s car in the chase scene, the episode seemed to be spinning its wheels in circles. Every time the show seemed to be making ground, it immediately regressed.

Though Frankie the circumcising torturer was a fun addition, the core relationship at the heart of Preacher was missing. We haven’t gotten true scenes with all three main characters interacting since early season three, and we can feel it.

As fun as shocking visuals and surprising twists are (the payoff for Cass’ obsession with everything being made of foreskins was hilarious), it’s difficult to care about the events of the show when the protagonists have been kept separated for so long. This episode, in particular, felt torturous. Every time we thought there was going to be some ground covered, things just fell apart.

In terms of plot, none of the pieces really moved around the board in this two-hour episode. Cass started and ended the episode in captivity, Jesse started and ended looking for God, and Tulip started and ended wanting to rescue Cass. Though we touched on Eugene and The Saint, even they didn’t make any progress. You could cut their scene from the episode completely and nothing would change.

In the end, while we’re all for mystery and intrigue, we’re frustrated that Preacher spends so much time on Jesse’s obsession with God, and not enough time on the complex character interactions that we’ve come to miss over the past few seasons.

Best outfit of the episode: Cassidy’s medical scrubs. Glasses are a good look for him.

WTF moment: Featherstone’s squirrel girl-Esque wingsuit escape from Tulip. That woman thinks of everything

Standout scene: Tulip and Cassidy’s flash forward rendezvous. If the show is going the same route as the comics, we’re in for a wild ride.

How did you feel about the Preacher season premiere? Where do you think the show is going next? Sound off in the comments below.