Preacher season 4 episode 3 review: ‘Deviant’ remembers what makes the show great

Preacher’s most recent episode, “Deviant,” sees a return to form that reminds itself (and the audience) what makes the show so great: the perfect blend of insane plot twists, strong character moments, and jaw-dropping action.

After a somewhat lackluster season premiere, we’re glad to report that Preacher hasn’t lost its magic. Picking up where last week’s two-parter left off, the newest episode opens on a commercial for a skincare product — but it’s one that we don’t plan on buying any time soon.

In the wake of a failed jailbreak, Cassidy is back to being tortured, and it appears that Frankie Toscani has no qualms about using his vampire torturee to turn a profit in the beauty industry. Once he’s thrown back in his cell, though, we see that Cass has all but given up on the idea of leaving completely and has resigned himself to a life of misery as penance for his supposed crimes.

However, some prodding from his cellmate the Seraphim gave us a Preacher first: a flashback into Cassidy’s past. After four seasons of knowing next to nothing about the vampire, we finally got to take a look into his past. As a soldier in the Easter Rising, Cass stumbled into a river after fleeing from the war and abandoning his friend. It was in that river where Cassidy was bitten, and though he considered returning home, his guilt over abandoning his friend led to him leaving instead.

Cassidy isn’t the only one feeling guilty, however. Tulip, who we last saw breaking into Masada, spends the episode not only haunted by her past, but also plagued with guilt over lying to Jesse about her relationship with Cassidy. In last week’s two-parter, she successfully infiltrated the Grail by disguising herself as one of its agents, but this week she spent the entirety of the episode chained to a gurney.

After taking a horrifically telling inkblot test, we (and Tulip) found out what most of us probably already knew: that Tulip is living with deep emotional pain, childhood trauma, and a gun fetish.

Tulip’s penchant for violence, however, is shared with her beau Jesse, who finds himself in a sex club ironically called “Jesus De Sade.” Though he doesn’t have much luck in his search for God, he does have one hell of a fight with the inhabitants of the manor. He leaves empty-handed, but we do find out that God was, in fact, at the club, and that he’s actively trying to avoid being found by Jesse.

The episode ends with Jesse at the airport awaiting his next flight, but not before he has a meeting with — drumroll, please — Hitler. The man in question seems to have been running Hell in Satan’s absence, and he invites Jesse to join him down below. Jesse (obviously) refuses, but something tells us that won’t be the last time the two see each other.

Tonight’s episode was incredibly fulfilling in so many ways, and we were ecstatic to finally learn more about Cassidy’s past. As always, Joe Gilgun delivered a strong performance. Seeing Cassidy wallow in self-pity was heartbreaking.

Ruth Negga also did her share of the heavy lifting. Though she didn’t have a ton to do in this episode, it was haunting to watch Tulip admit to herself how truly messed up she really is.

Without question, however, the star of this week’s episode was John Koyama. Koyama, the show’s stunt coordinator, is the man responsible for the insane Jesus de Sade fight scene — a seemingly endless battle between Jesse and a veritable army of goons dressed in fetish gear. The fight was mind-boggling to witness, and in a show full of top-notch action, we wouldn’t hesitate to rank it in the top five fights ever.

Between the sex club fight, Tulip’s inkblot test, and Cassidy’s Ireland flashbacks, S4E3 of Preacher was undeniably a delight, and a great reminder of everything that makes the show such a unique delight to tune into every Sunday.

Outfit of the episode: God, who is once again rocking the dalmatian bodysuit.

WTF moment: Cassidy being used as part of a skincare-making factory line of foreskin. Frankie Toscani is nothing if not opportunistic.

Standout scene: Jesse’s sex club fight. The prolonged wide shot with Jesse taking down enemies one-by-one was particularly impressive.

What did you think of S4E3 of Preacher? What was your favorite moment? Sound off in the comments below.