Preacher season 4 episode 4: ‘Search and Rescue’ struggles but makes up lost time

After spending three episodes spinning its wheels in Masada, Preacher finally seems to have finished running in circles and is ready to break new ground. 

Though “boring” and “monotonous” are hardly words that anyone would use to describe Preacher as a whole, the first four episodes of season four have certainly felt that way. Although we love a good slow burn, it feels as if the normally high-octane, take-no-prisoners AMC show hasn’t really shifted into high gear yet. Considering that season 4 is Preacher‘s last, it’s especially perplexing to us that a show so grandiose and bombastic would seemingly waste the first four episodes of its final season on what probably could’ve been handled in the season’s two-part opener.

We’re talking, of course, about Cassidy’s breakout. This season of Preacher has narratively divied up the storytelling into four main plotlines: Jesse, Tulip, Cass, and Herr Starr. This formula of splitting characters up has worked well in the past (season two is a great example of this), but when three of the four characters’ plotlines revolve around the same event, things can get tiresome pretty quickly.

Tonight’s episode didn’t prove to be much of an exception. We open with — you guessed it — yet another breakout attempt on Cassidy’s behalf. Like every other try so far, it ends with Cass being thrown back into his cell, but not before he can keep his promise to shove a rifle up Frankie Toscani’s ass, and have a brief (but ever-so romantic) reunion with Tulip.

Cass spends the rest of the episode in his cell (seeing a pattern?), but thankfully, we do get a new and interesting development in Masada: the introduction of the Jesus Christ. While many viewers have come to think of the tap-dancing Humperdoo as the closest we’ll ever get to seeing the big man in the flesh, Jesus himself (still played by Tyson Ritter) made his debut last night.

On the other side of the planet, Jesse and the pilot Steve are set adrift, because, well, Jesse needed something to do this episode. Nothing is a more apt metaphor for the state of the show at the moment than Jesse spending an entire episode literally adrift, only to be saved by a sudden turn of events in the last three minutes.

Though the plot itself leaves much to be desired, Jesse and Steve’s little adventure does result in one very striking scene. Watching Steve call Jesse God and beg him not to let him die is not only unsettling, but also reminiscent of season one, when Jesse was still grappling with what exactly Genesis had made him become.

The only people who had less to do this episode than Jesse and Steve were The Saint and Eugene. Despite being series regulars, the pair only had one scene in the entire episode — granted, it was a pretty entertaining one. While Jesse gets to Australia by raft, The Saint has a much more impressive solution: just shoot a hole through the earth’s crust and jump through it.

That small scene (along with the Cassidy vs. Frankie fight) seemed like the only true Preacher element of tonight’s episode. Next week promises to be much more exciting. But even if Cass and Tulip are now free and Jesse is in Australia, we still can’t ignore the fact that it took four slow episodes to get to this point.

Though we weren’t all that impressed with tonight’s episode, it paints a hopeful enough portrait of the future that we’re still excited to tune into next week’s misadventures.

Outfit of the episode:  It’s a tie between Cassidy’s homage to Hannibal Lecter and Jesus’ robes stained with Featherstone’s bloody handprint.

WTF moment: Jesus coming out of the steamy shower wearing just a towel. That’s one way to make an introduction.

Standout scene:  Steve begging Jesse to save his life. It was grim in all the right ways, and guest star Ditch Davey absolutely sells the scene.

What did you think of tonight’s episode of Preacher? What are your predictions for next week? Sound off in the comments below.