Herr Starr climbs his way to the top.
Warning: Full spoilers for the episode below.
Last week's "Sokosha" represented a high point for Preacher's second season as it chronicled the dramatic final showdown (for now, anyway) between Jesse Custer and the Saint of Killers. Despite that boost in quality, it was difficult to know what to expect from this follow-up chapter. Where does the season go now that the Saint has been swept off the board? Can Preacher keep this newfound momentum going, or will the show fall into another rut as the writers slowly build up the next overarching conflict?
Luckily, it seems as though they recognized the need to immediately replace one good villain with another. With the Saint currently buried in a swamp, the time has finally come for Herr Starr (The Crown's Pip Torrens) to step up and take his place. Starr certainly had zero trouble making a strong impression in his first major appearance. He's a very different breed of villain than the Saint - with a very eccentric and darkly comic personality - but no less ruthless or bloodthirsty. Torrens immediately made the most of his role here. It would be easy to go big and flamboyant with this character, but Torrens kept things quiet and restrained instead. There's a very matter-of-fact quality to Starr's speech and general body language, but also a slight hint of the absurd to his mannerisms and interactions with others. The show seems to have the right handle on this character, one who's as ridiculous and pathetic as he is terrifying and inhuman.
The series wasted no time before giving us the full-blown origin story of Herr Starr, exploring how he was recruited by the Grail and rose through the ranks with superhuman speed. This turned out to be a nice, elegant way of establishing the nature of The Grail itself, as the flashback-era Starr was just as unfamiliar with the organization as the viewer. The boot camp/recruitment drive was a lot of fun to watch, particularly as it allowed Starr to flaunt his peculiar sexuality and his unorthodox ways of winning. That storyline ended on a strong note, too ,as we learned more about the Grail's true purpose and saw Starr promote himself from newbie recruit to leader of the Samson Unit in a matter of minutes.
In short, it looks like Starr will have no trouble filling the void left by the Saint. And with any luck, we might see both villains sharing the stage before long. But the other story threads back in New Orleans didn't disappoint, either. All three of our heroes are dealing with some pretty compelling drama in the aftermath of their showdown with the Saint. Jesse continues to question himself and the righteousness of his quest now that he's sacrificed a portion of his soul. That's just the sort of unexpected wrinkle he really needed to offset his overconfident, self-absorbed behavior this season. No matter how much he tries to reassure himself he did the right thing, Jesse is haunted by the thought that he may be forever tainted by his bond with the Saint.
Tulip is arguably faring even worse, suffering from a nasty case of PTSD following her near-death experience. Again, it's a fitting direction for her character given how much Tulip's portrayal has emphasized her fearless swagger. Ruth Negga delivered an even stronger performance than usual this week as she play-acted with Cassidy and manipulated a group of danger-loving gun-nuts into helping her regain her confidence.
Cassidy also continues to become a more compelling character with each new week. Early on this season, it felt as though he was being ignored in favor of his two mates, but lately Cassidy has proven to be a rich source of both comedy and character drama. His little ordeal being mistaken for a corpse this week was very amusing (especially with the reveal that it wasn't the first time he's woken up inside a morgue. Bu tat the same time, he's dealing with some heavy drama of his own as he wrestles with the fact that his estranged son is dying and wants to join the ranks of the undead. The whole "can I allow my loved one to join me in immortality?" dilemma is hardly new in vampire fiction, but it works well in this context. There's a great deal of sadness to Cassidy right now, between his dying son and the fact that he can't stop pining for Tulip. He's burdened by an unnaturally long life full of mistakes and regrets, and hopefully we'll start to see some flashbacks to other key mistakes in his life.
The Verdict
It doesn't appear as though Preacher will lose any momentum now that the Saint of Killers has been taken off the board. Herr Starr is a more than worthy replacement, and this episode succeeded in introducing this eccentric character and his equally strange organization. Coupled with the compelling character drama back in New Orleans, there was plenty to enjoy in this episode.
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