Eugene learns what it's like to be Hitler.
Warning: Full spoilers for the episode below.
This isn't the first time I've said this, but it really doesn't feel like Preacher has benefited at all from the larger episode count in Season 2. The series can't seem to deliver more than two great episodes in a row before its falls victim to poor pacing and loses its sense of focus. That case struck yet again with "Backdoors," an episode that featured some strong elements but did little to advance the season's often sluggish narrative momentum.
Season 2 has generally been at its weakest whenever the focus shifts to Eugene and the Hell subplot. So it was pretty much inevitable that this episode would suffer now that Eugene is back in the spotlight. The Hell setting has by now lost all its novelty, and even Eugene's unlikely friendship with Hitler feels stale. The fact that so much time was spent rehashing and expanding on Hitler's personal nightmare room didn't exactly help. I only care about Eugene's struggle inasmuch as I want to know what happens when he inevitably escapes and returns to hold Jesse to account. And at the rate things are going, that showdown doesn't seem likely until Season 3.
Cassidy was another major sticking point this week, as it feels like he and Denis have hit a lull in their hared storyline. Obviously, the writers are building towards a father/son showdown with the way Denis is increasingly defying Cassidy's authority and abusing his new vampire powers, but this is another area where the show seems content to rehash familiar beats until the season finale. It's a shame, because Cassidy has given us some of the best moments of the season, yet too often he seems relegated to the background while the drama between Jesse and Tulip slowly plays out.
The good news is that the ongoing Jesse/Tulip feud provided some more memorable drama this week. The specter of the Saint of Killers loomed larger than ever this week as the gang learned that their mutual enemy has been loosed upon the world again. It's just as well, too. As entertaining as Jesse's tense relationship with Herr Starr and the Grail is, their susceptibility to Genesis ensures that they're not much of a physical threat. With the finale looming, it helps to know that the Saint is back in play and ready to wreak more havoc. Assuming he can track down his missing weapons, that is. It should be amusing to see how the Saint deals with that problem, or if he just goes the Terminator route and settles for more conventional weaponry.
The Grail-centric scenes continue to be one of the highlights of the season. Agent Featherstone in particular is a lot of fun as she bounces between playing Tulip's mousy neighbor and a ruthless assassin with a blatant crush on her boss. Amusingly, Featherstone's bloodlust is starting to creep into her cover persona, as we saw from the very aggressive way she dealt with the hapless smelter. And Starr himself provided plenty of entertainment value. The show is really string a nice balance between his imposing, villainous side and his habit of coming out a little worse for wear in every encounter with Jesse. More than with any other character, Starr is where the writers have really captured the distinctive sense of humor of the comic book.
Above all, "Backdoors" stood out thanks to its flashback scenes that shed further light on Jesse's troubled childhood and his relationship with his twisted, fanatical grandmother, Marie (played here in silhouette by Bounded by Evil's Julie Oliver-Touchstone). These scenes managed to both add an extra touch of sympathy to Jesse (who clearly had about as terrible a childhood as can be imagined), while also casting his present-day actions in an even darker light. By trapping the Saint in an underwater coffin, he inflicted his own private hell on another. Between this ad the fact that the two men now effectively share a soul, it's clear the writers are making every effort to link Jesse and the Saint together. I'll be very interested to see how those ties ultimately pay off.
It also seems safe to expect a much heavier focus on the L'Angelle family next season. The show has broken from the source material by introducing Starr and the Grail before Marie and her minions, but that may actually work out for the best. The L'Angelle-focused storyline in the comics always felt like an abrupt tonal shift coming as early as it did in the series' lifespan. Better to save that material and slowly build towards this unhappy family reunion.
The Verdict
While not the weakest installment of Season 3, "Backdoors" is nonetheless a disappointment coming off the past couple episodes. As usual, the series loses a great deal of narrative momentum whenever Eugene's Hell subplot returns to the forefront. The focus on Jesse's troubled past and the ever-amusing members of the Grail certainly helped, but the show has some catching up to do if this season is going to see a proper finale in two weeks.
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