BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE - A Movie Review

Let's see what the nerds are all up in arms about now...

Spoiler Warning - if i'm going to write spoilers, I prefer they be multiple choice!

Warner Bros. and DC can't seem to catch a break when it comes to nerd anger. Despite leaving Comic-Con with various industry sources tentatively claiming that DC "won" SDCC (which is a silly notion altogether, and wholly irrelevant - when mom and dad both give you a ton of presents, you don't sit down and tell which parent did better, you set up your Super Nintendo and shut the hell up!) another piece of news was that the DC Animated feature "The Killing Joke" was courting as much controversy as the book did when it came out back in '88.

THAT book...was dark as hell; violent, grim, bleak, nearly devoid of hope, and featured one of the Joker's more despicably violent acts - the deliberate paralysis of Barbara Gordon. And though "too dark" was a ubiquitous criticism lobbed at 'Batman v Superman' back in the spring, that wasn't the source of the nerd rage for 'The Killing Joke'.

No, it was the Brian Azzarello penned "prequel" that was added to Alan Moore's original story to flesh out the characters a bit more that got everyone all hot and bothered. Though people may flinch at the idea of amending Moore's work, additions were necessary for people who hadn't read the book, weren't familiar enough with the characters, or maybe expected their animated feature to run longer than 45 minutes.

Focusing on Batgirl, and running about 20 minutes, the prequel isn't bad, really. It has some interesting ideas behind it, and takes on a plot that vaguely mirrors the main story between Batman and the Joker - a criminal Batgirl is chasing develops an unhealthy crush on her, and Batman warns her of the dangers when a bad guy starts objectifying her (just think about Heath Ledger saying "you complete me!"). Of course, despite Batman's warnings, Batgirl continues pursuing this goon, and the hunt soon becomes far more dangerous than anticipated. I liked that Barbara seemed a little more foolhardy than cautious, despite her skill. And though it seems like a lot of people are angry about it, I like that for once someone decided to treat Batgirl like an adult and explore the sexual tension between her and Batman.

Batgirl has always been portrayed, like many other female superheroes, with a pretty healthy degree of intrinsic sexuality. Red hair, fit, buxom, smart, sassy. And chaste. And though we've seen plenty of instances of Batman having sex with Talia al-Ghul, Selina Kyle, Vicki Vale, etc, Batgirl has never been an object of his affection, or he hers (at least, in the various books and features I've seen her in) So it was nice for the writers to show that she makes her own choices, and isn't a crimefighter who doubles as a damsel in distress. In fact, not only does she protect herself well when she's in mortal danger, at one point she saves Batman's life. She's a woman who fights crime, kicks ass, makes mistakes, has feelings and has sex. And people need to get the hell over it.

BUT...I do have some problems with the prequel that have nothing to do with content, and all to do with execution. The story would have been fine on it's own - presented as a stand-alone episode of BTAS, or short feature on the KJ Blu-ray, it's fine. But when attached to the main 'Killing Joke' story, it does feel a little forced and tacked-on. The themes do somewhat mesh, with both villains having an unhealthy obsession with their respective heroes, but not in a way that feels totally necessary or enhances Moore's original story much at all. As I said, it does flesh out Barb a lot more and makes her more than just the Joker's target, and I can't offer a solution for how to do it better than they did, but it just feels awkwardly done.

As for the main story - it's nearly as good as the original graphic novel. Most of it is a direct adaptation of the book, dialogue taken verbatim, and the art style is deliberately meant to evoke Brian Bolland distinctive take on the origin (allegedly) of the Joker. In the Joker-flashback scenes, his face is animated with a softness that makes him seem sympathetic and likable. Hamill's voice changes, too, from his typical Joker cackle to something far warmer. Some things don't adapt as well (the Joker's song and dance number feels weird, but then again, maybe that's the intent) and obviously they toned down a couple things here and there (there is no nudity, of course, despite Gordon and Barbara both being stripped by Joker in the book - there are a couple of scenes that are awkwardly animated to skirt showing cartoon butts, but it's no biggie, really) but for the most part, the reprehensible actions of the Joker are presented in all their heinousness.

There's not much I really can, or even need to say about the voice acting. Ray Wise and Tara Strong bring natural style and verve to Gordon and Batgirl. And Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill simply inhabit the voices they've been performing for more than twenty years now. Hamill is on top of his game - as good as anything from the Arkham video games, and Conroy does his usual thing with aplomb...but the final moments find a way to mix everything - the story, the animation and the voice acting into something that achieves the same sense of chilling inevitability as Moore's novel.

The Joker's last, defeated "...goddammit" and Batman's improbably tickled laugh are highlights of the film and only serve to remind you why it's probably their voices you hear in your head any time you're reading the books. I always read the ending without any sort of definite idea of whether or not Batman killed the Joker, and I felt that was the point - the book started out with the fear that that was where their relationship was heading, and the ending only served to confirm it. Whether now or later, the Joker would die, likely by Batman's hand. The ambiguity is the point.

'Batman: The Killing Joke' is a worthy adaptation of Alan Moore's acclaimed book, and though the prequel has some flaws, and the main story doesn't cover any new ground, it's still...um...fun?...do i want to use that word?...to see an animated version of this story with the best Batman voice actors ever.


FINAL SCORE: 7.5/10


Batman: The Killing Joke is rated R, and is currently available for digital download. It will be available on Blu-ray and DVD August 2.

OUTCAST - Ep. 7 - The Damage Done - A TV Review

The pieces are moving into position as we head into the final trio of episodes for season one of 'Outcast'. Let's dive in, yeah?

Spoiler Warning - spoilers for the show and the comic, up in here, up in here.

Really, not much happened in "The Damage Done", and yet it was still a pretty compelling hour of TV. When you have a bunch of people you're actually interested in following, not every single week has to be fighting demons, and shrieking black masses of goo that try to strangle you. And while the subplots of the Reverend, Chief Giles, and Megan and Mark all moved forward, we didn't see much resolution. With the exception of the Allison storyline, this mostly played like an episode that needed to get folks into position for the season's final act. And I'm fine with that, because I like everyone involved (though, I'm bordering on pity for Anderson because that poor sonofabitch is just having a rough go of it lately)

Let's talk about Allison, Kyle, and Amber first, though, because damn...that business was rough. Sad, and poignant, but rough as hell.

Now that they've removed the tension of is-she-or-isn't-she-possessed from Allison's story, we can see that much clearer how badly she's struggling with life in her post-separation world. And before, when we might have been in the dark about how much Amber remembers about what happened, we're not anymore - and neither is Allison. The horror that washes over Kate Lyn Sheil's face when she remembers viciously strangling her own kid is both painful and disturbing (and great work as an actress). Amber remembers everything, and still harbors anger and fear toward her mother, and more importantly, doubt about which mother she's going to get on a day-to-day basis.

Remember a couple of weeks ago, when I said divorce is so traumatic that the side effects of its aftermath were being presented as similar enough to demonic possession to make a specialist like Kyle sit up and take notice? Well, Amber noticed, too. And as worried and scared as Kyle was, imagine feeling that when you're six years old. And as Allison, Sheil puts all that realization across her face in every scene. Even her love scene with Kyle isn't played as particularly sexy or gratuitous - it's the desperate act of a woman who is horribly sad, alone, and afraid. She knows everything bad that has happened is her fault (though only in the most technical sense of the word, since I'd hardly blame her for her actions under possession, and we don't know how much she knows about that - at this point, she may blame herself 100%), and as obviously painful as it is for her to leave, Allison can't bear the thought of both potentially endangering her child again and...just facing her daughter, knowing that she nearly killed her. It's hard and haunting and ugly, but definitely in keeping with what we've seen of how emotionally fragile Allison has been thus far. This didn't happen in the comics, so I'm hoping that Allison comes back. Both because I want Kyle to be happy, but also because I really dig KLS's performance.

As for the rest of our peeps, both Anderson and Giles seemed to have grown weary of fuckin' around, and they both went right after the bad guys they'd been eyeing. Anderson called Sydney out in public, labeling him The Devil (whether or not Sydney is the devil is still up for debate in both comic and TV show, but I think he definitely could be. and Brent Spiner is definitely giving off a sort of superior malevolence), but mostly looking like a deranged old man in the process. After the crowd sees pentagrams on both the defaced and carved into Anderson's chest, they may think he did both things himself. Even Patricia's douchebag son has to offer some snotty commentary.

Giles, on the other hand, plays it much cooler, and though he confirms Ogden isn't possessed, it raises the original question with even more fervor: what the hell was he doing out there the woods that he'd want to hide so bad, he'd light a fire? If we didn't already mistrust and dislike Ogden before, his whole "yeah, you should have died, too" aside to Kyle was pretty douchey. So I hope Giles gets his ass.

But Ogden IS human (or so we currently believe) and so is the demon haunting Megan and Mark. Once again, Wrenn Schmidt kills it in nearly every one of her scenes, whether pleading with her former rapist to take every cent she has in the world, or angrily admitting the full truth about her past to Mark, she plays it all with gut-wrenching sincerity. And, with Donny being the complete piece of shit he is, of course he'd take the money and still rat out Mark. Donny may not be possessed, but he's evil. And his sort of evil is just as frightening and unpredictable as the demonic kind. Except Kyle can't just lay hands on him to get rid of it, so I have to wonder...how much worse are M&M going to let Donny make their lives before one of them is compelled to drastic action?

So like I said, even though not much happened in the episode, it was still an instance of the stakes being raised considerably, which elevated what could have been a kinda boring episode into a pretty good one.

Only three more to go this season.



FINAL SCORE - 7.5/10

 
Outcast airs on Cinemax, Friday nights at 10/9c

PREACHER - Ep. 9 - Finish The Song - A TV Review

Perhaps realizing that their paper is due in the morning, Catlin/Rogen/Goldberg finally stopped dicking around and put the pedal to the metal. A lotta shit went down in this episode, so let's see what's what now that the dust has settled, shall we?

 

Spoiler Warning - heads for the comic, tails for the TV show...

Jesus H. Christ, Emily...what the fuuuuuuuuuh....?

As far as unrequited love resolutions go, "feed Miles to convalescent vampire" was not exactly what I was expecting. Granted, my expectation for where next week's season finale is heading hasn't changed, despite Emily's decision to FEED MILES TO A GODDAMN VAMPIRE! I'm still pretty sure where things are going, ALTHOUGH MILES WILL MISS IT BECAUSE HE'S DEAD BECAUSE EMILY FED HIM TO A GODDAMN VAMPIRE!!

But in the end, it may not even matter. EXCEPT THAT IT DOES!!

Talk about your dark horses, man. I didn't think straight-up murder was in Emily's playbook, but if there's one thing this show is trying to teach you, it's that even the cute mom next door is capable of cold-blooded executions.

But all that being said, Miles may have had it coming a bit. And not because he is a rival to Jesse for Emily's affections, or because he was complicit in Quincannon's murder spree from a few episodes back. But because it really creeped me out the way he said "I'm staying over tonight" on the phone. The malignancy of the Miles' words comes across more in its intent than his actual tone. It wasn't exactly an explicit threat of rape, but it definitely felt like it was down the road from it. An expectation of sex, and Emily would have no choice. And perhaps that vague air of menace from Miles is what gave Emily the push she needed to feed him to a goddamn vampire.

And while Emily has been a soft touch, constantly presented in contrast to Tulip's unapologetic hard one, this week saw them both dispatching unwanted gentlemen, with Tulip finally clipping the dangling thread of Carlos. It's an interesting ride she's been on the last three episodes. While I'm mostly just grateful that she hasn't been nearly as annoying, seeing Tulip wash her hands of Jesse was unexpected. And it does point to her growth as a person that she's not sitting around Annville anymore waiting for Jesse to come to his senses (or at least, to Tulip's own deranged perception of what his senses should be). We're tricked, in the end, to think Tulip is listening to Jesse profess his love (really awkwardly, too) on her answering machine, but she's already in the ABQ, ending Carlos with a damn meat tenderizer.

Jesse, meanwhile, appears to be brushing up on his bro code, as he decides that apologizing to Cassidy should come with a complimentary mayoral corpse disposal. Cassidy's scenes with Jesse always shine with real chemistry within the banter, and this week is no exception. It was just made even more darkly funny by the fact that they forgave and forgot over Miles' exsanguinated body, and while Cassidy was looking like a 150-year-old football that goes to the tanning salon every day.


Aside from all this time spent with the core foursome, much of the main plot moved forward, and other previously disparate storylines have started to come together. The Seraph is back at full soccer-mom power, having been mercy-strangled by the bereaved Sheriff Root. Fiore and DeBlanc hilariously try to talk themselves into mustering the courage to return to Heaven (the coin toss was a bit of inspired comedy from Brook and Yusef), and finally the Saint...er, the Cowboy's role in all this is revealed.

The revelation that the Cowboy's been living in the Ratwater circle Hell, and having to relive what we can assume is the worst few days of his life was an interesting take on the inferno. It is a big departure from his origin in the books, and while that might have been outside their budget, I actually like this original idea. Though it's unclear how much the Cowboy understands of what is going on in every cycle, it would explain why he didn't seem in that big a hurry a few episodes back when his daughter's life was on the line. If she's always going to be dead when he gets home, why rush? But now he's got a couple angels there with a whole new target for him to gun down. We'll see how well that goes. I'm sure he'll bring his sword.


Overall, I feel like this may have been 'Preacher's best episode yet - or at least, it's most complete. It wasn't that it was particularly flabbergasting, though again - Emily fed Miles to a goddamn vampire, and that shocked the hell outta me - but it was, for the first time, a fully-realized and well-constructed, fluid story. And that, for damn sure, is progress.

Next week's the finale. And I'm pretty sure at this point, I'm gonna be pissed by the ending.

Cowboy-level pissed.


FINAL SCORE - 8/10

Preacher's Season Finale airs Sunday night at 9/8c on AMC

THE FIRST T2: TRAINSPOTTING 2 TEASER HAS DROPPED!

I almost said trailer, but no...this is a teaser in almost the most Christopher Nolany sense of the word. We're treated to one shot, though it's melon-farmin' glorious!

'Trainspotting' is far from the usual fare we cover on this site, but it's one of the formative films of my later youth. It hit me like a...uh...hell...a train, way back when it came out 20 years ago. So I'm super excited for this follow-up!

PLANET OF THE APES (1968) - A QUICKIE REVIEW

Fathom Events is doing their thing again this summer by showing some old movies at various local theaters. Yesterday's feature? Only one of the greatest works of sci-fi in the history of ever.

Spoiler Warning - This post contains damn dirty spoilers. You've been warned.

What can I say about 'Planet of the Apes' that hasn't already been said? It's a masterpiece of allegorical science-fiction, combining ideas of author Pierre Boulle with the sinisterly twisted mind of Rod Serling. A sci-fi space adventure, touching on everything from racism, sexism, ageism, environmentalism, and the anti-establishment ideals of the late sixties, you wouldn't think a movie that centers around a world inhabited by talking Apes would be so politically relevant, but damn if it ain't. 

And though some of the dialogue and style of the film seems dated (the make-up effects seem laugable now, yet still pretty effective, and the three Ape leads all bring their performances out through the foam masks), the ideas behind it certainly aren't. In fact, when you start thinking about Dr. Zaius in terms of some of today's highest-profile politicians and parties, he seems like less and less of an unbelievable intelligent ape, and more and more like...oh...a tea-party candidate. Zaius professes to protect science, yet rejects it at every turn, protects his "faith" with violence, threats of litigation, and tyranny, and hides his deepest fears behind his power, claiming it is for the greater good. All while possessing an uncanny skill at not choking on his own hypocrisy. Sound like anyone you know?

Charlton Heston, never considered one of the more subtle actors, has a wonderful character arc, too. He starts off the film all full of his smug, nihilistic bluster, convinced of his own superiority to his teammates, yet ends up essentially in a committed relationship and in deep shock and mourning for his lost planet. You might also consider the anger he feels at a human world destroyed by itself, and then contrast that with the "cold dead hands" political position of his later life...you know, if you wanted to.

And the ending...my god, the ending. Even when you know it's coming - and I did, before I ever saw the whole movie, I knew how it ended - it's still a powerful and sickening feeling that washes over you when you see the final fate of modern man. The ending elevates an already fantastic film into something that would eventually become iconic. 'Planet of the Apes' is smart, well-constructed, biting, satiric, suspenseful, creepy, and above all a damn good movie. 

And filled with damn, dirty apes!

FINAL SCORE - 9/10

JUSTICE LEAGUE, SUICIDE SQUAD, DOCTOR STRANGE TRAILERS DROP!!

SDCC is the con that keeps on giving with the surprise release of a Justice League trailer, a new, full length Suicide Squad trailer, and the second Doctor Strange trailer.

Justice League, y'all. Justice League. 

UPDATE: The Lego Batman movie trailer added, too!

THE FIRST WONDER WOMAN TRAILER IS ONLINE!

As all six of you know, SDCC is in full swing. the WB panel is going on right now, and we've been treated to the first trailer for Patty Jenkins' 2017 'Wonder Woman'!!

Here it is!

Holy. Living. Frak.

WOW.

As we can see, Gal Gadot (who totally stole the show in 'Batman v Superman') is back as Diana Prince in a prequel of sorts - this movie is set about a hundred years before 'Dawn of Justice'. Having lived her entire life on the home-island of the Amazons, Diana travels to the outside world for the frist time and finds herself caught up in World War I.

The trailer showcases the first man she ever meets - the marooned soldier Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) and shows us glimpses of a few WW staples - Connie Nielsen as Diana's mother, Hippolyta, and Lucy Davis as Diana's buddypal Etta Candy.

Most exciting for me is the trailer seems to point toward keeping that badass theme for WW we first heard in BvS!! Awwwww yiss!

'Wonder Woman' is out June 2, 2017.

OUTCAST - Ep. 6 - From the Shadows It Watches - A TV Review

Kyle takes a backseat of sorts as Reverend Anderson's crisis of faith reaches a ...um...crisis point.

Crap.

Whatever, let's talk 'Outcast'.

Anderson's tattoo goes horribly, horribly wrong.

Spoiler warning - tv show spoilers, comic spoilers...warned!!! 

Even if this week's episode of 'Outcast' wasn't chock full of action, I'd still call it a success because Kirkman and co. ratcheted up the tension to a point where it feels like danger and disaster loom around every corner and behind every shadow. When Kyle can't even look at a hot bucket of tar without losing his shit, you know things have gone pretty sideways. And even though the various subplots of the episode don't directly tie into one another, it feels like they do, because they all feel like they're reaching a crescendo of just straight-up bad news.

Kyle seems to be having a good little week at first. He's found himself a job tarring roads (which sounds like hell to me, but I suppose when the entire town hates you, you take what you can get) and is earning enough money to both keep him in beer and pizza AND to send a bit to Allison and Amber. He has a lighthearted lunch with Megan, and yet when she reveals Allison doesn't want Kyle's money, he seems to take it in stride.

Of course, this all goes tits up when Mildred decides she wants a hit of whatever mojo Kyle has in his breath. In an extremely creepy scene, Grace Zabriskie returns to beat the shit out of Kyle and then suck the whatever out of him until an unseen force pulls her off. And the fact that her hummel figurines are her own version of a Joker card just makes it all the creepier, if you ask me.

Mildred's attack sends Kyle into a downward spiral. The assault leaves him unconscious and bleeding, and hallucinations cause him to walk off the job. He's powerless. And really, it's the first time we've seen the adult Kyle truly  afraid. He has always approached the possessed from a position of, if not power, then at least caution and awareness. Yet this time, he's caught unaware, and gets pummeled by a little old lady who could have killed him were it not for someone else's intervention. Obviously, this has to leave him feeling pretty uneasy. So despite his conviction to stay away from Anderson, that's where he finds himself heading.

During her picnic with Kyle, Megan gets a phone call from Donny. Once he reveals that Mark beat the everlovin' tar outta him, then we really start to see that, despite their love for one another, Megan and Mark have some serious trust issues. Megan kept Donny a secret from Mark, Mark kept his attack a secret from Megan and now they're sleeping in separate rooms as Mark's choices have a major impact on Megan's state of mind. What is truly sickening though is that Donny is still turning the screws on Megan. His despicable attempts to blackmail her only serve to show that he deserved every bit of the ass-kicking Mark gave him. Once again, 'Outcast' shines a light on the mindset of a rapist, which I feel is pretty damn important in our current state of affairs. Donny isn't some creepy looking monster. He's a not-unattractive tire salesman, who publicly says the right thing, and privately spews venom. And in the context of this series, it makes him even more frightening, because his actions are not caused by demonic possession -- that's just who he is. A villain.

Chief Giles, too, is dealing with a man who seems to be A-OK on the outside. His buddy Ogden always has an answer, says the right things, but Giles knows he's lying. Once Mark finally tracks down the "missing" girl from the camper, she too says the right things. She was never missing, her DNA is all over the town (charming) and she was never in any danger. Yet she heads right over to Ogden's to compare notes and cover their asses. And while all this is going on, Giles has to deal with Anderson, too. He's got a stressful job, the chief.

At the heart of this episode, though, is Reverend Anderson, whose crisis of faith is reaching a boiling point. After shutting her out, Anderson pulls Patricia into his currently-failing exorcism, as if he needs a sounding board to convince himself both that God is on his side, and that Kyle isn't particularly special. That he is not a failure. He even cuts his hand open, believing any blood will have the same effect on the possessed as Kyle's blood. But once we learn that it's Caleb who is down in the basement, that Anderson can't save him, that he may not even want to be saved, and that faith and God's protection won't save you from either possession or a pissed-off Sydney carving a pentagram into your chest, Anderson is finally defeated. He can't honestly believe that God is on his side anymore. It's not a crisis of faith anymore...it's just a crisis.

Going back to Caleb for a moment, he underscores a lot of the same things Mildred first brought up in her conversations with Anderson. Caleb spoke of how good it felt to be "possessed" which raises the question of what is truly happening with them. Is it just like Anderson said, the seduction of evil? Or could it possibly be something more? Beyond that, Anderson has to feel even more like a failure for not being able to save arguably the most devout member of his flock; evil right under his nose. Again. And he couldn't do a damn thing about it.

It was a turning point episode for both of the main characters - Kyle learning he can't hide from whatever this darkness is anymore, and Anderson, that he can't fight it alone. And while this storyline may not directly tie in to the Megan/Mark/Donny, or maybe even Chief Giles (we have't seen anything yet there that can definitely be said to be demonic), every single person on this show is dealing with some very frightening shit. And that palpable sense of dread permeates every plot, making it all seem intertwined.

Great episode.



FINAL SCORE - 8/10

Outcast airs on Cinemax, Friday nights at 10/9c

TRAILER DUMP

SDCC is in full-swing and we're starting to see a ton of trailers, teasers and TV spots come out in the last couple of days, with everything from Luke Cage to the final push for Suicide Squad.

Here's a bunch of them! (hint: the Luke Cage one is doooooooope!)

P.S. Season 2 of Narcos is in there because that show is seriously BTFA.

PREACHER - Ep. 8 - El Valero - A TV Review

Well, a lot of stuff definitely happened in this week's episode of 'Preacher'. The pieces moved for sure, just not very far. Let's break it down, ok?

Jesse goes all Butch Cassidy on your ass

Spoiler Warning - not just for the show, but for the comic it's based on, too. You be warned.

Last week I opined that despite episode seven ending with the promise of a violent altercation between the Quincannon faction and the Preacher, episode eight would somehow find a way to underwhelm. And to an extent, I was wrong. But also...not. For once, though, 'Preacher' didn't do much meandering this week. The story was pretty straightforward (if a little underwhelming), and the couple of subplots tied directly into other things we've seen this season. 

Nice day to assault a church in front of law enforcement

In the church, Jesse fends off Quincannon's goons like he's holding down the Alamo. When some men breach the inside of the church, in the aftermath we're told (no, we don't actually see) that Jesse quickly, efficiently, and brutally disarms them. I know the 'Preacher' production has a relatively limited budget, but sometimes it feels like we're not shown the action because they can't afford it. And even if that's the case, it should never feel that way. (The shark didn't work, but 'Jaws' sure as fuck did, because Spielberg knows how to tell a fluid story. My point is, even if the budget is the reason for not showing something, the not-showing-whatever shouldn't feel so jarring). But a lot is going on inside the church, even as Quincannon and his mean regroup outside and come up with ways to drag Jesse out. I mean, those boys need a food court, amirite?

Sidenote - I did love Donny's pretty clever, yet totally batshit crazy, plan to render himself immune to Jesse's powers. Given all we've seen of Donny this season, and they way they made it seem like he was suicidal, it was a pretty good payoff for an inconsistent subplot. Kudos.

While Jesse holds off the not-Mexican Army, he's interrupted by a few guests. The first is Eugene, who crawls up through the dirt and the hole in the floor Jesse tore open last week. These scenes were awkward, though one could argue it's deliberate. Jesse's words seem stiff, and his apologies feel a bit ham-fisted. But then you notice that Eugene's behavior is a little off, too. At first, he claims that Jesse's order compelled him to start climbing up (straight-up chill-inducing exchange: Jesse: You dug your way up from Hell?/Eugene: "it's not that far"), but when he mentions the angels he'd have no way of knowing existed, Jesse realizes Eugene is just a hallucination. (At first, given Eugene's insatiable desire for water, I thought maybe it was a demon making a play to sieze Genesis, but I guess I was wrong). But Eugene's question gives him an idea, and Jesse sends for DeBlanc and Fiore.

DeBlanc throws some withering shade at the Preacher

Trying to barter for Eugene's release from Hell, Jesse goes back and forth with the angels, desperate for an actual plan. This shows us, for the first time, despite all his talk about "doing good" and "saving the town", Jesse is just a man, fumbling in the dark, pretending to know what God wants. And this leads to him being confronted by perhaps the most pointed question in this young show's history.

With withering judgment, DeBlanc asks him, "Genesis, the greatest power ever known, and you've had it all this time, right there at the tip of your tongue. And what good have you done with it?" It's a question that leaves Jesse speechless, yet I feel like it can be applied to the show itself.

Catlin/Rogen/Goldberg have one of the most revered comic series of the last twenty years at their disposal, great actors, a great concept...and what have they done with it? I have an idea what they're aiming at, but I don't want to explicitly state it. But if I'm right...they'll be doing about as much "good" as Jesse's done.

And so, by the end of this week's story, despite the assaults, the violence, the gunfire and the one-man-against-an-army odds, the meaningful conversations and revelations not much has really changed. Jesse's in custody, but in the midst of talking his way out of it. Quincannon has ownership of the church, but looks like he might grant Jesse one last hail mary. Genesis is pulled out of Jesse but literally spends about a minute in the coffee can before bursting free again, leading DeBlanc and Fiore to simply walk away. And Cassidy and Tulip are just chillin' and eating a dog.

Wait, what??

RIP Brewski - the other kind of drink

This is, for me anyways, Ruth Negga's best episode both as a showcase of her abilities as an actress, and for her character. Her subplot is a great example of the writers doing exactly what I asked for last week - showing a character through actions, not words. Tulip shows herself as a loyal friend, an animal lover, capable of warmth and kindness and a certain bloody pragmatism. She spends the entire episode bonding with Brewski the dog, giving him one final glorious dog day before feeding him to what we assume is a convalescent Cassidy. Tulip has three good scenes with Brewski and though they don't make sense at first, they're short so they don't feel like they're derailing the main plot. But the way the final reveal that Brewski is just food for a vampire makes all that has come before it make sense is very well done. So I gotta tip my hat to the writers for that very excellent way of showing us that Cassidy is, in fact, still alive, and Tulip is capable of genuinely caring for someone, or something other than herself
.

And it also serves to keep the two of them away from the church...for now.

I have a dread feeling that I know what this entire season is building to -- and if you've read the comics, it's likely an event that honestly should have been in the pilot. And if not the pilot, then maybe like, the fourth episode. It's my theory that a good drama usually takes around four episodes to properly world-build and kick-off the story. The pilot gives you an overview of your main characters and the world they inhabit. Episodes two and three develop all characters a little bit more and offer you a deeper insight into your protagonist. Episode four should have a turning point of some sort that throws your season's main story arc into gear; some good examples of this are 'The Sopranos' episode "Meadowlands". 'Deadwood', "Here was a Man", and 'The Shield' which did it in episode five with "Blowback"

As for 'Preacher' if things pan out the way I suspect, then I think it has the potential to turn a lot of people off. And given the way the audience responded to 'The Walking Dead' fucking with them one too many times, I fear for the long-term fate of 'Preacher' if they do this. Second season renewals aren't set in stone. Just ask the producers of 'Vinyl'.

FINAL SCORE - 6.5/10

Preacher airs on AMC, Sunday nights at 9/8c

STAR WARS ROGUE ONE POSTER REVEALED!

This...is freakin' dope.

OUTCAST - Ep. 5 - The Road Before Us - A TV Review

'Outcast' maintains its form and comes back from the holiday break with a tension-riddled episode. Let's dive in, yes?

Spoilers - There's going to be show and comic spoilers up in dis bitch.

I wrote about 'Preacher' earlier in the week, and it's kind of hard not to compare it to 'Outcast'. Both come from comic books, both by acclaimed authors, and both deal with a spiritual world that throws faith away and gives you irrefutable proof of the existence of the divine...or at least, that the divine once existed.

But while 'Preacher' is content to get by on style and mosey along from episode to episode with brief spots of action and minimal plot, 'Outcast' has been moving its story forward nearly every week. In a lesser show, advancing the plot would take priority over character development, but 'Outcast' is seamlessly combining them. Who these characters really are shows through their actions, which is really the best way to tell a story. Kyle is the reluctant hero, humble, but strong and ready in a moment to protect those he loves. Reverend Anderson is devout, but proud and stubborn. Megan is strong, confident and very loving of her family. Chief Giles is intelligent, Sidney is vicious, and Kyle's estranged wife Allison is...a question mark. Or at least, she was.

The decay of Kyle and Allison's marriage is something that's been teased for weeks now, with snippets of information being doled out, but this week brought it front and center. And even though it was fraught with the tension of whether or not Allison is still possessed, it clearly illuminated who both of these characters are. And that - Catlin/Rogen/Goldberg - is how you tell a story!

For the first time, we're allowed to spend a significant time with Allison, played by Kate Lyn Sheil. In the midst of Kyle and Rev. Anderson's frantic search for the "formerly" possessed, Allison is presented as sullen, withdrawn, short-tempered, confused and unfocused. She is hard on her daughter, refuses to have anything to do with Kyle, barely considers even listening to requests from Megan to see him, and recoils when Kyle barely touches her. It speaks to the success of this week's story that I kept going back and forth in my mind..."oh no! she's still possessed! ok...she's not possessed. whew! SHE'S POSSESSED!!"

Despite the fact that Kyle is clearly concerned for all the people Anderson thought he'd saved, he spends the entire episode with his attention half-focused on Allison. When Allison won't let him touch her, you can see the wheels turning in his head as he considers whether or not to kick the door in.

But the reveal that Allison isn't possessed is somehow even more tragic. Separation and divorce are ugly, painful things, and it says a lot about how damaging it can be, when the emotional side effects, under the right context, can be mistaken for demonic possession.

This whole interaction between Kyle and Allison, though, is perfect example of character being revealed through action. We see how damaged Allison is now, weak, fragile, unsure of herself, and confused about things that don't add up when she considers who she knows Kyle is and what the police think happened. She knows Kyle wouldn't hit her, and she knows he's patient - she even calls him overly apologetic. When we see her horribly bruised and swollen face in the hospital flashback, we understand her disbelief. This can't be the work of her husband. And the pain on her face at the end of the episode as she begs Kyle to tell her the truth lets us know how much she still loves and needs him. It's a heartbreaking, and very effective example of efficient character development. None of this means the plot gets short-changed, though; far from it.

Throughout the rest of the episode, we see tension rising between Kyle and Anderson, with Anderson digging in his heels and almost stubbornly refusing to believe his God could let him down. Anderson's almost foolish naivete, though, is becoming far clearer than he realizes. Sidney and Mildred meet up, and let us know something big and horrible is on the horizon (even if the malicious entity posing as Mildred won't last to see it). Chief Giles continues to sniff around his increasingly suspicious buddy, Ogden. And Kyle and Anderson seek out a runaway girl named Sherry (Vanessa Marano), who disappeared after Anderson allegedly exorcised her.

As it becomes clear that very few, if any, of Anderson's prior exorcisms were successful, Kyle finds Sherry living on the streets. But instead of the demon inside her seeking to flee, Sherry leaps toward Kyle as if she needs him. We see that same mouth-smoky-sucky thing that Joshua did in the very first episode (and Mildred seemingly attempted on Sidney, too), before the gooey black demon lifts Kyle several feet into the air, as if embracing him. This raises the question - if Sidney and the demons need Kyle...is Kyle really the hero of the story? Or is he a danger waiting to be unleashed?

These are good questions to have, and they, for me at least, draw me in more and make me feel like continuing to watch. I don't ever feel bored, or cheated by the constant teasing of future elements. The plot is advancing, sometimes slowly, sometimes quickly. and while that happens, Kyle and company are very likable and engaging characters. So far, this has been a pretty damn good first season.

'Preacher' could learn a thing or two from watching 'Outcast'.


FINAL SCORE - 8/10

'Outcast' airs on Cinemax, Friday Nights and 10/9c

PREACHER - Ep. 7 - He Gone - A TV Review

As season one begins it's final four episodes, my feelings of hesitant concern have become not-so-hesitant, as we have another episode that meanders around before teasing a confrontation I've little doubt will underwhelm. But that's next week. Let's discuss this week.

Spoiler Warning: I'd say that this article contains spoilers for the episode, but that would imply something of note happened. It does, however, contain spoilers for the comic series. Just FYI.

There's a problem with 'Preacher'. True, not much really happened in this episode - DeBlanc and Fiore were not featured, but Quincannon returned, and is now apparently looking for a war. A lot of personal of relationships were explored, and some backstory was revealed. But a lack of action isn't the biggest problem. No, the problem I speak of is that it is unclear what, among those various, slowly sauntering plots of the episode, is relevant?

"He Gone" featured numerous flashbacks to Jesse's youth with his father, establishing the root of Jesse's compulsion to be a preacher, and his need to protect the church. It also featured another divergence from the comics - a young Tulip. In the comic, Jesse and Tulip did not meet each other until adulthood, however the series shows them not only being close friends, but Tulip living in Jesse's home for a time. And when social services takes her away, and John Custer does nothing to stop it, we get the revelation that Jesse angrily prayed to God that his father die, and was subsequently gunned down, creating a sense of guilt in Young Jesse's character.

I'm hesitant to even use the word "revelation", though, because we already saw John murdered* before Jesse's eyes in a previous episode. Being presented with the knowledge that Jesse was in the midst of a temper tantrum and prayed in a way that every child prays whenever they're angry with their parents doesn't make it particularly moving or relevant. Jesse may have felt guilt when he was nine years old, but does he still feel it as an adult? We haven't been shown anything that would indicate Adult Jesse is acting out of guilt or familial obligation. And if he is, it's pretty foolish to think that Adult Jesse would still believe his childish prayer was to blame for John's death. Yet apparently, this guilt is tremendously important to establishing who Jesse truly is.

*In the comics, John was murdered by a couple of goons named Jody and TC at the behest of Jesse's vile and wicked maternal grandmother. While the identity of the gunmen wasn't explicitly established in this episode, the triggerman sports a tattoo like the one Jesse's got on his back, given to him by a "mean old lady," as per last episode. I'm guessing Grandma. 

In contrast to the guilt he felt over his father is Jesse's reaction to Eugene's apparent banishment to Hell. The episode's opening shot is of the missing boy's church missal floating to the ground. Jesse looks back over his shoulder, and for a moment, displays a smug look of satisfaction with his new power. He doesn't know that Cassidy has witnessed the event, and when Cassidy calls him on it, Jesse shows not a shred of guilt. He argues that Eugene wasn't innocent, that he deserved it, and he gives the details of how Eugene got his face, and how Tracy Loach ended up in a vegetative state - for a moment, Jesse shows that tendency toward judgment that his father possessed ("She's an O'hare!" spat out by John in a flashback, like an insult). Cassidy calls bullshit, and while pushing Jesse to admit Eugene doesn't deserve hell, throws down a final gambit with the fire extinguisher that makes both his survival and Jesse's state of mind purposefully (and kind of dickishly, writers, if I'm being honest) ambiguous. It is a strong moment for Cassidy though, who is surprisingly becoming the debauched little moral compass of the show.

Back to Tulip for a moment. By diverging from the comic and bringing Tulip into Jesse's life at such a young age, it creates more of a sense that their relationship is what I've been calling it since the beginning: childish. As kids, Tulip makes Jesse use the line they use in the comic to profess their love: "till the end of the world". As adults, Tulip is arguing with Cassidy and shouts "he's my boyfriend" so that it sounds like the stubborn claim of the same child who held Young Jesse down and tried to lick his eyeball.

And while Emily has been presented as a pretty sharp contrast to Tulip, she is revealed to have a fairly immature attraction to Jesse as well. During their weird, quasi-family dinner, she more or less admits to having a crush on Jesse from the moment she laid eyes on him. "The moment I laid eyes on you" is one of those cliched phrases you usually only hear in movies and TV shows, and it makes it seem as though Emily is viewing Jesse through a romantic filter, rather than seeing him for the man he truly is. But both Emily and Tulip have a skewed perception of the Preacher, and both fail to notice how much the man is changing before them, until it becomes painfully obvious as he harshly insults them both. So really, by the end of the episode, the biggest development in the plot is that we're starting to see more clearly that Jesse is heading down a dark and dangerous road.


As I said before, I'm not sure what Jesse wants to do in Annville. He says he wants to save it, and now we kind of see why. But, "save it" is extraordinarily vague. And how he intends to do that, when he elects not to use the word on the congregation or a Quincannon who is demanding the church grounds is yet another mystery in a series that seems content to keep posing questions without answers. But the scarier problem is that I don't really care. There doesn't seem to be any urgency to his desire, so why should I? And I get annoyed that Catlin/Rogen/Goldberg are seeming to address this in Cassidy's anti-Lebowski** monologue when his diatribe reaches a climax with "plot matters!" Plot does matter, especially when you're dealing with a show of this nature.

**These jokers do not need to be comparing themselves to the Coen Brothers. The Coens have earned a ton of goodwill by telling wacky, crazy, meandering stories that still have interesting plots, 'Lebowski' among them. It's an arrogant comparison to draw.

Plot isn't just a series of scenes, or character explorations. Something has to actually happen or those characters you've spent all this time developing are not compelling enough to keep people watching. It has to go somewhere. We have a ton of questions and very few answers: what is Quincannon doing? Why does Tulip have such a hard-on for Carlos that she can't just let it go? Who killed John and why? The non-comic-reader has to be wondering what the fuck the Cowboy or the man in the white suit have to do with anything. Look, I'm ok with leaving questions out there to be answered in later episodes. I'm ok with setting up future storylines now. What I'm not ok with is focusing so much on setting up the future, that the present is rendered nearly pointless.

I'll be writing about last week's 'Outcast' soon, and for everything that 'Preacher' is doing wrong, that show is doing right. They're moving the plot along, leaving enough mysteries to keep you guessing, and still showing you who the characters are without beating you over the head with it.

Three episodes to go, and I'll stick with it through the end of this season. But I'm starting to feel like this final arc of episodes will prove to be just as meandering and ultimately pointless as much of the episodes that preceded it.

FINAL SCORE - 5.5/10

Preacher airs Sunday nights at 9/8c on AMC, if you care anymore.

PREACHER, Ep. 6 - Sundowner - a TV Review

Some questions get answered, a few more pop up, and my concerns grow a little more intense with this week's episode of 'Preacher'. Let's dive in, but DON'T kill it. Just restrain it.

Spoiler Warning - this review has spoilers up in hurr, up in hurr.

For a series that has been all about the slow burn, the first twelve or so minutes of Sunday's episode of 'Preacher' finally and explosively addressed a lot of just what the hell is going on here. And then the remaining thirty minutes returned to the slow burn.

Last week's episode left us with a sort of dual cliffhanger; Quincannon's murder spree, and Jesse finally coming face to face with DeBlance and Fiore. "Sundowner" picks up with the latter of the two (and spends the overwhelming majority of the episode ignoring the former) as Jesse finally learns the full nature of the Genesis power that's inside him.

Anatol Yusef as DeBlanc (L); Tom Brooke as Fiore (R)

Anatol Yusef, as the angel DeBlanc, grabs the mic in this scene and takes charge, giving Jesse's power a proper name (comic readers already know it's called "Genesis") revealing that it's the product of the love of an angel and a demon, and that it's power is the greatest the universe has ever known - apparently, including God himself (again, comic readers know that God is MIA while Genesis is on the loose, because He genuinely fears it). Yusef walks a fine line of delivering his deadly serious exposition with an off-kilter humor, and this sequence is the most we've seen of him thus far. As someone who loved his portrayal of Meyer Lansky on 'Boardwalk Empire', it's nice to see him get to stretch his legs a little bit in this very different territory. DeBlanc's droll delivery and working class British accent gives him a sort of charisma that clashes well with Fiore's more awkward, spastic nature.

Of course, all this exposition is instantly abandoned the moment Fiore notices a pretty little blonde seraph walk into the diner and chaos ensues. What follows is the most intense and hilarious action set piece that Preacher has yet to offer. DeBlanc, Fiore and Jesse are all capable fighters, but are clearly outmatched by this petite blonde who looks about 5'2" and a buck-twenty, soaking wet. It's a brutal fight, with the seraph being stronger, faster, and more vicious than all three men, yet it comes across with the sort of slapstick we'd usually see in a Three Stooges bit. Despite the bloodshed, the stakes aren't terribly high for this fight: Jesse obviously won't die, because he's the main character. But DeBlanc, Fiore, and the Seraph not only can die, but do. Repeatedly. And then respawn a few feet away with a whoosh and a flash of light. They're desperate to neutralize the Seraph without killing her, lest they have to start the fight all over again. And when Cassidy enters the fray, it only ratchets up the silliness.

It's a wonderful sequence of events, and among the strongest scenes the series has presented thus far. But if it moves the plot forward like a runaway locomotive, then the come-down afterward is like someone pulling the emergency brake. With the seraph "disarticulated", Jesse walks out on DeBlanc and Fiore, refuses to give up Genesis and goes back to his place, literally, to do laundry and drink beer. And the episode resumes it's typical languid, ponderous nature.

After the opening mayhem, the episode checks in on everyone else. At school, Eugene finds himself in an awkward position of not trusting the sudden flood of goodwill aimed his way. When some kids just want to sit with him at lunch, he is clearly uneasy and distrustful. Despite his wariness, he goes along with them into a drainage ditch after school, and though we're expecting them to jump him or insult him horribly, instead they just want to share their fireworks with him. As he stands there in the semi-darkness, watching the orange and red streams flickering through the air, there is a gentle poignancy to his single word response - "beautiful". Hindsight, of course, presents this foreshadowing moment with a horrific irony at the end of the episode.

Did we just become best friends??

In other news, Tulip confronts Emily with a deranged demand to "stay away from my boyfriend!". Emily is shocked and then insulted by Tulip's destruction of her child's "art thingie" and stands her ground, which seems to defuse the situation a bit. It's an interesting development, for sure, to see Emily and Tulip getting a long, but it did feel a bit forced. In the space of about three minutes, they go from screaming and threatening to offers of babysitting and Tulip being given the responsibility of preparing the church for this week's sermon. I am pleased to see a different aspect of Tulip's personality, I just wish it didn't seem so out-of-left-field. We've seen Emily be both strong and gentle, so her response to Tulip is much less surprising. And perhaps it's that gentleness that disarms Tulip enough for her to try to mend fences with Jesse's not-girlfriend.

Jesse, on the other hand, is preparing for church in an entirely different way. While setting up chairs, Jesse consults Mayor Miles, who is struggling with his own guilt about Quincannon's shooting spree. Miles presents the quandary that everyone who prays eventually comes across: when looking for guidance, how do I know when God is speaking to me and when it's just the regular voice in my head? Jesse's response is almost insulting in its simplicity; he tells Miles that we always know the difference, and we always know what the right thing to do is, it's just a matter of doing it. And yet, Jesse himself is clearly embarking on a path God wouldn't exactly endorse.

With a loudspeaker and a couple hundred chairs, Jesse is planning to remove free-will entirely from the question of faith in Annville. Despite the vocal reproaches of Eugene, Jesse is determined to "save" everyone through the sheer force of his Word. He knows the voice in his head isn't his own, and he knows it's actually part demon, but Jesse moves forward with his plan anyway, over Eugene's increasingly frantic claims that Jesse's plan is indeed a terrible sin. It's clear Jesse knows what he's doing is wrong, but he simply doesn't want to hear it. And when Jesse finally has had enough, he cruelly yells "GO TO HELL, EUGENE" and there is a frightening whoosh, the crackling sounds of flame, and Eugene Root disappears. Suddenly, the idea of fire in the dark doesn't seem so beautiful.

If this is truly the last we see of poor Arseface, then it's an incredibly frightening and bitter end for what has become the most endearing and heartbreaking character on the show. While actually sending people to hell was not among Jesse's powers in the comic (the most he could ever do in the books was instantly kill someone by saying "die") showrunners Catlin/Rogen/Goldberg have more than proven they're exploring unknown territory with this show; comic-Jesse could definitely be a brutal, yet principled, sonofabitch, but TV-Jesse is wading into terrifying and definitely immoral waters.

And while it could certainly be an interesting idea to explore, it's just another in a series of shocking left turns from this show that seems to go out of its way to go out of its way. There has yet to be any sort of consistent tone for the series, other than "weird" and very few threads of the various plots have born much fruit yet. We're sixty percent of the way through the first season, and I have no fucking idea where it's headed, but I can tell you this much: I'm concerned. Not every show has to follow the same sort of narrative formula, but I feel like it's safe to say when you've reached the halfway point of the first season, your audience ought to have some idea of what you're trying to do or say. Those things may slowly evolve or change drastically over time, but I feel like it's a good idea to give your viewer at least something to anchor the show. And so far, 'Preacher' hasn't done that. It's been a series of inconsistently satisfying or intriguing moments that have yet to coalesce into something that resembles a cohesive story.  So while I'll keep watching because I know enough about the backstory from the comics, I wonder how folks who are coming into this series totally blind feel about it. Is the show's meandering nature in danger of alienating the casual viewer? I wonder.


FINAL SCORE - 7.5/10

RIP Arseface???

'Preacher' airs Sunday nights at 9/8c on AMC.

OUTCAST RETURNS NEXT WEEK

Because life is horribly unfair, 'Outcast' did not air this past friday. It should resume this week, but I didn't want any regular readers to think I'd somehow ignored it. I wouldn't do that. Shit is awesome.

PREACHER, Ep. 5 - South Will Rise Again - A TV Review

I've been in a much more 'Game of Thrones'y headspace this week, so I'm sorry it's taken me so long to get to last Sunday's episode of Preacher. But here we are, so let's go.

Spoiler warning - for the show and for the comic.

This week's episode was kind of a mixed bag, with most of the episode focusing on a group of men trying to rewrite their own nature. There were things to like about it, to be sure, but ultimately it felt a little aimless and like it created more questions than it answered. There are threads of stories that I can see stretching out, but I have no idea where they're headed, how they're related, and not even a whiff of how they can be resolved. Sometimes, we're not even sure they need to be resolved.

'South Will Rise Again' opened with an extended sequence about the Cowboy (The Saint of Killers, to the comic-readers). Even though it was exciting, I'm still not sure how this all relates to the main story. The scenes all certainly looked cool, and Graham McTavish certainly exudes the dangerous not-to-be-fucked-with attitude that the Saint stood for, but despite that excitement, my mind kept wandering. More than once, I found myself distracted by his unhurried pace, even as ultimate resolution of the scene became obvious.

When last we saw, the Cowboy was riding to Ratwater for medicine for his dying daughter. When he's told he must wait until morning for the medicine, it seems to be too long for him. Yet when it's time to go, he rides his horse slowly - cinematically. When things go bad for the Cowboy, and he loses his horse, he simply walks home - again, very slowly. So, of course, when he finally arrives home, his daughter and his wife are both dead. He grabs up his gunbelts and rifle and, we assume, heads back to Ratwater to take vengeance on...his own unrushed pace? I'm not sure. But in a subplot that is completely separate (for now) from the main storyline, 'Preacher' can't afford distractions, and this sequence was loaded with them.

In present day Annville, Jesse holds court in the local diner. With word having spread about the sudden conversion of Odin Quincannon, Jesse enjoys a sort of celebrity, and takes the opportunity to preach to people away from his usual pulpit, and his parishioners seem to be paying closer attention. What makes it interesting though, is that Jesse comes across as almost drunk with power. He uses the Word to settle disputes and dispense advice on matters as trivial as parents bickering over when bedtime should be for the kids, and something as serious as forcing Mrs. Loach to forgive Eugene Root for his role in what happened to her comatose daughter. It may seem like he's doing good, but Jesse's actions are enough to give Emily pause, to raise Tulip's ire, and to bring DeBlanc and Fiore calling.

It seems pretty clear at this point that Tulip is just straight-up not a good person. She does not care at all about what Jesse wants, and seems bound and determined to undermine his status within the community in a way that paints her spiteful and petulant much moreso than loving girlfriend she claims to be. This, of course, becomes even more apparent after she revenge-bangs Cassidy, who has no idea that the boyfriend she's been going on about is Jesse.

Emily's role seems to be clarifying, too. It's obvious that she has feelings for Jesse that are only growing more complicated as he explores his new powers and keeps them a secret from her. But when even something as innocuous as her using Jesse's bathroom is enough to make Tulip jealous, then Emily's position as a corner in this evolving love triangle is cemented.

Mostly separate from the events in Annville this week, Odin Quincannon had a hilarious and shocking storyline. Having seemingly adopted a new Christian outlook on life, Jackie Earle Haley rendered Quincannon nearly unrecognizable behind his smile and downright friendly demeanor. His genuine earnestness, when juxtaposed with his previous laconic style made for some pretty successful humor, and I have to give props to Haley for just going all-in with Quincannon this week. It worked on multiple levels, but most effectively with Quincannon's solution to his business problem. After welcoming his competitors into his office with smiles and drinks all around, Quincannon quickly pulls out a shotgun and mows them all down in seconds.

Well, a man can't be expected to change his nature overnight can he?

Despite Jesse's advice in the pilot episode causing his parishioner to literally "open his heart", Jesse hasn't seemed to learn yet that simply telling someone what to do isn't the end of his work. He can't rewrite who a person is, deep down inside, just by giving orders. Quincannon proves that. Jesse telling that rotten old bastard to "serve God" doesn't make him a Christian, and people die because of Jesse's shortsightedness. So while the Preacher's intentions might be mostly noble, he's going to have to learn to be more careful with not only what he says, but to whom he's saying it; enter DeBlanc and Fiore.

Tom Brooke and Anatol Yusef provide a spot of comic relief this week, as they desperately plot their course before they answer the relentlessly ringing divine phone. For most of the episode, they are cowering in their hotel room, going over what to say and exactly how to say it - the proper inflections being of paramount importance. And when the phone stops ringing a brief moment before Fiore answers it, their hands are forced and they go to meet with Jesse and discuss Genesis. I'm growing pretty used to the serialized nature of TV these days, but the sudden shift from their conversation to Quincannon's office and then the end credits felt jarring and unsatisfying.

With this week's story, showrunners Catlin and Rogen/Goldberg have shown that they can tell a complex and multi-layered tale. But as we near the halfway point of the season, there are still so many threads that appear to be heading in diverging directions that it makes me worry a bit for the actual plot. Not enough to say "I'm out" or even to discourage others from watching - we're not even near that crisis point yet. But I am getting a little bit concerned. So we'll see where things head next week.

FINAL SCORE 7/10