‘That’s a little like asking me to choose my favorite ice cream’
Back in the 19th century, the man who will become known as the Saint of Killers finally arrives in Ratwater, desperate for the medicine that will cure his daughter – only to discover that it will take until the next morning for the vial to be ready. In the meantime, he heads for the local saloon, where the town’s preacher appears to preside over a den of sin and violence.
On the way back to his home, the man passes the family he’d spent the night with earlier and turns around to warn them about the people of Ratwater, but he arrives too late. Instead he gets his ass beat (by the people in the saloon), his horse shot (by the preacher, who remembers him from Gettysburg), and walks home too late to save his daughter (who is being picked away by crows). Then the guns finally come out.
It’s not quite the action we were promised, but not much of anything is happening in Annville either. Jesse, riding high from his public display of power over Quincannon, begins holding court in the local diner, starting when some eager teens asks him to help rank the Gospels. (This sounds like the worst listicle ever.) He plants himself there for most of the episode, using his skills to help an ever growing group of supplicants with their problems and looking increasingly creepy, like an unshaven Kilgrave.
‘One more day’
Perhaps the person most in need of Jesse’s help is poor Eugene. We start to get a sense for just how ostracized he is by the rest of the town. Early on, he comes home to graffiti pointing to the shotgun, telling him to “finish the job”. Eventually, overcome by his son’s grotesqueries and indefatigable kindness, Sheriff Root snaps and echoes the sentiment, leading Eugene to go to Jesse to ask him, pleadingly, to fix the problem.
The preacher’s solution is to bring Eugene to Tracy Loach’s mother, and tell her to forgive him. (For what, we don’t know. Presumably something relating to the shotgun incident.) Their forced reconciliation is ironically scored by upbeat music, but it’s still hollow, and rather creepy. Usually this kind of schlocky moment is at least nominally earned, rather than manipulated by Jesse’s divine tongue. In this light, Donnie is right to be concerned.
When Quincannon proclaims his newfound faith, Donnie quickly makes the connection to the incident in the bathroom, and knows something is up with Jesse. The faux-Confederate thug, who looks more than ever like Droopy Dog crossed with Bradley Cooper, becomes an emotional wreck and it turns out he’s totally subordinate to his conniving wife. The subversion of our initial expectations about Donnie beating Betsy was welcome, but this Lady Macbeth twist is kind of gross, especially when Betsy threatens her husband with the possibility that she’ll sleep with another man.
‘Oh, how the sun shines when you take time to look at it’
Somehow, the Schencks are not the most messed-up couple in this episode. That would be Tulip and Cassidy, who bond over their shared love of vengeance in the way of the vampire’s injury. Cassidy’s obsession with Tulip only grows over the course of their verbal sparring – he doesn’t know she’s Jesse’s ex – and it’s not hard to see why.
Ruth Negga gets several monologues to chew on in this episode, from another glimpse at the incident with Carlos to a story of how Jesse once shot a komodo dragon in the head. Newly committed to the cause of taking out Carlos, Tulip dons a balaclava and goes to pick up Cassidy at the strip club, where she delivers him opiates, then they have sex in the back of the car. This will not end well.
While Cassidy and Tulip actually start some plot in motion, the angels are stuck in their motel room, practicing their response to the phone call from on high. But by the time they’re ready to pick up the phone it’s stopped ringing, so they go to confront Jesse with the coffee can. This is a big deal. Sure, Jesse has met Cassidy (a creature of the night), but this feels like a bell than cannot be unrung. The literal, actual existence of heaven (and therefore God) has been confirmed, and the preacher will have to respond.
Another thing that will demand a response: whatever is going on with Quincannon. For most of the episode, we’ve gotten the sense that he’s a changed man, undergoing the continued effects of Jesse’s command. He goes to the mayor, asking to work out the business deal he’d previously rejected with urine. But during the business meeting (with several people, each of whom are VPs of different inane-sounding divisions), he pulls out a gun and kills them! “We grow or we die,” Quincannon tells the mayor. Finally, Preacher is doing one of those things.
Notes from the nave
- Quincannon attempts to justify his actions the last time he met with the mayor: “I pulled my pants down, and I reacted.”
- Tulip and Cassidy have a brief conversation about Preacher’s versions of the vampire rules: most of the standard anti-vamp measures don’t work, and Cassidy doesn’t actually require blood other than to heal him.
- South Will Rise Again is written by Craig Rosenberg, and directed by Michael Slovis. (Slovis is also an executive producer, and has worked on several acclaimed series, including Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones.)
Scripture of the week
The entire Gospel of John! You can’t go wrong with John.
Obligatory Johnny Cash song
There’s a Johnny Cash song playing quietly in the diner when Tulip confronts Jesse, but it’s so soft it’s tough to make out what it is. My best guess is A Satisfied Mind.
Most gruesome death
The VP who gets shot in the chest walking back into the meeting – he doesn’t even get to have any of the liquor that Quincannon had set out. Tough way to go.
