AMC ‘Preacher’ Season 1 Finale, “Call And Response,” Recap And Review

Preacher’s season finale begins with a warning and ends with a fireball.

Revelations 18:13, “The Lament of Babylon,” spray-painted on a brick wall foreshadows a dangerous response to Jesse Custer’s call to God. Annville, Preacher’s equivalent to Babylon, may not recover from the heavenly visit it requests.

Initially, it appears that Jesse succeeds in bringing God to Texas. And he’s a comically white, bearded, and luminous figure. But the figure emerges a fraud when he hasn’t a clue about the existence of Genesis, Jesse Custer’s power.

All Hell breaks loose when the fraudulent figure succumbs to the power of Genesis and makes a horrific confession. God is missing. Where can God be? Is this why the angels want to keep Genesis in a can? Is Genesis really God?

Rather than finding salvation, Annville plunges further into the fruits of despair- violence and debauchery. The utter hopelessness was powerful enough to wipe Texas clean of Annville.

A macabre chain of events follows the revelation of God’s absence from Heaven. The little girls of the town kill the friendly neighborhood pedophile; the local mascots hang themselves; the methane monitor dies with a smile on his face.

With no qualified person manning the methane reactor, the mysterious pipes release tremendous levels of the flammable gas, causing an explosion powerful enough to leave the small town a large pile of ashes.

The irony, of course, is Jesse’s hopes to save Annville with his call to God destroys it.

Luckily the depraved three musketeers, Jesse, Tulip, and Cassidy, were safely out of city limits at the time of its smiting. They are, in the spirit of the Preacher comic, setting out on a road trip on a mission to find God.

Could anyone survive the methane blast? Is Jesse to blame for the town’s demise?

By the finale’s end, Fiore emerges dazed from Hell. But where is DeBlanc? Will he not come back since the Saint of Killers shot him in Hell?

And why did DeBlanc come back from Hell without Eugene? He managed to pull the dead from Hell, so he could have at least pulled a repentant, living person from the torturous pit while he was at it.

As the finale winds to a close, the motel angel wanders through the burning remains of Annville, but not for long.

The arc for Preacher Season 2 is put into place with the appearance of The Saint of Killers… who puts a big hole in the wandering motel angel. The next season will likely bring viewers a serving of cat and mouse as the Saint of Killers hunts Jesse and his companions.

How far will the Saint of Killers go to kill Jesse and stop Genesis? And even if he kills Jesse, can he stop Genesis?

The finale sets up the next season with the proper degree of suspense and anticipation. AMC has not yet announced Preacher’s return date.

What did you think of Preacher’s season finale? Will you tune into AMC for Season 2?

You can leave your insights, questions, and predictions in the comment section.


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Author Profile: Consumer Expert Melissa O'Donnell

Teacher by day, pop culture consumer by night- Melissa lives for good stories and loves to share them with fellow TV, movie, graphic novel, and book enthusiasts. She also blogs about pop culture's influence on everything from her worldview to her relationships at undertheinfluence76.blogspot.com-- she'd love for you to join in on her journey.

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