Preacher Feature: Season Two, Episode Eleven – ‘Backdoors’

Our weekly Preacher roundup continues with Season Two, Episode Eleven – “Backdoors”

Hello again, darlings! It’s been a week. Welcome back to our regularly scheduled program, Preacher Feature, where we watch the thing, then talk about it! I mean, basically.

This week on Preacher, we’ve had a revelation about the identity of God, we’ve spent some time in Hell with Hitler, and we’ve scratched a little more off the surface of Jesse’s family history. Shall we?

via Den of Geek/amc

For this episode’s cold open, we’re treated to a flashback. It really is a treat, because we’re finally starting to peel back some layers on the onion that is Jesse Custer. As a form of punishment for not denouncing his family name, young Jesse was forced into a box and lowered to the bottom of the swamp. Essentially, he was buried alive.

Now, if you’ve read the graphic novels on which the series is based, you’ll know that this is a big step toward revealing Jesse’s viciously dysfunctional family. Preacher is excellent at dangling the carrot of information, but withholding the actual payoff until the timing is just right. But I am chomping at the bit for this one.

This particular form of punishment – given the series of mechanisms set up for its implementation – was clearly a regular occurrence in young Jesse’s life. Knowing this, his choice to inflict the same torture on the Saint of Killers actually makes a lot of sense. It wasn’t just a convenient way to get rid of him, it was a way to ensure that the Saint spent an eternity in unrelenting torment. A fate that Jesse knows far too well.

Upon Tulip’s discovery of the Saint’s guns and sabre in the last episode, Jesse brings her to the final resting place of the Saint of Killers. But! Oh ho! As the armored tomb is pulled from the murky waters, Jesse discovers that the Saint is not inside.

Hell. Yes. Game on.

Tulip is… surprisingly cool about all this. I kind of expected a full-on breakdown based on her anxiety in the previous episodes. But she’s furious, as she has every right to be. Both Cassidy and Tulip have had enough with our Preacher’s lies and selfish expectations. Their relationship is beginning to reflect the interior of Denis’ apartment – faded, neglected, and in serious need of repair.

Tulip finally expresses her feeling’s on Jesse’s quest (with the appropriate level of sass that we’d expect from her) and Jesse – proving that he really can’t focus on anything else – has a sudden moment of clarity as to God’s whereabouts.

via Dark Horizons/amc

Meanwhile, in Hell, the hunt is on to find the inmate who does not belong there. Tests are being done, and there’s no way sweet precious Eugene could pass under the radar. After much deliberation (as Eugene’s Hell buddy would say, “everyone knows you can’t trust Hitler”), Eugene asks Hitler to help him escape.

And speaking of Hitler (a dangerous sentence), we finally see the rest of his torturous memory. The one that he would suffer through, day in and day out (when Hell is fully operational, of course). And it’s not what you would think. The scene is a series of unfortunate embarrassments and disappointments surrounding some key scapegoats. An art critic insults his work (a homosexual, hisses Hitler’s girlfriend), he publicly loses his nerve when trying to confront a group of communists, and to top it all off, the last plum cake is given to a Jewish man at another table… but Hitler ordered it first!

Hitler’s petty as f-ck.

He later explains to sweet precious Eugene that the memory haunts him because it was his last day as a good person.

via AMC

Tulip tries to melt down the Saint’s weapons to destroy them once and for all – but there’s something mystical about those guns. You may have noticed that the Saint never stops to reload, and apparently he’s the only one who can successfully fire them. When the smelting attempt is a total failure, Tulip mails them all off to Rio.

Herr Starr tries once again to convince our Preacher to join Grail Industries, this time he plays back a recording of every prayer Jesse has ever made. Constantly begging for forgiveness, Jesse has done a lot of bad deeds in his time. But Herr Starr pulls out the big guns to try and convince our Preacher that he’s the right man for the job.

One last recording. As we flash back to life with Grandma L’Angelle, Jesse finally secedes from the Custer clan. At her prompt, he thanks God for killing his father.

This clearly strikes a nerve. Jesse once again declines Starr’s advances (this is one messed up courting ritual) and tells him to shove the recordings up his ass. Using Genesis. So… while Herr Starr is doing exactly that, he calls Agent Hoover and tells him that they’re done with Jesse. It’s time to move on.

A twist! Grail Industries had swapped out the Saint’s waterlogged truck, keeping him on standby until the word was given. Now, they’ve set him loose.

Next: Preacher Feature: Season Two, Episode Ten

You can find more horror content from Kelly at iHorror.com