AMC's Preacher. [TV]

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MKSheppard
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AMC's Preacher. [TV]

Post by MKSheppard »

How come nobody's mentioned this yet?

It's very different from the comics; it seems like they're compressing two (maybe three) different texas-based storylines into season 1, to economize on costs.
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Re: AMC's Preacher. [TV]

Post by Elheru Aran »

Hah, I was thinking about starting this thread... I'm watching it via AMC's website; the episodes are free as long as you catch them the week after they come out.

First episode was OK. Second was... hmm. We got some more information, but the actual progression of the plot didn't happen so much as they gave us a little more exposition.

I do agree that they seem to be trying to keep things in Texas for now. I suspect the next step will be Angellville and Jesse Custer's grandmother, Jody and T.C., but not for a while just yet. A few episodes more in Texas, and I think they'll try to finish telling the Saint's story before they leave Texas.

They're also taking a very different approach with Fiore and DeBlanc. I thought at the start of the first episode that they were Grail agents, but now... no. (Also, what the hell would their blood do to Cassidy, I wonder? Nothing, apparently... but then we never did see him after he finally buried them, IIRC) I suspect Fiore and DeBlanc are going to blow up the Annville church, and be the reason Sheriff Root calls in the FBI.

Jesse Custer... does not impress me as much as I thought he might. First episode was good, second was... awkward. He doesn't seem nearly as driven as he is in the comics, though admittedly he wanders quite a bit in there too.

Tulip is surprisingly good. Not matching the appearance of the comic-book character still bugs me on occasion, but her acting is quite good, I thought.

Cassidy... mm. Not sure what to think about him yet. He does certainly pull off the 'half drunk Irish wanker' act pretty well, though.
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Re: AMC's Preacher. [TV]

Post by MKSheppard »

The three storylines they're trying to merge I think are:

Storyline #1: Annville, TX -- this was basically issue #1 of preacher

Storyline #2 that random town that Jesse became sheriff of later in the show (where Quincannon is from)

Storyline #3, Saint of Killers -- it APPEARS that Annville, TX is built on the ruins of Ratwater -- as the hanging tree may be the old tree outside of Jesse's church -- they may have decided to do this for logical concerns -- in the comic, the saint rests beneath Boot Hill -- and that's kind of far away from Texas.
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Re: AMC's Preacher. [TV]

Post by Elheru Aran »

Yeah, I don't really recall the Quincannon storyline, don't think I read that issue of the TPB's.

From what I vaguely recall issue 1 of the TPB's covers Annville, then a quick detour to New York and a frolic with a serial killer, then wound up in Angelville with Jesse's grandmother and sadistic uncles.

Not sure about the Annville/Ratwater connection... but I did see that the preferred local brand of hooch is 'Ratwater' in the first episode, so I think you're on to something.
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Re: AMC's Preacher. [TV]

Post by MKSheppard »

I'm feeling kind of underwhelmed. Not enough Saint. :-( But we may have seen Herr Starr show up. :D
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"The present air situation in the Pacific is entirely the result of fighting a fifth rate air power." - U.S. Navy Memo - 24 July 1944
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Re: AMC's Preacher. [TV]

Post by MKSheppard »

Well, this is a very somnolent series. Snore-inducing.
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Re: AMC's Preacher. [TV]

Post by Elheru Aran »

AMC stopped showing freebie episodes, so I don't know what's going on since the third episode came out.

If I had to guess, they're trying to ease us into the whole "Jesse Custer has a Voice from God (TM)" thing, give us a little more intrigue with Tulip, and make Cassidy more of a sympathetic character before fucking us over.

I'd rather they just threw us into the deep end and blew up the church already, though. Should've done that by the end of the fourth episode, at least.
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Re: AMC's Preacher. [TV]

Post by Ziggy Stardust »

Well, I've actually rather enjoyed it, though my knowledge of the comics amounts to exactly 0. I never heard of it until the show was advertised at all. So for me it's completely fresh without having to tie into pre-expectations.

Also, it's super enjoyable to try and figure out what the hell the plot is about without any context, because the show has so far stubbornly refused to give much in the way of context for what the hell is going on.
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Re: AMC's Preacher. [TV]

Post by MKSheppard »

They keep fucking us with the Saint. He shows up in the teasers one week, then not the next; then back in the teasers.
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Re: AMC's Preacher. [TV]

Post by Pelranius »

I can't remember the Seraph being in the comics, she's a tv series original character I take it? (I haven't read all the issues, and that was quite a while back).

Loved how Cassidy screwed them during the motel FPS brawl.
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Re: AMC's Preacher. [TV]

Post by MKSheppard »

Well...I was really underwhelmed by this season. They really don't know how to write the characters and waste pointless hours on filler
"If scientists and inventors who develop disease cures and useful technologies don't get lifetime royalties, I'd like to know what fucking rationale you have for some guy getting lifetime royalties for writing an episode of Full House." - Mike Wong

"The present air situation in the Pacific is entirely the result of fighting a fifth rate air power." - U.S. Navy Memo - 24 July 1944
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Re: AMC's Preacher. [TV]

Post by Iroscato »

I really enjoyed this series, never read the comics so I went in totally cold. I like the way it treads the line between dark and fucked up/completely absurd farce. And from what I understand this was just a 'prologue' to the comics, so I'm interested to see how much better it could potentially get once they draw on the actual story :)
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Re: AMC's Preacher. [TV]

Post by Ziggy Stardust »

Chimaera wrote:I really enjoyed this series, never read the comics so I went in totally cold. I like the way it treads the line between dark and fucked up/completely absurd farce. And from what I understand this was just a 'prologue' to the comics, so I'm interested to see how much better it could potentially get once they draw on the actual story :)
Yeah, I really loved the season, and had never even heard of the comics before publicity for the show started coming out a couple years ago. Seth Rogen said during the "Talking Preacher" segment afterwards (I hate that they do these, now) that the main plot of the show will be the big reveal in the season finale, implying that the entire season had basically just been slowly setting up the world before the plot "really" starts. And I do believe that the beginning of the comics starts basically around the point that the first season ends (though I'm hazy on the exact comic timeline).

In any case, even if you didn't like it (as Shep did), you can't deny that it was one of the most unusual and original shows in recent memory. I can't think of any other show that had as slow of a build-up and unconventional execution. For example, the incredible subtle hidden sub-plot about the gay love affair between the two sports mascots. Or the character of Donnie, who undergoes a very Jaime Lannister Seasons 1-2 character arc.
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Re: AMC's Preacher. [TV]

Post by MKSheppard »

The big problem was that TV Tulip was a pretty unlikeable person and the actress is meh for me.

Cassidy is spot on.

Fiore and Deblanc are the surprise stars of the show as is the Seraph.

There were too many random people from Annville; and they fucked up Hugo Root's casting badly.

The Saint could have saved the show; but they fucked him too. I was expecting from the episode he showed up, to have each cold open show a slowly unfolding part of his story from 1881; until the present and past met in the finale; but he showed up in one episode then disappeared for four more episodes; etc.
"If scientists and inventors who develop disease cures and useful technologies don't get lifetime royalties, I'd like to know what fucking rationale you have for some guy getting lifetime royalties for writing an episode of Full House." - Mike Wong

"The present air situation in the Pacific is entirely the result of fighting a fifth rate air power." - U.S. Navy Memo - 24 July 1944
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