After a supernatural event at his church grants him powers that may match those of God himself, preacher Jesse Custer (Dominic Cooper) teams up with an Irish vampire named Cassidy (Joseph Gilgun) and his old girlfriend, Tulip (Ruth Negga), to fend off the forces who want to take his power back, as well as deal with conflict within the town of Annville.
This show is based on the cult comic book series by Garth Ennis, and comes from a creative team that I wouldn't immediately associate with the comic series, most notably Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. The comics did have a very dark sense of humour, but focusing on that aspect of the series seemed like a strange choice. I don't immediately associate the Preacher comic with its humour; its visual style and its characters are far more memorable.
Even with a more noticeable presence of humour, Preacher managed to take the great source material of the comic and create what is largely a new story, and given all of the changes from the comic, introduced us to almost entirely new characters. The new elements of the show were interesting in their own way; I'm not a purist of the comics by any means, so I was willing to see what the show would do differently.
What made the new story work as its own entity was the changes to the characters. The only character who was largely the same as his original counterpart was Cassidy, and he's such a fun character that it would be a shame to change him. Joseph Gilgun brought the Irish vampire to life perfectly. Jesse Custer, the eponymous preacher, saw a lot of change. They adjusted his backstory pretty heavily, taking his mother out of the equation entirely, and linking him to Tulip from his childhood. Dominic Cooper did a great job of portraying this version of Jesse, and he really nailed the undercurrent of rage that's barely being held back fighting against beliefs and morals. He used his power much more than in the comics, but also chose a very effective way of showing the consequences of that power. As a character, Tulip was completely different. Her attitude, her backstory, her relationships, even her race. The race thing is obviously not a big deal, and Ruth Negga gave a good performance for this version of Tulip. Her character is a lot more abrasive and angry, and as a result, was a lot less likable. Because she was played so straight and one-note as "angry", the attempts to humanize her character felt forced at times, and simplifying her character to just "she's angry but she has a heart of gold" was a strange choice.
There were many other characters as well, many of which came directly from the Preacher comics. The most notable character like this is Odin Quincannon, played by Jackie Earle Haley. I really love Jackie Earle Haley, and he was clearly having a lot of fun, but I didn't find him to be that effective of a villain. He was a bit too cartoonish at times, and even the explanation of his motivations didn't really make me feel the sympathy I was supposed to. The show in general had a goofy tone, though, so I don't think I was even supposed to take him seriously in the first place. The characters of Arseface and Sheriff Root were expanded, with Arseface having a much more sympathetic role in the story. His relationship with Jesse was interesting, especially since they have a much different relationship in the comics, but it all made sense in the show.
Stylistically, the show did resemble what I would imagine the world of Preacher to look like in live-action. The sequences in the Old West in particular looked great, and the dusty, dingy look of Annville was very engrossing. The cinematography consistently looked great, with some of the desert environments around the town looking beautiful. How certain elements of the comics were portrayed were also interesting, especially the angels. DeBlanc and Fiore were very well represented, and they were represented in a much more grounded, realistic way. That did work to the show's advantage, and even though I do enjoy the crazier elements of the Preacher comic, trying to keep every character at an even level was a better choice if the show wanted to keep a consistent tone. The show created this bizarre, goofy world, and since everything just got crazier as the series went on, it was consistently entertaining.
The show is a lot more grounded and subdued, and that's kind of a disappointment. I really wanted them to just go nuts with some of the stuff, but it was kept as realistic as possible for the most part. The profanity is another element that's greatly reduced, and that's obviously not an essential element, but it's part of what made the comics so distinct. As open as I was to seeing new things, the new things weren't as compelling.
Ultimately, the season was a way to set up all of the characters in a new way, so that they can now enter the story of the comics. It's good that the show isn't so beholden to its source material that it won't do anything differently. I just found myself unable to remember most of the episodes after I watched them, except for a few scenes. The characters and events simply didn't have much of an impact. A lot of the time, it felt like they were trying really, really hard to make the characters funny, but there was only one scene that really had me laughing. When the show takes advantage of the ridiculous elements of its world, it really shines, and the scenes where those elements are used in unexpected ways are the most memorable.
In the end, Preacher's first season was good. It was nothing mind-blowing, but it was an entertaining adaptation of the comics. Adaptations work best when they stick to the spirit of the source material, and Preacher did that for the most part. Elements of the story and characters had to change, and it all served the story that it was telling very well. But I never connected with the characters, and while I was curious about where the story would go, I wasn't waiting in agony every week for another episode.
I'm excited for season 2, because while I might not be as invested in these versions of the characters, they are going more into the storyline of the comics, and I love that storyline. I'm excited to see how some of the more insane elements are adapted, and how much they'll change. The humour of the Preacher show takes a little while to adjust to, but I'm on-board with it now, and excited to see how the story and characters progress and change from here on out.
This show is based on the cult comic book series by Garth Ennis, and comes from a creative team that I wouldn't immediately associate with the comic series, most notably Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. The comics did have a very dark sense of humour, but focusing on that aspect of the series seemed like a strange choice. I don't immediately associate the Preacher comic with its humour; its visual style and its characters are far more memorable.
Even with a more noticeable presence of humour, Preacher managed to take the great source material of the comic and create what is largely a new story, and given all of the changes from the comic, introduced us to almost entirely new characters. The new elements of the show were interesting in their own way; I'm not a purist of the comics by any means, so I was willing to see what the show would do differently.
What made the new story work as its own entity was the changes to the characters. The only character who was largely the same as his original counterpart was Cassidy, and he's such a fun character that it would be a shame to change him. Joseph Gilgun brought the Irish vampire to life perfectly. Jesse Custer, the eponymous preacher, saw a lot of change. They adjusted his backstory pretty heavily, taking his mother out of the equation entirely, and linking him to Tulip from his childhood. Dominic Cooper did a great job of portraying this version of Jesse, and he really nailed the undercurrent of rage that's barely being held back fighting against beliefs and morals. He used his power much more than in the comics, but also chose a very effective way of showing the consequences of that power. As a character, Tulip was completely different. Her attitude, her backstory, her relationships, even her race. The race thing is obviously not a big deal, and Ruth Negga gave a good performance for this version of Tulip. Her character is a lot more abrasive and angry, and as a result, was a lot less likable. Because she was played so straight and one-note as "angry", the attempts to humanize her character felt forced at times, and simplifying her character to just "she's angry but she has a heart of gold" was a strange choice.
There were many other characters as well, many of which came directly from the Preacher comics. The most notable character like this is Odin Quincannon, played by Jackie Earle Haley. I really love Jackie Earle Haley, and he was clearly having a lot of fun, but I didn't find him to be that effective of a villain. He was a bit too cartoonish at times, and even the explanation of his motivations didn't really make me feel the sympathy I was supposed to. The show in general had a goofy tone, though, so I don't think I was even supposed to take him seriously in the first place. The characters of Arseface and Sheriff Root were expanded, with Arseface having a much more sympathetic role in the story. His relationship with Jesse was interesting, especially since they have a much different relationship in the comics, but it all made sense in the show.
Stylistically, the show did resemble what I would imagine the world of Preacher to look like in live-action. The sequences in the Old West in particular looked great, and the dusty, dingy look of Annville was very engrossing. The cinematography consistently looked great, with some of the desert environments around the town looking beautiful. How certain elements of the comics were portrayed were also interesting, especially the angels. DeBlanc and Fiore were very well represented, and they were represented in a much more grounded, realistic way. That did work to the show's advantage, and even though I do enjoy the crazier elements of the Preacher comic, trying to keep every character at an even level was a better choice if the show wanted to keep a consistent tone. The show created this bizarre, goofy world, and since everything just got crazier as the series went on, it was consistently entertaining.
The show is a lot more grounded and subdued, and that's kind of a disappointment. I really wanted them to just go nuts with some of the stuff, but it was kept as realistic as possible for the most part. The profanity is another element that's greatly reduced, and that's obviously not an essential element, but it's part of what made the comics so distinct. As open as I was to seeing new things, the new things weren't as compelling.
Ultimately, the season was a way to set up all of the characters in a new way, so that they can now enter the story of the comics. It's good that the show isn't so beholden to its source material that it won't do anything differently. I just found myself unable to remember most of the episodes after I watched them, except for a few scenes. The characters and events simply didn't have much of an impact. A lot of the time, it felt like they were trying really, really hard to make the characters funny, but there was only one scene that really had me laughing. When the show takes advantage of the ridiculous elements of its world, it really shines, and the scenes where those elements are used in unexpected ways are the most memorable.
In the end, Preacher's first season was good. It was nothing mind-blowing, but it was an entertaining adaptation of the comics. Adaptations work best when they stick to the spirit of the source material, and Preacher did that for the most part. Elements of the story and characters had to change, and it all served the story that it was telling very well. But I never connected with the characters, and while I was curious about where the story would go, I wasn't waiting in agony every week for another episode.
I'm excited for season 2, because while I might not be as invested in these versions of the characters, they are going more into the storyline of the comics, and I love that storyline. I'm excited to see how some of the more insane elements are adapted, and how much they'll change. The humour of the Preacher show takes a little while to adjust to, but I'm on-board with it now, and excited to see how the story and characters progress and change from here on out.
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