Preacher – Damsels

By: Kelly Kearney

What’s Hell like? On this week’s episode of “Preacher,” we find out that Hell isn’t about fire and brimstone like we’re led to believe, but more like a terrifying scene from the film Groundhog Day with a little Hitler (Noah Taylor) thrown in for extra horror. Thanks to Jesse (Dominic Cooper), Eugene Root (Ian Colletti) finds himself reliving his worst day over and over while the Preacher and his two sidekicks head to New Orleans in search of God and some smooth jazz.

The Story of Arseface

The episode opens with Eugene, minus his disfigurement, on his way to Tracy Loach’s (Gianna LePera) house to stop her from killing herself. The stuck-up Tracy is upset when she learns her high school boyfriend cheated on her with someone she deemed unworthy of his affections. Embarrassed and sure the whole school will laugh at her she calls Eugene to her house to witness her suicide. Eugene, having a crush on Tracy, tries to persuade her to give him the shot gun and tells her things will get better. At first she listens to Root, but after he tries to kiss her and reveals his crush, the grossed-out Tracy grabs the gun and shoots herself. Eugene desperately tries to shove her brain matter back inside her head while telling her to hold on for help, only Tracy’s mother comes home and that’s when things go from bad to worse. Mrs. Loach is banging on her daughter’s locked door as Eugene tries to escape out the locked window. Not having any luck and knowing the graphic scene in the bedroom makes him look guilty of attempted murder, Eugene does the only thing he can think of and shoots himself in the mouth.

Hell, for Eugene, is reliving the day that turned him from a cherub faced boy to the disfigured Arseface that Jesse sent to Hell. Over and over he witnesses Tracy shoot herself without any chance to set the mistake right. As we saw with the Saint of Killers (Graham McTavish), breaking the Hell cycle is difficult but it can be done with the right help. Unfortunately, nobody’s helping Eugene and anyone who cared about him in Annville died in that explosion. Not to mention everyone assumed Eugene shot Tracy for turning down his romantic gestures and they blame him for her vegetative state. If there were anyone to help, they wouldn’t be jumping at the chance to do so. Tragically, Eugene was just a victim of being in the right place at the wrong time, which is kind of how he ended up in Hell in the first place. Later, we find out that not only is he forced to relive his worst nightmare, but he’s also sitting in jail with Hitler as his neighbor in the next cell. How much worse can it get for Eugene? I’m guessing a lot worse if Hitler is thrown into the mix.

 Searching for GOD ON Bourbon Street

Back on the holy scavenger hunt, our three anti-heroes head to New Orleans, the home of jazz and possible hide out of God. After checking out a tip in a basement that serves as a sex dungeon for furriers, Tulip (Ruth Negga) claims she has a stomach ache but really she’s just worried about Viktor seeing her in town. Knowing that Viktor caught wind of her killing his hired thug, Tulip and Cassidy (Joseph Gilgun) head out on their own to Dennis’ (Ronald Guttman) house and old friend of the Irish vampire’s. Friend is an interesting term to use for Dennis when the French speaking man appears to be less than happy to see Cassidy. The Vampire explains that he and Tulip need to stay there for a very long time, which is always nice to hear from an unexpected guest that pops in unannounced. Maybe it’s the fact Cassidy is a terrible house guest or maybe it’s the fact he can’t speak French but whatever it is, Dennis is not pleased. He eventually relents and lets them stay in his apartment, but he’s certainly not happy about it and lets them know. Too bad neither Cassidy nor Tulip understand a word out of the man’s mouth.

With Tulip and Cassidy gone, Jesse’s on his own searching the city’s 187 jazz clubs for God, which becomes something of a joke to the locals. After many tries and even more drinks, Jesse meets a lounge singer by the name of Lara Featherstone (Julie Ann Emery) who might be key to what he’s been looking for.

Lara seems like a throwback from the 50’s with her blonde bombshell style and her sexy dulcet tones. Jesse notices her when she brushes off the flirtations of a guy at the bar and the two start talking about the preacher’s mission. He mentions to Lara that a bouncer in another bar told him that she might know where God is. Lara definitely knows something and tells Jesse to meet her outside where she is almost kidnapped by three Lucha Libre looking men wearing all white and masks. Jesse jumps in to save Lara and easily takes down all three attackers with some heavenly Kung Fu moves that leave Lara very impressed. She asks Jesse to follow her home so she can check on her daughter and maybe give him a taste of what he’s been looking for. Lara is an incredible flirt and at her house she tries to kiss Jesse, but he uses Genesis to stop her proving that he isn’t some nut looking for God in the city of sin and that his mission is legit. Lara admits the masked men are a part of a “super-secret crypto-religious fascist organization with designs on total world domination.” Apparently, they are after God too and maybe the reason he bailed on his heavenly duties. Unfortunately, Jesse’s trusted the wrong woman and we find out that Lara is working as a secret agent to the same religious fascist group run by a terrifying man named Herr Starr (Pip Torrens).

Viktor

Last week, Cassidy witnessed Tulip beat a man to death with a wedding chapel pager and knows she’s keeping it from Jesse. He offers his help with whatever the woman’s gotten herself mixed up in but Tulip isn’t talking. Cassidy reminds her that he is an asset to their three-person team and she can trust him, but Tulip avoids his question and leaves to go buy a pack of smokes. Knowing she is on Viktor’s radar after she ran into an old friend Mrs. Barbaret (Rhonda Johnson Dents) in the city, she walks to an afterhours laundry mat in search of cigarettes. It doesn’t take long for Viktor’s guy to find her and they surround the laundry mat and prepare to take Tulip back to their boss, whether she likes it or not.

Who is Viktor and what does he want with Tulip? What is this organization Lara belongs to and what do they want with God? What will it take for Jesse and Tulip to realize Cassidy has their backs regardless of the love triangle he’s gotten himself in? Find out the answers to this and more on the next episode of “Preacher.”