Jesse learns to control the strange new ability he seems to have in this episode of Preacher, “The Possibilities.” Meanwhile, Tulip continues to try to drag him back into his old life and old ways, and Cassidy finds out a little bit more about the two men he thought he killed in Jesse’s church — and just what exactly they’re after.
Is Preacher Too Confusing? >>>
The Last Temptation of Jesse
There’s a flashback early on in this episode, when Tulip is talking with the mysterious Dany about why she needs information on someone from her. As it turns out, the guy she’s looking for, Carlos, was a very, very bad man, and something very, very bad happened just before she and Jesse saw him last and “it all turned bad.” She’s given the last known address of the man by Dany, and she’s determined to get Jesse to go after the guy with her.
In order to get the information, however, Tulip had to also give Dany some information, which she passes on to some guy watching movies at a snuff film festival. This guy also seems to be a bigwig at Donnie’s meat plant job, though we don’t learn much more than that about him in this installment of Preacher.
Later on, Tulip is driving to see Jesse when she is stopped by a police officer for some serious speeding. She bluffs her way out of it, though the story she gives isn’t a total lie — she tells the cop that she’s driving to get to a friend, which is true. She also tells him that this friend is going down a very bad road and she’s going to help him get back on track, when in reality she’s sort of doing the exact opposite for Jesse.
Speaking of which, when Tulip finally gets to Jesse, she again tries to convince him to work with her. When he repeats that he made a promise to his father, she scoffs at him, telling him she made a little boy’s promise to be good, when really there are no good guys. The nail in the coffin is the address she has in hand — once she tells him who it’s for and what it is, Jesse caves and agrees to go with her. So who exactly is this Carlos and what did he do that’s got them both back in the game?
Repercussions
Back in Annville, a lot of people are dealing with the aftermath of Jesse’s newfound powers. At the Loach residence, Tracy’s eyes open, but she hasn’t otherwise changed and her mother relays the story to Emily, saying Jesse did tell her “something” was going to change. It doesn’t seem like he really changed much of anything, but as long as Mrs. Loach has hope, I guess.
On the school bus, it’s clear that the driver has totally forgotten about the little girl he had been having creepy, terrible thoughts about — to the point that he thinks she’s an entirely new student. Hopefully, he doesn’t renew his interest in her in spite of the “forget her” command Jesse gave him.
Finally, there’s Donnie. While walking his son (step-son? I forget), to the bus, he explains to the boy that he hasn’t actually been hurting his mom but doesn’t go into the very adult details about what he’s actually getting up to with her. The boy has heard the rumors about what Jesse did to Donnie, but Donnie brushes it off — until they get to the bus, where the other kids taunt Donnie with names like “Bunny Man.” So we can be sure that he’s not about to let Jesse get away with ruining his reputation to the whole town.
Telling Cassidy
Now on to Cassidy, who I believe I somehow haven’t yet mentioned, though he made one of the biggest discoveries of the episode.
Jesse decides early on that he’s going to let Cassidy in on his secret and demonstrates his strange power not only for him but on him. He gives him several commands, such as “Hop!” and “Tell me a secret” (Cassidy’s answer is that he likes Justin Bieber!), and ends up getting his vampire friend hurt when he commands him to fly and the poor guy jumps into a nearby wall.
The two try to figure out exactly what these abilities entail, and Jesse confides that he essentially feels like he’s going crazy. Cassidy reassures him, telling his friend that what may seem like a curse doesn’t actually have to be — if he uses it wisely.
Summer 2016’s Sexiest Stars: TV’s Hottest Women >>>
“We’re from the Government”
But two other characters don’t seem to think that Jesse should possess his new powers at all. The two guys who seem to be after Jesse somehow show up, alive, to chat with the Sheriff about their “undercover” work that’s threatening the town that must also be kept a secret from the town. They make their way over to the church to find Jesse again.
But when they get there, ready to go after him, guns blazing, they are literally run over by Cassidy, who followed them in the church van. When he goes inside to find stuff to presumably clean up their dead bodies with, he hears a noise in the church and finds them — alive yet again — inside the chapel.
He’s confused, which is totally understandable because so am I, and one of them tries to explain that they’re not there for him but rather for Jesse, and they’re from the government — but the other man reveals that they’re actually from Heaven. So I guess the heavenly career benefits package includes immortality?
They explain that the ability that Jesse has is not something anyone should possess and that they’re there to get it back. But Cassidy convinces them to stop going after Jesse and to let him be the “middleman” in the situation instead. “I’ll bring him to you,” he says, and they come to an agreement. So it looks like Cassidy has a new role other than resident alcoholic living in the church after all!
“You Can Go”
Off on their mission to track down Carlos, Tulip and Jesse stop at a gas station. After Jesse backs down from telling Tulip about his new power, he makes his way to the bathroom. There, he’s confronted by Donnie, who has a gun on the preacher and a serious grudge against him for making him the laughingstock of Annville.
Donnie tells Jesse to turn around and get on his knees, which he does. But when the other man tells him to make the same sound he did when Jesse broke his arm, Jesse refuses. He tells Donnie that this time, he’ll make what happened look like a suicide, then commands him to back up and sit down on a nearby toilet. He then tells the other man to put the gun in his mouth. And just when it looks like we’re about to really witness this guy shooting himself, Jesse commands him to drop the gun and tells him he can go.
Outside, Tulip greets Donnie, who frantically drives off. When Jesse comes out and Tulip asks him what they were up to in the bathroom, Jesse tells her that he’s changed his mind about going after Carlos. “We leave him to God,” he says, and though Tulip is pissed, he sticks to his guns and walks away without her. Apparently, he learned a lesson about control in that bathroom.
The episode ends with Jesse reciting Bible verses at the funeral of the man who ripped out his heart in front of his mother, and only Emily is in attendance. It looks like Jesse is committed to staying and sticking with his preaching duties and nothing more after all.
Preacher airs every Sunday night at 9pm on AMC.
(Image courtesy of AMC)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
