Preacher Season 1 Episode 8 El Valero Recap
Well, we finally saw what turned “Preacher’s” Odin Quincannon into the murderous freak he is today with El Valero. The guy’s infatuation with meat products made him a weirdo before he faced a family tragedy. Yet, having his entire family wiped out via a terrible ski lift crash, pushed him from eccentric to total psycho.
The flashback scene was a payoff from a previous one that had shown Jesse’s dad talking to Quincannon behind closed doors. The deaths of his family members caused a deep hatred for God to develop for the cow killing businessman.
The old man wanted Jesse’s dad to denounce God so that all would know the futility of depending on what he called a silent deity.
Back in the present, the church siege was about to happen so Quincannon could take over the church land.
That proved to be easier said than done when Preacher kicked the asses of the first wave of invaders. He ripped their manhood along with their weapons.
And then we got the surprise return of Eugene as Jesse promised God to never use the power of Genesis again if the boy was let out of hell. According to Eugene, who was really dehydrated, hell isn’t that far away so it was no problem to dig up and out.
As Eugene gulped down tons of H20 and told Jesse how crowded hell was, Odin Quincannon was trying to rally his pitiful troops.
Promises of a food court in the new meat processing facility on the church land did seem to fire up the men. Although that fire got doused pretty quickly with some warning shots from Jesse. And the castration shot on poor Clive all but killed the troops’ morale.
The church siege scene soon took on the feel of a festival with the bored townies coming out to see some action.
Meanwhile, Jesse figured out that Eugene was not really there. He was communicating with him, but the kid was still in hell apparently. And even the cowboys couldn’t see him when they showed up to take back Genesis from Jesse.
Angels Fiore and DeBlanc do tell Preacher that it is possible to get someone out of hell, but not easy.
The side stories this week involved Tulip shopping for a dog, which gets murdered at the end of the episode from what we can tell.
And Miles keeps pushing to get with Emily by washing her sneakers (after doing who knows what to them beforehand). He even tells her that a new meat plant in place of the church will benefit the town in the long run.
Back to Genesis.
The spirit was coaxed out by the cowboy angels but had no intention of staying in the coffee can. It jumped back into Jesse in no time at all.
Preacher did make a valid point about him being some kind of “chosen one” since he’s the only one to survive having the power land inside him.
Then again, DeBlanc’s statement was pretty powerful too. “You’ve had all that power at the tip of your tongue. And what have you done with it.”
After the agents of God left the church, we saw Donnie do something pretty brilliant for a change. Though it appeared he blew his brains out all over the spare tire in his trunk; he was creating a defense mechanism for Jesse’s power.
Sure, it would have been easier to buy a $2 set of ear plugs instead of busting his own ear drums, but it made for a good scene.
Donnie managed to get inside the church, and Jesse’s power was of no use since the guy couldn’t hear him. Jesse still could have defended himself, but seemed tired of the fight. And he was drunk at this point.
So he ended up ready to sign over his land to Odin Quincannon. The the meat baron revealed why Preacher’s plan hadn’t worked when he told him to serve God.
Quincannon was serving a different god, the “god of meat.”
That prompted Jesse to ask for one more shot at converting Odin. The evil dude apparently agrees, based on next week’s preview. Quincannon wants Jesse to fall flat on his face as he asks God to speak directly to the people at the next Sunday service.
If God fails to come through, then Jesse says he will denounce him in front of everyone.
So for now, the church is still intact. But it’s gonna take a miracle to save his property come next week.
Even if God is sitting on the front pew next Sunday, Odin Quincannon is not gonna drop to his knees at the altar call. The dude is forever bitter about what he believes God let happen to his family.
Hopefully, Eugene really does escape hell next week, and I think everybody wants to know what the hell happened to Tulip’s new pet. Since Cassidey wasn’t around, I’ve got a feeling that was his treat for the day.