Hero music kicks off season two episode three of AMC’s critically acclaimed, addictive series, Preacher. A woman calls out to Eugene (aka Arseface) for help, signaling the unfolding of Eugene’s tragic backstory. Eugene (face back to pre-gunshot) rides his bike over to Tracy’s house. Turns out she needs his emotional support because her boyfriend, Tucker, was cheating on her. Eugene’s comforting Tracy (Gianna LePera) in her bedroom when she whips out a double-barrel shotgun and says she’s going to kill herself. She’s already written a suicide note in which she specifically does not blame Tucker, but does label him an asshole. She also leaves Tucker a list of the guys she had great sex with. Her note lists Eugene as her most trusted friend, and she tells him where to find her funeral playlist.
Eugene (Ian Colletti) tries to tell her dying is not the answer and God wouldn’t approve. He assures her God has a miracle waiting for her and she has to stick around to find out what it is. She finally puts down the gun and he lights her multi-page suicide note on fire, tossing it in the trashcan. Tracy thanks him and then rests her head on his shoulder.
Unfortunately, Eugene misinterprets this action and goes in for a kiss. Tracy’s disgusted and picks up the shotgun once again, this time actually going through with the suicide attempt by blowing off the top of her head. Eugene responds by saying, “Darn it” – a severe understatement – and scoops her brain matter and skull bones back into her head. When her mom wonders why the bedroom door’s locked, he places a cowboy hat over Tracy’s head and tries to escape out the window.
Tracy’s mom grows more and more frantic, pounding on the door and demanding Eugene leave Tracy alone. Eugene can’t get the window open and then spots the shotgun on the floor. It’s obvious he believes he has no choice but to put the gun to his own head as Tracy’s mom calls him a monster from outside the room.
The same story unfolds repeatedly as Eugene replays the moment his life went off the rails. The replay stops and we see he’s actually locked up in a cell in Hell. A warden comes in and warns him not to move.
The trio of Jesse (Dominic Cooper), Tulip (Ruth Negga), and Cassidy (Joseph Gilgun) are back on the road, leaving Texas in their rearview mirror. Jazz plays as Tulip declares going to New Orleans to search for God is a dumb idea. Cassidy’s happy about the choice since women will flash their boobs at him, and now Tulip’s irritated they’re listening to the same jazz song over and over again. Jesse is trying to figure out why God loves this particular song and he’s wondering why Tulip is only going 50 mph. It’s obvious she’s trying to delay their arrival in New Orleans.
Jesse points out the only part of New Orleans he hates are the swamps (it’s a family thing) and since God likes jazz, that’s where they’re going. “I like tacos. Doesn’t mean I go to Mexico,” responds Tulip. Cassidy throws in that he’d like a Mexican taco right now, and Tulip tells him he doesn’t need to go to Mexico for one. Tulip is really determined to steer clear of New Orleans and suggests they go to Mexico because maybe God likes Mexi-jazz, as Cassidy labels it. Jesse won’t change his mind; New Orleans is their next stop.
Tulip, Cassidy, and Jesse arrive in New Orleans, walk down Bourbon Street, and then head into a random club playing jazz. Jesse steps up to the bartender and says, bluntly, “We’re looking for God.” Surprisingly, the bartender doesn’t throw them out and instead escorts them into a locked area at the back of the club. They’re escorted through the kitchen and then downstairs through a hallway to another secret room. Inside is an elderly man who indicates they must be quiet.
Apparently “looking for God” is a code for watching a man dressed as a Dalmatian (complete with a leash) and the woman seated next to him on a couch have sex, doggie style. They’re told the going rates for watching or participating and Cassidy takes out a wad of money which Jesse makes him put right back away. Jesse tells them this is not what they’re looking for as the “dog” growls while they’re escorted out.
Back out on the street, Tulip feigns illness and says she wants to head to the hotel. She asks Jesse not to be mad at her about deciding they shouldn’t get married, and he changes the subject to remind her God’s missing and they have to find him. They part ways, angry at each other.
Jesse’s ready to keep up the search with Cassidy, but now Cassidy decides he has to stop Tulip from checking into a hotel. They’re going to stay with Dennis, a friend of Cassidy’s, instead.
Cassidy and Tulip are walking to Dennis’ when she gets angry at him for bringing up the dead guy at the Texas hotel. A woman spies Tulip and welcomes her back to town, giving her a hug and telling Tulip to stop by for a visit.
Cassidy and Tulip arrive at Dennis’ place and Dennis looks confused. He speaks to them in French, however, neither Cassidy nor Tulip speak the language. Cassidy explains they want to sleep at his house for a very long time. They follow Dennis inside but he doesn’t seem happy they’re there. Two thirds of the roadtrip trio make themselves at home, and then Cassidy finds his host and thanks him for letting them stay. Cassidy reveals they’re all on a big mission and that his friend the preacher will be staying with them, too. Dennis doesn’t say a word while Cassidy rambles on.
Back in her room, Tulip is worried because the woman she just ran into is probably telling Victor she’s in town. Tulip’s pissed they’re in New Orleans, and Cassidy believes if Jesse knew she was in trouble he’d agree to leave the city. Cassidy reminds her Jesse loves her and then he volunteers to help her out since she’s helped him before. “You’re treating me like an idiot Irish sidekick and you need to tell me what the hell is going on here, love,” says Cassidy, a tad angrily.
Meanwhile, Jesse continues going into random jazz clubs and asking for God. After multiple stops, Jesse asks one final bartender who’s closing up for the night if he’s seen God. As Jesse starts to leave, the bartender suggests he check with a singer at a nearby bar.
The singer is on stage when Jesse makes it to the club. Jesse takes a seat at the bar and listens to her sing. She finishes her set and then a stranger at the bar buys her a drink. He calls her the hottest thing since fire. Jesse listens in as they talk about the man’s patriotic tie and as the stranger asks her to dinner. She offers to take him back to her dressing room instead, but he must answer one question first. She asks him the capital of Florida. He guesses Tallahassee but she tells him he’s wrong. Their affair ends before it begins.
After the stranger leaves, Jesse points out Tallahassee is the capital of Florida. They flirt a little and then she seems taken aback when he mentions he’s interested in finding God. He tells her the bartender at Sugarfoot said she might know how to find God. She whispers to him to clean himself up and then meet her outside right before she tosses her drink in his face and loudly denounces him as a freak.
Jesse’s drying his face in the bathroom when he sees the singer get into a taxi outside the club. The taxi’s rammed by a van as Jesse catches up to it, and people dressed all in white with ski masks grab the singer and haul her into the van. He commands the driver to stop and then gets into a massive fistfight with the attackers. Everyone grabs what appear to be tire irons as the fight continues. Jesse knocks everyone out and asks the singer if she’s all right, promising he’s not with her attackers.
The singer brings him back to her house where she pays the babysitter and checks on her baby daughter, Gracie. She grabs a suitcase as Jesse thumbs through her record collection. She finally asks how he got the van to stop and he only says he told them to. The singer says the people who grabbed her are part of a secret crypto-religious fascist organization with designs on total world domination. That’s how a stranger who came into her club described the group. The stranger also revealed God is missing and claimed these people were chasing him. She says the stranger is now dead and his body was found in the swamp.
She’s had a feeling men in white were after her, but it wasn’t confirmed until tonight. She turns suspicious of Jesse since he just happened to be there on the day she was abducted and he was able to get the van to stop. She asks again how he made them stop and he finally admits he has the power to make people do what he says. She laughs and then asks him to show her. Jesse doesn’t want to so she teases him, asking if he could make her stop kissing him if she really wanted to do it. He finally uses the voice to stop her from actually kissing him, and she backs away completely shocked.
Back at Dennis’ place, Tulip can’t sleep but Cassidy’s sacked out on the couch.
Jesse helps the singer and her baby into a taxi, and she wonders why God would ever leave Heaven. She hopes Jesse finds him and then does kiss him before saying goodbye. As Jesse walks away he spots an advertisement that reads “Come See Angelville. Experience the Magic of the Bayou. All Souls Welcome.” The creepy flyer has a skull inside a crystal ball on it, and Jesse nearly falls into a trance looking at it. He’s saved by his phone ringing. It’s Tulip and she’s checking in on him. He says he’s still looking and reveals there’s another group that appears to know God is missing. Tulip says Cassidy keeps praising their host, Dennis, but she believes Dennis hates Cassidy.
Jesse asks Tulip what’s really going on and all she’ll say is a whole lot of nothing. They hang up, angry. She grabs her coat and starts to head out when Cassidy catches her and asks where she’s going. He asks if she wants company, but she claims she’ll be okay.
Back in Hell, Eugene stares out the window of his cell and then realizes he can open the door. Wailing is heard from other cells as he steps into the hallway. He calls out, “Hello,” and Adolf Hitler (Noah Taylor) responds. Doors open up and down the hallway.
Jesse visits yet another jazz club and sits through another performance. A man in the audience named Ben asks for another song and Jesse suggests they play, “A Walk to the Peak” – God’s favorite song.
In a shocking twist, the jazz singer Jesse rescued is neither a natural blonde nor an innocent singer. Her name’s Lara Featherstone (Julie Ann Emery) and she’s part of the group who staged her abduction. She lets her people know Jesse Custer’s for real and they need to “kick him up to Samson unit.”
Jesse Custer’s case file is placed on Herr K. Starr’s desk.
Jesse confesses to Ben he’s been listening to this track and trying to figure out what it’s about. Ben asks Jesse if he can feel it, and then says it’s the end of the world.
Tulip heads into a laundromat and asks for change for $100. She gives a stranger the hundred dollar bill in exchange for the only thing he has on him, $1. She uses it to get a pack of cigarettes out of a machine as men enter the laundromat and demand everyone leave. They call Victor and let him know they have Tulip.
More on Preacher:
– Preacher Season 2 Episode 1 ‘On the Road’ Recap
– Preacher Season 2 Episode 2 ‘Mumbai Sky Tower’ Recap
– Preacher Season 2 Episode 4 ‘Viktor’ Recap
– Ruth Negga, Joseph Gilgun, Dominic Cooper and Graham McTavish Interview
