TV Review: PREACHER: Season 2, Episode 5: Dallas [AMC]

Preacher: Dallas Review

AMC‘s Preacher, Season 2, Episode 5: ‘Dallas,’ put the God Squad’s Big Easy squat in better perspective, by showing us the domestic hell that used to be Jesse (Dominic Cooper) & Tulip’s (Ruth Negga) titular time together.

Whatever drag New Orleans might bring to the show, it won’t be that.

More to the point, Jesse’s present state, of murderously blind rage, was put into some context. Turns out, it wasn’t just the notion that Tulip had a marriage she’d been keeping from him, or even that Viktor (Paul Ben-Victor) was the recipient of that secret life. Jesse just had enough of unpleasant secrets, going all the way back to his & Tulip’s immediate post-Carlos existence.

It was a pretty sad existence, at that – and not just because of low prospects, bad cooking, and John Wayne, either. Hell Loop that it was, at least Jesse had invested some hope into it; so when things went bad, it didn’t quite fit the justification Tulip would resort to, trying to get present Jesse from making Viktor the guest of honor, in his own interrogation room.

Jesse was having none of it, however; so while he mulled over their past, Tulip was compelled to take things back to Cassidy (Joseph Gilgun).

This was the closest the two have come to addressing Cass’ fixation; but skipped by it, anyway. so that issue is going to be around a little longer. On the other hand, they did take the opportunity to skip an opportunity to mull over the marriage. It really wasn’t important, at the time, and I appreciate them not breaking stride for our sake.

It was also nice to see Cass step forward, and reassert both his Team membership, and Bro-of-Jesse status; but certain details really bothered me, this episode. Yes, the bathroom needs of some of Jesse’s henchman statues; but also Allie’s (Stella Allen) blasé reactions, and the possibility that a real confrontation may be in the works , between Jesse & Cass.

Then there was Viktor. His role was something of a bait-and-switch. He was set up to be this major Boogeyman figure – both by Tulip, and his henchmen (that interrogator, though). Well, I can look past his turning out to be a relative softy (understandable, where Tulip & Allie were concerned); but it sort of invalidates Tulip’s bad-ass series intro. Unless she pissed off some other unsavory types – somewhere between getting on Carlos’ trail, and getting Jesse in on the hunt – she killed a whole bunch of Viktor boys, who had no real intention of hurting her. The thought really kinda spoils what really kinda was a glorious moment.

Besides allowing us to get a fuller picture of the Jesse-Tulip mad love, however, ‘Dallas’ brought surprisingly little to the story-in-progress.

Well, The Saint of Killers (Graham McTavish) did eventually show up, at least. How he made it this far, without getting into a running shoot-out with authorities (the man’s been walking around packing heat & cold steel, in broad daylight), I dunno. He did get pointed in the right direction (yeah, the kid was gonna get it – whuzzamatta-u); but not before cleaning house, and killing off some of the touchy-feely sentiment that the episode brought to the season, thankfully enough.

What? Nobody came for any of that. One of the reasons we might stick around; but not why we came.

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