Looking for a medium rare binge? Coming in at four seasons and 43 total episodes, AMC’s Preacher will hook you with lovable loser characters and some truly bizarre neo-Western fantasy storylines. The series, which ran from 2016 to 2019, is based on a DC Comics graphic novel by Garth Ennis, who, of course, also co-created The Boys. The story is just as cynical about religion as The Boys is about corporate superhero franchises. It has an underrated fantasy trio of characters played by Dominic Cooper, Ruth Negga, and Joseph Gilgun, as well as a vibe you already know you’ll love if you like your superhero and/or comic book adaptations a bit twisted.
One Man’s Crisis of Faith Becomes an Inter-Dimensional Conflict in ‘Preacher’
Preacher follows Jesse Custer (Cooper), who is a, well… preacher who receives superpowers while at a spiritual crossroads. Jesse was already an unconventional preacher, with a drinking problem and dark past, trying to fulfill a promise he made his dead father. He was a “hot priest” before Fleabag made that a whole thing. Then, all of a sudden, Jesse has the ability to command people to literally do what he says with the voice of God. This proves to be problematic almost immediately. For example, in the pilot, he advises one of his parish members to “open his heart,” and the poor man stabs himself and bleeds out. Preachers, by nature, already have a “with great power comes great responsibility” thing going on in their community. Superpowers just turn that up to eleven.
Jesse embarks on a journey to contact and then find God and figure out what’s going on with him/the world. His journey takes him to New Orleans, Australia, and the great beyond. At his side are his deliciously violent ex-girlfriend Tulip O’Hare (Negga) and an Irish vampire called Cassidy (Gilgun). Before they broke up and before Jesse became a man of God, he and Tulip were career criminals together. She’s scrappy, and as much of an asset to the preacher on this quest as the literal vampire. If for no other reason, watch the show for the three of them. Their chemistry and performances are incredible. Yes, there is somewhat of a love triangle going on… but most of the time they’re too stressed out to deal with it!
This is no ordinary road trip. The trio’s quest is frequently interrupted. They are pursued by agents from Heaven who want to take his superpower back, and a bounty hunter from Hell tasked with killing him. As if that wasn’t enough, there’s also a looming apocalypse. Things get weird on this show, like even weirder than a priest, a criminal, and a vampire travelling together. One character (nicknamed Arseface for horrible reasons) actually goes to Hell and meets an infamous German fascist dictator, and that is just the tip of the iceberg with this show.
Cassidy Is a Top Tier TV Vampire on ‘Preacher’
When people list the best fanged characters of all time, a former member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood and vampire Proinsias Cassidy often gets forgotten. It’s not too surprising, especially because the show itself is not centered on bloodsucker lore. But Cassidy deserves to be counted among the best television vampires. Just because the show has toes in multiple supernatural pools does not make him an excellent addition to the canon. We need more dirtbag vampires like him. Cassidy has an eclectic sense of style, a delightfully cavalier attitude, and very strong opinions about The Big Lebowski. He doesn’t let the sun stop him from enjoying the daylight. He’s simply resourceful with an umbrella and/or a headscarf and not afraid to get briefly set on fire.
The character strikes an interesting balance when it comes to vampire archetypes. He’s not happy about being a vampire. It doesn’t seem like he takes any kind of perverse pleasure in murdering, at least not more than any other character on the show. He does resents outliving his loved ones as an immortal, however. In life, he was an army deserter and still carries some residual shame from abandoning his folks back then. But he’s not the moody, brooding type of vampie resentful about it like Louis de Point du Lac (Brad Pitt) from Interview with the Vampire, Angel (David Boreanaz) from Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) from Twilight. Instead of pouting, Cass jokes his way through his decades-long existential crisis. He’s a born yapper and an agent of chaos.
The Producing Team Behind ‘Preacher’ Knows How To Keep It Weird
Still on the fence? Preacher is part of a producing slate you already love from Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. Their creative partnership brought us television shows like The Boys as well as it’s spin-off Gen V. Then there are more underrated gems like Future Man and Black Monday. That’s not to mention their film work! All of those shows are darkly comic and unafraid to go to unexpected and often violent places for a laugh. The team has a clear love of genre storytelling, whether that be twisted superhero narratives, science fiction and time travel, or satire.
Rogen and Goldberg directed four episodes of Preacher Season 1 and Season 2. They have story credit on the pilot as well. The showrunner of Preacher, Sam Catlin, also wrote and produced Breaking Bad for AMC. If you love any of those shows, you should absolutely give Preacher a chance while it’s still free to watch on Plex.
- Release Date
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2016 – 2019
- Network
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AMC
- Showrunner
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Sam Catlin
- Directors
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Michael Slovis, Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Wayne Che Yip, John Grillo, Kevin Hooks, Sam Catlin, Michael Morris, Jonathan Watson, Laura Belsey, Iain B. MacDonald, Craig Zisk, David Evans, Guillermo Navarro, Kate Dennis, Michael Dowse, Millicent Shelton, Norberto Barba, Scott Winant, Steph Green
- Writers
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Craig Rosenberg, Sara Goodman, Mary Laws, Gary Tieche, Mark Stegemann, Rachel Wagner, Nick Towne, Olivia Dufault
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