Reviews
[Review] AMC’s “Preacher” Returns With a Bang, and a Bang, and a Bang
Spoiler Warning.
The first season of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg‘s “Preacher” ended with an epic twist for fans of the Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon comic series. As it turned out, the entire season was a prequel to Ennis’ Vertigo books.
The expanded second season, consisting of 13 episodes, follows West Texas preacher Jesse Custer (Dominic Cooper), his badass ex-girlfriend Tulip (Academy Award nominee Ruth Negga) and an Irish vampire named Cassidy (Joseph Gilgun) as they embark on a road trip to find God.
The first season was all about character development, spending quality time introducing the players in town, and bringing Jesse, Tulip, and Cassidy together. In watching the first three episodes of Season 2 it’s become clear that it was a necessity to deliver a prequel before jumping directly into the goods. Rogen and Goldberg have done a tremendous job world building and attempting to fill in any plot holes that riddle the comics.
Much like the debut comic, the Season 2 premiere dives right in, wasting zero time igniting an epic bloodbath. Our three anti-heroes have (finally) hit the road in search of God all while the Saint of Killers (Graham McTavish) is hunting them down in order to retrieve Genesis from Jesse. The opening scene is something right out of Terminator, with the Saint blowing people’s limbs off and their heads open. It’s a massacre that’s orchestrated with the perfect amount of comedic energy from our three heroes who don’t give a damn. Already a trio of badasses, Jesse’s new power has given them otherworldly confidence that results in 100% more badassery.
And while the series’ overall arc is the same – find God and make him answer for abandoning his creation – it’s now clear that Rogen and Goldberg are doing their own thing. Everything about AMC’s adaptation is different, which is pretty cool because it’s leading to extraordinarily interesting places. For example, the second episode focuses solely on Fiore (Tom Brooke), one of two Adephi angels tasked with hunting down Genesis. Being that he hired the Saint of Killers, Jesse hunts him down in Vegas to request he call off the mission. The episode is unique in that its focus is on what it would be like to be an immortal angel with nothing to live for. The result is shocking, hilarious, and heartwarming, making it one of the series’ most standout episodes.
The series not only explores many new locations, including Hell, but it’s really showing the depth of each of the show’s characters. While the second episode takes us into the very newly created world of Fiore, the third gives us Eugene’s (Ian Colletti) heartbreaking backstory of how he became known as Arseface. The biggest moment, however, is the reveal of the season’s new villain, the infamous Herr Starr (Pip Torrens). While he’s merely given a cameo in the third episode, his posse makes an appearance and Jesse is forced to use “the word” on them. The Grail have officially been worked into the series and it couldn’t be more exciting.
The second season of “Preacher” appears to fully deliver on its promise. The motley crew is on a full-blown road trip that’s leaving bloody entrails in their wake (literally). Rogen and Goldberg have hand-crafted a fresh take on the source material that’s as much of a gift to the fans as Ennis’ comics. What’s even better is that because of the changes there’s no way to know what’s up their sleeves, only that they’re going to take the eclectic mix of blood, violence, emotion, and humor to the absolute extreme.
The critically-acclaimed, supernatural series returns with a two-night event, beginning with the season premiere on Sunday, June 25th at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT, followed by the second episode on Monday, June 26th at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT.
Not even death can slow Chucky in “There Will Be Blood,” the penultimate episode of “Chucky” Season 3. With the killer receiving a mortal blow in the last episode, Charles Lee Ray (Brad Dourif) can now take full advantage of the White House’s bizarre supernatural purgatory, leaving him free to continue his current reign of terror as a ghost. While that spells trouble for Jake Wheeler (Zackary Arthur), Devon (Bjorgvin Arnarson), and Lexy (Alyvia Alyn Lind), it makes for an outrageously satisfying bloodbath heading into next week’s finale.
“There Will Be Blood” covers a lot of ground in short order, with Charles Lee Ray confronting his maker over his failures before he can continue his current path of destruction. Lexy, Jake, and Devon continue their desperate bid to find Lexy’s sister, which means seeking answers from the afterlife. They’re in luck, considering Warren Pryce (Gil Bellows) enlists the help of parapsychologists to solve the White House’s pesky paranormal problem. Of course, Warren also has unfinished business with the surviving First Family members, including the President’s assigned body double, Randall Jenkins (Devon Sawa). Then there’s Tiffany Valentine (Jennifer Tilly), who’s feeling the immense weight of her looming execution.
CHUCKY — “There Will Be Blood” Episode 307 — Pictured in this screengrab: (l-r) Brad Dourif as Charles Lee Ray, Chucky — (Photo by: SYFY)
Arguably, the most impressive aspect of “Chucky” is how series creator Don Mancini and his fantastic team of writers consistently swing for the fences. That constant “anything goes” spirit pervades the entire season, but especially this episode. Lexy’s new beau, Grant (Jackson Kelly), exemplifies this; he’s refreshingly quick to accept even the most outlandish concepts – namely, the White House as a paranormal hub and that his little brother’s doll happens to be inhabited by a serial killer.
But it’s also in the way that “There Will Be Blood” goes for broke in ensuring it’s the bloodiest episode of the series to date. Considering how over-the-top and grisly Chucky’s kills can be, that’s saying a lot. Mancini and crew pay tribute to The Shining in inspired ways, and that only hints at a fraction of the bloodletting in this week’s new episode.
CHUCKY — “There Will Be Blood” Episode 307 — Pictured in this screengrab: Brad Dourif as Charles Lee Ray — (Photo by: SYFY)
“Chucky” can get away with splattering an insane amount of blood on the small screen because it’s counterbalanced with a wry sense of humor and campy narrative turns that are just as endearing and fun as the SFX. Moreover, it’s the fantastic cast that sells it all. In an episode where Brad Dourif makes a rare appearance on screen, cutting loose and having a blast in Chucky’s incorporeal form, his mischievous turn is matched by Tiffany facing her own mortality and Nica Pierce’s (Fiona Dourif) emotionally charged confrontation with her former captor.
There’s also Devon Sawa, who amusingly continues to land in Chucky’s crosshairs no matter the character. Season 3 began with Sawa as the deeply haunted but kind President Collins, and Sawa upstages himself as the unflappably upbeat and eager-to-please doppelganger Randall Jenkins. That this episode gives Sawa plenty to do on the horror front while playing his most likable character yet on the series makes for one of the episode’s bigger surprises.
The penultimate episode of “Chucky” Season 3 unleashes an epic bloodbath. It delivers scares, gore, and franchise fan service in spades, anchored by an appropriate scene-chewing turn by Dourif. That alone makes this episode a series highlight. But the episode also neatly ties together its characters and plot threads to pave the way for the finale. No matter how this season wraps up, it’s been an absolute pleasure watching Chucky destroy the White House from the inside.
“Chucky” Season 3: Part 2 airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on USA & SYFY.
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