The Preacher has estranged everyone

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Last week I asked what kind of preacher Jesse Custer was. A few of the things I said about him touched on his self-reflectivity and confusion as to how he goes about his affairs. And those thing certainly were evident in this week’s episode, “He Gone.”

Did you see him while that old lady said her piece during church, leading the congregation in prayer? “Most merciful God … we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word and deed. By what we have done and by what we have left undone …”

The look (looks, actually) he put on display during her lead, well … you could see him turning things over in his mind. Of course, it had to be about what he did to Eugene. Right?

Not only that, things got interesting in a couple ways during the episode.

Interesting in that Cassidy – Cassidy, mind you – called him out on what he did to Eugene (“… the arsey-faced kid, Jesse … I saw. All right? I saw what you done to’em …”) because he was right there in the balcony where he heard the entire exchange. And later, he really took him to task: “Jesse … this Genesis thing, it’s playin’ with your head. You’ve lost control of this thing. You sent an innocent kid to Hell …”

Yeah … Cassidy said that. Cassidy said those things. Oh, how the tables have turned; the preacher’s friend is the one wearing the pants in their relationship now. (In fact, that entire exchange between the two was more satisfying to me than the fight scene with Jesse, DeBlanc, Fiore and that Seraph in last week’s episode.)

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Interesting also was the fact Jesse went back on his word to Odin Quincannon, who came calling on him to get his due: The church and the land Jesse promised him when he challenged him to come to service. (Remember me saying also our protagonist tends toward using his position for his ulterior motives? Bingo.)

Head shaking stuff this episode, admittedly.

In the end, Jesse’s alienated everyone – Emily, Cassidy, Tulip (which I don’t have much of a problem with because she’s bugging the hell out of me lately). We saw what happened to Eugene. And we left off the episode with Quincannon’s troops about to storm the church.

Repeat: Everyone. Is. Alienated.

A direct reflection of how the preacher’s been acting.

You have to admit things are fun right now. And there are only three episodes left of the season.

Where it’s going? I haven’t a clue …

Has Jesse lost control of Genesis? What’s his next move? Start a conversation in the comments section below!