‘Preacher,’ Season 1, Episode 1 Recap: Pilot Shows Jesse’s Struggles With Cosmic Forces

The series premiere of Preacher on AMC opened with an alien inhabiting the body of an African preacher before exploding.

‘Preacher,’ Season, 1, Episode 1 Recap

We are introduced to Jesse (Dominic Cooper), a preacher in Texas who is very clearly not your average one. Empty beer bottles and him waking up with a hangover are your first clues. He’s not exactly a powerful speaker, his congregation is small and the ones that come look terribly bored.

After church the congregation has a cookout where Chris (Thomas Barbusca), a young member of the church, talks to Jesse about doing something about his father who abuses his mother. To hurt him specifically. Jesse refuses while trying to teach Chris that violence isn’t the answer. After Chris walks away dissatisfied and sarcastically saying he’ll pray about it, Jesse says the same to himself but only “if anyone were listening.”

Jesse sees the local sheriff (W. Earl Brown) and mentions Chris’ issue about his father Donnie (Derek Wilson). The sheriff is not at all helpful and says he’ll only move forward if the victim presents herself.

We are next introduced to Cassidy (Joseph Gilgun). A flight attendant who does drugs and drinks along with his wealthy passengers. While using the restroom on flight he finds a bible that’s been written in. He realizes the passengers of this private jet are part of some sort of religious suicidal cult and kills them. Killing the last person by biting his neck before jumping out of the plane with nothing but an umbrella and a water bottle full of blood.

Back in Texas, Jesse is eating breakfast with Emily (Lucy Griffiths), seemingly his only friend and right hand.

Back in Africa two men arrive at the church to investigate.

Jesse goes to check in on a sick member of town and is greeted by the belongings of a woman he seems to have a lot of history with. He storms out as he realizes she’s in the shower.

“Kansas: Not That Long Ago” is our next destination. A woman and man are fighting in a moving car that ends up in a family’s back yard after driving through a cornfield. The woman kills the man and gets her meth out of his pocket. A device shows her that whoever she’s escaping from is getting closer so she befriends the children in the house and changes her clothes. She also teaches them how to make a bazooka. She later hides the children in an underground shed and tells them not to come out until noise has stopped. When it does, they come out and see that she has single-handedly destroyed a helicopter and its pilot. As she leaves the fiery wreckage she tells the kids her name is Tulip (Ruth Negga).

Jesse has a flashback to seeing his father, also a preacher, being shot before making a promise to him.

Miraculously, Cassidy has survived jumping out of the plane and he is conscious although his body is destroyed.

Jesse visits Chris’ mom Betsy (Jamie Ann Allman) at work and asks her about things with Donnie. She admits that he abuses her. He urges her to tell the police but she refuses because she says she likes the abuse.

A similar situation has occurred in Russia like in Africa. A religious leader was inhabited and then destroyed and the same men are there to investigate.

Jesse runs into Tulip, the woman he avoided seeing when checking on his sick friend who is her uncle. She tries to talk him into doing a job (no doubt illegal) with her and he denies. They both apologize to each other for something they don’t name, but is seemingly important. Tulip tries to convince Jesse to work with her by telling him “we are who we are,” but he stays strong and leaves.

Jesse goes to visit Eugene (Ian Colletti), the sheriff’s son. Eugene has a physical deformity and can only eat out of a straw. He tells Jesse he wants to come to church but his father things it’ll be a distraction. Jesse tells him to come if he wants but Eugene says he thinks God is mad at him because of what he did. He tells Jesse that God hasn’t forgiven him because he doesn’t answer when Eugene prays anymore. Jesse explains that God doesn’t hold grudges and that He’s always there when people pray.

The local news shows that Tom Cruise is the next religious leader to be inhabited, exploding at the church of Scientology.

Jesse and Cassidy meet each other as Cassidy enters the bar Jesse is at. They don’t hit it off immediately. Donnie walks in next and punches Jesse for talking to his wife and spreading rumors. Donnie threatens to beat up Chris as punishment. Jesse is not happy with this and is forced to beat Donnie and his crew to a pulp using strength that is quite a bit more than the average man. Cassidy also helps a bit after getting off the phone with someone who sounds like his boss, telling Cassidy to get rid of his credit cards and identification.

After they are both arrested they have time to get to know each other. Jesse tells Cassidy that he came back here to try and fulfill a promise he feels he’d broken. Cassidy feels that hope and faith are destroying the world.

Emily bails Jesse out of jail and he tells her he’s quitting. She tells him he was never really there so him leaving won’t change things before dropping him off.

Jesse notices banging and lights flashing at the church so he heads in to investigate. He walks in and sits down and all is quiet again. He asks for a sign from God and says “please forgive me.” When he doesn’t get a response he lights a cigarette. Just then the door opens and an invisible figure starts moving the pews and making sounds before entering his body.

Jesse flashes back on his father’s murder and how his father told him to be strong and uphold what he was taught despite the bad people in the world.

Jesse wakes up three days after the incident at the church and it’s Sunday morning. Emily is at his bedside and apologizes for how she spoke to him.

Jesse starts to display a power that forces people to listen to him completely and do what he says literally and immediately. At church he begins his resignation announcement. He apologizes for being a bad preacher but realizes that quitting would be the opposite of helpful. He also realizes that his congregation is paying attention to what he’s saying. He tells them all he’s come home to save them.

The same men who investigated in Africa and Russia are now in Texas, and they don’t look like they’ll be at all helpful.

The next episode of Preacher air June 5 at 9 p.m. on AMC.