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March 28, 2024, 05:01:01 PM

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Preacher Season 4

Started by Small Man Big Horse, August 06, 2019, 09:32:52 PM

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Small Man Big Horse

The fourth and final season of this show began on Sunday with two episodes airing, I've only seen the first so far but it was a mostly strong opener, perhaps not that much happened plot wise but at least it wasn't a slow paced and moody episode like too many have been in the past, and given that there's only nine left before everything's wrapped up hopefully this year will be a lot more consistently fun and fast paced.

up_the_hampipe

Oh, I didn't know it was back already. Did they finish production earlier? I thought it was going to be airing in 2020.

SteveDave

What happened in season 3? Is it worth watching?

remedial_gash

Quote from: SteveDave on August 07, 2019, 12:52:27 PM
What happened in season 3? Is it worth watching?

Probably, think it was fun but don't remember much about it, saw the opening two-parter of this season and kind of went, um yeah it's okay -  love Pip Torrens still, and after thinking it was cooper in the first episode of 'the boys' but not understanding why he had such  shit accent it was nice to be back in a world where americans are played by brits and irish types.

Sorry stoned, might not make sense.

NoSleep

This is like watching paint dry, so far. I have no idea what's happened but it seems they've literally lost the plot.

Small Man Big Horse

Quote from: NoSleep on September 16, 2019, 10:21:11 AM
This is like watching paint dry, so far. I have no idea what's happened but it seems they've literally lost the plot.

That's disappointing to hear, I've still only seen the first episode and that doesn't inspire me to watch the rest.

Puce Moment

I'm enjoying it just fine but it does seem to have entered the 'anything could happen' final phases of the show in a way that can be a bit lacking in drama/tension.

It does seem the right time to close this show - and overall my memories will be very positive.

AsparagusTrevor

Wow, the Herr Starr stuff has been really mean spirited this season. I know he's always been a bit of a butt-monkey (although I don't remember him being so incompetent previously) but still.

NoSleep

Seems like they could have done with many less episodes if this is leading up to an actual conclusion. Much of this season has been all the characters pointlessly meandering about.

mothman

It's starting to feel a bit rushed and perfunctory. So far I've enjoyed some of the show's deviations from the text - incorporating the Quincannon storyline into the beginning, for example, to make a more rounded start to the tale, rather than the choppy infills using flashbacks in the comics.

But now all of a sudden it's like, shit! The show's ending? Better get some more of the stand out moments in! So... Jesus de Sade? Check! Nuclear explosion? Check! Jesse falls out of a plane? Check! Loses his eye? Check! Herr Starr's leg eaten by cannibals? Check! Dog eats his genitals? Check!

And now, since The Boys, I'm wondering WHY they've chosen to deviate in the ways they have. It may be that some elements now seem silly or dated, or too controversial, but if that's the case why bother making it to begin with? But at least is still feels like Preacher - I really don't know what The Boys is meant to be. They've changed the whole core of it - superheroes in the comic are meant to be all too human, absolutely corrupted by absolute power. Instead, they're almost sympathetic. The point about Sitwell is he is the one thing the Homelander is afraid of; instead she is just his puppy-love crush.

(And yet, ironically, Anthony Starr's portrayal of Homelander is my favourite thing about the show - he's perfect)

Mister Six

I think the Boys is great and almost all of the changes have been for the better, but that's another thread entirely.

mothman

Yeah, there was a thread. It's not like I didn't enjoy it, I just felt the material diverged so much from the source that it became quite distracting, and I was left wondering why they made the decisions they did behind those changes.

up_the_hampipe

Man, I want to love Preacher a lot more than I do. I really loved the first season, but it never quite lived up to that. Season 2 had its moments, but it's been stuck in this Grail/Saint of Killers/finding God loop for so long now.

mothman

Having re-read it recently, it feels to me like although the pacing was often uneven, they were able to stretch out the "finding God" central arc, and it's the diversions that are often more memorable.

The problem is, the show decided to pack what memorable moments it actually brought over into the first three seasons, virtually sidelining the central arc:

Season 1: Mostly new material, but incorporating the Quincannon storyline (albeit heavily altered) into an extended origin story/season-long pilot.

Season 2: introduces the Grail, but comprises virtually all new material.

Season 3: bare bones of the Angelville and the Eccarius storylines are used in, again, mostly new material.

Season 4: probably uses more of the source material than all three other seasons combined!

up_the_hampipe

Anyone get through all of this then? It was a very frustrating, disjointed season but the finale was very good, I thought.

Small Man Big Horse

Quote from: up_the_hampipe on October 08, 2019, 07:48:34 PM
Anyone get through all of this then? It was a very frustrating, disjointed season but the finale was very good, I thought.

I've still only watched the first episode of season 4 and given the mixed responses I'm not sure if I'm going to bother, especially as a) I no longer smoke weed and b) I've read the comics so know how it ends there. Do you think it's worth watching it all?

up_the_hampipe

Not really, it's quite a slog. Maybe you can read up on the plot and just skip to the finale, that's worth watching. It ends quite differently to the comics.

Small Man Big Horse

Quote from: up_the_hampipe on October 09, 2019, 12:20:11 AM
Not really, it's quite a slog. Maybe you can read up on the plot and just skip to the finale, that's worth watching. It ends quite differently to the comics.

Ah, I'll probably do that then, thanks for the info.

NoSleep

My takeaway from this has to be that I loved the main cast but even they couldn't compensate for the pointlessly meandering script. Why did I even bother ploughing through that last season? The payoff was neither profound or funny enough to justify all that walking the earth and shoddy sets; like something a sixth-former might come up with. Did the production change hands or was there a walk-out by somebody important to making the series? Because it definitely started with a lot more promise than it finally delivered.

Small Man Big Horse

I watched the finale and did quite like it, but realised I didn't care about Jesse at all which is a major problem. I know he's an arrogant son of a bitch in the comics too but he at least managed to be likeable most of the time, whereas here he was just a bit too smug for my liking.

NoSleep

Given that Jesse's power was called Genesis, I was a bit disappointed (amongst all the other disappointments) that we didn't get a "Let there be light!" somewhere along the way.

up_the_hampipe

Quote from: Small Man Big Horse on October 16, 2019, 02:11:53 PM
I watched the finale and did quite like it, but realised I didn't care about Jesse at all which is a major problem. I know he's an arrogant son of a bitch in the comics too but he at least managed to be likeable most of the time, whereas here he was just a bit too smug for my liking.

Yeah, I didn't like him by the end, and Tulip was wearing thin as well. Cassidy is the only one I cared about, which I think is a real departure from the comics. Joe Gilgun is the best.

Yeah, characterisation has been all over the shop in this.

Jesse in the comics was arrogant but his main flaw was his unfailing belief in being a John Wayne-style "man's man": emotionally shut down, drinking to calm his inner demons and solving everything with his fists. But it also meant he was refreshingly black-and-white in a world that had been corrupted into shades of grey. His one-man mission and overwhelming belief in doing "the Right Thing" in all circumstances was the reason he triumphed. The Jesse in the show has been arrogant but without any moral code, so he's just been frustratingly selfish and irrational.

Same with Cassidy, who was a grade-A piece of shit in the comics and did some truly loathsome stuff in his 100+ years on the earth. A great laugh and a good pal because it suited him, but also a poisonous influence and out for no-one but himself. I can understand why they softened him (and Gilgun can't fail to be charming), but it also made him a bit pointless and completely removed his character arc.

The character who comes out by far the best is Tulip, who they wrote as much stronger-willed and independent. It's difficult to see why she ever came back for this confused and egotistical version of Jesse.

Between the poorly-drawn characters and circuitous plotting it all feels like a massive wasted opportunity.

BritishHobo

Catching up on this. I'm near the end and it's alright, but my main thing is I think the body horror humiliation of Herr Starr is shit and horrible. I don't get it. He's hardly like Joffrey in Game of Thrones, I don't think anyone was particularly gagging for him to get a gruesome comeuppance. That suicide scene was just grim, like something an edgy teenager would think was funny.

Apart from that it all just feels as ever like a lot of filler.

Alberon

The last season really falls apart, which is a shame. The stuff with Herr Starr comes straight from the original comic though, as far as I can remember, that dealt with it better.