Review of Season One:
PREACHER is another TV series based on the concept of Southern Gothic, this time with an explicitly religious theme. The main character is a down-on-his-luck preacher from Texas who gets involved in a plot involving supernatural beings visiting Earth. Much of the first season puts together the pieces of the plot, gradually unfolding the events and characters until the climax, where things coalesce and we move on to the different things that will be coming in season two.
I found this series to be quite similar to HAP AND LEONARD, although it's bigger budgeted and more comic book in style. Dominic Cooper has been quite uninteresting in his Hollywood roles but he's much better here and Ruth Negga and (in particular) Joseph Gilgun provide good support. As with many modern TV shows, fairly interesting conversation takes place between various action and horror sequences, and there are some highly imaginative set-pieces littered throughout the episodes, such as the bit in the motel room which is eye-popping indeed. Overall, this is light, quirky, and engaging, and I look forward to seeing more in future.
Review of Season Two:
Sadly, the second season of PREACHER is a comedown compared to the first, a series which feels overlong at 13 episodes and somewhat meandering. The whole 'search for God' storyline really isn't enough to sustain that kind of running time, and the supporting characters really get very little to do here, particularly Joseph Gilgun and Ruth Negga. Sure, the episodes are interspersed with great action and FX, with the fight choreography strong and sustainable, but the weak writing doesn't help this. Ironically, the show is at its most vibrant and freshest when it comes to Noah Taylor's brilliantly-conceived Hitler, of all things.
Review of Season Three:
With ten episodes in total, the third season is a step up from the last and more entertaining with interesting larger-than-life characters filling the supporting cast. It's a shame, then, that the writing remains slightly weak, all too obviously focusing on gross-out and gory moments at times rather than strong plotting. The CGI budget is also quite the embarrassment and doesn't match the imagination taken in devising such effects. The first half of this season is the worst, with separate and seemingly meandering sub-plots filling up the running time and nothing much happening, although in the last couple of episodes pick things up and finish on an appropriately entertaining climax.
Review of Season Four:
The last season of PREACHER is certainly the least and it's no surprise that the show was dumped. By now the quality of the writing has vanished and the episodes are instead filled with endless gross-out humour and repetitive scenes of torture and characters acting in ridiculous ways. A lot of the running time is padded out and the people we know and like are given little to do other than look cool or act in familiarly sassy ways. The only time it picks up is for the final episode which at least ties up all the plot threads neatly enough.
PREACHER is another TV series based on the concept of Southern Gothic, this time with an explicitly religious theme. The main character is a down-on-his-luck preacher from Texas who gets involved in a plot involving supernatural beings visiting Earth. Much of the first season puts together the pieces of the plot, gradually unfolding the events and characters until the climax, where things coalesce and we move on to the different things that will be coming in season two.
I found this series to be quite similar to HAP AND LEONARD, although it's bigger budgeted and more comic book in style. Dominic Cooper has been quite uninteresting in his Hollywood roles but he's much better here and Ruth Negga and (in particular) Joseph Gilgun provide good support. As with many modern TV shows, fairly interesting conversation takes place between various action and horror sequences, and there are some highly imaginative set-pieces littered throughout the episodes, such as the bit in the motel room which is eye-popping indeed. Overall, this is light, quirky, and engaging, and I look forward to seeing more in future.
Review of Season Two:
Sadly, the second season of PREACHER is a comedown compared to the first, a series which feels overlong at 13 episodes and somewhat meandering. The whole 'search for God' storyline really isn't enough to sustain that kind of running time, and the supporting characters really get very little to do here, particularly Joseph Gilgun and Ruth Negga. Sure, the episodes are interspersed with great action and FX, with the fight choreography strong and sustainable, but the weak writing doesn't help this. Ironically, the show is at its most vibrant and freshest when it comes to Noah Taylor's brilliantly-conceived Hitler, of all things.
Review of Season Three:
With ten episodes in total, the third season is a step up from the last and more entertaining with interesting larger-than-life characters filling the supporting cast. It's a shame, then, that the writing remains slightly weak, all too obviously focusing on gross-out and gory moments at times rather than strong plotting. The CGI budget is also quite the embarrassment and doesn't match the imagination taken in devising such effects. The first half of this season is the worst, with separate and seemingly meandering sub-plots filling up the running time and nothing much happening, although in the last couple of episodes pick things up and finish on an appropriately entertaining climax.
Review of Season Four:
The last season of PREACHER is certainly the least and it's no surprise that the show was dumped. By now the quality of the writing has vanished and the episodes are instead filled with endless gross-out humour and repetitive scenes of torture and characters acting in ridiculous ways. A lot of the running time is padded out and the people we know and like are given little to do other than look cool or act in familiarly sassy ways. The only time it picks up is for the final episode which at least ties up all the plot threads neatly enough.