Animation
Good Times
Netflix takes a classic sitcom, Good Times, and turns it into a vulgar, violent, sexually-charged TV-MA show.
They say that possession is nine-tenths of the law. But when you possess—or, perhaps, are possessed by—something outside the laws of God and man, does it count? And if that possession could destroy all of creation, shouldn’t something be done about you?
That’s the conundrum faced by Jesse Custer, the titular preacher for the small town of Annville, Texas.
Jesse’s the sort of pastor who would call himself chief among sinners and mean it. His past is filled with questionable moments and unmentionable deeds. (Well, unmentionable in polite company, anyway. But since the show’s on AMC, we can guarantee a few mentions.) In desperation, he turned to faith and started his very own church. But alas, calling yourself a preacher doesn’t guarantee you a spiritually rich life. And it’s not long before Jesse begins to lose his newfound faith. He prays to God for help. For a sign. For something.
Then, as if in an answer to prayer, something comes. And Jesse’s soon filled with the power of … God?
Um, not exactly.
AMC’s Preacher departs somewhat from its source material, a comic book series of the same name that was published from 1995 to 2000. But it’s already clear that the thing sharing Jesse’s body is an entity known as Genesis, which the comic describes as the blasphemous progeny of an angel and demon. Thanks to Genesis, Jesse is able to speak with what seems to be the voice of God. Jesse doesn’t use it all the time, mind you—nor can he. Genesis can be a bit fickle about such things. But when he does, his listeners must obey. They literally have no choice.
But while Jesse’s intentions seem at least mostly decent, God’s so-called voice is far removed from the Heavenly Father’s heart. Jesse has the power to make people do bad, bad things. And even when the preacher means well, the being within him may not. Even his innocuous directives can be twisted and corrupted in terrible ways.
Not that Jesse’s beyond being twisted himself. Season 5 finds him running from evil spiritual beings bent on killing him, all while trying to prevent a 2020 apocalypse. And when he’s not being stalked around the globe, he’s trying to make amends with sometime lover and occasional assassin Tulip O’Hare, as well as brogue-accented vampire, Cassidy.
Preacher isn’t completely devoid of merit. Even in the context of its dubious preaching, the well-crafted show offers the occasional snippet of feel-good wisdom. “You can see that I’ve changed, right?” Jesse asks Tulip (believing that his “gift” is truly from God). “Which means you can change, too. We don’t have to be what we’ve been. You can be good. That’s what you want, right? We all want to be good.”
But that’s pretty much where the positives here end. After all, one should never trust the theology proffered by folks who typically worship the god of ratings and prostate themselves before the idol named Emmy.
Preacher is as content-laden a series as you’ll find on basic cable, an hour-long exercise in blood dispersal. People are tortured and die in extremely grotesque ways. In the first four minutes of Preacher’s pilot episode, a pastor actually blows up, spattering his congregation with his own gore. Near nudity and sexual couplings are not uncommon, ranging from emotionless rolls in the hay to rape. And while AMC has long paired its reputation for award-winning dramas with searing content, Mad Men and even Breaking Bad feel like after-school specials compared to the giddy and admittedly self-aware grotesqueries of Preacher.
Just how bad, how blasphemous, how bloody is Preacher? Consider: In 2008, HBO turned down an opportunity for its own Preacher series because it was determined to be “just too dark and too violent and too controversial,” according to potential producer Mark Steven Johnson. Even the show itself pushes its heavy content as a selling point: “Easily provoked? Easily addicted? Easily outraged? Easily repulsed?” a promo ad reads. “Don’t watch Preacher.”
Good advice, really—and you don’t need to be particularly prudish to walk past this show. Jesse, I believe, will likely continue to look for some semblance of faith. But given my lack of faith in this show, I won’t be watching to see if he finds it.
Preacher flees to Australia to avoid death and help delay the beginning of the 2020 apocalypse, but his (ahem) holiness is tested when he rescues a bitter friend. Assassin Tulip O’Hare attempts to get Jesus the Messiah to embrace his humanity. Vampire Cassidy tries to leave behind his wayward ways and make better choices.
Dead bodies lie on the ground, covered in blood with their innards spewed across the floor. Blood covers the walls and other surfaces. A man is shot and killed and an innocent bystander is shot in the leg. Preacher says he once made a police officer mace his own genitals. A woman punches an ex-lover in the face and is later graphically stabbed in the head. Hitler—yes, the Nazi—is beaten with a badminton racket. A man graphically references rape. An assassin talks about fighting on a bus ride to hell with a group of Nazis.
We hear an angel and a demon having sex. An angel graphically describes a sexual encounter and says he was kicked out of heaven for lust. A woman wears a cleavage-baring top. Jesus admits to having had an affair and then being replaced as the savior of the world. A vampire jokes that koalas in Australia have chlamydia.
A bartender says he’s a devout worshipper of Allah. Preacher apologizes to a friend for sending him to hell and allowing him to be tortured. Preacher then apologizes to his friend and tells him he’s a good Christian. Preacher heals a man with a stutter. A man prays over those he kills. Jesus says his miracles were never real, but metaphorical.
Jesus and Tulip smoke marijuana together and get high. A man smokes a cigarette. An angel and vampire drink an abundance of hard liquor. A demon asks for a glass of champagne. Jesus’ name is abused five times while God’s name is misused once, paired with “d–n.” The s-word is used three times and other profanities include multiple utterances of “a–hole,” “d–k” and “h—.”
In the Season 3 premiere, Jesse and vampire Cassidy head to Angelville with the body of Tulip, hoping that Jesse’s grandmother—a powerful and definitely evil witch—can bring her back to life. But Gran’ma won’t do so without exacting a heavy price.
“I’d do anything,” Jesse says. “Just bring her back.”
“Anything? That’s a big word,” Gran’ma says, sticking a knife into a kitchen table. “You know what I want.”
Jesse takes the knife and cuts his hand, letting spots of blood drip down on a white cloth napkin, which Gran’ma collects with glee. In flashback, we see her slice open her daughter’s own belly to retrieve a picture she swallowed of Jesse, then just a toddler. We see both an incision and blood. (Before she’s operated on, Jesse’s mom says, “Mama, you wouldn’t. You love me.” “More than anything,” Gran’ma says. Then, turning to her henchmen, she says, “Hold her down.”)
Jesse renews acquaintances with both of Gran’ma’s henchmen. Jody, a super-strong mountain of a man, is gutting an alligator when Jesse sees him first, his rubber apron covered in blood and gore. The two go to a rival’s hangout, and Jody beats up about 20-30 people. Most of the action takes place off-camera, but we do see Jody land several blows (accompanied by clouds of blood), and a body—thrown from a window—lands on a truck. Jody and Jesse also engage in bloody fisti- and footicuffs, and Jody lifts a truck as if preparing to crush Jesse’s head with it. Jesse and Cassidy also fight before they see another henchman, T.C. Both T.C. and Cassidy are knocked unconscious.
Tulip’s consciousness is locked in Purgatory, characterized by Gran’ma as a “waiting room.” It looks a little like a sitcom set, where events from Tulip’s past are reenacted. A child Tulip, her father, and Tulip’s current consciousness get into a bloody shootout with police, which apparently leaves the father dead. We see Tulip’s mother, too, in a bathrobe—but mostly we hear her in the nearby bedroom, “working”. (We hear lots of moans and muffled, graphic sexual talk.) When Tulip comes back, she meets Preacher’s version of “God”, dressed as he always is, in a dog suit. He tells Tulip she has a special task for her.
Gran’ma recites what seem to be magic spells and concocts magical brews. In flashback, we see her “cure” someone of alcoholism (her client takes a sip of whiskey, then projectile vomits the stuff), while an old couple waits in the lobby for a “libido” spell. One of her former clients comes back, brandishing an ax and perhaps asking for the return of his soul before a henchman knocks him out cold. Gran’ma talks about an old lover she killed. Cassidy brags that he “shagged” Tulip, and it’s suggested that Gran’ma secretly gives Tulip a potion to make her fall in love with Cassidy. (We see the two sleeping together.)
People drink brandy. They bleed from various wounds. There’s a reference to Cassidy’s vampirism. Guns are pointed and shot. There’s a reference to communion and the Church of the Blessed Virgin. Jesse gives thanks to God. Characters use the s-word five times. We also hear “b–ch,” “crap,” “d–n,” “h—” and “p-ss.” Jesus’ name is abused once.
In the opening vignette, the Cowboy rides to the town of Ratwater to get medicine for his sick daughter. He’s delayed by a host of horrible things, and when he gets back to his ranch, he finds his dead daughter being picked apart by crows. Meanwhile, in Annville Jesse revels in his newfound celebrity, using his voice to help many members of his troubled flock. But that voice is sometimes of dubious assistance: One congregant seems inspired to gun down four potential business partners, their blood-covered bodies slumped in leather-bound chairs.
Ratwater residents rape a woman, and they force her son to watch the violent, sexualized spectacle. (The woman’s husband lies dead on the floor beside her.) Bounty hunters bring in dozens of bloody, slimy scalps of Native Americans and minorities. The bartender says he’ll pay $100 for a brave’s scalp, $50 for a squaw’s and $10 for a child’s. (Mexican scalps he’ll pay half price for, he says.) The Cowboy is brutally beaten, kicked repeatedly in the gut. Someone shoots his horse in the head. He asks for a hotel room, but is told the only rooms in the hotel are “whore rooms.” (Chairs are free … with a $5 bottle of whiskey.) Someone makes a dirty joke about the biblical character Noah.
Tulip robs a drug store and gives the pills to Cassidy, then has emotionless sex with him in the back of a car. (We see sexual movements, but no nudity.) Cassidy is shown leaving a brothel with a bevy of scantily clad women. He and others smoke. Several people drink. Cassidy (a vampire, remember) says the cross is a symbol of “hypocrisy, slavery and oppression, but it won’t burn me face off.” Jesse bets his church on whether a doubter will become a Christian during the service or not. Another congregant confesses to his wife how Jesse made him nearly commit suicide. Tulip talks wanting to castrate and mutilate a man who wronged her.
Jesse tries to help Eugene, a man who survived a suicide attempt. (His face is horribly disfigured from the shotgun he used.) Vandals scrawl on Eugene’s bedroom walls that he should “finish the job” (pointing to a shotgun against the wall). The sentiment is later echoed by Eugene’s own father. A woman threatens to have sex with someone else unless her paramour gets up and goes to work. The s-word is used twice. Other profanities include “a–,” “p-ss” and “b–ch.” God’s name is misused twice, once with the word “d–n.”
Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.
Kristin Smith joined the Plugged In team in 2017. Formerly a Spanish and English teacher, Kristin loves reading literature and eating authentic Mexican tacos. She and her husband, Eddy, love raising their children Judah and Selah. Kristin also has a deep affection for coffee, music, her dog (Cali) and cat (Aslan).
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