ATX TV Festival Coverage: Inside “Preacher”

If you check Twitter, the general buzz with AMC’s new thriller Preacher is that “I want to love it but I am confused.” While the storylines are not as complex as “Game of Thrones” it is easy to get lost in everything that’s going on. In the comic books, Preacher is about Jesse Custer, a preacher in the small Texas town of Annville. Custer is accidentally possessed by the supernatural creature named Genesis, the infant product of the unauthorized, unnatural coupling of an angel and a demon.

Hilarity and violence ensue.

This is not explained in the show. Preacher throws angels, vampires/vampire hunters and hybrid possession at its audience with no explanation.

What makes Preacher so hard to write for is the numerous themes in the comic. At its core preacher is offensive. There’s really isn’t a way to please everyone. You can and will offend the religious groups and the comic book itself would be rated NC-17, so how do you clean things up and make it watchable? What it seems like is that the writing staff is relying on two things:

• The built in comic book audience already knowing what’s going on.
• Lovers of this genre knowing the rules.

At the ATX TV Festival, Anatol Yusef, who plays DeBlan,c confirms this theory by stating, “the only way to play the supernatural is to play it very naturally. The audience deduces so much for themselves. They have so many ideas of what the other world and the unseen looks like. I imagine that their views are much stronger than what we may deliver.”

As fans of this genre, we all know the rules already:

• Vampires are fun, violent and hate the sun.
• Angels fight for good. Their missions come from God.
• Being possessed isn’t good.

So there is no reason to develop these character traits. There isn’t anything new being done here so the normal handholding experience isn’t there which may be the reason the audience struggles. Coupled with not knowing who to root for and why is hard. There isn’t a clear reason to champion for our hero. In Breaking Bad, we root for Walter because his life sucks and now he has cancer. You just want him to win. With The Walking Dead, Rick just wants to protect his family from the undead and human threats. Preacher has a woman who’s a thief biting off someone’s ear, building bazooka’s and killing people. A vampire who steals communion wine. A preacher who breaks a man’s arm and makes him squeal like a “bunny caught in a bear trap”. They have their reasons but are they good ones?

Also at the festival, Sam Catlin (Writer/Creator/EP) discussed how hard it was translating the comic to TV. This was his first adaptation and he “didn’t know the rules” when it came to doing so. The comic tells the tale of a man on the run and it each issue takes place on various continents so there were many ways this story could have been told. Sadly financially and creatively there wasn’t a way to have the show start of this way.

Catlin jokes, “unless you’re Game of Thrones it’s very hard to do.” But he does want to stay true to the comic and eventually develop the show into a road show. “Sooner or later, someone is going to have to pay for it”.

Once the show gets into its groove Catlin is confident that he can incorporate more of comics into his original story. So far he seems to be making the right creative choices in regards to casting.

Ruth Negga who is already a sci-fi queen in her own right plays Tulip, Jesse’s love interest, and femme fatale. In the comics, Tulip is a white woman with blonde hair. Negga was born in Ethiopia and describes her character as a “brown firecracker.” Her introduction to the show has been described as one of the coolest introductions in TV history which have a lot to do with the storyline but Negga’s performance made everything come to life. This is because Negga believes in her character.

“I found her so thrilling and compelling and deeply funny. Tulip is all of the things that you think you’re not allowed to be,” Negga said. “She has a fine edge to her. She has a Joie de vivre that femme fatales or le femme Nikita’s aren’t allowed to have.” Negga’s character is actually the least confusing character in the show. She’s a morally flawed human out for revenge.

In describing the characters of the show star Dominic Cooper unknowingly answers why the show is confusing.

“There are temptations in every direction. That what’s makes it so intriguing,” he said. “Every character is a new best friend. They are all temptations into a different world.”

Dealing with people who pull the different versions of you is hard. Especially when you’re trying so hard to be good. Fighting what seemingly comes naturally to you is a confusing and frustrating battle. We as the audience are meant to be on this journey with Jesse and go through the struggle with him.