Jump to content

Preacher- AMC Comic Adaptation


Morpheus

Recommended Posts

Comic Book Spoilers & Angry Ranting

Spoiler

 

So Jesse left Tulip to become a preacher in Annville of his own volition?! Seriously, how the Fuck can someone read the comic book and like it enough to adapt it for TV and still completely fail to understand the characters? Out of all the dumb fucking changes they have made this is by far the dumbest and the most disappointing. Comic-Jesse is literally forced away from Tulip under the threat of her death and forced into being a preacher after severe torture, because that's what it takes to separate them. I was waiting for TC and Jody to pop-up anytime during the flashbacks, especially because they have been teasing Angelville a couple of times, and it just didn't fucking happen! Plus every time they say "Til the End of the World" it just sounds less and less believable and it just lacks the meaning it has in the comic.

I don't need a word-for-word/panel-for-panel adaptation and I understand that thing need to be changed up for a new medium, but I do want them to at least stay faithful to the characters and the themes, and so far they aren't doing that. Jesse and Tulip are completely different characters with familiar names. Show-Jesse isn't a good guy, he's not even a bad guy trying to be good, he's just an asshole that probably doesn't know what good means.

Plus their backstory is garbage and the whole episode was boring as fuck anyway.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Spoiler

Yes, there need to be changes to certain parts of the comic, parts which haven't aged well and parts which were never so great to begin with which display Ennis' worst instincts. But I too have a problem with the choices they are making. Jesse in the comic is essentially a modern day cowboy, and Tulip is too often pining for Jesse and playing the girlfriend role, fleshing them both out and adding more depth would be a good thing. Unfortunately, they have made them both unlikeable, yet not at all compelling. The relationship appears toxic, they reveal each other's worst instincts, I am not pulling for them as a couple.

We have known since last season that Jesse was not forced into leading a flock, he is following in his dad's footsteps. And Tulip has always known where he was, capable of being reached at any time. I don't see how Jesse's grandmother can be anything close to the domineering monster of the source material.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I thought episode 4 was great especially the "uptown girl" moment and the bits covering the god actor (and GOT). I also find "hell" curious and can see why they've totally changed Arseface's story. It threw me a bit that hell expects you behave badly suggesting there's no redemptive aspect there - although i guess purgatry is where redemption is.

Episode 5 was a bit more dull. Episode spoilers

it's getting a bit repetitive how the SoK ties a neat bow around any new characters by turning up and killing them every couple episodes. I also found Jesse's backstory not very flattering. I'm a bit confused at how he seems to be mr cowboy now yet seemed to be a drunken slob for a large chunk of time. I could have seen Tulip leaving him, not the other way around. And his assault on his friend was downright nasty. I did like how it seems Cassidy deliberately avoided confirming Jesse's suspicion that killing Tulip's husband would mean the end of the relationship. Cassidy is meant to be a complicated character and this was a nice nudge in that direction.

As for some of the comic related complaints spoilers

I too would be annoyed if the reason we've been presented here is the reason Jesse left. I think I'll give them some wiggle room for now as it could be what we saw wasn't the end of things between them. If it was I really don't see why Tulip would have had any interest in fixing things. So I'm hoping he's still kidnapped by his uncles. Maybe we'll get a scene with him changing his mind to go back to her and then getting kidnapped?

Either that or the reason why Jesse is such a drunken slob is because he has had an encounter with his family and has been given his orders? Maybe we've missed a scene? Because I don't know how he went from using the bible as a window prop to deciding to become a preacher. Maybe the reason he's being such a dick is to drive Tulip away?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When Jesse beat on his friend, he clearly hit him because he wanted to hit Tulip but had just enough restraint not hit his girlfriend, right? He was in a fight with her and directed that anger at a third party, if that guy wasn't there things would have been even worse. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, Morpheus said:

When Jesse beat on his friend, he clearly hit him because he wanted to hit Tulip but had just enough restraint not hit his girlfriend, right? He was in a fight with her and directed that anger at a third party, if that guy wasn't there things would have been even worse. 

That was certainly my take on it. I'm not a comic book reader, but that episode didn't seem to be totally out of character, and I actually think some of these changes, as far as I can tell, give their relationship a good level of depth and certainly make them a bit more interesting than they were previously. 

Having said that, it wasn't my favourite episode, was often a bit bored by it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, Nictarion said:

Wow that was pretty much character assassination for Jesse. This is the first episode I truly hated. I really thought this show had potential after a solid start to S2. What a shame. 

Yeah, they really need to throw in some darker reasons for why he was in that slump (which could happen based on the comics) but even then it's hard to blow over his behaviour in the flashbacks in that episode. Almost a different character, although I guess fairly similar to the one we saw in the pilot. Maybe Genesis is having more of an effect than just the power?

4 minutes ago, Channel4s-JonSnow said:

That was certainly my take on it. I'm not a comic book reader, but that episode didn't seem to be totally out of character, and I actually think some of these changes, as far as I can tell, give their relationship a good level of depth and certainly make them a bit more interesting than they were previously. 

Having said that, it wasn't my favourite episode, was often a bit bored by it.

It was boring in comparison to the previous episodes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm interested to know how the comic Jesse differs from show Jesse.

My take on show Jesse is that hes a man conflicted by who he is and who he feels he should be. Them losing the baby was a major turning point in their lives because Jesse believes that there will be payback for all the misdeeds he has committed and the loss was ordained by god as part of that. He feels a lot of guilt for what he has done in the past, and thought that by leading a 'good' life he might be able to escape who he is. Which is why he tried to do nothing, get a job, slob around and why he decided to go off and become a priest. That self doubt feeds into his feelings about Tulip, what she represents and his own insecurity. 

In terms of show logic, I didn't see much wrong with the events of the last episode. Might be missing something though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Channel4s-JonSnow said:

I'm interested to know how the comic Jesse differs from show Jesse.

My take on show Jesse is that hes a man conflicted by who he is and who he feels he should be. Them losing the baby was a major turning point in their lives because Jesse believes that there will be payback for all the misdeeds he has committed and the loss was ordained by god as part of that. He feels a lot of guilt for what he has done in the past, and thought that by leading a 'good' life he might be able to escape who he is. Which is why he tried to do nothing, get a job, slob around and why he decided to go off and become a priest. That self doubt feeds into his feelings about Tulip, what she represents and his own insecurity. 

In terms of show logic, I didn't see much wrong with the events of the last episode. Might be missing something though.

I'll give it a try. In the comics Jesse is a flawed guy trying to be a good guy. An in his case a good guy is kinda exemplified by John Wayne style cowboys and is wrapped up in a lot of stoic masculinity and chivalrous notions. There's also a lot of stuff in his backstory that is probably a bit too spoiler-y to get into, but comic book Jesse didn't exactly become a preacher willingly and his father was never a preacher at all. In fact Jesse and Tulip's backstory is completely different in the comics, there's no Carlos, no bank robbery and no miscarriage.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, GallowKnight said:

I'll give it a try. In the comics Jesse is a flawed guy trying to be a good guy. An in his case a good guy is kinda exemplified by John Wayne style cowboys and is wrapped up in a lot of stoic masculinity and chivalrous notions. There's also a lot of stuff in his backstory that is probably a bit too spoiler-y to get into, but comic book Jesse didn't exactly become a preacher willingly and his father was never a preacher at all. In fact Jesse and Tulip's backstory is completely different in the comics, there's no Carlos, no bank robbery and no miscarriage.

Interesting. Doesn't seem too far removed from his character on the show though right?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 minutes ago, Channel4s-JonSnow said:

Interesting. Doesn't seem too far removed from his character on the show though right?

It kinda does. Maybe I'm just no good enough at explaining the differences. Comic Jesse would never beat someone up without a good reason and he would never consider killing someone just because they slept with Tulip. Show Jesse is in general just a bigger asshole than his comicbook counterpart ever is and with a bigger sense of self-importance. And comic book Jesse would never have come to God and the church on his own volition.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, SpaceChampion said:

Isn't the central point of Jesse's character that he is somehow perfectly balanced between good and evil, so that Genesis could reside in him without making him all explodey?

I actually thought it was more he has the arrogance and conviction to take god to task than the other candidates. Your version is nicer though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

21 hours ago, Nictarion said:

Wow that was pretty much character assassination for Jesse. This is the first episode I truly hated. I really thought this show had potential after a solid start to S2. What a shame. 

I felt the same way.... and I had been loving this season... I didn;t mind the departures from the source books....but this episode left me scratching my head as to what the showrunner was thinking...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 21/07/2017 at 1:29 AM, Martini Sigil said:

I felt the same way.... and I had been loving this season... I didn;t mind the departures from the source books....but this episode left me scratching my head as to what the showrunner was thinking...

It was certainly a bit of a derail episode. Really not sure why they thought handling Jesse in that way was a good call. It's going to require some clever "we didn't have all the facts" to attempt to undo it - assuming the showrunners even have that as a game plan.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 7/20/2017 at 2:48 PM, GallowKnight said:

It kinda does. Maybe I'm just no good enough at explaining the differences. Comic Jesse would never beat someone up without a good reason and he would never consider killing someone just because they slept with Tulip. Show Jesse is in general just a bigger asshole than his comicbook counterpart ever is and with a bigger sense of self-importance. And comic book Jesse would never have come to God and the church on his own volition.

Ok. To be honest I actually like all the qualities you mentioned there, I think they make Jesse a more interesting character simply because he is clearly a bit of an arsehole who has a high level of self importance. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like that Dennis is Cassidy's kid, it's a nice touch and makes perfect sense in hindsight. I'm iffy about the soul business but don't mind most of it. Although I'm surprised show-Jesse even has a soul.

They keep messing with the Saint though, in ways they don't need too. I think Graham McTavish is a great casting choice and makes for a great Saint in both looks and demeanour. But the writing is just disappointing and once again just comes of as someone who does not really understand the source material. Plus that library scene was fucking ridiculous.  

And if they are seriously making Angelville and the L'Angell's into some kind of voodoo/romani-magic user bullshit, then this show can go fuck itself.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...