Everything is dark and terrible this week, with Jesse
definitely leaping off into the deep end after banishing Eugene to hell
It’s obvious Jessie feels terrible about his and equally
obvious that he’s definitely not going to talk about or admit there’s a
problem. He sinks deeper into his father’s teaching – his father who was “righteous”
in that terrible, judgemental, shaming and inflexible style of “righteous”.
Tulip is aware of this more than anyone else as we see
some painful flashbacks of her childhood as well. Firm friends with Jessie, we
see clearly her talking about her mother being in prison and her uncle drunk.
Even today, Tulip struggles desperately to look after her alcoholic uncle while
the whole neighbourhood, the whole town, looks on in judgement and condemnation
with no help at all as she struggled to move him inside.
As a child, she all but moved in with Jessie and his dad –
before his dad had social services pick her up and take her away – because she’s
an O’Hare and he has deemed the whole family trouble.
Emily’s discomfort with Jessie is only growing stronger
and stronger as Jessie becomes more and more fire and brimstone and generally
awful and conflicted.
It’s Cassidy, of all people, who pressures Jessie to talk
about it – since he’s the one who saw what Jessie did to Eugene. After
discussing things with Tulip about who knows Jessie more (it’s Tulip – oh yes
it is) Cassidy confronts him about the whole idea that god has a plan and what
Jessie is doing is for the greater good
But Jessie has found his justification – and we learn
Eugene’s history. He has a crush on Tracy Loach (the girl in the coma) and when
she rejected him, he shot her than shot himself. This pretty much shatters the
idea that Eugene is an innocent and, in Jessie’s mind, makes his whole “go to
hell” temper tantrum just more of god’s plan
Which is when Cassidy tosses in his own nature to Jessie.
He hands Jessie a fire extinguisher and walks into the sunlight – asking the
judgemental pastor if he will let him burn as well.
Jessie comes back into the house. Alone. And starts
eating again
Ok, there’s definitely going to be a do-over here. I
could see them maybe killing off Eugene despite his much much greater presence
in the comics. But there’s no no no way they’re killing off Cassidy. No way.
Tulip, who knows all about Cassidy’s vampiredom, demands
to know what Jessie just did – if he, like so many judgemental southern
pastors, cast him out (ooooh catch that parallel). Jessie responds… with
judgement and shame against Tulip, being an O’Hare, and her apparent low-class
ways. Basically he throws at Tulip everything his dad threw at him – he’s
officially his peak arsehole and needs well and truly needs Tulip to stab him
with something. Anything. I’m sure she can make him hurt with anything. The title of this episode is most definitely accurate
Jessie is badly in need of a wakeup call. Which may come
from Owen Kincannon, apparent murderous convert who is now totally insisting
that he didn’t convert (despite the “serve god” pledge) and therefore Jessie
has lost their terrible bet. And in the name of his dad and grandad and his
shrinking business, he wants Jessie’s land. Jessie says no, most insistently.
And Owen gathers a pretty damn huge army of minions to invade.
This is going to be messy. A vampire would be useful right now.
We’re definitely at a turning point now. I think we’re
going to see a lot of reversals in the next few episodes and, maybe, finally
the impetus needed to get Jessie and the gang on the road (which, I believe, is
what the comics cover. The TV series is supposed to be a prequel to the
comics).
I still love the show. And, yes, I still kind of feel
guilty for that.
