Preacher Review: Gonna Hurt (Season 3 Episode 3)

Everything is finally coming up Tulip O’Hare on Preacher Season 3 Episode 3, “Gonna Hurt.”

It’s clear from the opening that God has a plan for creation, hence his disappearance. Even more interesting are the indicators all pointing to Tulip having a large influence on said plan.

At times, the show seems to underappreciate the importance of Tulip for all that happens. She isn’t some female character that is meant for the background. Instead, Tulip deserves the spotlight.

There has to be a reason that God has presented himself to her, and her alone, from the beginning of Season 3. She is the one who will accomplish what they set out to do from the start.

Tulip: I’ll kick his ass. His dick ass.

The show slept on Tulip throughout all of the last season. Now, it seems that she is going to be the key to leaving Angelville and “finding God.” While it is nice to see Cass defending Tulip to Jesse, I still can’t help but feel they don’t truly see her for her full assets.

If anything, Tulip does not need a man to know her worth and skills.

Tulip has proven that again and again over the years. Right from the beginning, she showed us that when men disappoint you, pick up a gun or some weapon and make due with what you’ve got.

“Gonna Hurt” proves that Tulip is resourceful and will achieve the goal at hand with no hard feelings or help from other guys. The best part of this episode is the way it presents the parallels between Tulip and Grandma Marie.

Here are two very strong, independent women who couldn’t be more different from each other. Tulip is violent in how she deals with everything in her life. However, she still has a moral code. She goes after people based on her sense of justice, no matter how wrong it appears on the surface.

However, Grandma Marie merely dictates to others what she wants done. This allows her to somewhat avoid the moral ambiguity of her actions.

Tulip’s strength is in her character and her clarity in knowing what her path is. In the case of Grandma Marie, her strength comes from her magic and how she manipulates people.

Between Ruth Negga’s beautifully complicated Tulip and Betty Buckley’s mysteriously intimidating Grandma Marie, I don’t know who I want to root for more. They are both strong female characters to believe in for different reasons.

This give-and-take of their different strengths is going to really enhance the story this season. It’s like a battle of sexes. Only in their case, it’s going to be a battle of the soul — Jesse’s soul.

I mentioned last week in my review of Preacher Season 3 Episode 2, “Sonsabitches,” that I’m not sure why it’s that important to save his soul in the first place. Now, putting his selfishness aside, it’s clear that Jesse is the one chance for a return of faith or hope in the rather desolate landscape that is Preacher.

As Grandma Marie sits back and watches her grandson sink deeper and deeper into the darkness of “soul reaping,” we, the audience, will get to see Tulip step closer and closer to the light in order to get them all out.

She listens when Jesse tells her to not touch his grandma, but that doesn’t mean she is going to give up her quest to end the blood compact and get Jesse his soul back.

It’ll be interesting to see how these two women’s quests correlate as the story progresses. While I don’t believe Grandma Marie’s character is going to ever change, I do believe that Tulip has some growing to do. I just hope that Tulip’s growth adds to her strength and independence instead of detracting from it.

Transversely, I’m interested in learning more about Grandma Marie and just how widespread her magic hold goes. It’s going to make things ten times harder in the quest to break free of Angelville.

That being said, I have complete faith in Tulip.

Tulip is the exact kind of badass woman we need in today’s world. Let’s hope she saves us all — because wouldn’t that be poetic?

Further Preachings:

• Cassidy’s identity being revealed to Jody and TC is not good. Let’s just hope that Jesse will step up and protect his friend like he should.
• The background on all of this is magic vs. monster. I, for one, am interested in seeing how that plays into everything from here on out.

What did you think of this episode of Preacher? Share your thoughts in the comments below! Catch up with our review of Preacher Season 3 Episode 2, “Sonsabitches,” right here.

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Preacher airs Sundays at 10/9c on AMC.

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