Preacher Review: Fear of the Lord (Season 4 Episode 8)

The Lord works in mysterious ways, as witnessed on Preacher Season 4 Episode 8, “Fear of the Lord.” On this episode, we learn a thing or two about the motivations behind Herr Starr and Jesus while simultaneously seeing the magic that Humperdoo can bring. 

All in all the moving parts make for a fun and insightful episode. Much like previous seasons, Preacher reminds us that it tends to lean towards creating more questions instead of answers, right up ’til the very end. 

With this being the final season that tactic is very frustrating — even if the episode as a whole is enjoyable and worth our time and energy. Only two episodes remain in the series, and yet we seem to be miles away from any sort of conclusion.

However, the events surrounding  Herr Starr and Jesse — who has yet to agree to take God’s throne, which prevents him from exiting whatever state of limbo he is in — indicate that we may be closer to the end than the overall outward picture appears to be. 

After enduring Herr Starr for several seasons with only hints at who he is and what motivates him, Preacher decides it is high time audiences know all we need to know about this powerful, influential man.

The most intriguing isn’t the man he has become after the event with the dingo, but the events that started him down his current path. 

Who could’ve guessed Herr Starr is a former pageant child? I guess that makes sense considering how vain he is and how insistent he is about his outer beauty. 

After witnessing “Fear of the Lord,” one could argue that God only cares about those who don’t defy him or are simple creatures that have no evil in them at all.

Between his careful, respectful consideration of Starr — despite being the one who had the dingos attack him — and his unwavering devotion to Humperdoo, we are shown a more caring and loving side to God. 

Interestingly enough both personifications of God that Preacher has shown us is, in essence, the two types of God we see in the Bible itself. In the Holy Bible, there are moments where God is wrathful and unmoved by the pleas of his people; then there are moments where God is gentle, loving and a wonderful teacher to all. 

Ultimately — if we think about it — this can also be applied to Jesse, who carries with him the voice of God. There are times throughout the series where Jesse is a kind and gentle soul who cares deeply about the people around him; then he turns around and treats everyone unkindly with an air of wrath behind every action he takes. 

So it is only fair that Fiore forces Jesse to sit on God’s throne and that it is the action which finally pulls Jesse out of his limbo state. Jesse must sacrifice his stance on being replacement God in order to escape the hellscape he is in and return to his best friends. 

Jesse is on a hero’s journey of sorts in order to fulfill his destiny. He has to struggle alone for a bit — which he now has — in order to find the answer he truly seeks. Coming face to face with God after such a long journey is satisfying and rewarding for both Jesse and fans alike. 

It would’ve been too easy for Preacher to write this interaction as God’s way of forgiving Jesse of his sins. Instead, the opposite happens — he admonishes Jesse for thinking his recent actions are enough to save himself and all of humanity from the apocalypse. 

God shows us at this moment that his flight of fancy is very temperamental and can change on a dime, much like his praise and admiration of his son, Jesus.

As mentioned before, “Fear of the Lord,” is a look into the motivations of Jesus. We finally see that he agrees to be on the apocalypse board because he is trying to gain his father’s approval back. 

He just wants to be loved by his father once more instead of coming second fiddle to one of his less than stellar clones. While Jesus will never admit to any of this out loud, his eyes give it away when Herr Starr is reminding him that it’s Humperdoo God cares about, not him. 

This fresh take on the God/Jesus dynamic is something worth mentioning because of how important it is to the story as a whole. At this point, Jesus is still a wild card all because his allegiance doesn’t seem to fall in with any distinct group of players for the apocalypse. 

Yes, he is on the apocalypse board, but based on what we have seen over the last few episodes, this seems to be more of a formality. He doesn’t appear to be that invested in the task at hand, instead, he’d rather find new and exciting ways to get his father’s forgiveness for his misdeed from 2000 years ago. 

Meanwhile, Tulip and Cassidy have their hands on Humperdoo. This is journey is the most important one of the whole episode. 

In the beginning, Tulip’s goal is to use Humperdoo as a pawn in the game against God. Slowly we get to see as Humperdoo’s simple nature wins her over and prevents her from killing him in the end. 

Tulip is never one to back down from anything so it is shocking to see her choose to spare Humperdoo over getting one over on God. Maybe, Tulip is starting to change her tune completely now that the end is near. 

Let’s just hope she doesn’t go too soft and is still able to pull one over on God — and Featherstone — as the apocalypse comes to fruition. Only time will tell just how temporary this softness in Tulip really is. 

Now that Jesse is back in her arms though, the softness may stick around a bit longer. If I have it my way she will be glad to see Jesse but refuse to allow him to distract her from her core goal of stopping the apocalypse. 

Further Preachings

• Featherstone is such a delight. The scene with her where Tulip vomits on her and she immediately starts to beat on Tulip — classic.
• Now that we know God is hell-bent on continuing with his plan can we all agree that Eugene deserves to be protected from this slaughter at all costs?
• What would be really cool is if Eugene surprises us all and takes down his beloved God in the most unexpected of ways.
• Herr Starr returned to his former beauty at the end of the episode eerily reminded me of our current president — no thanks. 
• Not enough is said about the amazing versatility of talent that is Jason Ritter. He can do it all as witnessed in Jesus’ breakdance number.

What did you think of this episode of Preacher? Share your thoughts in the comments below! Catch up on our review of Preacher Season 4 Episode 7, “Messiahs” right here!

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Preacher airs Sundays at 10/9c on AMC.

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