With just one episode left in the first season of Preacher, a lot of viewers keep scratching their heads over all the questions raised this season.
The show is often even more confusing for those not familiar with the comic books, although the first season has strayed far from Jesse Custer's original story.
In the Preacher comic book series, readers got thrown into Jesse's world with little explanation, only getting a few hints about his possession by a half angel and half demon thing called Genesis that gave him powers to tell people what to do and have them obey. In the television series, though, fans got to see Jesse's background story and learn more about how this supernatural entity became part of him and how his life changed right after that.
The series also sets up the stories of how the comic book characters know Jesse, particularly Cassidy and Tulip. But now that the first season of the series is almost at its end, how will things play out going into season two?
Here are five questions we hope the Preacher season finale offers an answer to.
Will Arseface Return?
Jesse inadvertently told Eugene, aka Arseface, to go to hell. Because of the preacher's powers, that's exactly where Eugene went. And now he's stuck there, with no one to save him. Will someone rescue Eugene and bring him back up top? Or is he stuck there forever?
There are a few more questions to ask here, though. What if Eugene didn't go to the supernatural version of hell at all? He's certainly not there when Fiore and DeBlanc showed up. What if Jesse's powers took things more literally and Eugene ended up in Hell, Michigan instead? It's a theory on Reddit, but, of course, that doesn't make it right.
More than likely, Eugene really is in hell, and that means that the only person who might save him is Jesse. Considering Jesse's guilt over sending the boy there, this is the likely scenario. But will that happen in the season finale?
Is DeBlanc Really Dead?
In the previous episode, the Saint of Killers shot DeBlanc point-blank. But DeBlanc is an angel, meaning that once dead, he just reappears in the same form. It seems that no one can kill angels, but this is hell, and that means the rules are possibly different. The episode ended without DeBlanc turning back up and Fiore seemed more upset than usual, so what if DeBlanc is gone for good?
Unfortunately, the comic books can't provide a hint here, because these characters are exclusive to the TV show.
There's a fan theory here, too, that shakes everything up: some fans believe that Fiore and DeBlanc are actually the parents of Genesis. In the previous episode, DeBlanc mentioned that he's been to hell and didn't want to go back there. What was he in hell for? What if he's from there? It's wild speculation, but there are a few other details on the show that suggest this is possible.
Where Will Emily End Up?
Emily was a character created solely for the TV show, too, so what happens with her in the season finale is anyone's guess. The innocent-seeming single mother showed her dark side in the most recent episode and even went so far as offering up her boyfriend - and Annville's mayor - to the vampire Cassidy as food.
This was a dark turn for the character, something viewers had not previously seen. Where will she go from here?
"I think she's just trying to survive," Lucy Griffiths, the actress who portrays Emily, said in an interview. "I think maybe that she doesn't realize maybe that she doesn't feel free. And I think maybe she's searching for that subconsciously."
Did killing the mayor give her freedom? Or is there more to her story and how she can find her way out of her self-imposed cage?
What Will Happen on Sunday?
Jesse stole the phone to Heaven from Fiore and DeBlanc and plans on somehow using it to contact the Almighty so that he can have God talk directly to the congregation as he promised them. Unfortunately, Jesse can't use the phone with his mortal hands, but Cassidy helped him dig up an angel body (there are plenty of those around, after all), so that they can use one of the angel's hands to make that phone call.
Will Jesse succeed? Will God talk to the people of Annville? Will it destroy them? Considering that the comic book starts out with Jesse's powers destroying his congregation in one fell swoop, is that what will happen when they hear the voice of God - often thought of as something too divine for mankind - on the series?
It certainly seems like the series plans on leading up to where the comic books begin, and for that to happen, Jesse losing his congregation is the most likely answer.
Will Jesse, Tulip and Cassidy Finally Hit The Road?
In the comic books, the main characters don't ever really appear in just one town: their story has them traveling all over America's south, being chased by things like the Saint of Killers. Now that Fiore and DeBlanc have hired the Saint of Killers to take Jesse out, he might have to hit the road just to keep from meeting up with a premature death. And considering that neither Cassidy or Tulip seem to have plans on sticking around either, these three will probably soon become traveling buddies.
This means that the series will start following the comics more closely, and the first season of the show set that up. Dominic Cooper, the actor behind Jesse, pretty much confirmed that the three hitting the road is the premise for the second season. But will that happen at the end of this season's finale?
"He's with the girl he loves and he's met a new great friend and they're going on the road," Cooper said to Slash Film. "I hope people will be left excited and compelled by what may happen once these three go in search of this thing I won't say yet."
The Preacher season finale airs on AMC on July 31.
