Preacher Series Finale Ending Explained (& What It All Means)

The Preacher ending saw Jesse, Tulip, and Cassidy taking on God and his apocalypse and coming out on top after four seasons of searching. Based on the comic series from the creator of The Boys, Preacher started in the small town of Annville with a priest who drinks, smokes, and gets into bar fights. The show, considered by many to be among the best fantasy shows on Netflix during its time on the streamer, wandered through vampire hunters, massive religious organizations, cloned messiahs, Heaven, Hell, and so much more — and the finale, "End of the World," brought it all together with epic fight scenes and a bit of a happily ever after. The Preacher series finale began with the apocalypse only minutes away. The episode saw Tulip trying to kill Humperdoo, Cass trying to protect him, and Jesse about to go head-to-head with the Saint of Killers, all while God watched. Though there was a lot happening, stopping the apocalypse actually didn't take much time in the Preacher ending. It was dealt with in the first half, leaving time to explore where the trio goes next and even allowing Jesse to get his final sit-down with God. How Preacher Got To Its Series Finale The Grail Planned The Apocalypse While God Watched The most controversial aspect of Preacher is that the AMC series ignored much of what happened in the comics. In the books, there was a huge battle against The Grail. Jesse, Tulip, and Cassidy went in and fought them, killed Herr Starr, and stopped the entire plan to create the apocalypse. In the end, Jesse faced off against God, and Cassidy sacrificed himself to save his friend after betraying Jesse and Tulip so many times along the way. It was all a tense and scary battle, and some people didn't make it out alive. That isn't what happened at the end of the Preacher TV series. Instead, many elements of the story's on-screen conclusion were original to the show. Heading into the series finale, Satan died, and Hitler took control of Hell. Jesus played a much bigger role, rejecting God, which caused lots of problems. Similarly, God himself played a much bigger role in the TV series as opposed to the comics, where he simply went into hiding. In the comics, Jesse wanted to know why God abandoned his creations. In the TV show, God had much more to answer for. The finale had Earth on the brink of apocalypse. The Grail was preparing Humperdoo to tap dance on live TV, at which point their people inside would hit the button and launch a nuclear attack. The reactions and fallout will create an apocalypse, a victory for The Grail. However, problems arose for The Grail when Jesse set out to stop them, Cassidy and Tulip disagreed on how to deal with Humperdoo, and Jesus prepared to go one-on-one with Hitler. All the while, God watched, amused. How The Preacher Trio Stops The Apocalypse Jesse Uses Genesis To Stop The Grail's Evil Plan The opening scenes in Masada are some of the best in the Preacher finale — and they show off something that Preacher has always done brilliantly: high-speed fight scenes with a perfect soundtrack. In "End of the World," multiple battles occurred at once: Jesse fought the Saint, who was also taking on Genesis' angel and demon parents. Meanwhile, Tulip, having left a miserable Featherstone behind, was fighting Cass over the fate of Humperdoo. And while all that is happening, Hitler and Jesus were also fighting each other. It was a visually stunning sequence and a brilliant way to wrap up multiple storylines with an easy and fun fight scene so that Preacher could get on with doing a little bit more. The first pair to finish was Herr Starr and Featherstone, with Starr shooting Featherstone in the head and then running off to a submarine to survive the nukes. Then Jesse managed to kill the Saint after convincing the Saint to let him. Tulip and Cassidy managed to hit a stalemate of sorts, and with the Grail at the door shouting for Humperdoo so that they can start the apocalypse, it became clear that Cass couldn't protect him anymore. Humperdoo was shot in the head to save the world. Furious at the loss of his messiah, God went to Jesus to convince him to step up (which he wanted all along). However, having just killed Hitler, Jesus turned the offer down, leaving God to angrily zoom off on his motorbike. The Grail remained alone, waiting in the auditorium, with people watching on TV, an opportunity for Jesse to bust out Genesis and truly shine. He stepped on stage and used his power to silence the Grail and get viewers to turn off their TVs, including those viewing the screen with their fingers on the button, about to fire the nukes. Jesse then commanded the Grail to find God and walked off with Tulip and Cassidy. Their enemies are gone or dead, and the Apocalypse has been averted. Arseface Is Alive & Gets A Second Chance At Life Eugene Finally Finds His Happiness In Life For Euegene Root, the question of what's next was a bait and switch. "Overture" saw Eugene hit by a bus, with fans not sure whether he was dead or alive. "End of the World" finally showed that he is alive, in a hospital, and with his face bandaged. It even seemed for a moment as though Eugene was going to have his "arseface" fixed, as the doctor talked about him being the surgeon's special project, and that they had tried their best with his facial disfigurement. Yet when the bandages came off, what was revealed was Eugene's regular, unfortunately disfigured face. In some ways, this was a disappointment, and after all he had been through, there could be a feeling that the kind-hearted Eugene deserved a second chance at life. However, Preacher did something even better. It made the point that he doesn't need to look like everyone else to have his second chance, and pity is the last thing a good person deserves. Eugene's final scenes included one with an unseen doctor, who essentially offered to help Eugene kill himself, turning off the morphine warning and heart monitors and telling Eugene what to do to "end his suffering." However, Eugene ripped into him, giving a speech about how his life has been hard, but that pitying people like the doctor is the worst part of it, and that he refuses to accept that he should die because his face is different. His final moments saw him back on the street with his guitar, playing a song that starts to get attention. It's a perfect end for Eugene, one in which he unapologetically embraces who he is, refuses to give up, and chases his dream. Preacher's Finale Flash-Forward (& God's Plan Revealed) Jesse Used Genesis To Beat God The Preacher finale moved from the apocalypse to two years in the future, when Tulip and Jesse are back to their old criminal life. They were dealing with a gang of horse thieves, and it's clear that Jesse still had Genesis but wasn't using it for everything. However, some things did change — they now have a child. Everything worked out for these two. They finally achieved the relationship and family they always wanted, while Cass, arguably the best TV vampire since Buffy's Spike, was off doing his own thing, checking in with them from time to time. This peace was disrupted when Jesse got a call from the Grail. They'd found God at the Alamo, promising Jesse what he had wanted from the start: a true sit-down with God Almighty. God was, once more, in his shining white robe with a floozy by his side, but this time, he was willing to talk. First, though, Jesse needed to prove that he was willing to use Genesis on God — and he does. It was unclear if he could or if God would be immune (like the Saint). Genesis does work, establishing that Jesse was simply emotionally incapable of using it on him until now. The two then sat down and had a heart-to-heart, covering some of the biggest questions (cancer, other faiths, aliens, etc). In the end, God revealed that his plan was just to be loved and that he could confirm that Jesse's father is in Heaven. God wanted Jesse to tell him he loves him, but Jesse refused, despite Jesus being the last person seen to be refusing God's loving plan. Jesse defeated God using Genesis and strolled away as God cried after him, telling him that he had an even better creation in the works. These appeared to be strange, caged creatures that started to attack God for not loving them enough. Done with God, his mission, and the Grail, it was time for Jesse to head home to Tulip and their child. The Real Meaning Of Preacher's Finale Everyone Found Their Fates ​​​​​​The Preacher ending wrapped up a few loose ends. First was Herr Starr, who was seen golfing while wanted by the authorities. He may have grown back his hair, but he hadn't lost his edge as he killed the people coming to get him. Clearly, he's going to be fine. God, however, is not. After his humiliation with Jesse, he went back to Heaven — and found someone waiting for him. The Saint of Killers did not go to Hell because Jesse convinced him to accept death by offering him a deathbed confession. He went to Heaven to wait for God. When God arrived, the Saint promptly killed him and took his place on the Throne of Heaven. Finally, a last flash-forward took the show 40 years into the future, where Tulip and Jesse's daughter stood at their grave sites. She has a successful (civilian) career and seems happy. She also knows Cass, whose story came to a tragic end when he, grieving his falling out with Jesse and Tulip, stepped into the sunlight without his umbrella and burned to death. Though God's death at the hands of the Saint happened in the comics, the Preacher TV series was largely a departure from the events of the comic book series. Cassidy accepting a permanent death while Jesse and Tulip welcomed a daughter into their midst were all new additions to the show's reimagining of the story. Almost everyone got what they deserved. Cass may have gotten a little less than he deserved, and Herr Starr a little more, as he was spared one of the gnarliest deaths in the Preacher comics, but that proves Preacher wasn't simply moralizing, allowing the good guys to win and the bad guys to lose. The Preacher series finale, then, was a surprisingly powerful ending that played to the show's strengths. How The Preacher Finale Was Received Review Scores Dropped Thanks To The Ending Preacher Season Rotten Tomatoes Review Score 1 89% 2 91% 3 92% 4 77% Critics mostly praised Preacher, giving it an overall 87% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. However, the audience score is lower, at 75%, and many of the fans disliked the changes made from the source material to the TV series. Reviews dropped further in the final season, with the critics' score falling to 77% and the audience score at only 62%. To critics, it seems the changes made to finish the series in only 10 final episodes hurt it in the long run. JoBlo critic Alex Maidy wrote that "Preacher had a lot of storylines that were pushed aside in favor of changes to the narrative, many for the worse." He then added that the finale never redeemed the omissions made to condense the ending into a short span, writing that "it feels incredibly anticlimactic." However, there are people who love the Preacher ending. Josh Zyber of High Def Digest wrote, "The series finale makes a very satisfying conclusion. It provides closure for all the characters, wraps up all the storylines in an acceptable manner, and even offers a few answers for some of the greatest mysteries in the universe – all while doling out plenty of the show’s patented lunacy." Why Preacher Only Lasted 4 Seasons It Was A Creative Decision Though some felt Preacher's final season was rushed, the show actually ended on its own terms. Shortly after announcing that season 4 would be the show's last, executive producer Seth Rogen confirmed that, "It's not cancelled. It's just ending" (X). While perhaps disappointing (Rogen's post was flooded with comments bemoaning the show's conclusion), anything more was, in hindsight, unrealistic. Given that AMC's Preacher was based on a comic book series that had wrapped up 16 years prior to the show's premiere, the TV adaptation had a finite lifespan before it reached the end of its source material. Despite the changes it made to the original saga's ending, the Preacher TV series arrived at a natural conclusion and made its own decision to end. Release Date 2016 - 2019-00-00 Network AMC Showrunner Sam Catlin Cast Dominic Cooper Jesse Custer Preacher follows Jesse Custer, a Texas preacher, on his quest to confront the divine for abandoning humanity. Aided by Cassidy, a vampire, and Tulip, a gun-toting Texan, he wields the power of Genesis, a potent force born from an angel and a demon, to challenge celestial authority.