When it comes to shows based on comic books, it is always fun for fans to watch for certain Easter eggs that show up during the episodes or the movies based on them. Sometimes, these moments are obvious to fans of the comics and other times, it takes a few episodes to realize what the Easter egg was referencing.
On AMC’s Preacher, the show has veered away from the comic in many areas, including sending Arseface to Hell, changing up Cassidy’s dealings with the New Orleans vampires, and introducing Adolf Hitler into the storyline. However, they also work hard to pay tribute to the story from the comics in many ways. Here is a look at 10 things that fans might have missed in Preacher season 2.
JOHN WAYNE
One of the most important parts of Jesse Custer’s story in the Preacher comics was that he was raised mostly without a father and was tortured and abused as a child by his gran’ma, Jody and TC. He needed something to help him get by and he found that by talking to his imaginary friend – the ghost of John Wayne – who helped Jesse learn how to become a man.
John Wayne is not part of the Preacher TV show but throughout the first two seasons, there have been homages paid to the Duke on occasion as an Easter egg for fans. In the episode “Dallas,” there is a flashback where Jesse’s roommate talks about how John Wayne movies are all “patriarchal,” to which Jesse respectfully disagrees.
PILGRIM’S CIGARETTES
There is a second homage to John Wayne in season 2 and this one happens in the third episode of the season, “Damsels.” In that episode, there is a cigarette machine that sells Pilgrims cigarettes. Of course, in the classic John Wayne movies, he used to always call people “Pilgrim” when talking to them.
In the comic books, Jesse also smokes Pilgrims cigarettes, so this is also something pulled directly from the comics, but at the same time, it was an homage to John Wayne there as well. This is just another way to leave a tip of the cap to The Duke without using him as a plot device on the Preacher TV show.
JOHN B. ROBERT DAM
There is a ton of talking lately about The Walking Dead being in the same world as Breaking Bad and that the results of Walter White’s enterprise could have led to the end of the world. With both shows airing on AMC, it makes the hypothetical situation fun to discuss. Of course, Preacher is also an AMC series and it also has a great homage to Breaking Bad.
Remember when Fiore and DeBlanc took the bus to Hell in “Finish the Song?” The bus picked them up in front of the John B. Robert Dam in New Mexico. It was the exact same location that was seen in Breaking Bad as another key pick up point for both Jesse Pinkman and Walter White.
LIBRARY SCENE FROM SE7EN
In the episode “Sokosha,” there is a library scene where Jesse, Tulip and Cassidy head to research information on the Saint of Killers so they can try to find a way to stop him one way or the other. This is the New Orleans Public Library and looks very familiar for anyone who watched the David Fincher movie Se7en.
The library in this episode of Preacher looks just like the one from Se7en but there is one more step that makes this more than just a coincidence. Both the movie and the television episode has a montage that has Bach’s “Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D Major” playing over the scene.
DARK TOWER - 19
Stephen King fans know about the importance of the number 19. During the final stretch of The Dark Tower series, Roland and his ka-tet start to see the number 19 everywhere both in the form of the numeral as well as in names that have 19 letters, combinations of numbers that total 19, and even tree branches that look like a 19.
There are even hints at the number 19 in The Shining, The Dead Zone, The Shawshank Redemption and more. In Preacher, there were at least two instances with the number 19 – the first being the first room the Saint of Killers goes into looking for Jesse and the second the room where Herr Starr’s minions set up shop at.
THE COFFIN IN THE FISH TANK
A great Easter egg/homage took place in the season 2 premiere of Preacher, “All in the Family,” when Jesse was sitting at a table and talking about his old family to Cassidy and Tulip. When Cassidy looks at the photos and asks why the L’Angells were not in any of his mother’s family photos, Jesse said that they were not invited.
The Easter egg came when looking behind Jesse when a small coffin-looking treasure chest sunk to the bottom of the fish tank. As fans learned later, and those who read the comics already knew, Jesse was punished as a child by being sealed in a coffin and sunk to the bottom of the swamp for hours at a time.
GENE SERGEANT
In the ninth episode, “Puzzle Piece,” there is a scene where Cassidy is drinking some blood from a mug. The name on the mug is “Gene Sergeant’s Georgia Records.” This is an Easter egg straight from the Preacher comics from a storyline that did not play out on the AMC television series.
On the TV show, Jesse sent Arseface to Hell and then was basically haunted by him until the kid escaped from Hell. However, this didn’t happen in the comics and Arseface instead became a famous music star. The record promoter who discovers him in the comics is named Gene Sergeant.
TROLLING THE FALCONS
In episode seven of Preacher season 2, titled “Pig,” there was a scene that took place in Vietnam. This scene had a mysterious pig start floating in the air, which many in the village saw as a miracle. As a result, the church sent Herr Starr to investigate, and when he arrived and saw that people were starting to almost worship the pig.
Herr Starr did what Herr Starr does best – he murdered the entire village and the pig by poisoning their water supply. So, what was the Easter egg here? Check out the kid wearing the Atlanta Falcons Super Bowl champion shirt. The Falcons didn’t win the Super Bowl, but t-shirts are made for both teams and those from the losing team are often sent to third world countries as a donation.
BILL HICKS
Fans know Bill Hicks as a legendary standup comedian who used satire based on social situations to make his name in the world of comedy. His best skill rested in making people angry about the issues he spoke on. What is important here about Hicks is that he actually appeared as a character in the Preacher comic book series.
His comedy inspired a drunk Jesse Custer to speak the truth – no matter the consequences – and it was something that Custer remembered his entire life. In the episode “Mumbai Sky Tower,” there is a Bill Hicks poster in Fiore’s dressing room.
YOU ARE LEAVING TEXAS
Fans of comic books love to see when a panel from their favorite books is remade for the movie or television show adaptation. This happened in Preacher on more than one occasion. A perfect example came in the second season episode “Damsels.”
When driving out of town, there is a “You Are Now Leaving Texas” sign with some graffiti on it that reads, “Your Loss Dips**t.” This sign with the exact same graffiti comes directly from the Preacher comic books, specifically Preacher #7 where the exact sign was shown on the last page of that issue.
