Preacher Pilot Recap With Spoilers

The episode opens in Outer Space, where an alarm is ounding and a cosmic entity with the voice and face of a child is streaking across the stars and planets, plunging through Saturn’s rings and destroying a satellite on its way to Africa.

In Africa, a preacher is delivering a sermon to his flock. He quotes from the Book of Revelation before being knocked down by the heavenly creature colliding with him. His flock believes it to be a miracle and starts applauding. In an otherworldly voice the preacher tells the flock to be quiet and they are suddenly silent. He says he is the prophet and the chosen onem, just before he explodes, showering his congregation with blood. The heavenly creature flies away.

In Annville, Texas, Jesse Custer dreams of his father, who drops to his needs asks Jesse to make a promise then being shot, and then wakes. Jesse sits up. His back has several scars. Jesse puts on his clothes and collar, and grabs his cigarettes and his sermon notes before he walks out the door.

The All Saints Congregational sign reads, “Open your ass and holes to Jesus.” Jesse picks the letters off the ground and corrects the sign to read “Open your hearts and souls to Jesus,” then walks towards the church.

Jesse struggles through sermon, quoting Tom Landry, while his congregation talks among themselves and keeps busy with tablets and other things. Jesse realizes he’s missing a page in his notes and brings his sermon to an abrupt close. He tries to scold whoever changed the words on the sign, but Emily cuts him off by beginning to play on the organ.

The congregation gathers outside the church for a meal. A young boy brings a bear to Jesse, who is being bored to tears by middle-aged man named Ted’s issues with his mother. Donnie Shenck, the boy’s father, shoots a squirrel out of a tree. The boy wants to talk to Jesse about his dad. He says he doesn’t like his father because he’s mean to his mother. Jesse offers to talk to someone, but the kid says words won’t help. He wants Jesse to hurt Donnie. Jesse says it’s a sin just to ask that, but the boy is aware. The boy says that there are stories that Jesse “did things” before he came back to Annville and became a Preacher. Jesse figures the boy thinks if he brings him a beer he’ll “do things” to his father. Jesse gets dark, asking the boy how many punches he should throw and how far he can go, before pulling back. He says he’ll figure something else to help out with Donnie. The boy isn’t impressed. The boy tells Jesse to pray for him. Jesse says to himself that if anyone was listening he would.

The radio is playing a story about how the high school’s mascot, Chief Red Savage, is being replace dwith Pedro the Prairie Dog. Protesters, including Donnie, are on site to punch the new mascot and the mayor. Jesse observes from his car. Sheriff Root appears and tells Jesse that you can’t just replace a pillar like Chief Red Savage and expect there not to be a backlash. Root asks if Jesse can find the time to swing by and visit his son, Eugene. Jesse says he’ll visit tomorrow night. Jesse tells Root that he heard Donnie was beating his wife. Root says he’ll listen to a formal complaint from the victim, but nothing less. Jesse accuses Root of pandering to the redneck vote. Root says he was uneasy when Custer came back, but was pleased that Jesse has been so quiet since his return. He suggests Jesse stay quiet.

30,000 feet in the air, a party is taking place on a Babylonian airlines flight. An Irish bartender is entertaining the clients with raunchy stories from his past. The bartender, Cassidy, takes a bathroom break and discovers a bible hidden in cabinet. He opens it and finds some cultish, hateful scribblings and annotations. He goes back to the main cabin. Cassidy mentions that it is strange that the plane is heading towards the sun. Everyone grows quiet until Cassidy cracks another joke, but he then immediately attacks the patrons. They fight back with hidden weapons, but he kills them all, despite being outnumbered, even the pilot. He asks the pilot how they found him, and the co-pilot says, “Go to hell, abomination,” and pours holy water on Cassidy’s head. Cassidy bites the neck and rinks the blood of the co-pilot, they stores some blood for later from the pilot, steal sthe pilot’s sunglasses and, seeing a fire has started onboard, jumps out of the airplane.

Ted is boring Jesse again, this time while he’s rying to eat breakfast with Emily and her kids. Emily’s boss hints that he’d like Emily back on the clock, as he just seated two eight tops. Emily tells Jesse that Walt called in sick again and suggests that he should go check on him. She shows him the brochure for a mega-church with a Starbucks in the lobby. He asks about collection numbers, which aren’t great. The mayor tries to make small talk with Jesse and Emily, but Emily scares him away. Jesse points out that Kevin has been dead for three years and she should make herself available, but she says that she is.

In Africa, two men inspect the church where the preacher exploded.

Jesse visits Walter’s house. He lets himself in. Walter is asleep on his couch. Jesse goes looking for a shirt for walter when he sees a gun on the dresser and that someone is showering in the bathroom. He hears a woman’s voice, tosses Walter a shirt, sarcastically thanks him for the warning, and drives off. The woman gets out of the shower and watches him leave through the window.

In Kansas, not that long ago, a car speeds down the road. There’s a gunshot, and the car goes careening into a cornfield. With one man dead, the woman, Tulip, fighting another man over a map as the car continues to plow throught he cornfield. The pan tries to lower Tulips knife on her, but she punches him in the face and bites his ear, then climbs back in the driver’s seat. The car pulls out of the cornfield, and Tulip tosses the man out, kicks him in the groin, and stabs him in the eye with a corn cob. She takes her map back. A ten year old girl and her little brother come out of the house. Tulip gets a notification on her phone. She takes a quick look around the farm and asks the kids if they like arts and crafts.

Inside, Tulip has the kids help with a “project” to help her with the men coming to kill her. She talks to them about love and dependency, and then shows them the bazooka they just helped her build. She locks the kids in the basement. There’s the sound of a helicopter flying, some gunfire, then the bazooka a going off, and explosion, a man begging, and gunshots. The kids walk ut to find the rubble and bodies of the helicopter pilot. Tulip apologizes for the mess, then takes off.

Jesse thinks of his father again before getting out of his truck. Cassidy’s landing has turned him inside out. His bottle of blood and his umbrella are broken. A cow wanders nearby, and Cassidy get a hold and eats it.

Jesse visits Donnie’s wife, Betsy, at her job at Quincannon Meat and Power the pretense of asking for a donation to fix the church air conditioning. He tries to probe about Donnie abusing her. She tells Jesse everything – beatings, biting, scalding – but when Jesse tells her to tell the sheriff she says she likes the abuse.

In Russia, the same two men who investigated the strange occurrence in Africa investigate a similar occurrence at a Satanic Church in Russia.

Jesse meets with Tulip in the night. She assures Jesse that she isn’t going to shoot him. She thanks Jesse for checking in on her uncle, Walter. Tulip wants to tell Jesse about a job, but Jesse cuts her off and tells her he doesn’t do jobs anymore. Jesse finds the ear that she bit off in Kansas. She tries to lure him in, but Jesse remains resolute. She says she hears that he sucks at the whole preacher things, and can’t believe that he came back to Annville, cut his hair and is trying to fill his father’s shoes. She says she sorry, and he says he’s sorry too. She says she’s done crying about it, that they did what they did and they are who they are. Despite his protests, Tulip is determined that Jesse is going to do the job. Jesse says he doesn’t hate Tulip, that he doesn’t know how, and Tulip warns him not to make her teach him.

Jesse visits the Root house, where Sheriff Root is screaming about some conspiracy theory. Root’s wife sits catatonic in front of a TV screen. Root blends meet, vegetables, eggs, and hot sauce together and hands it to Jesse, telling him its Eugene’s dinner. Jesse brings the concoction upstairs to Eugene’s room. Eugene has a pleasant disposition, but a disfigured face and mouth. Eugene apologizes for not coming to church, but says his father thinks its best he stays away. Eugene also thinks God is mad at him and doesn’t want him there because of what he did. Jesse says what Eugene did was wrong, but if he’s sorry about it then God forgives him. Eugene says he’s not so sure because he feels like God’s real quite when he prays now. He asks if there are things so bad even God won’t forgive them. Jesse says that, no matter what, God has to be there, that he doesn’t hold grudges. He tells Eugene to get down on his knees and really listen and he’ll hear. Eugene hugs Jesse.

Jesse drinks at a bar while a news report about Tom Cruise exploding during a scientology service plays. Cassidy walks in and orders a drink and sits down next to Jesse. Cassidy asks what’s wrong with Jesse. He then asks Jesse where he is, but Jesse can barely understand what Cassidy is saying. Donnie walks in with his fellow confederate civil war reenactors. Donnie punches Jesse, then dares Jesse to show him how tough he is. Jesse mocks Donnie and takes another kick for it. Cassidy gets on the phone with someone and asks for some money, saying he doesn’t know how they found him, but the person hangs up. Donnie threatens to go back and beat his son, but Jesse threatens Donnie, saying not to touch the boy. Jesse tries to talk Donnie down, but Donnie isn’t impressed. He asks what will happen if he doesn’t do what the preacher says. Jesse says he’d hear a noise, a bunny in a bear trap sound, and he’ll be the one making it. Donnie decides to beat the shit out of Jesse, but he bit off more than he can chew as Jesse begins pounding on Donnie and all of his friends. One of Donnie’s friend tries to sneak up behind Jesse, but Cassidy trips him up. Jesse asks if Donnie’s ready for the noise. Root shows up and tells him to stop. Jesse says he’s almost done and snaps Donnie’s bone out of his arm.

Jesse and Cassidy end up in a jail cell together. Jesse says she was right, and that he never should have come back to Annville. Cassidy agrees, but Jesse says he came back because he made a promise. Cassidy says that’s why he doesn’t make promises, but Jesse says promises are important, that they’re the currency of faith. Jesse’s bail is posted. He thanks Cassidy for his help and they shake hands before Jesse leaves.

Emily drives Jesse back ot the church, talking about how they need to find a way to compete with the megachurch. Jesse says he’s quitting, and that he’ll announce at this Sunday’s service. He says he thought he could make it work, but he just is who he is. He says he appreciates all she’s done, and tells her she’s been a great asset for the church. Emily says she won’t beg or cry for him to stay, as he was never really there in the first place. Her kids in the back seat begin arguing over the iPad. She grabs it and breaks it and tells them to share it.

Ted calls Jesse and starts going on about his mother. Jesse sees something rattling in the and flickering at the church and tells Ted he’ll call him back. Jesse tries to turn on the lights in the church, but they don’t work. He sits down in a pew. He says that Eugene was right, that God has gone quiet. He decides to pray one last time, but demands an answer right now or he’s done. He gets on his knees and asks god for forgiveness. Jesse doesn’t get his answer and gets up off of his knees. He lights up a cigarette, then hears the doors creak open behind him. The heavenly creature come down the church aisle and sotps just in front of Jesse before plunging inside of him.

Jesse remembers his father telling him that much bigger things were coming for him. He has Jesse promise to be one of the good guys, because there’s already way too many of the bad. He then tells Jesse to stop crying because Custers don’t cry, they fight. Jesse’s father is then shot in the head.

Jesse wakes with Emily looking over him. She and Cassidy have been taking care of Jesse since Cassidy found him passed out in the church three days ago. It’s Sunday morning. Emily apologizes for the way she spoke to him, but Jesse just gets up and gets ready for church.

On the way to the church, Ted catches up to Jesse to continue with their conversation. Jesse speaks with otherworldly authority and tells Ted, for the last time, be brave, tell her the truth, and to open his heart. Ted repeats the words and walks away.

A young woman delivers and electric guitar version of “Amazing Grace.” Jesse gets up and says there will be no sermon today, and that he’ll try not to punch anyone. Instead he has an announcement. He says he’s let them down, week after week being another person who hurts by not helping. He apologizes for being a bad preacher. But he says he can’t quit, that they deserve better, that they deserve a good preacher, and that’s what they’re going to get.

Ted continues repeating Jesse’s words all the way to his mother’s retirement home in Florida. He picks up a knife off a pastry table. He sits down with his mother, tells her everything he’s been feeling, and then carves his own heart out.

One of the two men from Africa and Russia eats a tea bag outside. The other returns to their vehicle, parked outside Jesse’s church. He’s tells the other one that it’s here.