Jesse Custer struggles to escape a past that is slowly catching up to him. Meanwhile, a mysterious entity comes to earth, leaving a wave of destruction in its wake.
This episode contains examples of:
- A God Am I: After using the Word of God, the African priest quietly declares himself the Prophet and The Chosen One before exploding.
- And Show It to You: One of Jesse's pastors is told by Jesse, after acquiring the Word of God, to "open his heart" to his mother. He takes it very literally by cutting his own heart out of his chest and showing it to his mother.
- Blood Knight: When Jesse is finally provoked by Donnie into fighting, it is clear that Jesse deeply enjoys the violence. As soon as he blocks the first punch, he breaks into a big smile.
- Bullying a Dragon: Donnie acknowledges that Jesse has a reputation as a man who has "done things," but still picks a fight with him over interfering with his family. Jesse doesn't fight back until Donnie threatens to beat his son, at which point Jesse unleashes a Curb-Stomp Battle on Donnie and his buddies.
- Curb-Stomp Battle:
- Cassidy gives one to a plane full of vampire hunters in his introduction scene.
- Jesse also gives one to an abusive husband and his friends when said husband threatened to punish his son for telling on him.
- Early-Bird Cameo: The Grail makes an appearance as the vampire hunters trying to kill Cassidy though they're not named or explained until Season 2.
- Gilligan Cut: A radio announces the replacement of beloved but offensive town mascot "Chief Red Savage" with "Pedro the Prairie Dog" and urges Annville citizens to give the latter a "West Texas Welcome." Cut to a bunch of townsfolk, Chief Red Savage included, giving Pedro a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown.
- Groin Attack: Tulip stomps down on one of her attackers' groin during her Establishing Character Moment.
- Improvised Weapon: Tulip makes a rocket launcher out of paint cans and Army figurines, and uses it to take down a helicopter.
- I Need a Freaking Drink: Jesse takes a swig after watching "Pedro the Prairie Dog" get his ass kicked for trying to replace beloved town mascot "Chief Red Savage."
- Ludicrous Gibs:
- The result of Genesis rejecting a host. Recipients being an African preacher, a Satanist, and Tom Cruise.
- Due to being a vampire, Cassidy survives jumping out of a plane without a parachute, but the impact destroys the lower part of his body. It's a bloody mess of mangled flesh with his intestines as the only recognizable organs.
- Madness Mantra: Under the influence of Genesis, the man who kills himself in front of his mother spends the entire trip to see her repeating Jesse's instructions to himself. Everyone around him that notices is visibly weirded out.
- Match Cut: From Cassidy jumping out of an airplane without a parachute to ketchup splattering on a plate.
- Men Don't Cry: Jesse's father urges his son to not bawl his eyes out when the man's facing the end of a gun.Jesse's dad: You stop that now, we Custers don't cry. We fight.
- Mugging the Monster: Despite Jesse's reputation of having "done things" before becoming a preacher, Donnie doesn't believe them and proceeds to try to beat him up. Unfortunately, that got his friends' asses kicked and him a broken wrist.
- Mythology Gag: Jesse's introduction is set against Willie Nelson's "Time of the Preacher," much like the opening scene of the comic.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Jesse immediately regrets kicking Donnie's ass and considers quitting being a preacher.
- Eugene Root is also still repentant for his attempted suicide despite his upbeat attitude, tearing up when he insists that he's sorry for what he's done.
- No-Sell: Cassidy's reaction to getting poured with holy water.
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Tulip takes down a helicopter and an unknown number of heavily armed assassins with a homemade bazooka.
- Oh, Crap!: Jesse's face screams this as he watches Genesis approach him.
- Political Overcorrectness: Parodied in the first episode as part of an Establishing Character Moment for the town of Annville. A radio host references the change of Annville's mascot from "Chief Red Savage" to the more "politically correct" mascot of "Pedro the Prairie Dog," and tells listeners to give the new mascot a "West Texas hello." This consists of a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown on the mascot and its apparent only supporter. The next scene has the sheriff referring to "Chief" as a "beloved cultural icon." When Jesse insists that it could be worse, he says he knows about worse; worse is a Japanese man marrying his pillow.
- Power Dynamics Kink: Jesse tries to convince one of his congregants to leave her physically abusive husband; he's unnerved by her admitting that she enjoys being punished as part of their sex life.
- Precision F-Strike: Jesse gives a hearty "fuck you" to God when He fails to directly answer his prayer.
- Retraux: The segment showing Genesis arriving from Heaven to Earth has a shaky film grain applied to it.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: When Jesse realizes that Tulip was showering in the house of someone he was checking up on.
- Tempting Fate: A disheartened Jesse tells God "fuck you"... right before Genesis arrives to take him as its host.
- The African priest calls himself a Prophet after realizing what had just possessed him... and gets blown up for it.
- Wife-Basher Basher: Jesse beats up an abusive husband and his friends.
- Interestingly, it's ultimately not the wife bashing that sends him over the edge, since the man's wife indicated that she never told the police because she likes it (whether or not she's lying is not revealed, but hardly unlikely). It takes the man boasting that he will be taking it to his son that does him in.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: Cassidy is attacked by hunters on an airplane using crossbows, wooden stakes, and axes. One pours holy water onto Cassidy's head but it has no effect, as sunlight is the only thing from vampire mythology that will actually hurt him.Cassidy: When will you ijits learn, huh?
