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Every Character On 'Preacher' Got A Fitting Ending On The Series Finale
Spoilers ahead for the Preacher series finale. The "End of the World" didn't happen during the Preacher finale with Jesse, Tulip, and Cassidy managing to stop God's planned Apocalypse. The finale was as delightfully irreverent as ever — God was murdered and Jesus killed Hitler (because of course). Many other characters died along the way as well, but even with all the death, the Preacher finale gave a relatively peaceful sendoff to its major characters.
Back in April, executive producer Seth Rogen was the first to reveal that the fourth season of Preacher would be its last, according to The Hollywood Reporter. While people interpreted Rogen's final season announcement on Twitter to mean that Preacher was canceled, the Superbad star clarified that wasn't the case. In response to Entertainment Tonight Canada inaccurately reporting that Preacher was canceled, the Canadian comic replied, "It's not cancelled. It's just ending."
While fans will be sad not to have Dominic Cooper's Jesse Custer, Ruth Negga's Tulip O'Hare, Joseph Gilgun's Cassidy, and company grace their screens again, one reason to feel blessed about Preacher ending is that the show got to end on its own terms.
Here's where all the characters ended up in the "End of the World."
Humperdoo
God only wanted the Apocalypse to happen following Humperdoo's enchanting tap dance. But the death of all humanity never happens because, after another brutal fight with Tulip, Cassidy relents and decides to kill the Messiah. While it breaks his heart to shoot Humperdoo, Cassidy knows it's the right thing to do to save the rest of the world.
Featherstone
While she doesn't kill her, Grail operative Featherstone explains how she became a religious zealot to Tulip. Featherstone had lived a life of sin, but Herr Starr with his confidence converted her. While her backstory might not be enough for Tulip (or viewers) to feel entirely sorry for her, Featherstone's fate is particularly cruel when Starr kills his devoted convert after she tries to kill him.
Herr Starr
Herr Starr never had any intention of going with God's plan and dying. Because, for him, the afterlife isn't a reward. As he tells Featherstone before shooting her, "Life is not a thing to pass through. Life is the thing itself." God lets Starr escape the Grail when the Apocalypse is canceled. A time jump two years later shows Starr has moved from religion to golf. The Pensacola police attempt to arrest him for his past crimes while on the green. Yet, Starr, with his beauty intact, knows how to get out of scuffle and kills the police — continuing his tradition of landing on top.
Eugene
After he got hit by a car, the Australian hospital staff are horrified to discover Eugene's disfigured face. When a doctor assumes Eugene would want to kill himself, Eugene passionately rejects the suggestion and says he doesn't need people to feel sorry for him. He then returns to the streets of Australia to busk. His rendition of Semisonic's "Closing Time" fails to draw a crowd again, but Eugene finds his voice (and audience) when he plays "Stars and Stripes" by the punk band the Circle Jerks. In the flashforward to two years in the future, a young woman is rocking a Eugene sold-out world tour t-shirt. So Eugene ends up finding the success (and hopefully happiness) he deserves.
Jesus
Jesus and Hitler start the episode engaged in battle and when Hitler hatefully calls Jesus a Jew, God's son replies, "You're goddamn right." Jesus then proceeds to strangle the man who was responsible for the death of more than six million Jewish people to death.
With Humperdoo also dead, God comes to the son he despises and offers him the chance to be the Messiah again. But Jesus rejects the role and encourages his father to be merciful. While God doesn't blow up the world, he doesn't seem to learn anything from his son. For his part, Jesus ends up as far from Heaven as many people can imagine — working a service desk at a hardware store. While he's a disgruntled employee, he uses his patience and kindness to deliver compassionate customer service.
God
With his Apocalypse plan thwarted, God flees the Grail headquarters. Using Genesis, Jesse orders Grail operatives to search for God and two years later, he is found at the Alamo. Jesse finally uses Genesis on God and the two of them have a sit-down chat where God reveals his Great Design is for humanity to love him. An unimpressed Jesse replies, "We'd all be better off without a needy little b*tch like you around," and tells the Almighty, "Stay out of Heaven and leave us alone."
Jesse tells God to go ahead and replace humanity with his next creation if he thinks it's better than humans. Full of wrath, a rejected God kills the creatures he had intended to take over the world as they cry how they love their daddy. God then returns to Heaven where he meets his end when the Saint of Killers kills him.
The Saint of Killers
While the Saint of Killers is hellbent on killing Jesse the night of the Apocalypse, a flashback reveals that Jesse offered him redemption by allowing him to confess his sins. After his confession, Jesse kills the ultimate killer and he ends up in Heaven. When God returns to Heaven, the Saint of Killers is waiting for him and shoots the Almighty in the head. The hateful Saint then takes God's throne in Heaven for himself.
Genesis
Even though Genesis' parents were thought to be invincible, the Saint of Killers is able to kill the Angel and Demon who had created the powerful spirit. Yet, with his deathbed confession deal with the Saint of Killers, Jesse is able to hold on to Genesis. Preacher continues to live with it for two years until he finds God again. After rejecting God's plea for love, Jesse lets Genesis be free because a happy Preacher no longer "f*cking" needs it.
Tulip
Tulip is able to convince Cassidy that he needs to kill Humperdoo to save the world after she acknowledges it must hurt that she loves Jesse more than him. Two years later, Tulip and Jesse are still together and running cons on the Rodriguez Brothers for their business O'Hare's Auto Repair. While they haven't exactly settled down, the pair do have a daughter, which helps them feel at peace after losing their child years earlier in Dallas. In another time jump to 40 years in the future, their accomplished daughter who has children of her own (played by Negga) stands by her parents' grave where it's revealed Tulip died in 2064.
Jesse
Jesse saves his own life by negotiating with the Saint of Killers. He then stops the Grail agents stationed to set off the nuclear bombs by ordering them to turn off the canceled Humperdoo performance on their TVs. While he admits how happy he is two years later, Jesse's not entirely done with God until they meet that one last time. God tells Jesse that his father is in Heaven, which is a huge relief to him since Jesse once prayed for his father to be sent to Hell. After rejecting God's love and freeing Genesis, Jesse contently meets up with Tulip and their baby at the drive-in theater to watch John Wayne in The Alamo. Jesse's grave 40 years later indicates he died just one year after Tulip passed and is buried next to her.
Cassidy
Cassidy majorly betrayed Jesse in the penultimate episode due to his jealousy, but the vampire manages to save all of humanity by pulling the trigger on Humperdoo. Following saving the world, Cassidy splits off from Tulip and Jesse. While he kept in touch with Jesse (like when he told Preacher about how he threw up with Woody Harrelson at a peyote conference), he cuts Tulip out of his life entirely and never sees either of them again. The vampire meets their daughter at their graves 40 years later where he admits his love for Tulip still hurts him. He says he is going to "try someplace new" and while her back is turned, Cassidy walks out into the sun and dies.
While it was a bittersweet finale with Jesse, Tulip, and Cassidy all dead, they each achieved peace in their own way. And somehow all of their bloody and sacrilegious adventures over the four seasons of Preacher led them to save all of humanity's souls.