Anna Pigeon Season 1 Episode 3 Review: The Preacher

Critic’s Rating: 4 / 5.0

4

“God doesn’t want anyone to die today,” sure is an effective way to get what you want out of a bank teller while robbing banks!

Anna Pigeon Season 1 Episode 3 delivered a twisty bank robbery case, nearly sent one of her new friends to prison, provided us with some more information about the death of her husband, and, oh yeah, is she in a love triangle?!

It’s safe to say that “The Preacher” had a lot going for it.

If there’s trouble, Anna is going to stumble into it, and she’s going to rub people the wrong way along the way.

Unsurprisingly, she had a knack for getting under Preacher Nelson’s skin, because she knew something was going on with those bank robberies, and she clocked him as a longtime bank robber from his former life.

But Anna also managed to irk local detective Guthrie properly, and that was certainly on the amusing side.

Does anyone else want to know when that specific beef started? One noticeable thing about Anna Pigeon Season 1 is that they dropped us into this world, and all of these dynamics developed long before we stepped in.

We’ve had so many cracks about how Anna is a menace, and these observations about why she’s that dog with a bone who inserts herself into anything and can’t seem to stay out of trouble.

Her reputation precedes her, which makes some of her dynamics with other characters, Guthrie, for example, funny because not everyone is charmed by her precociousness and spunk.

Moments like how she approached taking everything in at Manny’s baptism help you understand that a bit.

It’s very apparent she’s not a religious person in the least, so she wasn’t buying into all the hoopla around redemption and baptism cleansing sins, and there were a few moments when she danced on the line between mockery and judgment.

That said, it’s refreshing in its honesty — depicting her as someone who feels real.

When the explosion happens, and money is literally falling from the sky, it’s understandable why Anna immediately jumps to Manny’s support group at church, comprised of reformed souls, including felons.

But it’s also too easy an out and assumption to make. It’s not PC to do so, and Nelson reminds her of that while also trying to hide his own past.

The way they bonded over time became a highlight of the hour. Nelson had a past, but Montana, the gorgeous mountains, and nature, it all saved and healed him. That’s what the park is doing for Anna, too.

Maybe she doesn’t subscribe to a higher power, but that sense of purpose, of finding oneself and seeking out something bigger, she can connect with that.

It was such a delight when she told him to tear up that photo, allowing him to keep moving forward with his second chance and all the goodwill he has had since he came there.

Plus, Nelson was about as inclined to abandon rules and regulations to help others as Anna. His ability to talk things through with Ken was admirable, even though it felt full circle that Ken was once a victim of Nelson’s, who became a perpetrator.

Maybe Ken would’ve been more empathetic (Lorraine was at least a little bit) if he didn’t set Manny up to take the fall.

Manny trusted that Ken and Lorraine would be mentors and counselors for him and Bethany. He’s taken all these steps to turn his life around and live a wonderful life, and then the same people who were supposed to be elevating and helping him used him.

Manny is so sweet, so that was frustrating to witness, but at least with Anna and Nelson determined to get to the truth, they were able to right the wrongs against Manny.

Anna had her hands full with this case, which had its share of twists, but she’s also still grappling with her own history.

Her nightmares about the night of Zach’s murder seem to be getting worse, and Molly’s advice about writing things out in her sleep doesn’t seem to be helping just yet.

I cannot imagine constantly dreaming about one of the worst nights of your life and having to see someone you love dead in front of you every time you close your eyes.

Anna Pigeon does a good job of letting the hero weigh what it means to make space for someone new in her life while still struggling and grieving.

Most of the time, Jesse seems like a nice, sweet, and pretty distraction, but she’s also making strides in actually choosing to get to know him better and learning how to let him in.

He’d love their relationship to be so much more than just casual sex. He genuinely cares about her, and he wants to know all sides of her. She’s the one being cautious, guarded, and resistant.

Jesse putting on a fun striptease as his talent for the talent show was cute, and he knows how to make Anna laugh. That really counts for something.

She does generally seem lighter and freer in his presence. He’s just such a sweetie, but sometimes I do wonder if he’s actually able to handle where Anna is right now in her life.

He wants to be able to; he’s practically asking for it — he wants all of her when she’s ready to give it. But I don’t know. Sometimes I wonder if these two could ever progress beyond what they are right now.

But then Anna Pigeon does something I suspect is peeling back some layers of Stanton when it comes to Anna.

If it wasn’t evident before, it’s clear now that Stanton is a smitten man. Anna is under his skin in a way he didn’t anticipate, and now he can’t seem to shake her.

When she calls, he answers. When she asks him to come, he does, no questions asked.

And when she has nightmares about the night her husband died, he continues moving heaven and earth on his end to look into this unsolved case more and search for the truth — for answers that could maybe give her some semblance of peace.

He’s laughed off colleagues, dodged the knowing scrutiny of Molly, but the feelings he has for Anna are abundantly clear.

Is it a love triangle when Anna isn’t even cognizant of those feelings? It’s hard to say, but it’s something. And damn if I don’t like that something.

I like Jesse. I love Stanton. Annie has two hands. Hell, I don’t know.

The cold case is interesting, though. Molly shared a key piece of information: a vintage red coat was left at the scene during the party, unaccounted for, and no one knew who it belonged to.

There’s no way this was just some random home invasion in the middle of a party, and only Zach ends up dead. There’s so much more to this story.

I’m also curious about Anna in all of this. Was she too drunk when it happened? Did someone drug her?

Anna won’t be able to fully find peace until she actually figures out what happened to her husband, and she truly deserves peace.

Over to you, Anna Pigeon Fanatics!

What are your thoughts on Anna’s love life and the new information about her husband’s death?! Let’s discuss below!