(This review is based on a pre-air screening of the Preacher pilot at Wondercon. The AMC series will premiere on May 22nd 2016)

When’s the last time you saw a truly great pilot? They’re notoriously difficult to create. The writer is typically tasked with clearly defining the entire cast, setting up the show’s premise, and giving the audience an idea of what to expect on a week-to-week basis. On this last count, the pilot of AMC’s new series Preacher fails. Without reading the comic series on which it is based, it is nearly impossible to know what the show is really even about, let alone where it will be years down the road.

But the truth is, after seeing the pilot, I don’t give a good goddamn where it plans to go. Preacher’s first episode is hilarious,  breathlessly paced, and far more concerned with character than plot or premise. The narrative has barely begun by the episode’s end, yet the pilot never gets dull for even a moment.

So what’s it about? An invisible force from outer space is possessing preachers and religious influencers, generally causing them to explode. Jesse, our protagonist, has returned to his hometown to become a preacher after spending years abroad, hurting (and possibly killing) people to make a living. Meanwhile, his ex-girlfriend Tulip has been on his trail for some time, and a seemingly-immortal man called Cassidy crosses Jesse’s path after his own plans break down spectacularly.

There’s a plot regarding spousal abuse to fill out the episode and help define Jesse’s character, but the most successful moments of the pilot come from the secondary characters’ introductions. As interesting as Jesse may wind up being, it’s Tulip and Cassidy who really shine here. Both are given superb set-pieces, slowly teasing out the characters’ abilities and personalities. I won’t spoil too many details here, but both scenes are incredibly unique and highly-stylized. Cassidy gets an inventive, beautifully choreographed fight scene on an airplane, and Tulip gets a thrilling action sequence in a cornfield and a hilarious heart-to-heart with a couple of Kansas kids about the role of women in today’s world.

Neither scene would work as well as it does without great efforts from the cast. Ruth Negga (best known for Raina in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D) has an innocent charm to her, even when ruthlessly murdering people with corn and homemade bazookas. Meanwhile, Joseph Gilgun (who was great in the shamefully under-appreciated British TV show Misfits) absolutely steals the show as Cassidy. His character here functions similarly to Rudy in Misfits: he’s repugnant and morally apathetic, yet oddly charismatic and likable despite his worst impulses.

Meanwhile, Dominic Cooper (known for Howard Stark in the Marvel cinematic unverse) is perhaps the strongest of all as Jesse. It’s a difficult job in the pilot, because despite being the titular “preacher,” Jesse is still in a state of becoming. He’s currently trying to swear off his violent ways and make his hometown a better place. That’s not as “fun” as playing somebody who, like Tulip and Cassidy, will kill without a second thought, but it can be more challenging. It certainly seems that Jesse’s attempts at being a positive role model won’t last, as he only truly comes alive here in the middle of a bar brawl.

That brawl, like the aforementioned character introduction scenes, is spectacularly choreographed and staged. A lot of the credit here deserves to go to the stunt coordinator, but some should also be given to the episode’s directors. The version that screened at Wondercon was without credits, which was somewhat disappointing to me because I really wanted to know who crafted such a strong, kinetic first episode. As it turns out, executive producers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg reportedly directed the episode. If this is indeed the case, then both of them should look at their pilot as a real feather in their caps. They directed action better than veterans who have been working in television for decades.

But perhaps the highest praise I can give Preacher is that it immediately made me want to pick up the comic book and see where it goes from here. So far, six issues into the series, I’m blown away by how much the TV show diverges from the book while remaining largely true to it. The stories begin at different times and certain elements that are played as mysterious in the TV show are presented as a given in the comic, but both share the same anarchic vibe and sense of humor. The screening hall was full of hardcore fans of the series, and they seemed absolutely thrilled with the result.

I have no idea if this series is going to be broadly appealing in the way that The Walking Dead is. If I had to guess, I’d say it probably won’t be. But I had a ridiculous amount of fun with the Preacher pilot, and cannot wait to see what people think when it finally hits AMC in May.