I guess we'll start with some more general points. The acting for the show is pretty strong. Dominic Cooper does a pretty good job playing Jesse Custer, even if I don't like a lot of the writing choices for him (and the show in general). They decided to make Jesse much more invested in Christianity, God, and his church in the comic. Where-as in the comic he already was starting to have doubts and struggles of faith from the first panel of the comic. I'm not at all feeling this change, as it leads to a lot of plot that is neither in the comic, and more importantly, just isn't very interesting (more on that in a minute).
Joseph Gilgun similarly does a pretty good job as Cassidy. I like that his accent is pretty thick. They're likewise also making some writing choices I don't care for much, such as setting him up earlier as more of an asshole. And, well, this next point is a major spoiler for the comic, and is gonna happen in some form or another in the show, so time for another spoiler.
However, Ruth Negga steals the show, she plays Tulip pretty much perfectly. She plays a hard as nails badass. Her intro scene in the first episode pretty effectively establishes in the matter of a minute or two during that out of control car scene. (Sadly, the farm scene right after feels out of place, but that's a writing problem, not one with Negga).
They made Eugene Root, aka Arseface, a much more sympathetic character in this show, and one struggling with his faith in God. He's convinced that everyone, including God, hates him. I'm just not feeling it. Arseface was largely a rather black comedic relief in the comics, and while I've no issue with humanizing him a bit more, they fail to make it an interesting humanization. And oddly enough, by making his father less of an asshole, they remove some of the sympathy I had for him. In the comic, after failing to kill himself by blowing his brains out, his dad didn't speak to him again. His father doesn't treat him all that well in the show, but he does show that he cares about his son. (Plus, if this means I don't get the "go fuck yourself" scene, I'm going to be mighty disappointed).
Not to mention, for a guy that's face is supposed to look like an arse, he's way too much of a pretty boy.
The mock up that HBO did for the character a few years ago is a lot better.
In the comic, when Jesse gets Genesis, it wipes out not only his whole congregation, but his entire goddamn town of Annsville Texas. For the show, the writers have decided to set all of season one in Annsville, which means most of the plot here-in is original to the show. Sadly, the material they give us just isn't very interesting. I don't care to see Jesse trying to save his entire town and bring them to Christ. I don't care to see his church struggling to raise money. I don't care for his interactions with Arseface. I don't care for really any of it.
Tulip has been spending the whole season trying to get Jesse to get back with her for one last job. And it... it just kinda makes her seem like a desperate crazy ex, which runs pretty counter to her badass persona.
So now let's try to hit off those episodes. First episode has two really nice jokes. The first, when Cassidy is fighting on the airplane and stabs a guy in the chest with a bottle, then just leans him forward to fill up another bottle with blood to drink later. It's great, and the right touch of black comedy that Preacher needs.
The other, when Genesis is possessing different spiritual leaders around the world, only for them to explode, the headline for Tom Cruise exploding is a nice touch.
The episode also ends with another black touch of humour, with a man literally ripping out his heart so that he can "open up his heart" to someone, when he takes Jesse's word too literally.
Alright, I lied, I don't remember which episode is which now. That didn't last long.
I like that the show is slowly introducing us to The Saint of Killers backstory, prior to meeting him. I just hope they don't get to the final act of his backstory until after we meet him at least once in the present.
The Adelphi in this show, bit odd, not sure how I feel about them yet. I don't like the coffee can and nursery rhyme for Genesis though, it feels out of place and pretty stupid in and of itself.
The swearing. Where the fuck is the swearing? The comics gushed excessive profanity, and I loved it. The show is almost entirely absent of any swearing, and it just makes the whole tone feel off.
Odin Quincannon serves as the main antagonist for the first season, and it feels kinda strange. He appears much later in the comics, and he's a very weird, quirky, hateful, piece of shit old man. Here, he's just a ruthless business man. Not to mention, we're missing his Nazi secretary who was super into S&M. It's an element of what the fuck and black comedy that I wished we had, not to mention, I want to see Quincannon constantly referring to himself in the third person. Alas.
I also don't like the flashbacks to Jesse's dad as a devout preacher, it's so different from his character in the comics, and it feels so wrong. He's also one of the few actors on the show that I don't like. (Minor nitpick: I hate the way they played the "be one of the good guys, because there's two many of the bad" line. The delivery feel flat and it lost all it's impact, not to mention I think they used it too early in the show).
Skipping ahead to episode 6 or 7 now, Jesse sending Arseface to hell, it's just about the dumbest thing.
So there's some good with the show, but a lot of bad. Once they get out of Annsville and to the actual content of the comics, it'll hopefully get better, as some of the right pieces are in place, so it does have potential.