We all know there’s a good amount of TV Shows that receive more hype than others. These are just a few that you have to add to your watchlist.

Animal Kingdom (TNT & Netflix)

When Joshua’s mother overdoses, his grandmother picks him up to live with the rest of his family. His life soon changes as he begins to learn that they’re all criminals and has to decide whether or not he wants to become a real Cody.

American Gods (Starz)

Based on the best selling-novel by Neil Gaiman, an ex-con begins to work as a bodyguard for a man who goes by Mr. Wednesday. As their journey around America continues, magic and Gods reveal themselves. It’s only a matter of time until new Gods arise for the taking. 

The Sinner (Netflix)

Mystery thriller fans will love this one as each season is different since a detective tries to solve unspeakable crimes committed by ordinary people. 

Baby (Netflix)

This Italian TV series on Netflix follows the lives of two private school girls in Rome who seem innocent but live a secret life at night.

Reprisal (Hulu)

Katherine Harlow plots out a revenge on the Banish Brawlers biker gang after they left her to die. Years later she returns as Doris and won’t stop at anything to get back at them all.

The Boys (Amazon Prime)

In a world where famous people can hide the deepest darkest secrets comes the comic book adaptation, superheroes are supposed to be good but The Boys won’t stop at anything to show the Supes true colours. 

Killing Eve (BBC America & AMC)

A talented hit woman filled with compassion searches for a mother figure. Her options are limited as she only gets along with a security officer.

The Neighborhood (CBS)

In this family sitcom where a Caucasian family moves to a new suburb, they’ll have to get used to how things work in the cultural community. It’s not easy being the odd ones out and having your neighbour keep watch of you. 

Have any more TV shows you’d like to add to the list that deserves more recognition? Tell us in the comments below!

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Gird your loins and watch for ravens in the sky: American Gods is back for season 2 on Starz. It premiered on March 10 to less than stellar reviews. Beleaguered by budget challenges, continuing delays, and changing leadership behind the scenes, it was questionable if fans would get more of Shadow Moon (Ricky Whittle) and Mr. Wednesday (Ian McShane) mixing it up with deities and entities, both ancient and new. Now that the second season is here, it’s looking like the show’s hardships have manifested in the final product.

Looking back on the first season of American Gods and the novel of the same name the show is based on, written by Neil Gaiman and published in 2001, it is disheartening to see how the second season has limped off of the rails.

Let me start out by saying that American Gods is a good book and a good show. Is the book better? In some aspects, yes. Is the show a good adaptation and does it also improve upon some of Gaiman’s original narrative and concepts? The first season, absolutely. My snobbish bookworm side, who is tempted to chime into discussions of films, television shows, and the literary tomes they stem from with my eyes closed and a pseudo intellectual tone declaring, “The book is sssooo much better” can sit back in her Rococo armchair and take a deep breath. Gaiman’s book is worth reading, even if you think fantasy is not your cup of tea. After a rocky start in the first 15 minutes of the pilot for American Gods, I was convinced that the show is also worth watching.

Both the book and the show go something like this: Shadow Moon, a young convict recently released from prison due to the untimely death of his wife, Laura (Emily Browning in the show), just so happens to meet Mr. Wednesday, a charismatic, inscrutable grifter who hires Shadow to be his bodyguard and driver. Of course, Mr. Wednesday is much more than he seems, and the two embark on a cross-country journey where Shadow soon finds himself enmeshed in a high-tension conflict between the Old Gods and the New Gods that erupts in violence.

Initial showrunners Michael Green and Brian Fuller brought just enough of their own touch to Gaiman’s story to make it simmer on the small screen while remaining true to the book’s characters. Was it perfect? No, but then neither is the book, and the show and its source material’s oddities and subversive spirit were more interesting than the unattainable label of perfection.

For unknown reasons Green and Fuller did not return for the second season and their replacement, Jesse Alexander, also left the production. Gillian Anderson and Kristin Chenoweth, both commanding your attention as the new god Media and Ostara, the goddess of spring, also jumped ship.

However, plenty of people initially involved in bringing American Gods to Starz (including Gaiman himself) are still involved, and there are plenty of articles already dissecting what went wrong in leading us to a season that meanders. For a show involving living dead spouses, the power of belief as it’s own kind of magic, and duelling gods, it’s disappointing to see the show’s premise play out so aimlessly. The cast is still a treat, and they invest so much of themselves in their roles that they make season 2 watchable. Orlando Jones continues to electrify as the story-telling god Mr. Nancy, and Pablo Schreiber’s over six-foot tall leprechaun Mad Sweeney provides adept physical comedy. Crispin Glover’s jittery intensity still makes for a fun villain in Mr. World and Bruce Langley is so bratty and self-absorbed as Technical Boy that he may give Game of Throne’s Joffrey Baratheon a run for his money as most loathsome adolescent in a show.

Is there enough of the same qualities that drew viewers to season 1 to sustain them through season 2? If you have any feelings on the matter, jump in the comments section and let me know. For me, I will come back for season 3, with the hope that the magnetism and slick, tenebrous humor that made season 1 so compelling returns.

It’s the very least that the gods deserve.

Have you read American Gods? Or watched the TV series? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!

The post Book To Screen: ‘American Gods’ by Neil Gaiman appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

Now with it being so long since the show first aired, perhaps you’ve forgotten what happened and don’t have the time to rewatch the series? Well, here’s our recap of the first season!

But first things first, for the unaware, American Gods follows an ex-con named Shadow who is hired by the mysterious con man named Mr Wednesday. Shadow soon finds himself caught in the middle of a war between the old deities of immigrant cultures, from Norse to Slavic and Egyptian mythologies, and the modern messiah’s, who we essentially worship on a regular basis, such as Technology and Media.

Now, if you plan on watching the series, you’re in for a ride. Some may find the series confusing, and that is understandable as the book by Neil Gaiman is also like this since it’s filled with a significant amount of content across 600+ pages, and for me, it’s a book unlike anything I have ever read before. This is what makes American Gods so very intriguing and almost disorienting because you have nothing really to compare it to. In regards to the television series, you could attempt to compare elements from the series to other television shows, except there’s no point as it’s in a category entirely by itself.

Now on to the season recap! You can also check out our full episode recaps by clicking the episode titles!

1.01 ‘The Bone Orchard’

The first episode introduces us to Shadow Moon who is currently in prison. With his sentence almost over, he’s released early as his wife has died in an accident and while on his way home, he meets a man by the name of Mr Wednesday who would like Shadow to work for him, except he declines. Stopping at Jack’s Crocodile Bar, Shadow runs into Wednesday again and soon finds himself employed and also in a fight with a 7 foot leprechaun by the name of Mad Sweeney.

While at the funeral, Shadow learns his best friend was involved in the car accident as they were involved in some extra activities whilst driving. After dropping a gold coin on Laura‘s grave that he got from Sweeney, Shadow then finds himself in a car with someone named Technical Boy who is asking questions about Mr Wednesday. The Boy orders Shadow to be ‘deleted’ and he’s attacked and strung up by his neck to a tree. However, a mysterious force cuts Shadow down and kills all of his attackers. We’re also introduced to a seductive woman by the name of Bilquis who takes a man completely inside of her (via lower extremities in case you were wondering) thanks to him worshipping her.

1.02 ‘The Secret of Spoon’

The episode begins in 1697 with an incredibly intense monologue from Anansi, a deity from African folklore who often travels in the form of a spider. He convinces the slaves to kill their captors and burn the ship, even though they’ll die too. Back in the present, Wednesday and Shadow eventually hit the road to get his hammer in Chicago, but first Shadow meets Lucille Ball from I Love Lucy, except it’s really Gillian Anderson playing the role of Media, another ‘new god’.

In Chicago, we meet Zorya Vechernyaya—a guardian goddess from Slavic mythology watches the skies in rotation with her two sisters, Utrennyaya and Polunochnaya. We also meet Czernobog, another Slavic deity, but incredibly grumpy and rude. Czernobog offers a bet to Shadow: if Shadow wins, he will join them, but if he loses, Czernobog gets to hit him with his hammer and kill him. At the end, Shadow loses.

1.03 ‘Head Full of Snow’

Introducing Anubis, the Egyptian god of death, is how the third episode begins and we see how making it to the afterlife works. Back in the present, Shadow speaks with Polunochnaya in his dreams who plucks the moon from the sky and gives it to Shadow in the form of a silver Liberty-head dollar. Shadow goads Czernobog into playing him again with the same terms, which sees Shadow win. On the road again, Wednesday and Shadow rob a bank, which is easily done by the pair.

We’re also introduced to Salim who is having a bad day and grabs a cab where the driver just happens to be an Ifrit, otherwise known as Jinn or, a Genie (but not a Genie). The pair bond and Salim invites him inside and they share an incredibly passionate and intimate scene. When Salim wakes, he finds his clothes and companion gone and in place of them, the Jinn has left his own along with his identification and taxi keys. Essentially, the Jinn did grant him a wish by giving Salim a chance to live and start over.

As for Mad Sweeney, he soon realises something is amiss as he’s having terrible luck and realises his gold coin is missing. He visits Laura’s grave, but finds the coin has burned through the casket and Laura is missing. Where is she? She’s in Shadow’s motel room.

1.04 ‘Git Gone’

Episode 4 is essentially Laura’s story as we see her working at a casino and she’s not pleased with her life and gambles a little too much with her life in order to feel something. Eventually she meets Shadow and they get to know one another while also planning a casino heist together, which ends with Shadow in prison. Laura begins a two-year affair with Shadow’s best friend and ends it with a ‘parting gift’ since Shadow is being released. Unfortunately, it ends up killing Laura and leaving a male extremity in her mouth. We see Laura face Anubis, but she won’t let him weigh her heart because she knows it will weigh heavy. She denies Anubis and finds herself clawing her way out of her grave and it turns out Laura was Shadow’s mysterious saviour in episode 1.

Laura heads to Audrey‘s, Robbie’s wife, to repair herself and eventually the pair go to find Shadow, but not before they almost hit a man and a jackal, which turns out to be Thoth and Anubis. They take Laura with them to their establishment, Ibis and Jacquel Funeral Parlor, to repair her and make her presentable before she meets Shadow at his motel.

1.05 ‘Lemon Scented You’

Laura and a reluctant Shadow get reacquainted, but Shadow and Wednesday are quickly hauled away by the police because of their bank heist. Meanwhile, Technical Boy finds himself in conversation with a David Bowie-esque Media as Mr World wants him to apologise to both Wednesday and Shadow. The thieves are taken to an interrogation room, and it’s the first time Wednesday appears scared and rightly so as screams fill the station when a Marilyn Monroe clad Media enters the room, along with Mr World. With a reluctant apology from Technical Boy, the New Gods wish to form an alliance by offering Odin a nuclear missile with his name on it, but he’s not interested. The New Gods leave with Wednesday and Shadow not far behind them. As for Laura, she receives a visit from Sweeney who is after his coin.

1.06 ‘A Murder of Gods’

Our episode begins with a group of people trying to cross the border between Mexico and the U.S when they’re caught by rangers, however, Mexican Jesus gives up his life for them, even though they end up being killed. Laura and Sweeney wind up together since she’s after Shadow and he wants his coin back. The pair end up in Salim’s new taxi and they all head to Kentucky as Sweeney mentions he knows the Jinn that Salim is looking for.

As for Shadow and Wednesday, they arrive in Vulcan, Virginia where everyone carries a gun. We’re introduced to Vulcan, the ancient Roman god of fire and volcanoes, but in the present time, he’s a manufacturer of bullets so essentially he’s become a franchise so people can worship him through his bullets. Wednesday requires a blade he can carry into battle, but it seems Vulcan has sold them out to the new gods. So what better way to test a newly made sword than decapitating Vulcan and pushing him into the molten vat to be made into bullets, but not before Wednesday urinates into it and curses them.

1.07 ‘A Prayer For Mad Sweeney’

Ibis tells us a story and whisks us away to 18th century Ireland where a grandmother tells a young girl about the fair folk and leprechauns, and the offering she later gives attracts Sweeney. An older Essie (who is also played by Emily Browning) sleeps with a young man of her household who gives her a necklace and promises to marry her when she returns. The lady of the house believes the necklace to be stolen and so Essie is sent to the Americas where she attracts the eyes of a captain, and they return to London to be married. She becomes quite the accomplished thief and she is eventually imprisoned with her next-cell-neighbour being Sweeney. Essie winds up pregnant and she’s transported permanently to Virginia and becomes a wet-nurse. She eventually marries her master and then one day Sweeney travels to America and introduces himself.

In the present, Sweeney tells Salim where to find his Jinn while Sweeney and Laura steal an ice-cream truck. The pair end up in a car accident and the coin falls out of Laura. When he wakes, he almost takes the coin but we see a flashback to him at her first accident and it’s revealed Wednesday planned her death. Feeling guilty, he returns the coin and the pair continue their journey.

1.08 ‘Come To Jesus’

Mr Nancy (Anansi) tells us a story of a queen and it seems Bilquis’s story begins in 864BCE where a horde of naked bodies worship her. Her gradual downfall sees her travel to America in the 70s and she begins to fade, especially as she watches her lover die of HIV. A haggard Bilquis sees her temple destroyed as “there’s no end to the cruelty of men threatened by strong women” and she is soon approached by Technical Boy introducing her to the wonders of online dating to bring the once powerful queen into the digital age.

Shadow meets yet another god in the form of Ostara or Easter along with meeting multiple versions of Jesus. Wednesday stirs up trouble claiming the Jesuses have stolen her day and that the New Gods killed Vulcan. He suggests perhaps she harms the spring harvest to starve them a little. Laura and Sweeney arrive at Ostara’s and Laura soon learns it was Wednesday who killed her. Connecting the dots, Laura realises everything that happened to them was Wednesday—the failed robbery, jail, Laura’s death—and she’s pissed.

Media arrives in the form of Judy Garland and she faces off against Wednesday. It is here the big reveal happens and by listing his many names, he finally says “I am Odin!” and announces he gives these deaths to Ostara and kills the henchmen in a lightning strike. Ostara then pulls the life from the land. After Shadow announces he believes in everything, Laura turns up to talk to him and Bilquis is travelling to Wisconsin and to the House of Rock

Are you looking forward to the second season? Tell us in the comments below!

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Laura Moon is one of the most intriguing and complex characters on American Gods and the show has taken a big detour in the direction of her character. She isn’t the most likeable character in either the book or the television adaptation, but her character’s story has certainly become one of the more interesting ones.

Laura Moon, played by Emily Browning in the television adaptation, is the wife of Shadow Moon and died in a car crash while having an affair with Robbie, one of Shadow’s friends. This betrayal is revealed quite early on in both the novel and the show, however it is not the end of her story (obviously). Reincarnated by a magic coin, Laura Moon finds herself on a journey parallel to Shadow himself. In the novel, she continuously appears to help Shadow on his journey, saving him a couple of times and holding only the space of an important side character.

Bryan Fuller and Michael Green have, with the permission of Neil Gaiman, explored and expanded on the character of Laura Moon to great appeal. It was in episode four, titled ‘Git Gone’, that Laura Moon finally featured in an episode dedicated to her. ‘Git Gone’ showed a new side of Laura, not just the loving wife that Shadow introduced us to. Laura was a complex multi-faceted character that begged for attention.

Laura was a lethargic and depressed casino worker before Shadow came into her life and had at one point even tried to kill herself. With mental illness becoming a more and more pressing issue, Fuller and Green have truly created a character representative of our modern times. She is still portrayed as a fully functioning individual, as is not always the case, but Laura appears to show little care for the affection Shadow shows her or the way her actions are affecting others. Fuller and Green paint Laura as though she is just drifting through life, more a viewer than an actual participant. But it is this that allows them the greatest benefit with her story post-mortem.

After her abrupt and unusual resurrection, Laura becomes more whole than she appeared before death. She seems to view her life as it was in a new light and sets about attempting to change and fix this. It seems that her story, as Neil Gaiman puts it, is about her truly falling in love with Shadow Moon.

None of her journey to the House on the Rock is featured in the novel and this allowed Fuller and Green to explore her relationship with other characters. The reveal that it was in fact Mad Sweeney that killed her and not a random accident also helped to progress her story past the novel. This reveal added to the depth of their relationship, explaining why Mad Sweeney saved her at certain times and was so willing to help her be bought back to life.

Laura Moon truly is a standout character in the show and Bryan Fuller and Michael Green have done a tremendous job of playing with the canon and lore that Neil Gaiman originally setup to bring Laura into the modern world. The lethargy she feels combined in opposition with her story post-death provides a more detailed character that moves away from the label of cheating wife that the novel ascribed to her initially.

What do you think of Laura Moon? Tell us your thoughts on her character in the comments below!

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Every adaptation of a book leads to some creative license on the adaptors behalf and it isn’t very often that this creativity lends to and enhances the source beyond the original. American Gods is one show that breaks this trend. With the help of the novels original author, Neil Gaiman, the showrunners, Michael Green and Bryan Fuller, have incorporated in new characters and aspects that the 2001 novel didn’t include when it was first published.

‘A Murder of Gods’, an aptly titled episode, introduced viewers to the character of Vulcan (played by Corbin Bernsen). Vulcan is a character original to the television series of American Gods and a wonderful addition to the universe as a whole. In history, Vulcan is the Roman god of fire, particularly metalworking and volcanoes. In American Gods, he is the modern-day version of this ancient god, working to mass produce weapons and bullets.

Green explained in an interview that the addition of this character was all Neil Gaiman’s idea. He spoke of how Gaiman had told them of travelling through a town in Alabama when he saw a statue of Vulcan. The town had a factory in which accidents had led to several deaths and the company involved chose to pay out the families, rather than repair the factory, because it was cheaper. Gaiman incorporated this story into his character, Vulcan and in fact, the very first scene where viewers see Vulcan hinted at involves a man falling to his death from leaning on a faulty railing.

Gaiman’s original version of American Gods set out to be a product of modernity, depicting a world where the gods of old tried to coexist (or not) with newer, more modern gods of media and technology. Fuller and Green have reinforced this vision with their adaptation, attempting to make Vulcan culturally relevant to the twenty-first century. And they succeeded. In a world dominated by news of massacres, school shootings and gun violence, it would be remiss to not touch on the topic within a show so politically and culturally charged. Vulcan is their answer to this. In this modern version of the Roman god, he has moved to outsourcing his work to factories and no longer is he required to be the forger of weapons, people will do it for him. And in his name too. In a modern world where gun violence runs rampant, Vulcan is all-powerful. As he states, in ‘ A Murder of Gods’, each bullet fired is like a prayer for him. It fuels him. And what could be more an image of modern-day America than a god whose prayers are bullets.

The fact that Fuller and Green could make a character that was such a perfect fit really speaks to the talents of both Gaiman and the showrunners. With sixteen years between the release of the novel and the television adaptation there was plenty of room to enhance American Gods cultural significance and the character of Vulcan definitely embraces this change. Hopefully this isn’t the last original character that Gaiman creates for the television adaptation.

Did you enjoy the new character? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!

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Get Yourself A Queen

You just know when you’re in for a treat when the sound of Orlando Jones’ Mr Nancy begins to talk, along with the glorious music that accompanies him. His character is truly something else, and he could definitely pull of his own show (which might be in the works)! Although it seem as though we should be getting some serious action, Mr Nancy informs us he has a story to tell, a story of a queen.

This queen happens to be Bilquis and it reveals her ‘Coming to America’ story which begins in 864 BCE. A horde of naked bodies worship her and from the dramatic music to the visual tension and the lack of dialogue from those characters, it makes for a very intense scene. We see her downfall which starts in the 70s after an incident at a club causing her to travel to America. It is there that the goddess begins to fade as she sees a lover face HIV and a world where nobody worships her as they once did, and her story touches on the lack of power women still face. A haggard Bilquis sees her temple destroyed as “there’s no end to the cruelty of men threatened by strong women” and she is soon approached by Technical Boy introducing her to the wonders of online dating to bring the once powerful queen into the digital age.

Happy Easter!

After ranting to Wednesday about the events of Episode 6, Shadow dreams once again of a mysterious wall of bones, a looming tree and a beast with eyes of fire—perhaps we will finally get some answers? If we could be so lucky. The two reach yet another destination and also run over several bunnies in the process, which is unfortunate because it is Easter. Just like Shadow, he is shocked to be introduced to the gorgeous Ostara (played by Kristin Chenoweth), or better known as Easter, and he also is finally coming to the revelation that gods exist after seeing multiple Jesuses.

Wednesday stirs up trouble between Ostara and the Jesuses claiming they have stolen her day in order to bring Ostara a little further onto his side. He continues by claiming the New Gods killed Vulcan and shows her the blade he forged as proof of his allegiance to Wednesday. Upon his suggestion of getting the world to believe in her again, he suggests she harms the spring harvest to starve them so they “give a little, to get a little”.

Dead Girl Walking

Laura and Sweeney make it to their destination, which turns out to be Ostara’s house, and good thing too because Laura isn’t looking so great. Sweeney asks for her help because apparently he doesn’t want to see Laura dead, please whichever god, don’t let this be the only form of ‘romance’ on the show. Ostara wants to help Laura but reveals she can’t because Laura has been killed by a god, and Sweeney knows just who. Grabbing Sweeney by the balls for information, he tells her it was Wednesday and that she wasn’t murdered but a sacrifice instead so Shadow could be lost. Connecting the dots, Laura realises everything that happened to them was Wednesday—the failed robbery, jail, Laura’s death—and she’s pissed.

The More, The Merrier

Ostara receives more guests in the form of Media as Judy Garland, whom is truly impeccable in every form she comes in. Media questions Ostara’s loyalty after the two built her day to make “an old god new”, but Wednesday brews the storm even further as him and Media face off in a flurry of words. It is here that we see how truly remarkable American Gods is and could be in every single episode. Supported by her henchmen and Technical Boy, Mr World appears to deny the war because the New Gods will win either way, battle or no battle.

When Wednesday turns to Shadow with a rumbling storm brewing and asks him a series of questions—”Do you have faith? Do you know what I am? Do you what to know my name?”—the big reveal is finally here and it doesn’t disappoint. Listing his many names, he finally says “I am Odin!” and announces he gives these deaths to Ostara and kills the henchmen in a lightning strike.

Showing her true nature, Ostara pushes away Wednesday’s storm and pulls the life from the land leaving it deprived of all colour. Also, does Kristin Chenoweth age? Because she is truly a thing of beauty.

It seems Wednesday will have his war as announced by Mr World, but he merely retorts with “Tell the believers and non-believers: we’ve taken the spring. They can have it back when they pray”. After Shadow announces he believes in everything, Laura turns up to talk to him and Bilquis is travelling to Wisconsin and to the House of Rock, which holds significance in the novel. And that’s it. Done. Season one over.

It was quite the jarring ending because I wasn’t paying attention to how much time was left in the episode and was half expecting for Laura to drop the bomb on Shadow about Wednesday staging everything. Perhaps Shadow could have stormed off and maybe that would have seemed like a more reasonable ending so it felt as there was a bit of impact with a dash of cliffhanger for the next season. In a way, it seems strange they would map the season out that way, unless they knew they were going to be picked up for a second season or the creators just love taking gigantic leaps of faith. Regardless, I hope the following season brings a little more consistency with each character’s stories rather than stopping one and picking up another with each episode.

Overall, Bryan Fuller and Michael Green have done a superb job in bringing the lengthy novel to life and maintaining its oddness and in-depth lore. With its gorgeous cinematography, brilliant cast, willingness to touch on the important topics and present them in a way which is relevant to their story as well as society’s, I think the series has done rather well for itself. Here’s to the year-long wait for season 2!

What did you think of the season finale? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!

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‘A Prayer For Mad Sweeney’ is another one of American Gods strange episodes with it not featuring either Shadow or Wednesday. If compared to another episode, it is similar to ‘Git Gone’ but it is far better since it’s more interesting and put together well, despite it being mostly a filler episode in a very short season.

Welcome To My Humble Abode Mortuary

We return to visit Mr Ibis and Mr Jacquel at their funeral parlour where Jacquel works on a recently deceased, and very naked, male while Ibis has another story to tell. He soon whisks us away with his delightful voice into the 18th century for another ‘Coming To America’ instalment where we are greeted by the lush landscapes of Ireland. A grandmother tells a young girl by the name of Essie about the fair folk and leprechaun’s which then causes an older Essie (who is also played by Emily Browning) to tell them to young children and leave gifts for them in order to be on their good side. When Essie gives a gift one night, it attracts our very own Sweeney and later on Essie sleeps with a young man of her household who gives her a necklace and promises to marry her when she returns.Unfortunately for Essie, the lady of the house believes her to have stolen the necklace and when she confronts her son, he denies giving her the gift. She’s then sentenced to hang, but instead she is sentenced to 7 years transportation. During her travel to the Americas, her womanly charms attract the eyes of the captain and the two soon return to London and marry. When her husband leaves for transportation again and promises to return, Essie becomes the thief she’s been accused of and steals anything worthwhile and she herself also leaves.

The Roadtrip Continues

This episode cuts back and forth between Essie’s past and Laura’s present who is still travelling with Salim and Sweeney. Forced to stop again for Salim’s prayer rituals, the episode lightly touches on belief’s again, but it ends up mostly banter between the very tall Sweeney and the very short Laura. Fed up with Salim, Sweeney wants to move on which causes Laura to tell Salim where he can find his Jinn and drives off towards Kentucky.Abandoned with no car, the pair steal an ice-cream truck. As they continue on their journey, Sweeney speaks of being a king once and a war he where he became a deserter after seeing his death. It seems as though his death could be imminent as Laura swerves to avoid a bunny and flips the truck several times causing Laura to go flying with her coin falling out of her chest.

Emily Browning’s Characters Can’t Catch A Break

Essie has become quite the accomplished shoplifter, but her luck runs out when she is caught stealing. Accused of both stealing and returning from transportation, she is imprisoned and her next-cell-neighbour turns out to be Sweeney. The two talk for a while, but when she awakes he is no longer there and is soon presented with a new opportunity in the form of a man. Her womanly charms once again attract a man and upon the revelation she is pregnant by this stranger, she is committed to permanent transportation to Virginia.She becomes a wet-nurse for a man who’s wife passed after childbirth, but over the years, her master desires more except Essie refuses due to her status and her romantic feelings towards him. Upon hearing this, he proposes and the two share a happy life together for the next ten years. We then see a montage of her life where she continues to tell her tales of the fair folk to young children, until one of them becomes too scared and she stops. One afternoon, Sweeney turns up to introduce himself properly and tell her she is the reason he ended up coming to America.

Laura’s Dead, Again.

Sweeney wakes up after the crash and spots a very dead Laura along with his now free coin. He can barely contain his excitement but as he leaves, he has a flashback to Laura’s original death as he was there and reveals it was all planned by the big man himself—Wednesday. Feeling guilty, and very angry because of it, he gives her the coin back and Laura is soon back up on her feet. After using her super-returned-from-the-dead strength, she flips the van and the two continue on their journey.

The purpose of this episode? Who knows. While it was very interesting to see how Sweeney made it to America, did it really have enough substance or necessity to take up an entire episode? No, and although its original source material was long and confusing, the added detours make it even more of a struggle to grasp the world of American Gods and the strange lore it withholds. Perhaps if this episode featured a little of Wednesday and Shadow or even some of the New Gods, it would provide much-needed continuity and I hope this is something they can focus on in the second season, especially if there will be more episodes. Surprisingly, this episode receives a much higher rating than ‘Git Gone’ since the plot and essentially everything else about it was much better, despite it lacking some crucial elements.

What did you think of the episode? Tell us in the comments below!

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Coming To America: Mexican Jesus

Once more we open with a ‘Coming To America’ segment, and this particular one is more realistic and present today as it sees those trying to cross the border between the U.S and Mexico. Their leader tells the group not to cross the river if they can’t swim, but in a desperate attempt to start a new life, one man chooses to ignore her warning. The episode then reveals its god for this opening which happens to be Mexican Jesus, as we learned in a previous episode that the series will represent different ethnic backgrounds when it comes to Christianity.

In an attempt to save them from rangers armed with weapons bearing Christian crosses and quotations, this Jesus gives his life for them despite the group being killed. Now this is something that makes the series stands out as typically in most adaptions, Jesus is portrayed as white, so to consider and incorporate the representation of different backgrounds just goes to show how different the series is.

A Thief, A Dead Wife and A Leprechaun Hit The Road

After her run in with Shadow, Laura is left to go after, but not before Mad Sweeney can return and stick around in order to get his lucky coin back. The pair attempt to steal a car and select a taxi, a taxi that just happens to be Salim’s, whom we met in Episode 3. Sweeney convinces him to drive them to Kentucky after mentioning he knows Salim’s Jinn. The unlikely trio make for some hilarious dialogue, especially when Sweeney asks Salim some crude questions about his relationship with the Jinn.

When Sweeney falls asleep, Laura convinces Salim to take a detour and they end up at Jack’s Crocodile Bar and the banter continues, along with some deep, but inappropriately put, talk from Sweeney. One thing that still feels odd is the way Laura and Sweeney interact with one another as it comes across as quite sexual, and I hope to whichever god that the two don’t end up as an item, but it’s looking more likely.

Welcome To Vulcan, Virginia!

Shadow and Wednesday make it out of the police station after their run-in with the new gods, but Shadow is freaking out because he “got stabbed by Charlie Brown’s Christmas tree”. This ordeal pushes Shadow a little further in understanding who Wednesday is, as well as his beliefs since his views have changed after seeing Laura. The two stop their travels as Shadow appears to not look the best and is suffering from a nasty wound where Wednesday has to coax a tree remnant out of Shadow’s body with his electrical touch.

This series continues to amaze especially with its inconsistent format that makes it feel very out there. When a cheerful tune plays, you think all would be well but when a man falls into a vat of molten metal and continues to play? You know the show is truly something else.

Vulcan, Virginia is a township that is dedicated to the true America, which means they’re all gun-toting individuals who will protect their America with bullets. It is here we are introduced to yet another god, a god by the name of Vulcan. Vulcan is the ancient Roman god of fire and volcanoes, but in the present time, he’s a manufacturer of bullets so essentially he’s become a franchise so people can worship him through his bullets.

Wednesday and Vulcan are more than happy to see one another and Wednesday wants Vulcan on his side, which he is happy to do as he’s wanted to be part of the team even before the war had been thought of. Wednesday requires a blade to be forged that he can carry into battle and upon inspecting the blade, it’s revealed Vulcan has sold them out to the new gods. So what better way to test a newly made sword than decapitating Vulcan and pushing him into the molten vat to be made into bullets, but not before Wednesday urinates into it and curses them.What did you think of the episode? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!

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After there being no ‘Coming to America’ segment in the previous episode, it was nice to see its return again, even though it wasn’t entirely exciting. Mr Ibis once again tell us the story of a god coming to the promised land and this time it’s Nynyunnini. Just who is Nynyunnini though? This exactly the point of featuring this god’s story as it shows what happens to a god if they are completely forgotten and then cease to exist. Every scene in which the series brings, it provides us with a little more information as to what’s going on and for this tidbit, it just goes to show exactly why there is a battle brewing between the new and old gods because who ever likes to share?

We then return back to Laura Moon, who took up an entire episode so we were crossing our fingers she’s wasn’t going to hog the screen the entire time. Thankfully she doesn’t, although she does appear quite frequently in the episode but we’re willing to let it slide because of the great things that happen further into the episode. Anyway, a very reluctant Shadow greets his deceased wife and proceeds to throw a pillow at her face. Clearly emotional, he demands answers about her affair with Robbie and what led her back to him. Now, Laura Moon must have a handful of problems because she is quite the delusional woman thinking she can not only come back from the dead, but to also think her husband will take her back.

After a nice warming bath to heat up her cold body, the two share and kiss and Laura’s heart literally beats. Talk about vomit-inducing, but then again, Shadow is quite literally the light of her very dull life. Unfortunately for Laura, when she asks if he is still her puppy, he replies with no.

Meanwhile, after being visited by one of his ravens, Wednesday drops by to see Shadow, but the pair are quickly hauled away by a swarm of police officers who arrest them because of their heist. When they reach the police station, Wednesday & Shadow are questioned so we get to see Wednesday’s old man charade once more and this adds some much-needed humour to the episode.

Technical Boy makes his return and he is soon faced with the same mask which transported Shadow back in Episode 1. The Boy finds himself talking to Media, but a ‘Life on Mars’ David Bowie version of Media. Now some make call this slightly ridiculous, especially those who are fans of Bowie or who don’t watch the show, but Anderson’s performance in appearing as significant figures and taking upon their persona is extraordinary and really helps to make the show. The cause for her appearance is because the mysterious Mr World demands Technical Boy apologise to Wednesday and Shadow for his previous actions. Although “Wednesday is collecting monsters like f***ing Pokemon”, he has no other choice but to agree.

Back at the hotel, poor Laura is feeling a little sad until a six-foot leprechaun by the name of Mad Sweeney storms in demanding his coin back. With a flick of her finger, she manages to incapacitate him and despite his offers to give her loads of gold coins, she’s happy with the one she has got. Naturally Sweeney isn’t happy and he attempts to kill the already-dead-but-reanimated Laura when two cops storm in to stop him and he pronounces she’s not dead, but Laura plays dead in order to get him hauled off to the station.

When Shadow and Wednesday are placed in the same interrogation room, Wednesday wants out because he now knows what is going down. This is the first time in which Wednesday seems scared and he has every right to be when blood curdling screams begin to sound throughout the station. Enter a floating Media as the gorgeous Marilyn Monroe soon followed by the reveal of a new player to the game.

Meet Mr World, and he is played incredibly well by Crispin Glover. His character adds to the show by further growing the opposing team and setting him up as Wednesday’s new god counterpart. After Technical Boy reluctantly apologises, the new god trio speak of forming an alliance be attempting to persuade Wednesday with an Odin nuclear missile so ‘everyone will know his name’. This would mean more power for the old god, but he’s not interested.

As they leave, Technical Boy misbehaves once more and Media blows a signature Monroe kiss except it’s so powerful it knocks his teeth out. After the newbies leave, Shadow and Wednesday escape from the destroyed and bloodied police station. These two aren’t the only ones doing some escaping as Laura kicks off the morgue locker door and heads back out into the world again.

Now, if American Gods continues to replicate this episode or the first two, it would definitely hold my interest and potentially others interests a lot better. Although shows typically have their rises and falls, with this show being so out there for some, it needs to have at least one element which will captivate the viewer and help to provide some kind of stability throughout what is an intense show. This week with its mild banter, characters and plot, it gave much more substance to the overall plot. On a side-note, I also need to mention the visuals because in each episode there has been some fantastic scenes and lastly, the score which is bizarre, yet so good.

What did you think of this episode? Let us know in the comments below!

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‘Git Gone’ sees the entire episode recounting Laura Moon’s past after the show surprised us with her return from the grave. Unfortunately this also means we don’t get to see any of the interesting ‘Coming From America’ or ‘Somewhere in America’ segments that help break up the very intense show.

Meet Laura

We open with a mysterious Egyptian setting until we realise it’s merely a Egyptian-themed casino, so perhaps they were just setting us up for disappointment right from the start. Laura works as a blackjack dealer and you can quite easily tell she’s not pleased with her life. This becomes quite obvious when she heads home, grabs a can of Git Gone fly spray and proceeds to spray it while she’s inside the hot tub with the cover closed and ends up gasping for air.

Day in, day out, Laura’s life has become routine until she meets a ridiculously handsome man who knows how to smooth talk and goes by the name Shadow Moon. The two don’t get off to the best start since she catches Shadow cheating and tells him to head out before he gets caught, but he hangs around to suggest they work together to pull of a heist. Hell of a pick-up line if you ask me, and it works because the two head back to hers and that’s where it all begins.

A Not-So Happy Life

The two going through the motions from dates to happy moments and marriage, it seems as though they’re doing alright, but the scenes also show an insight into how Laura is feeling. She seems quite withdrawn and dissatisfied with her life until she speaks to Shadow about revisiting his initial plan to rob the casino. With her so-called perfect plan, Shadow reluctantly agrees except the next minute he is in jail and accepting the full sentence rather than splitting the time between the two of them.

Without Shadow, Laura reverts even further back into her structure life until one day her best friend’s husband Robbie is helping her out and the two share a steamy kiss, and a little more. Using the affair in order to feel something, they continue on for over two years and we begin to see the other side of past scenes. Laura speaks to Shadow in what would be his last phone call to his wife when Laura heads off with Robbie who suggests he will leave his wife. Laura is appalled by the idea and suggests she gives him a ‘parting gift’ to end their affair. Unfortunately that ‘gift’ causes a car accident and Laura is left floating over her dead body.

Death Isn’t Always Forever Apparently

Thankfully this episode wasn’t entirely devoid of deities as Laura somehow finds herself in the desert facing Anubis. When he attempts to take her heart she denies him as she already knows her heart is heavy with misdeeds. This denial means she must accept the darkness and her trusty can of Git Gone and hot tub appear. Like many, Laura’s not to keen on accepting death and just as she denies Anubis once again, she is pulled into the sky and leaves behind a slack-jawed god.

Laura returns to Earth and claws her way out of her grave. She then decides to head for the pulsing gold light—which is definitely an homage to the whole ‘go towards the light’.

The light turns out to be Shadow because he’s quite literally the light of her life and he’s surrounded by Technical Boy’s henchman just as we saw back in the first episode. Shadow’s mysterious saviour turns out not be a deity, but his very own wife whom now possesses some killer strength. Running into the fray, she rips their heads off and pulls hearts out with her bare hands causing some some very bloody and gruesome, but yet cool, visuals. She then leaps up to pull Shadow done from the tree and kills off the rest of the henchman, but not without losing a limb of her own. We should also mention that somehow Laura is invisible and that’s why Shadow couldn’t see his saviour since the first episode was told from his perspective. Hopefully we can learn more about that in next week’s episode.

The Repercussions of Coming Back From The Dead

Not ready to face Shadow, Laura picks up her arm and heads back home to clean herself off, pack up some things and figure out what’s next. When her golden beau turns up at the house, as seen in Episode 2, she quickly hides out in what must be her safe haven—also known as a hot tub. Next thing we know, Laura suffering from stomach pains attempting to stitch her arm back on with some regular thread when her best friend Audrey turns up.

Apparently Laura headed to Audrey’s house to use her sewing supplies and she ended up giving her ex-best friend quite the scare. The natural reaction is to get to safety so Audrey runs into the bathroom but Laura desperately needs to use the toilet because embalming fluid doesn’t tend to agree with a live person.

After Audrey’s somewhat calmed down but remains still freaked out, she helps Laura stitch her arm back on and they hit the road in a car much less cooler than Wednesday’s. Laura wants to see her ‘puppy’, but before she can reach the golden light, Audrey almost hits a man and a jackal, which turns out to be Thoth and Anubis. The two Egyptian gods take Laura with them to their workplace, Ibis and Jacquel Funeral Parlor, because you know, mummification and the afterlife.

The two properly stitch Laura’s arm back on and give her a back-from-the-dead makeover which involves make-up and applying some seriously needed colour to her white-grey skin. In this scene, probably the only standout line is delivered and that is Laura being told, “Don’t move, you’re still tacky”. Anubis then warns her that when she is done, he will then deliver her into darkness. Laura then heads to Shadow’s latest motel and patiently awaits for him to return and we come full circle when Shadow walks in.

Is That It?

So, we learned more about Laura, but was it really essential? I personally was not expecting Laura’s story to take the entire episode and thought perhaps it might be a similar length to Salim and the Jinn’s or even a back-and-forth between her past and Shadow’s present. It feels strange to end the episode exactly in the same place as the previous episode ended and it seems as if it was just a filler. Sure we got to know more about Laura and Shadow’s past, but how does it help the upcoming war? The two briefly spoke about beliefs and that might contribute to the overall arc, but other than that, this episode may have caused a few viewers to drop off just like the many flies surrounding Laura. Hopefully next week brings it up a few more notches especially with Gillian Anderson’s Media channelling the brilliant David Bowie.

American Gods returns next week with ‘Lemon Scented You’.

What did you think of the episode? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!

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