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Full spoilers for American Gods abide below. For added on American Gods, accomplish abiding to apprehend our spoiler-free analysis of the alternation premiere and actress Yetide Badaki's adventure abaft Bilquis's big sex scene.
Bryan Fuller isn't diplomacy his punches aback it comes to lacing political and cultural annotation through American Gods, and chase -- decidedly Shadow Moon's chase -- was a primary focus of the series' additional episode.
After the blatant and blood-soaked Vikings aperture arrangement in the alternation premiere, "The Secret of Spoon's" addition to Orlando Jones' Anansi was about as acicular a account as Fuller and co-showrunner Michael Green can make, and was the added able for it. Jones' monologue delivery was chill-inducing during the "Coming to America" opening, as he told a address abounding of disciplinarian about the abounding approaching they had advanced of them in America.
One way or another, though, Anansi did accomplish it to American shores, and Shadow Moon is our dark-skinned hero with a abounding approaching in the present day. As Anansi foretold and as Shadow finds out in this episode, he's activity to get "f**ked" over the advance of this journey. It's absorbing and important that this race-themed adventure came afterwards the end of "The Bone Orchard," which saw the Technical Boy's goons adhere Shadow from a timberline afore some abstruse actuality rescued him. That's some loaded imagery, and American Gods was smart not to let it lie; that doesn't assume like article Fuller and Green are absorbed in doing.
In that way, "The Secret of the Spoon" is a absolutely able episode. Shadow ability accept a boxy alley advanced of him, as we acquisition out from Zorya (by the way, Cloris freakin' Leachman!), but he's not the alone dark-skinned acceptation to acquisition themselves busted over afresh and again. We analysis aback in with Bilquis, who had the bigger episode-stealing moment in the premiere, to acquisition out she isn't abnormally blessed about her accepted accompaniment of diplomacy -- alike if her victims don't assume to be so agitated about area they, umm, acquisition themselves. Alike Peter Stormare's Czernobog helps accumulate the cilia alive. Afterwards starting the adventure with such a able and absolute aperture statement, the added attenuate aberrant of the affair of chase through the blow of "The Secret of the Spoon" fabricated for a anxious analysis of the topic.
In agreement of structure, though, a lot of the drive of "The Secret of the Spoon" started in the aboriginal bisected of the adventure and afresh fizzled out by the end. From Anansi's addition through the accession in Chicago, American Gods was just as good, if not better, than its division premiere. The way Fuller and Green wove aback in Laura Moon so we can accept a bit added of her death's appulse on Shadow and the way he perceived her afore her betrayal was actual effective. And the additional best arrangement in the adventure (first actuality Anansi's aperture scene) is the consistently aces Gillian Anderson authoritative her admission as the goddess Media.
Ricky Whittle plays Shadow as the beeline man, with alike Mr. Wednesday acclamation Shadow's absitively abridgement of allure in this episode, but the acumen why that doesn't annoyance bottomward the activity of this alternation is because of the bright characters who beleaguer him. The admirers is seeing this crazy new apple of old gods vs. new gods through Shadow's eyes, which is why the faculty of actuality befuddled in over your arch mostly works. With characters like Media, you accept what she is and what she represents aback Anderson delivers curve area she talks about how TV became a new god that anybody started to worship; the aforementioned with the Technical Boy. Alike characters like Anansi and Bilquis accomplish faculty in context, alike if you aren't absolutely brushed up on your all-around mythology.
That's a big allotment of why the additional bisected of the adventure doesn't assignment as able-bodied as the first. Mr. Wednesday lays out what seems to be the anatomy of this division aback he tells Shadow the plan is for them to accumulate with a agglomeration of bodies at one of the best important places in America, but not afore he goes to Chicago to get his "hammer." It's bright Stormare's Czernobog is that hammer, but the appearance makes a aberration in not bigger establishing who he is, who the Zorya sisters are or why they're so important to Mr. Wednesday that he would appear address ability and accident Shadow Moon's activity to get them to appear with him.
A little digging can accord you your answer, but it's acceptable not accepted ability that Czernobog is a Slavic celestial whose name actually agency "black god," or that his "light" brother who he keeps referencing is the Slavic god of light, Belobog. The aforementioned goes for the Zorya sisters, who represent the Morning, Evening and Midnight Stars. Knowing that puts those scenes into bigger context, but because it plays out defective it, the absolute aback bisected of the adventure loses a lot of beef -- not alike Stormare's accomplished monologuing can accumulate it up. Once again, an adventure of American Gods ends with Shadow's activity in the balance, appropriately attached aback to the abstraction that he is absolutely "f**ked."
A few baby Easter eggs: that guy Mr. Wednesday was talking to aback Shadow showed up at the booth is the Djinn, who we'll be seeing added of soon. That "Motel America" has the aforementioned bison on it that Shadow was absent about (and additionally I absolutely appetite to own that shirt). Additionally that band about "Lucy's tits" is beeline out of the Neil Gaiman novel, so that should amuse the book readers out there.
The Verdict
American Gods delivered a able additional outing, with important and well-handled political and cultural annotation threaded throughout. Area it suffered was with the abridgement of ambience in the additional bisected of the episode; eventually or later, it's activity to accept to clue Shadow Moon -- and the admirers -- in to what's absolutely activity on.
Editors' Choice
