"Time and attention: better than lamb's blood."
Full spoilers for American Gods continue below. For more on American Gods, make sure to read our spoiler-free review of the series premiere and actress Yetide Badaki's story behind Bilquis's big sex scene.
Bryan Fuller isn't pulling his punches when it comes to lacing political and cultural commentary through American Gods, and race -- particularly Shadow Moon's race -- was a primary focus of the series' second episode.
After the flashy and bloody Vikings opening sequence in the series premiere, "The Secret of Spoon's" introduction to Orlando Jones' Ansani was about as pointed a statement as Fuller and co-showrunner Michael Green can make, and was the more effective for it. Jones' monologue delivery was chill-inducing during the "Coming to America" opening, as he told a ship full of slaves about the fraught future they had ahead of them in America.
One way or another, though, Ansani did make it to American shores, and Shadow Moon is our dark-skinned hero with a fraught future in the present day. As Ansani foretold and as Shadow finds out in this episode, he's going to get "f**ked" over the course of this journey. It's interesting and important that this race-themed episode came after the end of "The Bone Orchard," which saw the Technical Boy's goons hang Shadow from a tree before some mysterious person rescued him. That's some loaded imagery, and American Gods was smart not to let it lie; that doesn't seem like something Fuller and Green are interested in doing.
In that way, "The Secret of the Spoon" is a really strong episode. Shadow might have a tough road ahead of him, as we find out from Zorya (by the way, Cloris freakin' Leachman!), but he's not the only dark-skinned import to find themselves screwed over again and again. We check back in with Bilquis, who had the biggest episode-stealing moment in the premiere, to find out she isn't especially happy about her current state of affairs -- even if her victims don't seem to be so upset about where they, umm, find themselves. Even Peter Stormare's Czernobog helps keep the thread alive. After starting the episode with such a strong and direct opening statement, the more subtle weaving of the theme of race through the rest of "The Secret of the Spoon" made for a thoughtful exploration of the topic.
In terms of structure, though, a lot of the momentum of "The Secret of the Spoon" started in the first half of the episode and then fizzled out by the end. From Ansani's introduction through the arrival in Chicago, American Gods was just as good, if not better, than its season premiere. The way Fuller and Green wove back in Laura Moon so we can understand a bit more of her death's impact on Shadow and the way he perceived her before her betrayal was very effective. And the second best sequence in the episode (first being Ansani's opening scene) is the always fabulous Gillian Anderson making her debut as the goddess Media.
Ricky Whittle plays Shadow as the straight man, with even Mr. Wednesday addressing Shadow's decided lack of charisma in this episode, but the reason why that doesn't drag down the energy of this series is because of the colorful characters who surround him. The audience is seeing this crazy new world of old gods vs. new gods through Shadow's eyes, which is why the sense of being thrown in over your head mostly works. With characters like Media, you understand what she is and what she represents when Anderson delivers lines where she talks about how TV became a new god that everyone started to worship; the same with the Technical Boy. Even characters like Ansani and Bilquis make sense in context, even if you aren't completely brushed up on your global mythology.
That's a big part of why the second half of the episode doesn't work as well as the first. Mr. Wednesday lays out what seems to be the structure of this season when he tells Shadow the plan is for them to reunite with a bunch of people at one of the most important places in America, but not before he goes to Chicago to get his "hammer." It's clear Stormare's Czernobog is that hammer, but the show makes a mistake in not better establishing who he is, who the Zorya sisters are or why they're so important to Mr. Wednesday that he would come bearing gifts and risk Shadow Moon's life to get them to come with him.
A little digging can give you your answer, but it's likely not common knowledge that Czernobog is a Slavic deity whose name literally means "black god," or that his "light" brother who he keeps referencing is the Slavic god of light, Belobog. The same goes for the Zorya sisters, who represent the Morning, Evening and Midnight Stars. Knowing that puts those scenes into better context, but because it plays out lacking it, the entire back half of the episode loses a lot of steam -- not even Stormare's excellent monologuing can keep it up. Once again, an episode of American Gods ends with Shadow's life in the balance, suitably tying back to the idea that he is totally "f**ked."
A few small Easter eggs: that guy Mr. Wednesday was talking to when Shadow showed up at the diner is the Djinn, who we'll be seeing more of soon. That "Motel America" has the same bison on it that Shadow was dreaming about (and also I really want to own that shirt). Also that line about "Lucy's tits" is straight out of the Neil Gaiman novel, so that should tickle the book readers out there.
The Verdict
American Gods delivered a strong second outing, with important and well-handled political and cultural commentary threaded throughout. Where it suffered was with the lack of context in the second half of the episode; sooner or later, it's going to have to clue Shadow Moon -- and the audience -- in to what's really going on.
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