American Gods premieres on Starz on April 30th.
This is a spoiler-free advance review of American Gods, which premieres on April 30th.
The most stunning, jaw-dropping moment from American Gods' premiere episode doesn't involve Shadow Moon (Ricky Whittle), Mr. Wednesday (Ian McShane) or any of the other characters central to the narrative showrunners Bryan Fuller and Michael Green are weaving.
Instead, it comes during a vignette in the middle of the episode featuring a character you haven't seen before; a washed up, has-been goddess of love struggling for her place in the world during the age of online dating and Tinder. This minutes-long distraction from the main storyline sees her bring her paunchy, aged date into her bedroom, becoming entangled with him in a sex scene worthy of American Gods' network home, Starz.
"Worship me," she commands, her voice wringing with power and desperation. It's in that scene that American Gods is at its most powerful. Just like the goddess Bilquis, so far from home and fighting for relevance; just like newly released ex-con Shadow Moon, who finds himself adrift in an unfamiliar world; just like the array of magical creatures and dangerous gods and listless, unsatisfied mortals who will rotate through this eight-episode season, American Gods strives to encapsulate who we are and what we stand for as Americans.
If that's all a bit heavy to start a review with, let me quickly get this back on track by saying American Gods' first episode is unlike anything you've seen before in all the right ways. Opening with a bloody Viking battle depicting how they brought their god to America, it quickly transitions to the tragic story of Shadow Moon and his first encounter with the mysterious Mr. Wednesday.
American Gods channels all the visual beauty Fuller achieved in Hannibal but with a backbone of clear purpose behind it. There's a beautiful amalgamation that comes from the partnership of Fuller, Green and author Neil Gaiman for this project. All of their skills with visual storytelling become that much more powerful when there's a message to their writing, and this message involves exploring the American experience.
"The Bone Orchard" throws its viewers in the deep end, just like Shadow Moon, who's greeted after his release from prison with a string of bad news and repeated encounters with the audacious and suspicious Wednesday. The premiere comes fully together when Whittle and McShane first meet on screen, which is a good sign considering much of this series relies on the chemistry and relationship between their characters. Fuller and Green dress the world of American Gods with Gaiman's colorful characters, including the simmering Mad Sweeney (Pablo Schreiber) and the vaping, terrifying Technical Boy (Bruce Langley). Shadow Moon is in over his head. What he doesn't know is he is caught in the middle of an age-old battle.
But what is that battle, and who is pulling the strings to send Shadow Moon on this journey that is seemingly out of his control? What elevates American Gods is it's not concerned with offering up those answers in any timely fashion, and the show so captivating to watch and experience that its mysterious nature isn't frustrating. Fuller pulls in a visual language Hannibal viewers will find familiar, having Shadow Moon dream of the Bone Orchard and the mysterious White Buffalo who resides there; it's evocative of Will Graham's dreams of the Stag. While Fuller and Green veer into the abstract with their storytelling, grounding the narrative in Shadow Moon's perspective keeps the premiere anchored.
While the chemistry between Whittle (The 100) and McShane (Deadwood) is responsible for much of the forward momentum of "The Bone Orchard," its the supporting characters who give the show its personality and flavor: from Schreiber to Betty Gilpin, who chews through her screentime as the wife of Shadow's best friend; from Beth Grant as kind bartender Jack to Yetide Badaki, who is sure to become a breakout star thanks to her role as Bilquis. And Fuller and Green give Emily Browning a lot more to do as Shadow's wife Laura than book readers might expect, so consider that a tease for what's to come later in the season.
As intriguing as the main storyline in the kick-off to this eight-episode season is, the real strength is the "Coming to America/Somewhere in America" vignettes that occur at the beginning and middle of each episode of the series. (Disclaimer: I've seen the first four episodes of Season 1.) Each details a different god's journey arriving or living in America. This fantasy adaptation isn't explicitly trying to explore the immigrant experience, but that theme is rooted in the story's DNA; Gaiman has been open that he tapped into his experience as a Brit moving to the United States in his novel. American Gods' exploration of what being an American means suddenly becomes significantly more relevant when it's viewed through the country's current political climate.
This is exactly the sort of challenging, well-executed and stunning fantasy I hope to see more of on TV. American Gods is a far cry from the likes of Game of Thrones in terms of being contemporary versus high fantasy, but both are rooted in familiar human concerns and political conversations. While American Gods won't be for everyone, it's a welcome return to TV for Bryan Fuller, a spot-on adaptation of Neil Gaiman and yet another win for Starz, which has been delivering excellent genre content in recent years with the likes of Black Sails, Outlander and Ash vs Evil Dead.
The Verdict
American Gods doesn't pull any punches with its series premiere, delivering a powerful and visually stunning first episode. Thanks to the chemistry of Ricky Whittle and Ian McShane, the central storyline is off to a strong if mysterious start, but it's the vignettes about gods who have come to America that intersect the episode, and the themes that Bryan Fuller and Michael Green are trying to explore with them, that have us equally intrigued.
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