I have read American Gods by Neil Gaiman at least three times. I’ve owned half a dozen copies of the book in different editions at one time or another. I can never remember what exactly happens in it except that there are Old Gods, like Anansi and Thor, fighting New Gods, who are modern concepts personified. It’s an amazing concept and I always remember enjoying my read, but I suspect some kind of Gaiman-esque curse has altered my ability to hold any details of this book in my mind.
Now we have American Gods on Starz, and I don’t think I will ever suffer from an inability to remember this book again.
Ricky Whittle is finally given the opportunity to shine as Shadow Moon. To go from a stalled character and cut plotlines on The 100 to the lead of American Gods is an exhilarating leap that makes one believe fiercely in karma. Aside from being a beautiful man whose broad shoulders and lean jaw would be reason alone to watch the show, Whittle makes Shadow Moon a compelling presence: tense with grief but self-controlled, morally flexible but fundamentally decent, powerful in both movement and stillness.
Ian McShane brings in another astonishing performance as Mr. Wednesday. Congenial, familiar, eerie yet somehow ceaselessly charming, the mysterious Mr. Wednesday feels like a fist in a silk glove, a con man so cunning he barely needs to start the swindle before you’re emptying out your pockets. His every inflection, every lilt and tilt of his head and words, made me sit up and take notice. He’s just astonishing to watch. (Despite having read the book like three times, I spoiled myself by searching for Mr. Wednesday’s backstory, so, uh, don’t do that.)
While that infamous sex scene straight from the novel has taken up a lot of American Gods’ coverage since episode 1’s release, I was less interested in the vore ‘n’ gore of it all and far more interested in the subtleties of Yetide Badaki’s performance as Bilquis, Queen of Sheba.
She starts out self-conscious, vulnerable and weary, shyly asking for validation of her beauty and appeal from some dowdy old white man she met on a dating site (nice modern touch). The fellow seems decent enough, hesitant to go “all the way” with her on the first date but happy enough to be cajoled along. While most heterosexual love scenes are cringe-inducing for me to watch (there’s just so many of them, oh my god), watching Bilquis gather her momentum and confidence was really arresting. Her radiant glow of satiety and contentment afterwards felt absolutely worthy of a goddess.
"Bilquis and all of these old gods have fears. Fears of no longer being relevant. Fears of being forgotten. It's very relatable, those ideas. There's this attempt to survive. You see them as extraordinary beings, but they're in ordinary circumstances in their day to day. How do you make a living now? They find themselves in dark places. Sometimes it's worse that they used to know so much beauty and glory, only to find themselves in this situation,” said Badaki in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter , eloquently summing up not only Bilquis’ tragedy but also the depth of her satisfaction and empowerment in that scene.
There’s also Technical Boy, a New God of the Internet who was so on point it hurt. Everything about Technical Boy’s posture, outfit and hair screamed the arrogant new money of a freshly-funded venture capitalist flush with angel investor cash. Even his side-cornrows and splayed-open posture featured casual disrespect, entitlement and appropriation perfectly suited to the dark side of Silicon Valley. The tension in the young god’s face, the subtle twitches and mercurial flashes of displeasure and sincerity as he demanded answers of Shadow Moon were incredibly well-played by Bruce Langley. The pixel-like, glitchy cuts of Technical Boy were really jarring and effective, making you remember that this is a god here, only one facet of whom we’re being permitted to see.
Importantly, Technical Boy has changed significantly from his conception in the novel as a fat, acne-scarred young man in a long black coat to a slim, stylish Euro-moneyed fellow so lean with a nameless hunger that his nostrils flare with it between breaths. But the Internet has changed a lot since American Gods came out, and it wouldn’t be American Gods if the New God himself didn’t change to reflect it.
“Technology has gone from something that was the province of the young to something ubiquitous and in your pocket, and the aesthetics of that have changed,” said showrunner Michael Green in an interview with Entertainment Weekly . “Technology very much has a tie into fashion, which goes in cycles and changes overnight. What’s in fashion, technologically, and what’s in fashion, in fashion, are minute to minute and you can’t possibly keep up. And we look to the Technical Boy to be someone who’s very much a victim of both. The idea of feeling like you have to feed the beast of what’s new and what’s fresh is very much in his mind.”
I would be remiss if I didn’t point out the leprechaun, played by Pablo Schreiber, a feisty ginger asshole who goads Shadow Moon into an epic bar fight. I would also be remiss if I didn’t point out the sexual overtones to all that fighting, which might not have been there intentionally, but hey, Hannibal ’s Brian Fuller is one of the showrunners and the homoeroticism of violence isn’t a new concept, so maybe they were. It was a damn treat either way and Schreiber’s Mad Sweeney is electrifying.
Final mentions include Betty Gilpin’s scene at Laura Moon’s graveside with Shadow, a discomfiting scene where the clearly altered Audrey swings wildly from grief to rage to all-encompassing pain. It was hard to watch but very well-delivered. For the duration of that scene, I cared about non-god characters other than Shadow Moon. Trust me: that’s a hell of a job.
I watched episode 1 of American Gods rapt with attention and breathless with anticipation. This is a condition very, very few shows manage to get me into, yet the originality of Neil Gaiman’s novel combined with the fantastic, surreal vision of Green and Fuller and the incredible, perfect casting of its various larger-than-life characters and gods made for an irresistible combination. I’m so excited I don’t even mind paying extra for Starz ( and I really don’t like paying extra for anything ).
What did you think of American Gods episode 1? What moments stood out for you? Feel free to let us know in the comments section below.
