Can someone explain what is happening to me? I feel confused. I feel lost.

The premiere of American Gods (based on a novel of the same name by Neil Gaiman) was preceded by a lot of hype courtesy of Entertainment Weekly. I never read one of those articles because I knew it would be filled with lots of butt kissing but I made a mental note to watch the premiere and form my own opinions of the show. Which was basically the aim of EW flooding our timelines with links of American Gods reviews.

At first, it looks like I know what is happening, and then later, I’m not so sure. Does the opening scene/story somehow play into the bigger picture or is it just a way to make the show stand out? It’s easy to assume that Shadow (played by Ricky Whittle)  may be the descendant of the Vikings who came to an unknown land or the son of the War god they worshiped but seeing as he lost not one but two fights in that episode, I’m not so sure.

On the one hand, we have Shadow Moon (which is his actual name) who has weird “feelings” and dreams – aka being intuitive. Shadow is released from prison and almost immediately runs into a mysterious old man named Wednesday (played by Ian McShane). He also discovers that he has lost not only his wife but his best friend (in one fell swoop of exciting-blowjob-meets-highway-accident) who was to offer him a job at his gym. So basically, Shadow has no home to go back to. Which makes him rather ripe for plucking by Mr. Wednesday.


The thing about Mr. Wednesday – minus the fact that he’s a creepy old man who stalks people into the bathroom –  is that he also hangs around weird company and just generally gives off that creepy vibe. Then there’s the leprechaun who so badly wants a fight, can produce gold coins out of the air and mysteriously asks Shadow if he knows who Wednesday “really is”. Might I also add that one of the coins he produces out of thin air sank into Shadow's wife's grave? Did someone say cursed? I will not be surprised to see Laura alive and slutty in the next couple of episodes.

Image: STARZ


Then there’s Bilquis – a woman who took her date into a red room, insisted that he worship her and then swallowed him whole through her hooch. (Insert dramatic gasp). As unnerving as that scene was, it wasn’t particularly surprising seeing as the entire room was red and had lit - also red - candles. I mean everything about that room screamed human sacrifice but that man badly needed to get laid so he went in anyway.


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By this time, I’m thinking that this is a “gods stuck on earth” type of situation but then the last 5 minutes of the premiere episode threw most of that theory out of the window. We have a young man with a small drone-like object - which is as big as the inside of a limo - and can conjure thugs from thin air.

STARZ

Is it also a coincidence that Shadow is haunted by a noose and ends up almost dying by hanging? I tried to do an internet search of hanged gods but I didn’t quite find what I was looking for. Though I did find a passage from the Bible {Deuteronomy 21: 22-23} which hinted that a hanged man was one cursed by God. So is that it? Is our beloved Shadow cursed? We can’t say for sure.


But here’s what we do know


Shadow agreeing to work for Mr Wednesday, and sealing the deal with the drink kind of felt like him selling his soul to the Devil, and sealing it with his blood. But unlike the protagonist in Marie Corelli’s Sorrows of Satan, I don’t see Shadow getting out of this deal.

To summarize, I'm not quite sure what’s happening on the show but I like it. And I’m here for the ride.


Do you have any theories on where the show is headed? Share your thoughts.