New Media
After the dramatic ending to last week’s episode, American Gods returns for another slice of hedonistic deity action. This week it’s all about the coming war, as both sides take steps to strengthen their ranks before the upcoming fight. We begin with Shadow Moon, lying face down in a pool of his own blood. With Mr World breathing down his neck, tracking his every move, Shadow heads to Cairo to meet up with the Egyptians and Old Gods. After being greeted by a mocking crow, he hitches a ride with a girl at a nearby gas station after she sees through his “nice-guy” facade with the cashier. This girl happens to be called Sam Black Crow. Meanwhile, the New Gods are in disagreement over the best way to proceed following their failed plan with the train last week . However, the balance of power shifts in their favour when a newly invigorated Media shows up with a shiny facade and an upgraded personality for good measure. Working with Technical Boy, the two set out to track down another God in a bid to persuade them to join their cause. With Laura begrudgingly agreeing to help Mr Wednesday with his task, Mad Sweeney is left with rotten luck in light of not being near his lucky coin. After his boat breaks and he almost gets run over by a bus, he looks to have caught a lucky break by hitching a ride. In a dark sense of irony, it turns out this bus houses a hardcore Christian rock band. Mr. Wednesday continues to sow seeds of doubt in Laura’s mind, taunting her over Shadow’s closeness to Sam Black Crow and how she’s changed from the woman she used to be. He tells Laura she needs to make a sacrifice for them to escape. After burning the room and watching the flames hungrily lick up the walls, she goes after Media and Technical Boy. As Media forms an alliance with a strange, blind God wrapped in wires, Laura breaks up the pact and stabs the God in the head. As the New Gods scatter and Laura is left to deliberate over what’s she’s done, Wednesday disappears into the shadows. Speaking of which, our protagonist makes it to Cairo and confronts Mr. Wednesday over what he’s been through. Shadow demands to know why the New Gods are after him but Odin skips around the question, offering several riddles in the process and leaving us pondering over what his real plan is for Shadow Moon. Everything appears to be building up to the climactic fight at the end of the season now and given the progress American Gods is making this year, hopefully it doesn’t amount to a disappointing end. Given the issues with the show off-screen, the story and narrative direction is generally consistent here, continuing the same hedonistic, mysterious vibes given off in the first season. As the episodes tick by, the rising tension between the two sides is really starting to heat up and hopefully this results in a memorable fight at the end of the season.
