American Gods 2.01.
Mar. 11th, 2019 01:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakThe second season starts at a point of the book where I thought the first season would be by episode 3. There's again a mixture of great, nope and hm, don't know yet going on in me re: the tv version. In other words, American Gods, the tv series, is back.
So, when last we watched, I was wondering how the show would/could continue even roughly along the book's major storylines given the big, big departure from the novel of a) Laura finding out Wednesday was the cause of her death at this point already and seemingly about to tell Shadow, and b) Easter pulling a stunt one the lines of Demeter when Persephone was taken by Hades at Wednesday's instigation combined with a first strike at the new gods, which never happens in the novel at all and isn't the kind of thing book!Shadow would have signed on to. At all. The only idea re: Laura I had was that she doesn't tell Shadow the truth in the hope she can blackmail Wednesday into resurrecting her properly with a living body.
Which I suppose is what happens on the show, though they haven't spelled it out so far; the brief conversation between Laura and Wednesday at least seems to indicate it. As to the secoond: I've got nothing. Apparatnly, Show!Shadow's reaction is the opposite of what Book!Shadow's would have been, and he's now on fire for the war effort. Err. Hm. Well.
I knew Neil Gaiman hadn't invented the House on the Rock, that it was an actual place, but I'd never seen pictures, so this was the first time I got the visuals and it's even more bizarre than I thought after reading the book descriptions. Last season I was in two minds re: Biilquis - on the one hand, I'm all for not killing female characters, otoh, there did not seem to be a point to her storyline (unlike McSweeney's, who also got to live way beyond his book death but who was given some actual stuff to do and an important connection to the main story). This season, however, Bilquis gets more lines, more characterisation, and a point to her survival. Excellent. Aside from the show-only double agent role, I'm guessing she gets Bastet's part in the novel, with some of Easter's (since the actress is currently not available, but then the thing with the bunnies makes a good Watsonian explanation!). Kali aka Mama-ji is like I imagined her. Mr.Nancy/Anansi mentioning his son, as he does in the book, makes me wonder whether The Anansi Boys will happen on screen, too, and if so, whether Orlando Jones will still be on board? I hope so. He's awesome in the part - more angry and sharper than I had thought, but that's entirely justified.
As mentioned above, I'm somewhat confused as to what the show thinks it's doing re: Shadow's characterisation. Ian MacShane continues to bring it as Wednesday, though the big climax of the episode is my "hm, don't know yet" thing about what it does. Talking about it is impossible without book spoilers, though. Which is why I'm making spoiler space for tv only readers who don't want to know yet.
W
H
A
T
I
T
T
A
K
E
S
On the one hand, the sequence is well executed, pardon the pun, a hit on the old Gods makes sense in terms of both the ostensible reason (Mr. World strikes back) and the real reason (if, as I assume, the show doesn't just abandon the central premise of the novel, i.e. the entire war between the gods turns out to be a two-man-con performed by Wednesday/Odin and Loki/Mr. World.) - as a motivation for the old gods to sign on the war. And certainly Wednesday is capable of dastardly choosing a goddess he really likes as the sacrifice. But here's my big problem: it's too obvious. The reason why no one (of the characters, and I bet also of most readers) realises the two men con thing until Shadow figures it out is that Wednesday doesn't arrange for another god to be killed but for his own, real, death, in the biggest gamble of all. As Nancy says in the novel when Shadow reveals the truth, the other gods would have known if Wednesday had faked it. It's an incredibly high stake gamble on Wednesday's part, but it would have succeeded, he would have been resurrected, if Shadow hadn't realised the truth in time. Otoh anyone familiar with good old Odin would/should be able to guess he'd be capable of sacrifice someone else, especially if he says something as blatant as "is that what it takes?" thereafter, and it just so happens that the only god who actually died was a goddess without any fighting power, who hasn't done anything to piss Mr. World off. And the tv only audience would know, too, given the show did the reveal re: Laura's death far, far earlier than the novel.
On the third hand: maybe in the tv show, the characters will indeed guess the truth, wiithdraw their support, and then we get Wednesday's own death, making everyone believe they misjudged him and get on board with the war effort? Because if Wednesday doesn't die as he does in the novel, for example because the producers don't want to lose Ian MacShane for the remainder of said show until the big finale, then I'll spend the rest of the tale frustrated at everyone's dumbness. At the very least, Czernobog and McSweeney among the gods and Laura among the not-gods should be able to suspect the truth almost immediately in their show characterisation.
B
A
C
K
T
O
T
H
E
R
O
O
T
S
Lastly: the Johnny Cash song matched to the final sequence was inspired. As I said in the cut, best use since the SCC season 1 finale. Loved it.
So, when last we watched, I was wondering how the show would/could continue even roughly along the book's major storylines given the big, big departure from the novel of a) Laura finding out Wednesday was the cause of her death at this point already and seemingly about to tell Shadow, and b) Easter pulling a stunt one the lines of Demeter when Persephone was taken by Hades at Wednesday's instigation combined with a first strike at the new gods, which never happens in the novel at all and isn't the kind of thing book!Shadow would have signed on to. At all. The only idea re: Laura I had was that she doesn't tell Shadow the truth in the hope she can blackmail Wednesday into resurrecting her properly with a living body.
Which I suppose is what happens on the show, though they haven't spelled it out so far; the brief conversation between Laura and Wednesday at least seems to indicate it. As to the secoond: I've got nothing. Apparatnly, Show!Shadow's reaction is the opposite of what Book!Shadow's would have been, and he's now on fire for the war effort. Err. Hm. Well.
I knew Neil Gaiman hadn't invented the House on the Rock, that it was an actual place, but I'd never seen pictures, so this was the first time I got the visuals and it's even more bizarre than I thought after reading the book descriptions. Last season I was in two minds re: Biilquis - on the one hand, I'm all for not killing female characters, otoh, there did not seem to be a point to her storyline (unlike McSweeney's, who also got to live way beyond his book death but who was given some actual stuff to do and an important connection to the main story). This season, however, Bilquis gets more lines, more characterisation, and a point to her survival. Excellent. Aside from the show-only double agent role, I'm guessing she gets Bastet's part in the novel, with some of Easter's (since the actress is currently not available, but then the thing with the bunnies makes a good Watsonian explanation!). Kali aka Mama-ji is like I imagined her. Mr.Nancy/Anansi mentioning his son, as he does in the book, makes me wonder whether The Anansi Boys will happen on screen, too, and if so, whether Orlando Jones will still be on board? I hope so. He's awesome in the part - more angry and sharper than I had thought, but that's entirely justified.
As mentioned above, I'm somewhat confused as to what the show thinks it's doing re: Shadow's characterisation. Ian MacShane continues to bring it as Wednesday, though the big climax of the episode is my "hm, don't know yet" thing about what it does. Talking about it is impossible without book spoilers, though. Which is why I'm making spoiler space for tv only readers who don't want to know yet.
W
H
A
T
I
T
T
A
K
E
S
On the one hand, the sequence is well executed, pardon the pun, a hit on the old Gods makes sense in terms of both the ostensible reason (Mr. World strikes back) and the real reason (if, as I assume, the show doesn't just abandon the central premise of the novel, i.e. the entire war between the gods turns out to be a two-man-con performed by Wednesday/Odin and Loki/Mr. World.) - as a motivation for the old gods to sign on the war. And certainly Wednesday is capable of dastardly choosing a goddess he really likes as the sacrifice. But here's my big problem: it's too obvious. The reason why no one (of the characters, and I bet also of most readers) realises the two men con thing until Shadow figures it out is that Wednesday doesn't arrange for another god to be killed but for his own, real, death, in the biggest gamble of all. As Nancy says in the novel when Shadow reveals the truth, the other gods would have known if Wednesday had faked it. It's an incredibly high stake gamble on Wednesday's part, but it would have succeeded, he would have been resurrected, if Shadow hadn't realised the truth in time. Otoh anyone familiar with good old Odin would/should be able to guess he'd be capable of sacrifice someone else, especially if he says something as blatant as "is that what it takes?" thereafter, and it just so happens that the only god who actually died was a goddess without any fighting power, who hasn't done anything to piss Mr. World off. And the tv only audience would know, too, given the show did the reveal re: Laura's death far, far earlier than the novel.
On the third hand: maybe in the tv show, the characters will indeed guess the truth, wiithdraw their support, and then we get Wednesday's own death, making everyone believe they misjudged him and get on board with the war effort? Because if Wednesday doesn't die as he does in the novel, for example because the producers don't want to lose Ian MacShane for the remainder of said show until the big finale, then I'll spend the rest of the tale frustrated at everyone's dumbness. At the very least, Czernobog and McSweeney among the gods and Laura among the not-gods should be able to suspect the truth almost immediately in their show characterisation.
B
A
C
K
T
O
T
H
E
R
O
O
T
S
Lastly: the Johnny Cash song matched to the final sequence was inspired. As I said in the cut, best use since the SCC season 1 finale. Loved it.
