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American Gods |OT| You Had Me At Bryan Fuller - Sundays on Starz

J

jph139

Member
I honestly wasn't too hot on the opening. Semi-book spoilers (unspoilers?):
Anansi having specific knowledge of the future, wearing a zoot suit in a slave ship, really raises a lot of questions about the nature of gods in this show that the book never touches on. Like, there's always a sort of odd relationship with the past and future, but this felt like a whole new step out of the established rules. Unless I'm forgetting something from the book.

The transition from "Shadow being lynched -> Shadow is alive -> Shadow is patched up -> Shadow is back with Wednesday" was also WAY too abrupt for me. Like, how did he get out of the situation?

Otherwise though, fantastic. Stormare and Czernobog was so perfect. His dinner rambling was beautiful to watch. The whole apartment, the "family" dynamic, was very well realized.

I'm mostly shocked at how quick it went by, though! I thought it was like, halfway over when the credits started rolling. At this rate they'll be able to stretch the hell out of the book.
 
H

Haly

One day I realized that sadness is just another word for not enough coffee.
I hope they actually give Bilquis some real plot instead of making her swallow people with her vagina every episode.
 
M

More_Badass

Member
jph139 said:
The transition from "Shadow being lynched -> Shadow is alive -> Shadow is patched up -> Shadow is back with Wednesday" was also WAY too abrupt for me. Like, how did he get out of the situation?
Click to expand...
We already saw him saved last episode. He didn't see who saved him or else that would have been shown/touched on. Do we need to see him staggering, confused and bloody, to the nearest hospital?
 
H

hydruxo

Member
More_Badass said:
Pilot: He's beat, lynched, then saved
Ep2: He's being patched up from his wounds at a clinic/hospital

By him being patched up after being saved at the end of the pilot, it's understood what happened in between.
Click to expand...

Yeah I guess he's just saying he'd have liked to see who saved Shadow. I assume that'll be revealed at some point soon though.
I think it was Sweeney.
 
J

jph139

Member
More_Badass said:
We already saw him saved last episode. He didn't see who saved him or else that would have been shown/touched on. Do we need to see him staggering, confused and bloody, to the nearest hospital?
Click to expand...

Honestly, yeah. In a world with gods and unreality and all sorts of crazy shit, that's the one thing that broke my suspension of disbelief. A guy barely alive, after getting the shit beaten out of him and having the life choked out of him, crawls out of a ditch by the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. Then he manages to make it to a hospital, alone, on foot, in the middle of the night?

Like, he's in suburban Indiana! It'd be like an hour walk, minimum. A quick shot of him staggering a bit, passing out, and a good samaritan dragging his ass to a hospital would have solved that problem for me.

Maybe there's more to be revealed in those cuts, but I doubt it. I think they just wanted to have an impactful climax to the first episode and wanted to sweep it all up as quickly as possible for episode two.
 
A

Admiral Woofington

Member
More_Badass said:
Pilot: He's beat, lynched, then saved
Ep2: He's being patched up from his wounds at a clinic/hospital

By him being patched up after being saved at the end of the pilot, it's understood what happened in between.
Click to expand...

Yeah seriously. I'm reminded of the jokes during a Rifftrax, specifically the Birdemic one.

"but how will we know you are driving the car if we don't see you get in the car, turn it on, leave the parking lot!"

Was there any doubt what happened? And if answers weren't given on
who did it
it's not meant to be given yet, it'll be done later.
 
T

tim.mbp

Member
Guess Bryan Fuller has a blood fetish.

After 2 episodes, I'm pretty lukewarm on the show. Maybe I'll check back later.
 
E

Enk

makes good threads.
God, it is so great to see an slimy, unfiltered Ian McShane back on tv again. Makes me want to re-watch Deadwood so bad.

Admiral Woofington said:
Yeah seriously. I'm reminded of the jokes during a Rifftrax, specifically the Birdemic one.

"but how will we know you are driving the car if we don't see you get in the car, turn it on, leave the parking lot!"

Was there any doubt what happened? And if answers weren't given on
who did it
it's not meant to be given yet, it'll be done later.
Click to expand...

Heh, I was actually thinking the exact same Birdemic/Rifftrax reply to this.
 
A

Apt101

Member
When I first heard about it I wasn't sure about Orlando Jones playing Anansi but he really feels the part. Though the anger? I'd have expected to have him come out more cheerful.
 
T

TheNatureBoy

Member
Great opening for Anansi.

I thought Mr. Wednesday might have been the one to have saved Shadow Moon last episode, but from their hotel conversation it doesn't look like that is the case.

Didn't recognize Gillian Anderson as Media.

I'm tapping out on any game of checkers where the outcome is death.
 
R

ryseing

Member
Haly said:
I hope they actually give Bilquis some real plot instead of making her swallow people with her vagina every episode.
Click to expand...

They are? The scene in the museum established that she was regaining her powers.

Hope we get Crispin Glover soon. Gillian Anderson/Orlando Jones were both brilliant but Crispin is the fourth lead. Would be a shame if he's in less than half the season.
 
A

Admiral Woofington

Member
I think the Anansi scene is great. The fact that he comes in
with knowledge of the future and with modern clothing
is fucking awesome because it implies if not outright confirms that Gods
aren't tethered by time, they have knowledge of every time period

This opens up some plot holes if you REALLY want to get into it such as
'don't they know if they will win?'
but for the sake of this scene I'm willing to give it a pass and hope the show answers it effectively.
 
M

More_Badass

Member
Admiral Woofington said:
I think the Anansi scene is great. The fact that he comes in
with knowledge of the future and with modern clothing
is fucking awesome because it implies if not outright confirms that Gods
aren't tethered by time, they have knowledge of every time period

This opens up some plot holes if you REALLY want to get into it such as
'don't they know if they will win?'
but for the sake of this scene I'm willing to give it a pass and hope the show answers it effectively.
Click to expand...
I particularly liked it because I was imagining just how...otherworldly Anansi would seem to them in that kind of clothing and speaking of such future things they can't completely comprehend
 
J

Jarmel

Banned
Maintenance said:
During the Anansi monologue I shouted "damn" so loud I woke up everyone. That shit was fire, pure fire.
Click to expand...

You know that pissed off a number of white viewers. I can just imagine some white people screaming at their TV while watching that scene.

Just going all the way in. I was wondering how much of the stuff in episode 1 was intentionally done to bring up racism in America and turns out, all of it was.
 
M

Maintenance

Member
Jarmel said:
You know that pissed a number of white viewers off.

Just going all the way in. I was wondering how much of the stuff in episode 1 was intentionally done to bring up racism in America and turns out, all of it was.
Click to expand...

I know, I had a huge smile during the whole scene.
 
M

Media

Member
Anansi! Yesssssss

Spit that fire.

And my husband didn't recognize Gillian Anderson at all, despite having a huge crush on her. She did amazing.

*ponders changing avatar *
 
N

NoblesseOblige

Banned
Haly said:
Not really a fan of the opening it
changes Anansi a lot. He's a trickster god not a vengeance god. I guess this is why they cast someone younger when he looked like Wednesday's age in the book.
Click to expand...

I like the change. Like what they did with Technical Boy they've made it more relevant to today than what a completely faithful adaptation would achieve. Also it's more accurate to actual Anansi lore where he's a symbol of resistance and uses his cunning and trickery against his oppressors, not so much his followers.
 
T

TheOddOne

Member
A

Admiral Woofington

Member
Honestly Mr Nancy stole the show from the Old Gods. The rest will be great, but I always felt the new Gods stole the show in the novel. And in the first episode Technical Boy was amazing. Media in here was only a short introduction, but I'm sure she will also be great.

But Mr. Nancy. My god. If they can keep that up with the character the rest of the show, oof.
 
R

RedStep

Member
Jarmel said:
You know that pissed off a number of white viewers.
Click to expand...

I don't think the cross-section of "American Gods Viewers" and "'Non-woke' White American Gods Viewers" is super-huge. As delicious as it might seem, we've seen that B-rye Fuller fans are a pretty niche and progressive group. And your meema ain't flippin' through Starz on a Sunday night.
 
Z

zeemumu

Member
It's hard to see this guy drunkenly wandering into an apartment throwing lamps at people
latest
Click to expand...
 
A

Admiral Woofington

Member
RedStep said:
I don't think the cross-section of "American Gods Viewers" and "'Non-woke' White American Gods Viewers" is super-huge. As delicious as it might seem, we've seen that B-rye Fuller fans are a pretty niche and progressive group. And your meema ain't flippin' through Starz on a Sunday night.
Click to expand...
The mental image of 90 year old mee maw going though

"ooh sonny now that grandpa has gone to sleep I can't wait to switch to starz and watch me one of my many shows with hardcore Rome sex and hard ding dongs, now let's see here, American gods? Sounds educational not exactly what I was l- oof I'm uncomfortable"
 
Head of Vengarl

Head of Vengarl

Banned
So glad to hear the show is good (so far). I "read" the audiobook last year and really liked it. I don't have cable so sadly I can't watch this, but maybe when the season is over (and if it retains its quality) I'll buy/rent it on Amazon or something.
 
R

RatskyWatsky

Hunky Nostradamus
I thought the second episode was great, and a big step up from the first. It was a lot more coherent and did a better job of fleshing out the characters and the world. Got a nice kick out of seeing Peter Stormare chew the scenery as an old cow murdering Slavic god.

Random thoughts:

Gillian Anderson as Lucille Ball
Media
was everything~

I think this episode set the record for most erections seen in a single episode of a scripted American series...?

Question to book readers (spoiler tag your response, but don't make it too spoilery!):

A big focus so far has been placed on foreign gods that eventually made their way over to the US (Odin, Bilquis, Anansi, Czernobog), but do we ever get to see any of the indigenous North American gods?

jph139 said:
I honestly wasn't too hot on the opening. Semi-book spoilers (unspoilers?):
Anansi having specific knowledge of the future, wearing a zoot suit in a slave ship, really raises a lot of questions about the nature of gods in this show that the book never touches on. Like, there's always a sort of odd relationship with the past and future, but this felt like a whole new step out of the established rules. Unless I'm forgetting something from the book.
Click to expand...

I was confused by that as well. Sort of threw my (perhaps incorrect, non book reader) assumptions about the nature of the gods out the window.
 
Grizzlyjin

Grizzlyjin

Supersonic, idiotic, disconnecting, not respecting, who would really ever wanna go and top that
RatskyWatsky said:
Question to book readers (spoiler tag your response, but don't make it too spoilery!):

A big focus so far has been placed on foreign gods that eventually made their way over to the US (Odin, Bilquis, Anansi, Czernobog), but do we ever get to see any of the indigenous North American gods?
Click to expand...

Yes, especially if the casting info for this season is correct.
 
M

Markitron

Is currently staging a hunger strike outside Gearbox HQ while trying to hate them to death
I am extremely arachnophobic, and the first two seconds of Episode 2 has cost me a nights sleep. Can someone tell me if this is gonna be a problem throughout the episode, and if so, exactly what point should I skip to?

Thanks.
 
H

Haly

One day I realized that sadness is just another word for not enough coffee.
Markitron said:
I am extremely arachnophobic, and the first two seconds of Episode 2 has cost me a nights sleep. Can someone tell me if this is gonna be a problem throughout the episode, and if so, exactly what point should I skip to?

Thanks.
Click to expand...
9:45
 
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