Yep. At least for me I learned about the days of the week after learning them in French and wondering about the differences, between, say "jeudi" and "thursday", and from "thursday", I learned about "tuesday", "wednesday" and "friday".
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American Gods |OT| You Had Me At Bryan Fuller - Sundays on Starz
- Thread starter TheOddOne
- Start date
Yep. At least for me I learned about the days of the week after learning them in French and wondering about the differences, between, say "jeudi" and "thursday", and from "thursday", I learned about "tuesday", "wednesday" and "friday".
That's how i feel about pretty much everything in the show. In the book it felt like it was building context and meaning even if you didn't quite get it; in the show things are just weird.
whyamihere
Banned
Both are very weird and very obtuse and fairly confusing, especially at first. I don't really see a difference. I also get why people who haven't read the book aren't feeling it or don't understand what's happening. It's a weird book! I get you disagree.
NoblesseOblige
Banned
I guess most people have no interest in word etymology, and that's unfortunate. Since probably 6th or 7th grade I knew Wednesday comes from ' day of Woden', and Woden is an alternative form of Odin.
Vulcano's assistant
Banned
What is funny is that the one character the book kinda makes a bigger deal out of Shadow figuring it out (late book iirc)
is the one that any viewer would get instantly if they just hear the name spoken on TV.
(Loki)
So they obviously omitted it.
Yup. And again, this is because the modern world has changed. You might have gotten away with it before 2011, assuming people weren't familiar with the pantheon. But now,
everyone knows who Loki is due to Marvel.
Baconsaurus Rex
Member
I think it's still in the credits so it's not completely omitted, but I'm not sure. But yeah
Fucking Marvel.
I'm giving this show one more episode. Like I want to care about these characters but god damn nothing is given importance besides the lucky coin. We have gay sex gods and gods eating people through their vagina for no apparent reason. Half the time I'm just wondering wtf I'm watching.
The series so far feels really self indulgent or maybe made for people who have read the book? Either way as someone who likes adult, script heavy shows like GOT, black sails and the like this show is not doing it yet.
The series so far feels really self indulgent or maybe made for people who have read the book? Either way as someone who likes adult, script heavy shows like GOT, black sails and the like this show is not doing it yet.
^
Precisely
My point revolves around editing and pacing rather than the content itself. In the book the weirder shit is padded out a lot by "road trip" and "character stories" and "what they're up to" and as such the narrative feels smoother. It's an easier ride on the mind. The weird bits are still "wtf", but there's plenty of relatively normal "breathing room". The tv show cuts out all the padding and pacing, making it just a relentless roller coaster of just really weird shit. You can't digest the last mental scene before another one steam rolls right onto you.
Ofc if you feel both are on the same level, fair enough.
Precisely
My point revolves around editing and pacing rather than the content itself. In the book the weirder shit is padded out a lot by "road trip" and "character stories" and "what they're up to" and as such the narrative feels smoother. It's an easier ride on the mind. The weird bits are still "wtf", but there's plenty of relatively normal "breathing room". The tv show cuts out all the padding and pacing, making it just a relentless roller coaster of just really weird shit. You can't digest the last mental scene before another one steam rolls right onto you.
Ofc if you feel both are on the same level, fair enough.
whyamihere
Banned
I feel the exact same way about the book as the show, which is, needlessly obtuse, at least at first! Though I've only seen three episodes of American Gods so I don't know where the show goes.
MY point was, I don't understand why people are surprised people who didn't read the book don't understand what's going on -- it's not easy to follow at first! You disagree. That's fine. I found it confusing until they get to
House on the Rock.
NoblesseOblige
Banned
What does 'script heavy' mean? Because Game of Thrones just outright omits entire story lines in order to lighten the script. And many episodes jump around between one of fifty story lines so frequently that you make next to no progress in any of them until you come up to an episode centered around a major conflict or event.
whyamihere
Banned
This show is... not exposition heavy.
whyamihere
Banned
I mean, I don't even know what that means even if it means "exposition heavy".
Zoe
Member
That term was thrown around a lot during the last season of Hannibal, so I wasn't surprised at all to see it here too.
Vulcano's assistant
Banned
probably means dialogue heavy. Like say an episode with a lot of dialogue can be 50 pages long, or you could have an episode with action and scenery shots that is 40 pages long.
I think it means whether the show/story spends a lot of time making sure you know what's going on, versus throwing you into the deep end and letting you fend for yourself.
I'd say, perhaps, Cameron's Aliens is very exposition heavy, but Aranofsky's The Fountain isn't. That sort of thing.
Moff
Member
I feel the same, we are on the third of eight episodes and there are still new characters introduced without a tie to the main story with shadow and wotan. I consider that exposition.
whyamihere
Banned
That isn't what exposition means...
Yes, I know what exposition means, but the post you quoted doesn't make sense even with being "exposition heavy".
Grizzlyjin
Supersonic, idiotic, disconnecting, not respecting, who would really ever wanna go and top that
I didn't really find the book to be that obtuse. It isn't a Murakami novel or anything. The "Somewhere in America..." sequences are just giving more context to how this world operates. It's not like the cab driver is Shadow's stepdad. They're plopped in the novel the same way, without warning and not tightly woven into the main story. I wouldn't sweat them too much. They're just cool little extras.
For example, a character is introduced in GoT. They're given a title, a fiefdom, and some nonsense that explains what place they occupy in the political landscape of Westeros.
A character is introduced in American gods. They have weird god-sex with a mortal. Who are they? Why are they having weird god-sex? It's anybody's guess.
It's funny, because I didn't realize the name until it was actually revealed lol
whyamihere
Banned
I understand the term exposition, but maybe what I mean is that "adult, script heavy" show is just a bad way to describe something and I actually don't think it means exposition heavy versus just... I'm not sure? Maybe we should ask the poster!
Moff
Member
I'd consider all of these "coming to america" segments as exposition, and we still had 2 of them in this weeks episode for anubis and the jinn
Vulcano's assistant
Banned
In a way he's right. Bilquis scenes and the Coming to America scenes are there to give hints about how the world of American Gods works. They show more than tell, but exposition is not only done by telling the viewer.
So far from them, and only from them, the show communicated that: Gods want to be worshiped and can regain some youth/power, that there is an afterlife, that old gods very first arrivals are tied to immigration.
I don't really consider the vignettes to be exposition (for the main narrative). They are what they are, vignettes. They're like side quests in Skyrim that build upon the world of Skyrim. They bring life to the world of Skyrim, even if they're not necessarily important to your quest as the dovahkin.
| Praxis |
Banned
I'm really enjoying it, but I have read the book and just like seeing it brought to the screen in such a stylish way.
Moff
Member
that really depends if they ever tie into the main story, if they do, which is what I expect, I'd consider them exposition. I haven't read the book so I don't know. if we never see those gods again it's something different, sure.
Curt Baboon
Member
People complaining about the show being obtuse need to realize that in the book there's a BIG scene that pretty much tells you what's happening, who these people are and why they matter. Before that scene, the book plays it just as coy as the series.
The scene is most likely coming next episode if they get to the House on the Rock. Why is four episodes of world-building and setting up mysteries so unacceptable now? They are letting on JUST enough for you to ask the right questions.
The scene is most likely coming next episode if they get to the House on the Rock. Why is four episodes of world-building and setting up mysteries so unacceptable now? They are letting on JUST enough for you to ask the right questions.
I'm not gonna say your wrong or anything because this is really subjective and up to personal tastes.
But between all the wierd god stuff, we do have normal stuff happening. Pretend for a moment that all the "Coming to America" segments were cut. What would we have?
Shadow would be spending his time trying to get to Eagle Point to grieve his dead wife. He'd meet a strange man whose doing odd things, but nothing truly out there. He shows up in improbable places, knows more than he should, but it's not to the point of pure fantasy.
From there, the show is easing us in with various things happening to Shadow, and he himself is thinking "What the fuck is going on". But thus far, the motivations themselves have been mundane. The leprechaun just wanted a bar fight, technoboy just wanted information on his enemy, Media just wanted to bring Shadow over to her side. Weirdness is invading Shadow's life and he doesn't have an explanation for them, but the motivations behind these supernatural characters are human and mundane and easily understandable. It's one thing to be confused about why a lady is eating people with her vagina, but Shadow's motivations are straightforward and simple: The loss of his wife eats him up emotionally and with nothing else in his life now that he's out of prison, Wednesday offering him both a job and a decent distraction is his escape.
The only character whose motivations are truly and instrumentally unclear is the character whose intended to be: Wednesday. You're supposed to be wondering what he's truly up to, since that's his whole thing, but we're slowly chewing through even that. Just this episode, he said that he doesn't want to be forgotten and established it as his greatest fear.
I almost wish I could have forgotten the book to know if I'd think the same thing without it, but as it is for me, it works.
It's unclear but I think it's the last one. They
enter some dimension of pure orgasmic bliss, if space penis man is any indication.
Basically her vagina is magical sex Kirby.
Basically her vagina is magical sex Kirby.
That's hard to say precisely. Sacrifice is a god's sustenance. For mankind's sacrifice, they give them things in return. Bilquis, being a fertility and love goddess, seems like she gives them intense, unearthly sexual pleasure the more people sacrifice. As she escalates, people sacrifice more, to the point where they give her 'everything'. Apparently, that includes their very body, so she takes them into herself. And there, she keeps them in that state of ecstacy.
So they seem to be alive, but inside her in an alternate dimension sort of space. It's unknown if they fade away or if this dimension sustains them forever. However, since Bilquis certainly isn't as powerful as she used to be and needs more, it's probably the former. But as of now, the tinder guy is alive.
dead souls
Member
Baconsaurus Rex
Member
Grizzlyjin
Supersonic, idiotic, disconnecting, not respecting, who would really ever wanna go and top that
The funny thing is I saw your reply before the original quote and knew it would be "self indulgent." Haha. Yeah...they were all the way up their own asses with those first couple of Europe episodes.
| Praxis |
Banned
I thought Hannibal in general was up its own ass for what amounted to a silly murderer of the week procedural. Still, I found some stuff to like because I enjoyed the books so much.
TyphoonStruggle
Member
Book spoilers all up in here? Damn...
Yabberwocky
Member
I finally got my shit together to start watching American Gods! Gotta support Fuller, though I feel bad that I'm a bit belated in starting. (I'm still mourning Black Sails finally ending, okay, it has taken some time to heal from that loss.) I started reading the AG book a long time ago, but I don't think I got much further in than the content than the first episode. I don't know why I didn't finish the book, so I'm basically going into the series as a newcomer to the material.
I'm only one episode in, and I'm pleasantly surprised by how much I'm liking it. I thoroughly enjoyed Hannibal, but even from the beginning of the series until the very end, it felt like a slightly detached unnerving fever dream. It's bizarre considering the, er, godly subject matter, but AG feels a bit more grounded and straightforward in comparison. That isn't to say that the fever dream aspect isn't there - especially considering how the first episode starts! - but it still feels more grounded and less detached than Hannibal. I again really liked Hannibal, but it could be downright exhausting to watch at times.
Goddamn at that opening credits sequence, too. It's joined the ranks of the opening credits of Game of Thrones and Black Sails (and kinda Westworld) where I'm completely incapable of fast forwarding through it. It's such a fascinating visual feast with so much detail to take in, not to mention that great accompanying music.
It's always such a joy to once again have the glorious Ian McShane on my TV screen. There are few things more satisfying than watching McShane effortlessly and charmingly chewing his way through all the scenery. I'm still convinced the man could make reading the phonebook riveting. A pleasant surprise has been Ricky Whittle, who I'd been a bit concerned about casting-wise after seeing his work as Lincoln in The 100. I'll be 100% dumping the blame on the showrunners for that shitshow with Lincoln, because Whittle is wonderful. He makes Shadow quietly charismatic and likeable, and even better, he has excellent chemistry with McShane. (Thank god!)
The ending of the first episode was unnerving as hell. I'm looking forward to seeing where it all goes from there.
Yeah, there's definitely an interesting comparison between the styles! GoT is definitely dialogue heavy, Black Sails even more so. Alongside strong character arcs for all the main cast, Black Sails is also a ludicrously dense show narratively (in terms of foreshadowing, parallels, set-ups/pay-offs) that all of it had to be given to the audience via the dialogue. Black Sails being so dialogue driven was satisfyingly fitting considering its classical literary inspiration and parallels throughout the series itself (the works of Marcus Aurelius, Homer, Miguel de Cervantes, etc). In comparison, American Gods definitely feels a lot more visually driven, which I'm actually okay with thus far considering I think Hannibal went too far in the dialogue-heavy direction at times.
One of my frustrated beefs (had to, sorry) with Hannibal was that there was a lot of dialogue, but not in a satisfying way. There were often long monologues where the dialogue barely moved the scene or the characters forward, or sadly often brought the pacing to a complete stall. American Gods feels so much cleaner in that respect, even though the characters are being purposefully obtuse. Again, Hannibal is great, it's just an interesting contrast considering Hannibal was Fuller's previous series. I guess AG's approach is currently working for me thus far, and I'm a bit more comfortable with the approach of the show being exposition-light as Shadow is completely out of his depth as much as the audience is. That being said, I know that if the show doesn't change its approach in the long-term it could become a bit unsatisfying and exhausting to watch.
Speaking of Fuller, man, I still miss Dead Like Me.
I'm only one episode in, and I'm pleasantly surprised by how much I'm liking it. I thoroughly enjoyed Hannibal, but even from the beginning of the series until the very end, it felt like a slightly detached unnerving fever dream. It's bizarre considering the, er, godly subject matter, but AG feels a bit more grounded and straightforward in comparison. That isn't to say that the fever dream aspect isn't there - especially considering how the first episode starts! - but it still feels more grounded and less detached than Hannibal. I again really liked Hannibal, but it could be downright exhausting to watch at times.
Goddamn at that opening credits sequence, too. It's joined the ranks of the opening credits of Game of Thrones and Black Sails (and kinda Westworld) where I'm completely incapable of fast forwarding through it. It's such a fascinating visual feast with so much detail to take in, not to mention that great accompanying music.
It's always such a joy to once again have the glorious Ian McShane on my TV screen. There are few things more satisfying than watching McShane effortlessly and charmingly chewing his way through all the scenery. I'm still convinced the man could make reading the phonebook riveting. A pleasant surprise has been Ricky Whittle, who I'd been a bit concerned about casting-wise after seeing his work as Lincoln in The 100. I'll be 100% dumping the blame on the showrunners for that shitshow with Lincoln, because Whittle is wonderful. He makes Shadow quietly charismatic and likeable, and even better, he has excellent chemistry with McShane. (Thank god!)
The ending of the first episode was unnerving as hell. I'm looking forward to seeing where it all goes from there.
Yeah, there's definitely an interesting comparison between the styles! GoT is definitely dialogue heavy, Black Sails even more so. Alongside strong character arcs for all the main cast, Black Sails is also a ludicrously dense show narratively (in terms of foreshadowing, parallels, set-ups/pay-offs) that all of it had to be given to the audience via the dialogue. Black Sails being so dialogue driven was satisfyingly fitting considering its classical literary inspiration and parallels throughout the series itself (the works of Marcus Aurelius, Homer, Miguel de Cervantes, etc). In comparison, American Gods definitely feels a lot more visually driven, which I'm actually okay with thus far considering I think Hannibal went too far in the dialogue-heavy direction at times.
One of my frustrated beefs (had to, sorry) with Hannibal was that there was a lot of dialogue, but not in a satisfying way. There were often long monologues where the dialogue barely moved the scene or the characters forward, or sadly often brought the pacing to a complete stall. American Gods feels so much cleaner in that respect, even though the characters are being purposefully obtuse. Again, Hannibal is great, it's just an interesting contrast considering Hannibal was Fuller's previous series. I guess AG's approach is currently working for me thus far, and I'm a bit more comfortable with the approach of the show being exposition-light as Shadow is completely out of his depth as much as the audience is. That being said, I know that if the show doesn't change its approach in the long-term it could become a bit unsatisfying and exhausting to watch.
Speaking of Fuller, man, I still miss Dead Like Me.
There's both in the Bliss Place 😆
DarknessTear
Banned
More dicks! I see so many dicks on TV lately. American Gods is definitely one of them, and then there's a lot of manbutt everywhere too. The Leftovers did it this week, I can't even remember what else at this point. It's all a dick-shaped blur.
Admiral Woofington
Member
Should've been called American Dongs
Well this show really seems in love with itself and not open to actually explaining what is going on to the viewer.
The gay love scene was really daring I think. It's the most homosexual erotic scene I've ever personally seen. The flaming transparent orgasm had me just staring at the screen not knowing what to expect. I half expected the receiving guy to burst into flames lol.
DarknessTear
Banned
Yeaaah I can't say I expected to see someone cum fire inside a person. But I also didn't expect to see someone shove people in her vagina. This show is so weird and I love it.
CrimsonSquall
Member
That sex scene was next-level. Never seen anything like it. Wrong episode to show my mom tbh