Kevin Cage of @spotlightsaga reviewsā¦ American Gods (S01E06) A Murder of Gods Airdate: June 4, 2017 @americangods Ratings: 0.666 Million :: 0.26 18-49 Demo Share Score: 7.25/10
āAmerican Godsā has been many things in its 6/8 episode run so far. A black 'road tripā comedy with 'Salim/Not Salimā (Omid Abtahi) literally driving the (third) wheel, as Mad Sweeney and Laura Moon trade quips & wisecracks with Salimās sexual experience with The Jinn (Mousa Kraish) as kind of a pun-centric center for their jabs at each other, is truly the cornerstone of 'A Murder of Godsā and most definitely a turn I didnāt expect the show to take. Pablo Schreiber gets my vote for MVP. It just dawned on me in this very episode just how much his aggressive, condescending tone, spitting out the words 'Dead Wifeā at a quickly decaying Laura Moon (Emily Browning) truly made me smile. With each scene, I believe Schreiber is earning himself a new rabid fan, and I canāt be the only one, so letās call it a swiftly growing fan-base just to be fairā¦ The irony he 'luckedā into this role as a last second replacement isnāt lost on anyone. His one-liners this go-round were completely next level. 'Did you have a genie in your bottle? Did you rub one out of him, darling?ā The Jesus bit is a little too long to quote for one review, but yeah. Sweeney 'knows a guy who knows a guy, and the guy sitting next to that guy is (Lauraās) guyā.
Introducing the audience to New Gods must be Bryan Fuller & Michael Greenās favorite thing about making this seriesā¦ They seem to really be having fun with it. This time we get a knock over the head with the most literal Chekhovās Gun of the series yetā¦ Well, more like Chekhovās Bullets, thousands and thousands of them, though the episode starting with just a few. We get a very picturesque sequence of Mexicanās crossing the border in what has to be the worldās smallest river. Clearly thereās a problem because the man in the back is hesitant when entering the water. I donāt know about you, but if I wasnāt the strongest swimmer I really wouldnāt want to go last in a conga line of people doggie paddling my way across a body of water in the dark. Our sinking man is pulled out by Mexican Jesus Christo, and while heās extremely helpful in the river, his luck airs on the side of Mad Sweeneyās (without his lucky coin)ā¦ Though I suppose heās there doing exactly what 'Jesus Christā does bestā¦ Sacrificing himself. Clearly the wall hasnāt been built yet. What, no punchline drums? Iām no Mad Sweeney but I thought that was a good one.
Each bullet in the scene is clearly marked with the word 'Vulcanā, as so eloquently glossed in slow-mo Texan borderline chaos, highlighted with crosshairs and shadowy Redneck Assholes with rifles and flashy holsters. Iām normally scouring the net trying to figure out what God weāll be introduced to, but this time it was obvious that Vulcan wasnāt a Star Trek reference and these bad boys werenāt meant for anyone to 'live long and prosperā. Vulcan is the Roman God of Fire, including volcanoes, and the forging of weapons in fireā¦ Hence the lava and metalworking of the bullet production we are introduced to as Shadow Moon (Ricky Whittle) & Mr Wednesday roll into the sinister, hair-raising town of Vulcan, Virginia. This, of course, is after a montage of 'The Worldās Greatest Bossā being shown making his way through a crowd of happy-go-lucky Vulcan employees waving at him manically before climbing to the top of the warehouse and leaning on faulty railing and falling to his death in a pit of scalding hot lava.
Where are the people of the town? Why, parading through the streets honoring the ritualistic sacrifice made in their God, Vulcanās (Corbin Bernsen) honor. At this point of the series, itās becoming painfully/excitingly obvious who has been swayed by Mr World & Media. Old Gods who seem to be devouring life after life, like Bilquis (Yetide Badaki), and now Vulcan whoās thunderous 'You Are What You Worshipā speech (which *almost* rivals Mr Nancyās sermon-like slave ship revolt) are dead giveaways. Donāt confuse my placement of words, Mr Nancy has given us no sign of a turn, his story took place in the past and appeared to not only get him to Point A to Point B, but to also serve as a characterization of the type of trickster God that he is, and the personification of his African Spider Mythos. These Chekhovās Bullets firing rapidly at the audience canāt be lost on one as perceptive and 'Ultimately Ultimateā as Mr Wednesday (Ian McShane). There is no doubt in my mind that Wednesday knew that Vulcan had already been influenced by 'The Worldlyā Mr World (Cripsin Glover) and the Omnipresent Media (Gillian Anderson)ā¦ His timely double cross and passive attitude to Shadowās genuine concerns in a town full of Militant Nazi like gun toting caricatures all seemed to be an elaborate plan. Vulcan might not be going to Wisconsin, but his beautiful, Digital God slaying, traditional metal sword certainly will.
