American Gods - TV-Series

That bathroom scene was pretty wonderful.

The whole episode was pretty great. I thought the show was starting to get into kind of a lull with how disjointed the storytelling was becoming, but I really enjoyed this very straight to the point approach of showing us exactly what happened while amping up the intrigue.

Holy crap, I love Gillian Anderson's performance in this. The rest was good too, even if the story maybe could've progressed a little more.

What an incredibly enthralling show.

The god of shitty Pixar demands cannibalism.

Last episode definitely had a Deadly Premonition vibe, down to the motifs and everything. It doesn't seem like Gaping Dragon lady would be incompatible with internet exposure, she just wants more food.

Caught up with the last three episodes, pretty good stuff; last episode quite solid. If we're accepting that everything is controlled by belief there doesn't seem to be a situation where the Internet would lose, ever; though it's not necessarily incompatible with basic worship. However the concepts they're using as the pillars of existence seem to be Television, the Music/entertainment industry, and the Internet itself; and while the internet itself is an abstract concept (which is necessary for one to have belief versus knowledge or certainty) the other two aren't really.

The abstract concepts that drive today's society are the economy (which strictly speaking does not work if it isn't abstract, no one can explain the economy in full because it is so utterly chaotic and nonsensical, the idea is that everyone spends to their own detriment but it winds up fueling the greater machine which works sort of at least in the short term; however if you somehow convinced everyone that saving was more logical (which it is) then the economy would fall apart; thus the abstract nature of economic discussions is mandatory), electricity or rather just always having power and/or transportation available easily (when you lose it even for a short while on a broad scale everything becomes chaotic, also few understand what makes it work), and universal communication (which some could argue is the internet); these three concepts would never lose to mother nature as it were (but in 2001 when the book was written maybe they would have a small chance of losing). Another abstract concept is maintenance of the status quo, which one could argue is what all gods presented in the show achieve, the harvest happens because Easter, luck happens because Leprechauns (Somehow not a god? why is he immortal?), and so on. But it is just a singular concept and probably the most important one so this theoretical god should be almost as powerful if not more powerful than Mr. World. Of course how you do that without just making a ridiculously boring guy like the Architect in the Matrix is beyond me.

I don't really agree that the modern world is atheistic (though this is uttered by a villain and not necessarily what the show is saying), it is certainly secular. The problem is that people just aren't capable of operating without having belief in something whether it be the above abstract concepts or man's own ingenuity/science or any number of other things. If you want to have a Nietzsche sort of discussion on what is belief and is belief/the perception of consciousness a flaw in human beings that's another issue entirely; but if we're strictly sticking to any basic belief propagating the existence of a god or many gods; then it is impossible for the overwhelming majority of people; possibly literally everyone having a belief in something that they don't understand and will never understand. That's just how humanity operates.

I'm a little disappointed they didn't candidly reference metal bands at any point since I'm sure at least some of them or their supporters do actually still believe in Odin/Norse gods enough to generate respect; granted there are fewer in America than Europe.

The Wednesday reveal was fantastic. Love everything about this show. It just might be top 3 material.

I've never read the book so I don't know if this was a problem there too, but the pacing really killed this for me. Just kinda felt like half the season was vignettes that don't have a ton to do with the main story(like the one about Salim and the Jinn). Not that any of them were actually done bad, singled out I think they were all well done, but with how little actually happened in the main plot I just kinda felt like "that's it?" by the end of the season.

Hell you can even get a lot of commentary since Wotanism in North America are mostly associated with Neo-Nazis and white supremacists

@panfoot: The whole series is vignettes loosely tied together by a theme; though with some crossover at the end; but not enough to feel cohesive. Has no impact on the quality of the show in my opinion; it's a style show with some interesting ideas.

@panfoot: it's for the most part in lock-step with the book. I don't know if it always works on the show, as its pacing at times is glacial. The vignettes all do loosely build toward a larger theme, but in the book it works better...or at least, differently. I think it's a good show, but it feels more like it was designed from the ground up to be exclusively enjoyed by the people that have read the book and not really outright designed to appeal to those that haven't. Not to say that people won't, it just so specifically delves into even the most tiny bit of window dressing from the book, and modern TV has some people I think considering these points to be hugely important, when they're really just there for flavor. That's my perspective at least, as someone who has read the book but is watching/discussing with a lot of people that haven't.

The show is very well done overall, so I have hope and some degree of confidence that they'll pull it all off, provided it is popular enough to get through to the end. Fuller doesn't exactly have the best luck with his shows, unfortunately.