TV is certainly on a high-right now. In fact, due to the popularity of Netflix, Amazon Video, and other VOD services, more people are flocking to worship the small TV box over the great cinema screen that once took prominence in our media religion. You could say the Old God of Films has been replaced by the New Gods of Television…
Neither is good or bad, mind, but the constant restraint of Hollywood and resurgence of TV studios means that artists can romp more freely on the smaller screen. It’s where masterminds such as Bryan Fuller can carve out more compelling and imaginative horrors. In fact, his work on shows such as the exuberant Pushing Daisies and the exquisite Hannibal have been some of the best. Alongside Michael Green, Fuller brings his poetic Gothic imagery to an adaption of Neil Gaiman’s American Gods.
The show revolves around Shadow Moon who is released from prison early when his wife Laura is murdered alongside his best friend Robbie. On the rocky road to her funeral, Shadow is pursued by the turbulent and tricky Mr. Wednesday who wants Shadow to be his own personal body-guard. Truth is, Mr. Wednesday is part of a larger world where New Gods and Old Gods are waging bloody war for dominance on Earth and Shadow Moon is now unwillingly inducted into their fold…
The Bone Orchard, directed by David Slade (who has worked on Fuller’s Hannibal before,) is a head-spinning but, altogether triumphant, opening episode to the American Gods saga. The world is mightier than we know and the unveiling of this secret world is mysterious and interesting. Through Ricky Whittle’s Shadow Moon, we are immersed into this new and highly visual world, with imagery reminiscent of Fuller’s Hannibal but more legendary in it’s scope.. There are facets of modern society weaved into the new mythology which’ll make an interesting power play alongside the New and Old Gods of America. It’s within the kernels of emotional nuances including Laura’s funeral, showing that we will be grounded in humanity’s struggle as well as the grander ones.
Whittle is a fine and gruff protagonist who reflects his own confusion as he is enlisted into an unknown fight and struggle Ian McShane is delightfully entertaining as Mr. Wednesday whilst the morose merriment of Pablo Schreiber’s Mad Sweeney makes a beguiling brother in arms. Technical Boy is captivating antagonist with his digital faceless sidekicks and Emily Browning should, hopefully, have more to play from beyond Laura’s grave as she is just reason for Shadow’s pain, rather than a fleshed out character.
The most talked about scene is Biliqus, a Goddess of Love, who takes in (literally) a victim to appease her needs. This twisted love scene, drenched in hues of black and red, ultimately serves as a core vignette of what we can expect from the show. Biliqus meets up with a hapless divorcee for a one night stand where her human form literally consumes him during sex, though his death is met with elation and literal call to prayer. Actress Yetide Badaki thrives in this role as she delicately writhes and lovingly thrashes to get her desires met. Passionate and fearsome, with a visually stunning scene, Badaki immerses herself in the role and the sex scene is, indeed, palpable in it’s great oddness. A memorable opulent scene of deity eroticism that’ll turn fully within your mind.
There is story weaved into this first hour that, perhaps, experts on the book will find easier to unpack than novices to the Gaiman world. Yet there are seeds weaved into the soil of our minds; grains of intrigue melded into the dirt with sweat and blood. There are deep graves of narrative that we’re digging into as we are caught by the beautiful flesh of Fuller & Green’s creation. As we transverse through American Gods, may future episodes be just as divine as this one.
American Gods is available on Amazon Video now!
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