This is the first bit of world-building accomplished by the
American Gods
crew, who have an interesting task ahead of them. Eight episodes to
establish characters, create a universe, and somehow turn the dense
world of Neil Gaiman into something palatable for television viewers.
Fortunately,
American Gods has a coin up its sleeve in the form of Shadow Moon (Ricky Whittle).
Moon, who only wants to get out of prison and be reunited with his
wife Laura (Emily Browning), finds himself cast into a world far beyond
his understanding after a series of tragic events. He falls under the
spell of a smooth-talking mystery man dubbed Mr. Wednesday (Ian
McShane), who recruits Shadow to be his driver, bodyguard, castellan,
and aide-de-camp. As it turns out, Wednesday might be up to something,
and a lot of people want to find out what that is, apparently by beating
Shadow to a pulp.
HERE TO DOWNLOAD SEASON 1 EPISODE 1
This is the first step into a big, weird world, and the viewing
audience will be taking the steps right alongside Shadow as he learns
just what he's gotten himself into. Ricky Whittle is spot on as Shadow;
he's confused, he's careful, he's stoic, and he's violent when
appropriate. Shadow's grief and loss is a seething thing, and it's easy
enough for Wednesday, Mad Sweeny (Pablo Schreiber), and Technical Boy
(Bruce Langley) to manipulate him for their own purposes, whether it's
assistance, a fight, or information.
In many ways,
American Gods feels like the synthesis of the
career of Bryan Fuller. He co-wrote the pilot episode with Michael
Green, he's the executive producer, and he's the guiding hand behind the
adaptation coming to the screen. The show indulges in everything
Fuller's name represents in the television world. The special effects
are seamless and hallucinatory. The violence is over-the-top and bloody.
The characters are compelling. The writing is strong out of the gate,
barring a few moments that are deliberately cheesy.
The mythology is dense, particularly in the first episode, but with a
strong grounding character, it's a manageable feat. Shadow is learning
about the world around him; so Fuller and Green use that as a way to
provide exposition without doing simple exposition dumps. Wednesday
reveals himself in his interactions with Shadow (and the lady at the
airport); Technical Boy reveals himself in flashy CGI and a constant
stream of obnoxious vape clouds; he's every YouTube streaming superstar
or reality television figure smashed into one obnoxious package, right
down to the ridiculous haircut and red skinny jeans (the anonymous
cronies with faces like blank Twitter eggs is a very nice touch). Ricky
Whittle is a great lead, imposing physically but with an expressive
face, but it's Ian McShane who steals the show upon entry. He's
charming, sleazy, and a fast-talker who baffles with bullshit when he
can't dazzle with intellect. Bilquis (Yetide Bakadi) also has quite an
introduction.
The episode isn't perfect. There are some pacing issues, and the
musical cues are very much on the nose, but there's an energy to the
thing that propels it. The tonal shifts could also be hard for some
viewers to handle, as it veers from comedy to drama to psychedelic
horror in turns (Betty Gilpin's Audrey is a great example of how it can
work from a dramatic standpoint). Still, director David Slade handles it
confidently, putting all his experience working with Fuller on
Hannibal
to good use. The comedy bits land. The emotional moments have
resonance. The world-building begins quickly and expediently, and it's
handled with the style most viewers associate as part of the Fuller
brand.
American Gods probably won't be a disappointment to the fans
of Neil Gaiman's work. It's crafted with care and precision, and once
the world around Shadow is more fleshed out, should find better footing
on which to balance comedy, drama, and mystery. The updates, by and
large, work, and the stuff taken from Gaiman's book should speak for
itself. If the show can continue to mesh new material with book
material, mix comedy and drama, and showcase the incredible performers
signed on, it's going to be a huge success.