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| Edited By: Rucha Sharma |Source: DNA |Updated: May 20, 2017, 11:41 AM IST
An inevitable fight is looming between the old gods, led by Mr Wednesday (aka Odin), against new gods, led by Mr World. Mr Wednesday has to gather the old gods — who all moved to America at one point or the other — against the new order that takes advantage of people losing faith and interpreting the meaning of worship.
Mr Wednesday finds Shadow Moon, his Man Friday, just when the latter is getting out of a prison only to find out that his wife has died. Shadow has nothing to do, but put his life in danger. Something Mr Wednesday can put to good use.
To put it in simple words, the first season of American Gods is a story of a road trip across America to bring the Old Gods together for an inevitable war against the new ones.
Let’s get it out the way first. The cinematography in American Gods is spectacular. It plays a huge role in taking the story forward and can be written a thesis on. It does remind one a lot of Hannibal, stylistically, but given it’s a Bryan Fuller show, do not expect anything else.
Each episode starts with a story that underlines the connection between gods and men. These short stories foreshadow the theme of that particular episode. Then comes Ian McShane as Mr Wednesday, pulling Ricky Whittle’s Shadow Moon in his orbit. He is a god but doesn’t hesitate to be a conman to survive in the new world. Waxing philosophical is all he does and that is all he needs. Whittle stands on his own against McShane.
Apart from McShane, the other character that stays with your is Gillian Anderson’s god, Media. The first time she appears in front of Shadow, to get him to the other side, she pinpoints the exact way new gods were successful in getting people away from the old ones. By putting glowing screens in front of them.
It’s the crisp dialogues wrapped around the hard-to-digest philosophies that makes the show interesting. It’s the narratives that keep you hooked once you decide to get over everything that can shock you.
A special shout out to Orlando Jones and his character of African god, Anansi. Sometimes known as Mr Nancy, he delivers a speech in the second episode of the show. These are the five minutes or so of 2017 television, you DO NOT WANT TO MISS!
American Gods sure does borrow from all mythologies. It does borrow from the power struggles of the real world. But the storytelling is as bizarre as it can get. It asks you to check if you believe in what you see or you see what you believe. And there is fun in questioning what you already know. Bringing Neil Gaiman’s words to life is not easy. It is different when he does it himself for Doctor Who. But adapting his vision is an ambitious attempt that has to be experienced once.
It is not meant for faint-hearted. Your idea of gods is tested for one. Then you need to have trained your brain to be capable of digesting gory scenes. This is no Game of Thrones or Santa Clarita Diet.
Fans of the works of Neil Gaiman or Bryan Fuller won’t need an excuse. But others take your time to think about it. Maybe read the book first.
