American Gods episode 6 review: Vulcan thirst quench
This episode, however entertaining the Shadow Moon / Mr. Wednesday stuff might be, actually illuminated further something that was certainly not expected going into this season: The show is actually better when Laura Moon is the main character than when Shadow is. Part of the big reason for that is that in between her and Mad Sweeney, you do have two characters who are a little bit more off-the-cuff and more open to sharing what’s on their mind. The pairing of Shadow and Wednesday is challenging given that they’re both the strong, silent type, and often don’t share that much of what they are thinking or what they are planning. It’s just known that they are preparing now for the battle of the new gods and the old.
Shadow’s setting in Virginia this week was by far the most terrifying one in the show’s history, mostly because there are probably not too many places out there far off from a civilization ruled entirely by guns, warfare, and fear. Vulcan was the god of war as it’s seen in the public today, and with his actions, maybe Wednesday fancies himself more of a hero.
What Wednesday really needs to do, though, is get to the point given that this was episode 6, and the show doesn’t exactly have that much left in the way of story to tell this season. It would strongly benefit them at this point to start moving the story along at a faster pace, given that in this episode there was no sighting of either Media or any of the other gods involved last week in the whole “treaty”-forming process.
The Shadow / Laura realizations
What Shadow did realize through his conversations with Wednesday near the end of the episode was that even though his dead wife (or “Dead Wife,” as Mad Sweeney calls her) was not close by, he could still see where she was and what she was doing. At the end of the episode, that involved her looking over her old family, realizing that she could never be close to them once more as a corpse. Whether it be winning them over or getting back with Shadow, she is starting to realize that she needs a resurrection of her own. With that, another road trip begins for her to get a little bit closer to Jesus. Hey, if anyone knows resurrections, isn’t it him?
One of the better questions is why Jesus, someone defined by the Bible as a gatekeeper for all that is good and virtuous, want to help a foul-mouthed, chain-smoking dead woman who was killed while giving a guy she was sleeping with on the side oral sex. Nothing about this sounds virtuous.
Still, there is something about Laura’s search that is somewhat heartbreaking. Maybe it’s because she seemingly wants redemption so badly. Or, maybe she just doesn’t know any other way. Regardless, this makes for much more in the way of compelling entertainment.
Final Verdict
With American Gods episode 6, Bryan Fuller and Michael Green get us further to the end of the story, but in terms of huge moments, Wednesday peeing on Vulcan doesn’t near the top of the list. This feels like one of those episodes that will be a little more value a week down the road than it is right now. There were little moves made, but often there wasn’t huge strides until the very end with Shadow, Wednesday, and a character we didn’t even know before tonight. Grade: B.
Where do we go from here?
For some further news related to American Gods, including a further preview for what’s ahead, head over to the link here. (Photo: Starz.)