American Gods finale review: Oh my Odin!
Through much of season 1, there was this undercurrent of the new gods, including Media and Technical Boy, building a resistance that they wanted Shadow Moon to be a part of. With that said, they never succeeded in their efforts and we almost do wonder now if there is something to be said about the old gods toying with them. After all, for the first time all season long Mr. Wednesday finally said his true name: Odin. With that, he brought to the table an unprecedented amount of chaos to the home of Easter and Ostara — and she did the same thing along with him. These two together wiped away spring from civilization, leaving in their wake a landscape of decay and depression. This produced many a surprised expression, and it starts off a chilling season 2 where Shadow Moon has to confront his faith like never before. Now more than ever, he realizes just how much things are beyond his control.
To go along with that further, he also does still have to deal with Laura Moon, still clinging somewhat to the afterlife and newly-empowered with further information as to what happened to her in the first place. In one way or another, her and Shadow’s entire path has been by design. That may go so far back as her own death back while Shadow was incarcerated.
This is why she ended her portion of the story with a desire to speak with her husband; will her comments rock his faith further, and show him that he is being used as a puppet in a far greater plan? This is certainly something that he may consider over the hiatus.
Can we take a moment here and also cheer the performances of Orlando Jones as Mr. Nancy and Kristin Chenoweth as Ostara? Both were fantastic when we saw them, though it feels clear at this point that we haven’t seen them nearly enough this season.
The flaws in American Gods
The time. There simply isn’t enough of it. The show was a little too short when it comes to total episode count, and at times the pacing was probably such that we could’ve spent a little bit more time with the likes of some of the characters. Given that Laura probably has become our favorite part of the show, we would love for there to be a way to see more of her on the show moving into season 2, even if she is not as major a part of the books.
Final Verdict
American Gods is still without a doubt the most visually stunning show we cover — Bryan Fuller is an artist just as much as he is an executive producer, and that showed through these eight episodes. The Odin reveal was all sorts of epic tonight, but we do wish we saw more of an actual war and a little more of Media especially. This was a good finale, but somehow we did find ourselves wanting even more forces colliding before going into season 2. Grade: B+.
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Meanwhile, head over to the link here if you do want to get some other news in the way of season 2 hopes and expectations for the show. (Photo: Starz.)