Wryly

How many times does the bar have to be raised before he realizes the crazy train ain't gonna stop?

I don't expect Shadow to be chill all the time. I just expect his disbelief to diminish with each supernatural experience, and it doesn't seem to. As for his freakout after Vulcan's murder, you're definitely right. I just didn't believe the actor when he was sputtering and gasping. I felt it was questionable directing as well. That reaction was over the top, given the context. Shadow acted like Wednesday had just murdered a girl scout or a senator or something. Not a sinister pagan god who had just betrayed them to deadly enemies.

How does Shadow even have any shock or disbelief left? I keep expecting his freakout tank to run dry and then it doesn't.

No, I was referring to the characters within the scope of the show. The other Old Gods. Vulcan happily chucked his followers into molten vats. Bilquis's vagina friggin' eats people. That asshole spider deity seemed oh so willing to sacrifice a boat load of his people just as a passing "fuck you" (and clearly never intended to go down with the ship himself). So far I haven't seen much in the way of self-sacrifice from the pagan deities. Just a lot of "feed me, Seymour."

Ooh. Myth-licious. Well that's pretty badass. The other Old Gods only seem willing to accept human sacrifice, but Odin had the stones to sacrifice himself right alongside his worshipers. Respect.

How can you sacrifice yourself to yourself?

Can't imagine Mad Sweeney would want to screw a corpse, but I think people ship Sweeney and Laura because their hate sex would be more interesting and honest than Laura and Shadow's relationship. Shadow doesn't know who Laura is. Never did. He idolized and idealized her. Saw her as the perfect wife, when she was anything but. It's like Laura was always putting on this sweetie pie act with him. But Sweeney sees her for the messed up zombie slut she really is. And it's entertaining. Shadow needs to let her go, at least romantically, and move on. He's a loyal and devoted guy, and he really deserves better. Even after Laura died blowing his best friend, she thought she could show up in his motel room, say a few sweet words, and get her pet back. I'm cool with them being friends, and I think Shadow will always help her if he can, but the right woman for him is still out there and he should find her. On another note, it's about time Wednesday did something badass. I mean I know the varsity years are behind you, man, but you're Odin, for Christ's sake. Commander of the valkyries. Lord of war. I've been waiting for you to show me some fire.

The other car did flee the scene. Driver was never identified. Or at least it says so in the newspaper article that Shadow reads at the bar. But I think I was just desperate for the possibility that it was all a conspiracy and Laura didn't really give Robbie road head. So much damage to my opinion of her. So much. Oh, the respect lost. Hard to get past. Whenever I revisit it I'm like, "Seriously? So you have no standards at all then." I guess Robbie was just convenient and close by. He was her... Monica Lewinsky. Wow that paragraph was way meaner than I normally am. What the hell happened. You will all disregard the Meanie Bo Beanie Paragraph. Is anyone else curious what it would be like for Shadow and Audrey to hook up? Like for realsies, not revenge banging in cemeteries. I have no idea why, but I like the idea of that pairing. And I absolutely love Audrey. I really, really hope that her character isn't going to fade into the background as the main plot revs up.

I didn't really get that impression. He seemed more like an amusement she allowed to marry her. Audrey says, "You did not love him when you were alive. Come on, not love him, love him. He was a pet. There was a reason you called him Puppy." And Laura says, "Yeah. Well, I love him now." That seemed like a fair description of what was going on, to me. When she was alive, I got the impression that she was aware she should love him. He was devoted to her, to a degree other women envied. But the emotion switch just wasn't flipped on. And now she comes back from the dead, and it is.

Hmm. That's a good guess. Though I thought Laura absorbed the coin and neither Shadow or Mad Sweeney have its power anymore. I don't understand why Laura all the sudden loves Shadow after she comes back from the dead.

Wow. So Laura really is a cheatin' ho (though her story was told fairly well, I thought). Part of me wondered if Mr. Wednesday orchestrated her death and planted the evidence of the affair with Robbie, in an effort to sever all of Shadow's attachments. Telling a guy his wife died cheating on him is a good way to make him walk away and not look back, both literally and emotionally. But nope. She's just a deeply flawed human being whose emotional numbness drove her to slut it up with a gross neighbor and harm the man who loves her. Seriously, I found Robbie gross. I don't understand how she tolerated sexual contact with him. I was kind of disgusted with her. I get that she was trying to self-medicate with sex, but... eurgh. Felt really bad for Shadow when he told Laura he'd be happy living in a cardboard box with her (aww), and she was all like, "Well not me, I don't love you that much. Hey will you go rob that casino I told you not to rob?" It is a realistic depiction of depression, though. When Anubis found Laura again on the road, I thought the jig was up and he would haul her butt right back to the Bug Spray Hot Tub of Eternal Darkness. Instead he helped prepare her for her meeting with Shadow. Weird. I'm not sure I understand why Zombie Laura sees Shadow as a radiant light. Is it because he loved her? Does everyone who comes back from the dead see their loved ones as small suns? Or is it their "unfinished business" that lights up?

This episode was more interesting than funny, and I'm just fine with that. I'm intrigued by the decision to make Archer a war vet with PTSD. The real Archer didn't even make it through boot camp, if I recall correctly. Some interesting changes. Like Archer seems to care about Woodhouse the partner a lot more than Woodhouse the servant. It's refreshing to see Lana stringing Archer along. First time I've seen Archer act around Lana like he acted around Katya. Weird to see Cyril as a crooked asshole cop -- I would've thought Archer didn't respect Cyril enough for him to feature as a villain in Archer's subconscious. Am I supposed to think Pam is playing a man in Dreamland?

Can anyone tell me if this episode improves on the quality of the Riggs/Palmer thing? I am just really not impressed with Palmer, and I feel no chemistry at all between her and Riggs. Every time one of the characters mentions their "obvious chemistry" I feel a big disconnect from the show. It's made me really unenthused about watching the last episode. It's just been sitting in my DVR.

I don't trust Sydney. In episode one she says "This is all real, and I love you." And it was exactly what he wanted to hear, and he grinned so big and followed her, and it worried me. Now again she tries to use his feelings for her to get him to stay with her. "Look, you can hold my hand, I totally want to hold hands." Right as he's about to leave. Maybe I'm being paranoid. Or maybe it would be pretty smart of Melanie to control someone in David's life who has enormous emotional influence over him. That person could bring stability to David's life, making him easier to control; would be allowed into his confidence and therefore could report on his innermost feelings; and if that person stayed at Summerland, David would always have an enormous incentive to remain there. Or. Again. I'm paranoid. Either way, I am not going to permit myself to get dewy-eyed over David and Sydney's scenes until I see more. This is one heart you will not be breaking, writers! Do your worst! Not falling for it. Noop.

I paused the show several times on that particular mask and squinted at the screen. The bits of her face I can see through the mask's geometry do seem to look suspiciously normal. Only her nose is obscured. The triangles that comprise the mask's nose are too small to see through. Yeah, Langwidere was back in "I am the princess -- heel, Jack" mode in this episode. The only explanation I can think of is that she treats Jack differently when they're alone than when they're in front of other people. Moments of truth seem to happen in private. In front of others, she reverts back to pompous princess. I find her interesting when they're alone, and somewhat distasteful when they're not. It's resulting in pretty mixed feelings. I'm not sure if she's a vulnerable person who acts haughty as a defense mechanism, or she really is a capricious princess who's just toying with Jack. Perhaps she's both. I liked the confrontation between Jack and Tip, personally. I didn't really see Tip's love for Jack as a new development. I thought she always cared about him. She seemed torn up when she thought she killed him, and she tells West that you only really get furious with people you love. As for them growing up together, my impression was that Jack visited Tip in secret throughout their childhood. I still don't understand why Mombi wanted to keep Tip male.