S01.E02: The Secret of Spoons

[DesertCyclist]

5 hours ago, Lemur said:

Dane Cook is Robbie

Will we be seeing him in flashbacks or something?

[NorthstarATL]

I had forgotten that that was supposed to be Lucy in the book, so I was confused at first that Eve Arden seemed to be beckoning Shadow. I love Gaiman's take on the Triple Goddess theme that he had running throughout Sandman, so I fell a little in love with the sisters in the book, and they did not disappoint (thus far) in this adaptation. Whittle is doing amazing work with his facial expressions. So much fun to watch.

[Tara Ariano]

In case you missed it, here's the Previously.TV post on the episode!

 

Gillian Anderson Taunts Us On American Gods, As She Should

Let's hope that, as Media, she calls us out for the suckers we are.

[ganesh]

I'm very excited to see GA. I don't know what god she's playing so I'm looking forward to more of her. Again not much going on, but it's still not that much of a deal to me. I guess the narrative is why everyone wants a piece of Shadow. I would like that to be revealed sooner than later, even if only we know and watch Shadow find out. 

I do think the affair between Shadow's wife and the friend is legit. Wednesday didn't play the card until after Shadow saw the phone pic. Shadow had already agreed to work for him before either of them knew about the wife. I think that's why they showed the phone pic. Storywise, if everything is just 'a wizard did it,' then the narrative loses meaning. 

Regarding all the nudity, male and female, this is Starz, cf. Spartacus. I have no issue with it. Bring it on. 

Are there going to be episode threads for book talk and no book talk? I feel like everyone actually knows what's going on, but it could be because I'm behind on my viewing.

[Spaceman Spiff]

On ‎5‎/‎7‎/‎2017 at 9:22 PM, bmoore4026 said:

So besides Fantasia, I know next to nothing about Chernobog or his brother or these Schuyler sisters.  Can anyone help?

You're not the only one. I think that is the big drawback for this show. Being a non-book reader I find myself totally lost on who these old gods are supposed to be.  I thought Mr. Wednesday was supposed to be Odin from the opening scene of E1 with the Vikings and in this one where the dandelion goes into the sky and we see lightning. But...

 

On ‎5‎/‎8‎/‎2017 at 3:56 PM, Eneya said:

Heheh, I am interested how much and how quickly Shadow will get tired of Votan's bullshit.

So is Voltan another name for Odin? Or am I completely wrong in my assumption. I also thought, when he mentioned he needed to get his hammer, it meant Thor's hammer.

The floating guy in the cosmos with the erection I thought wasn't needed. I guess it is to show how the goddesses worshipers end up, but, it didn't really add anything to help me understand who she is. I know she swallows/engulfs/absorbs lovers using her vagina, we saw that last week, so a montage of it this week was pointless in my eyes.

I'll keep watching, but knowing nothing about the books I think is making it a bit difficult.

[Haleth]

2 hours ago, Spaceman Spiff said:

You're not the only one. I think that is the big drawback for this show. Being a non-book reader I find myself totally lost on who these old gods are supposed to be. 

There is a new Mythology and Folklore thread (no book talk) that I was hoping would have descriptions of the various gods, but so far no one has provided any background, except for some conversation about the sisters.

Edited May 11, 2017 by Haleth

[starri]

If you've got questions about the gods, please ask them.  I think we started with the Zorya because they're the most interesting to some of us (at least to me), but those of us who geek out over these things love to talk.  Probably too much.

[Lemur]

Odin is also Woten (said with a Germanic "W", or "V" sound), Woden (from which "Wednesday" is derived).  

[ganesh]

I thought the three women were just supposed to be Fate. It seems the most straightforward answer. Wednesday I figured was Odin, and obviously Thor with the hammer. I also assume VR boy and Gillian Anderson are new gods of media or something. I feel like I'm doing all right and don't feel lost. My point was that GOT has like 19 episode threads, so book readers here probably have to hold back a lot just even on expository information. 

While I probably will read the book, and it is only the second episode, I shouldn't have to consult outside sources for a TV show. I'm more concerned about establishing a narrative direction. With Shadow leaving his house and getting some closure on his wife I'm hoping we get on that in the next few episodes. I think 5 is fair to expect the groundwork to be laid. 

[yagathai]

Well I threw up a post in the mythology thread talking about the gods we've seen so far and some of their IRL historical background.

[Lemur]

13 minutes ago, ganesh said:

I thought the three women were just supposed to be Fate. It seems the most straightforward answer. Wednesday I figured was Odin, and obviously Thor with the hammer. I also assume VR boy and Gillian Anderson are new gods of media or something. I feel like I'm doing all right and don't feel lost. My point was that GOT has like 19 episode threads, so book readers here probably have to hold back a lot just even on expository information. 

While I probably will read the book, and it is only the second episode, I shouldn't have to consult outside sources for a TV show. I'm more concerned about establishing a narrative direction. With Shadow leaving his house and getting some closure on his wife I'm hoping we get on that in the next few episodes. I think 5 is fair to expect the groundwork to be laid. 

Different pantheon.  The Zoryas are Slavic.  They came over with Czernobog but aren't family.  As America is made up of a bunch of different immigrant groups, so are the gods.  So we've seen Irish, Slavic, Norse, African, and a Djinn from the desert.

[starri]

And one who is vaguely Abrahamic.

[Haleth]

6 hours ago, yagathai said:

Well I threw up a post in the mythology thread talking about the gods we've seen so far and some of their IRL historical background.

Thank you!  That's really helpful!

[Spaceman Spiff]

16 hours ago, ganesh said:

I thought the three women were just supposed to be Fate. It seems the most straightforward answer. Wednesday I figured was Odin, and obviously Thor with the hammer. I also assume VR boy and Gillian Anderson are new gods of media or something. I feel like I'm doing all right and don't feel lost.

 I shouldn't have to consult outside sources for a TV show. I'm more concerned about establishing a narrative direction. With Shadow leaving his house and getting some closure on his wife I'm hoping we get on that in the next few episodes. I think 5 is fair to expect the groundwork to be laid. 

I'm not lost in the story, I get it's about the old gods brought in during the immigration process to America. I get that the new gods have risen and are challenging them. Like you I thought Thor and the Fates, but then I come here and see I was totally wrong, and feel the same way, that I shouldn't have to look at outside sources to understand the characters of a TV show. They explained Odin in the opening of E1. They explained the African god in the opening of E2. I still don't know who the goddess is who is or who the ones we met in this episode were (until I came here), and I didn't even think the Leprechaun was a god, since I would consider that type of character more as a magical creature, trickster imp or something.  Hopefully that improves, like you mention, in the next few episodes.

I recall a show/movie regarding someone or something, who was trying to get their book read by millions of people, because once they surpassed the readership of the bible, they would become more powerful than god. So I like that technology and media are new gods. People are drawn more to it than the old religious beliefs, but I am curious as to what other new gods we will be shown. What else in today's society draws peoples attention more than religion besides these two thing?

[starri]

Without getting too deeply into spoilers, there's going to be one of those "Coming to America" segments at the start of every episode that will explain who one of the gods is.  

1 hour ago, Spaceman Spiff said:

What else in today's society draws peoples attention more than religion besides these two thing?

Remember what Wednesday says in the first episode:  airplanes don't fly because of physics, they fly because of faith.

[wanderingstar]

We already knew Gillian Anderson is a goddess. Thank you, show for confirming it.

[Bruinsfan]

On 5/12/2017 at 4:52 AM, Spaceman Spiff said:

I recall a show/movie regarding someone or something, who was trying to get their book read by millions of people, because once they surpassed the readership of the bible, they would become more powerful than god.

In the Mouth of Madness! Though I had a couple of problems with that premise—just reading a book doesn't mean its audience believes in its story devoutly, and even Stephen King doesn't have the kind of market saturation his fictional counterpart was talking about. If he'd been correct, the world would have been remade into an Agatha Christie mystery, not a horror story.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

On 5/8/2017 at 7:17 AM, yagathai said:

Can I say how glad I am that they brought in Janice Poon to do all the food styling? Her attention to detail is incredible, from designing the cabbage rolls at Zorya's table to look like Slavic totems, to picking the flatware specifically to evoke the story of formerly wealthy immigrants from Eastern Europe fallen on hard times. I know American Gods won't be as food-centric as Hannibal, but she does such good work!

Here's Janice's blog post about this episode!

[Megan]

I never noticed how much Emily Browning resembles Essie Davis before this.

[AudienceofOne]

On 09/05/2017 at 9:58 AM, Anela said:

I'm completely lost, as well. 

Me too but in a good way (at least for now). It's only episode 2. 

My question is whether we're supposed to know who all these Gods are from the text or if we're supposed to do research as well? I thought the God playing checkers with Shadow was Loki until I came to this board. 

On 10/05/2017 at 0:39 AM, starri said:

To the mods:  Would it be okay to start a thread that's about the gods and the mythologies themselves?  I think it should be a spoiler-free one, but while we're all pretty familiar with the Greco-Roman and Norse pantheons, a lot of us probably don't have as much knowledge of Czernobog, Bilquis, the Zorya, Anansi, etc.  And I worry that might bog down the episode threads a bit.

Oh, good. That'll help. 

On 11/05/2017 at 7:46 PM, Spaceman Spiff said:

So is Voltan another name for Odin? Or am I completely wrong in my assumption.

Wednesday is Woden's day (Odin's day) so he has to be Odin. That's the etymology of the word, Wednesday. That's probably why the hammer combined with the references to "his brother the blonde one" made me think Czernobog was Loki. Anansi was a trickster God but I think the point is they're all tricksters trying to survive by scamming belief from people. It's a pretty dour view of the world although not so much an inaccurate view of religion.