S01.E05: Lemon Scented You

[ganesh]

I think the patch would have been overly much. Plus, it's a neat detail of how an old god is adapting to a modern world, which contrasts nice with the mammoth god fading away. 

[Morrigan2575]

Yeah, I think that's a nice subtle twist. 

[shockermolar]

Quote

Oh wow, i totally missed that Wednesday has 2 different colored eyes.

Yeah - I kept thinking that something was wrong with Ian McShane and I could not for the life of me figure it out at first. Finally twigged that one eye was blue and one dark. 

[Rockstar99435]

6 hours ago, Morrigan2575 said:

Wednesday = Odin's (Woden's) Day, Thursday = Thor's Day, Friday is named for Frigg (Odin's wife) and I think Tuesday is a Norse god as well.

Tuesday= Tyr's Day

[BuddhaBelly]

2 hours ago, Morrigan2575 said:

I understand that Odin only has one eye. The post I quoted said Wednesday had 2 different colored eyes. Which, as I mentioned, was a good addition/way to show/hint at Wednesday being Odin without having him wear a patch. At least IMO, it certainly is a cool twist on Odin.

I could have sworn he was wearing a glass eye.

Maybe it's just BF's style but he's never going to be super explicit about what's going on but he'll drop plenty of clues that will make you feel like a dodo when everything is revealed. I haven't read the book in ages, but if I'm remembering correctly it takes a bit of time for Shadow to get clued into which God Mr. Wednesday is too. I will also point out that he was called out by name when he went to see Czernobog.

I didn't mind this opener as it looped back to the theme of the whole show: the old gods are fighting to not be forgotten and thus die because their former followers have faded or believe in new gods. It didn't feel like time was taken away from character development, I mean, it was only 2 minutes tops.

I would love to see Wednesday come across a pagan group that follows the Norse pantheon. That would be a fun interaction.

[theatremouse]

3 hours ago, Morrigan2575 said:

I understand that Odin only has one eye. The post I quoted said Wednesday had 2 different colored eyes. 

I think it's supposed to look like one eye is fake, and they way they've done that with two-eye-having McShane is colored contacts. It might've been a twist on the one-eye bit that instead he just has heterochromia, but my impression from the show so far is that Wednesday does have one eye, and the lighter one is fake.

[Morrigan2575]

26 minutes ago, theatremouse said:

I think it's supposed to look like one eye is fake, and they way they've done that with two-eye-having McShane is colored contacts. It might've been a twist on the one-eye bit that instead he just has heterochromia, but my impression from the show so far is that Wednesday does have one eye, and the lighter one is fake.

I don't think anyone is arguing that. We're just saying that the way those chose to represent/show it, is cool.

[yagathai]

54 minutes ago, theatremouse said:

I think it's supposed to look like one eye is fake, and they way they've done that with two-eye-having McShane is colored contacts. It might've been a twist on the one-eye bit that instead he just has heterochromia, but my impression from the show so far is that Wednesday does have one eye, and the lighter one is fake.

He says in the first episode he's only got one eye, so it's safe to assume the other one's prosthetic.

 

And yeah, between "Wednesday', "Wotan" and "Grimnir", they weren't keeping it a secret so much as not being ultra-explicit.

[DarkRaichu]

5 hours ago, ganesh said:

I think the patch would have been overly much. Plus, it's a neat detail of how an old god is adapting to a modern world, which contrasts nice with the mammoth god fading away. 

I thought fake eyes were not new invention. Iirc the ancient Egyptians invented something to put into the hollow eye socket.

Edited June 1, 2017 by DarkRaichu

[jeansheridan]

On Wednesday, May 31, 2017 at 6:27 AM, loki567 said:

You can go ahead and hate Laura. She doesn't give a fuck. 

Heh.  I kind of wish more women could feel this way.

[jeansheridan]

On Wednesday, May 31, 2017 at 8:19 AM, Drogo said:

See, and I believe that if you need to Google it, the show is being coy in their exposition.

Kids are reading Rick Riordan which covers Norse mythology.   I don't know some of the others gods well such as Anubis.   But I don't feel like I need to to enjoy the show.

Why is Shadow important?   Based on the show alone I would say Wednesday needs someone to have faith in him.  He needs a believer.  Shadow is so NOT cynical.  He loved Laura sincerely.  He won't steal from Wednesday (when Wednesday gives him money to buy gifts).  Shadow is loyal.  He believes.  

Perhaps the new gods fear that if Odin has just one loyal believer his power will grow and expand.  The quality of belief is more important than quantity.   Media gets our attention in bits and pieces, but we are often distracted.   But Odin mostly has Shadow's full attention.   He has taken over Shadow's life really.  Altered his worldview.  And now Shadow depends on him to help him navigate this world.  

And Wednesday gives back.  Gives Shadow purpose.   A well defined role.  Be my muscle, my bodyguard, my straight man.  And Wednesday seems to trust Shadow too.  

That's why Shadow is special.  Plus he happens to resemble Ricky Whittle. 

Edited June 2, 2017 by jeansheridan

[Morrigan2575]

6 hours ago, jeansheridan said:

Why is Shadow important?   Based on the show alone I would say Wednesday needs someone to have faith in him.  He needs a believer.  Shadow is so NOT cynical.  He loved Laura sincerely.  He won't steal from Wednesday (when Wednesday gives him money to buy gifts).  Shadow is loyal.  He believes.  

Perhaps the new gods fear that if Odin has just one loyal believer his power will grow and expand.  

IIRC Media made a comment about that in the episode. 

Quote

Now there are starmen waiting in the sky. They believed it was true, and it was.

Not everyone believed.

Not everyone had to. Just enough. That's all Mr. Wednesday needs Just enough. Maybe just one.

Maybe that's why Shadow is so important because he's a true believer?

There's something about him that makes him special, Laura sees that pulsing light when she looks at him. 

While this show involves gods, it's very much a typical "Heroes Journey".

http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-each-stage-of-a-hero-s-journey.html

Now of course he could also be something else. Maybe he's a demigod? Zeus had a bunch of children with humans and now the old gods live amongst us. 

Maybe he's a god (old/new) but, hasn't realized it yet? And Wednesday/World want him on their team because once he comes into his own he will swing the balance of power?

[Drogo]

43 minutes ago, Morrigan2575 said:

IIRC Media made a comment about that in the episode. 

Maybe that's why Shadow is so important because he's a true believer?

There's something about him that makes him special, Laura sees that pulsing light when she looks at him. 

While this show involves gods, it's very much a typical "Heroes Journey".

http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-each-stage-of-a-hero-s-journey.html

Now of course he could also be something else. Maybe he's a demigod? Zeus had a bunch of children with humans and now the old gods live amongst us. 

Maybe he's a god (old/new) but, hasn't realized it yet? And Wednesday/World want him on their team because once he comes into his own he will swing the balance of power?

He did make it snow by staring at marshmallows.  (Which is quite different than making it rain, I'm told.)  

[jeansheridan]

29 minutes ago, Drogo said:

He did make it snow by staring at marshmallows. 

And even if the snow making was a con by Wedneaday, Shadow (and we) kind of believe he did it.  But Wednesday does allow it could be a coincidence. 

So far Shadow hasn't seemed to have any special abilities.   Other than he is mostly staying sane in this crazy world. 

I  love that after everything he has seen, seeing Media float is what made him freak for a moment.  Or maybe it was a bad acting choice.  

[ganesh]

I think he was freaked out because he had only seen her on tv before too. He called her Lucy. 

[eelpout]

Random stuff. This was mentioned in IMDb trivia. In Gillian Anderson's scenes in this episode you'll notice she's not actually with anyone else in a shot. I'm assuming this is because for much of production she was doing a play in Brooklyn and couldn't make it to Toronto until she was done. There are a couple shots of Media as Marilyn from the back, but that could be anyone.

[WatchrTina]

17 hours ago, Morrigan2575 said:

There's something about him that makes [Shadow] special, Laura sees that pulsing light when she looks at him. 

I thought that glowing she sees is an indication that Shadow is special to Laura in particular -- a physical manifestation of his being the object of her love (which she did not even realize that she truly felt until after she was dead.)

[Zanne]

On 5/31/2017 at 8:31 AM, ganesh said:

That misses much of the point. I wasn't saying you needed to google it. I was saying that in the combination of calling oneself "Wednesday" and showing ravens all over the place associated with the character, that the show was being clear in their intent that the character was Odin from the first appearance.

I loved what they did with his eye in the last episode to drive home the point in case people still missed the clues. It gleamed a milky white in the emergency lights of the police station. I thought that was a nice, subtle touch.

 

On 5/31/2017 at 2:54 PM, Spaceman Spiff said:

I still have no clue who the god is who hoovers her worshipers up with her vagina, nor the African God who told the slaves to burn the ship. I do know he freed Odin by releasing his hand cuffs, but even here in the forums someone was glad that Mr., Nancy made an appearance, and I wondered Who TF is that? and had to look it up (only to realize it was the spider god). but he was never called that in the show as far as I remember since we only saw him once.

I think he introduced himself as "Anansi, some call me Mr. Nancy" on the slave ship, though I'm paraphrasing. It was a quick introduction before he went on to encourage the ship burning.

[Missyunion]

He is also known as Ananse, Kwaku Ananse, and Anancy. In the New World he is known as Nancy, Aunt Nancy and Sis' Nancy.] He is a spider, but often acts and appears as a man.  So get it?  Mr. Nancy.  Anansi is a God from Africa who often takes the shape of a spider.

[WaltersHair]

I just watched River's Edge for the first time in years. There was a young Crispin Glover in a movie that scared me silly when I first saw it

Damn, but he's actually handsome in American Gods now. I'm re-evaluating my own self on this one going forward.

[Eneya]

On 6/1/2017 at 5:40 PM, Morrigan2575 said:

I understand that Odin only has one eye. The post I quoted said Wednesday had 2 different colored eyes. Which, as I mentioned, was a good addition/way to show/hint at Wednesday being Odin without having him wear a patch. At least IMO, it certainly is a cool twist on Odin.

You are right... I re-watched... they are different-colours. Apparently I have some issues with my screen and simply didn't see it.

[jeansheridan]

On Tuesday, May 30, 2017 at 10:35 AM, rollacoaster said:

And wouldn't her airbrush skin color come off in the bath water? 

Self tanner sticks for awhile.  If they used paint too.  My friend gets misted by self tanner every few weeks so it needs to be reapplied.  

[Morrigan2575]

On 6/3/2017 at 1:48 AM, WatchrTina said:

I thought that glowing she sees is an indication that Shadow is special to Laura in particular -- a physical manifestation of his being the object of her love (which she did not even realize that she truly felt until after she was dead.)

I don't know, since her heart beat when she absorbed some of that glowiness. I can only assume that's a reflection of Shadow's power. Maybe it goes back to the belief theme, if he believes she's alive she'll actually be alive? Or maybe Shadow has inherent powers that he's not aware of, which can bring her body to life and make snow?

Edited June 4, 2017 by Morrigan2575

[Bruinsfan]

On 6/2/2017 at 8:38 AM, jeansheridan said:

I  love that after everything he has seen, seeing Media float is what made him freak for a moment.  Or maybe it was a bad acting choice.  

To be fair, when Media was talking to him through the TVs I could see him explaining that away as someone doing some amazing computer hacking/signal pirating. Ditto the stuff with Technical Boy maybe being some crazy new VR helmet in tandem with hired goons. Marilyn Monroe levitating into a police station interrogation room is another thing altogether.

[Eneya]

2 hours ago, Bruinsfan said:

To be fair, when Media was talking to him through the TVs I could see him explaining that away as someone doing some amazing computer hacking/signal pirating. Ditto the stuff with Technical Boy maybe being some crazy new VR helmet in tandem with hired goons. Marilyn Monroe levitating into a police station interrogation room is another thing altogether.

I as a viewer was a bit shocked... imagine seeing that "in real life". :)

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Janice Poon's blog about this episode (no recipes this week!)