The divine Mr Wednesday returns to the screen
One of TV’s most engaging offerings returns for a second season fit for the gods, writes
It wasn’t that long ago but it was a very different world when Neil Gaiman published his awardwinning fantasy epic American Gods, in 2001. If the modern equivalent of the Roman Empire was represented by the US then George W Bush seemed to be its Nero — fiddling while the planes flew into the World Trade Center, saying things too stupid to be believed and generally signalling an end to the dominance that his country had held for most of the 20th century. No-one could have foreseen that the empire had one last trick up its sleeve in the persona of its Caligula – Agent Orange, Donald Trump.
Gaiman’s novel imagined a world in which, much like the ancient Greeks and Romans, modern humans were subject to the whims and infighting between the gods who oversaw them. The action was transplanted to modern-day America and the story was told through the eyes of the hapless ex-convict Shadow, released from prison only to learn that his ex-wife has died in a car crash alongside his best friend, with whom she was having an affair.
Battered and beaten by the cruel arrows of fate, Shadow gets a job as a bodyguard and driver for a mysterious man named Mr Wednesday, who it turns out is actually the incarnation of the Norse god Odin, hellbent on a recruitment drive for the old gods who have lost their powers and are being threatened by the rise of newer, younger, more ruthless gods.
In the age of Nero, Gaiman’s novel offered an oft-told mythological, heavy tale of the end times brought on by exasperated gods who couldn’t take the stupidity and selfishness of humanity any more.
Starz’s adaptation of Gaiman’s novel, created and developed by Brian Fuller and Michael Green, debuted last year and has now returned for a second season, picking up just after the point at which Ian McShane’s Mr Wednesday reveals his identity as Odin to Ricky Whittle’s Shadow.
It’s a lushly designed, visually spectacular show that demands a lot of viewers with a twisty and multi-character plot that, if you blink, is easy to get lost in and a little confused by. However, for those who persevere there are plenty of rewards to be had thanks to a strong cast, striking style and a sly humour that’s best encapsulated by the knowing smile with which McShane guides the series through its intriguing journey into the singular world created by Gaiman’s sharply intelligent imagination.
The early episodes of this season promise more of the awesome imagery and dark laughs that made the first season, if not always easy to follow, a joy to behold.
As Wednesday brings his old gods together for the imminent showdown with the new ones, tensions rise and things aren’t made easier by the appearance of Shadow’s dead ex-wife, but you get the feeling that war is coming, and when it does there’ll be hell to pay.
It’s looking as though this season will offer other characters more space to explore their histories and motivations but we’ll have to wait and see what this might add to the overall showdown.
At the moment American Gods remains one of peak TV’s most curiously engaging and aesthetically pleasing offerings and a tribute to McShane’s all-too-often underappreciated talents as one of the best of the ’60s generation of British character actors.
Gaiman fans can also look forward to the much-anticipated adaptation of his novel co-authored with Terry Pratchett, Good Omens, later this year but for now this is probably the best of the many attempts to adapt to the screen the work of one of fantasy’s most consistently smart and prescient practitioners.
It turns out that the worries engendered during the Nero era of the American Empire are as relevant and urgent under its Caligula, and if the gods can’t save it then it may be time to write the empire’s obituary — but let’s see how the war pans out before publishing. ●
New episodes of American Gods are available weekly on Amazon Prime Video.
The early episodes promise more of the awesome imagery and dark laughs