American Gods – A Murder of Gods

By: Kelly Kearney

This week’s episode finds Wednesday (Ian McShane) and Shadow (Ricky Whittle) on a mission to recruit the God of Forge. Laura (Emilie Browning), Mad (Pablo Schreiber) and Salim (Omid Abtahi) go on a road trip to find luck, love and an appreciation for life.

Coming To America

“American Gods” continues its “Coming to America” montages on the Mexican side of the United States boarder. Under the cover of night, a group of immigrants prepare to cross the river towards the land of freedom and prosperity. Strapped with bags and jugs of water, they pray to God to keep them safe on their passage. The female guide (Marilyn Camacho) for the group warns them that the currents are brutal and swimming will be difficult. Despite her warnings, one man (David Labiosa) falls victim to the deadly currents and right when he’s about to fight for his last drowning breath, a hand reaches in and pulls him to safety. On land and gasping for air, the grateful man turns to see his savior and is in awe by who he sees. The man (Ernesto Reyes) who’s walking (on water) towards him looks like Jesus. Mexican immigrant Jesus Christ to be exact and the savior doesn’t get much time to explain when border patrol pulls up, guns blazing, and starts picking off the immigrants one by one. Bullets tear through the crowd and in a flurry of violence Jesus acts like a human shield, protecting the man he saved. Shot through his hands and one to the heart by a slow-moving Vulcan bullet, Jesus falls onto the sandy beach with his arms spread and his bleeding-heart glowing. A rumbling tumble weed rolls over his lifeless body leaving behind a crown of thorns and the imagery of Jesus’ crucifixion.

What comes first? A God or it’s believers?

After their detour with Mr. World (Crispin Glover) in police lock up, Wednesday and Shadow hit the road in search of more minions to join their battle. Upon seeing the death and destruction the new gods caused at the station, Shadow has a lot of questions for his new boss, mainly is all this real and were those deaths sacrifices? Wednesday admits that what is a warning to him is a sacrifice to his enemies and what Shadow witnessed isn’t new. It has always been around, just hiding in his peripheral vision. The subject soon changes to belief and Shadow’s lack thereof, but Moon shocks his boss when he admits he does believe in some things. For example, his dead wife back at the motel. This gets Wednesday’s attention and he assumes his man Moon is delusional from grief. Shadow assures him he’s not crazy, which peaks the old god’s curiosity and the two head back to the motel to find Laura.

At the motel Laura is gone, but the room is trashed thanks to her fight with Mad Sweeney and his ultimate arrest for her murder. Wednesday is unsettled by this turn of events and tells Moon that usually the dead stay dead. If what he saw was, in fact, Laura and not some ghost or delusion then she’s on a mission and nothing good can come of it. The wise old god tells Shadow to forget Laura, they’ve got bigger problems with Mr. World and he’s not waiting around for his enemies to catch up with them. The two jump in the car and in the review mirror, Wednesday sees Laura running after them. He turns the radio up so Shadow can’t hear his screaming dead wife and the two head off on their mission to find the Vulcan.

Unlikely Partners

Upset, Laura notices her car is missing and tears into the motel desk clerk (Cliff Saunders) over its whereabouts. Apparently, the police impounded the vehicle when they were investigating her murder – a murder that didn’t really seem to take since she’s standing there berating the help. Unlucky for her, Mad Sweeny interrupts to let her know that all the police in town are dead so getting her car back will be difficult. And let’s just say Mad isn’t too torn up about Laura’s dilemma. The Leprechaun and the Dead wife certainly rub each other the wrong way, but their missions seem to be the same. Mad wants Laura to give him back his lucky coin and the only way she will part with it is if she doesn’t need it anymore. Sweeny just happens to know a god that can resurrect Laura from the dead like Jesus Christ himself. If the dead wife agrees to join Mad on the search for the resurrected, she won’t become a rotting pile of flesh soup and maybe she can rekindle her love with Shadow. With her mission completed, Laura won’t need Mad’s coin and he can finally get his luck back. Laura agrees to the plan because it really is a win-win for both, that is if Laura doesn’t kill the Leprechaun first.

With no other mode of transportation Mad attempts to hot wire a cab, but gets interrupted by a gun toting Salim who overhears the red headed man admit to Laura that is a leprechaun. Salim orders Mad away from his precious cab and asks if the man is indeed a leprechaun does he know of a Jinn? Salim has been looking for the Jinn ever since they met for a mind-blowing hotel romance and Mad agrees to take them both to meet every god, jinn and other worldly being their minds can imagine. The unlikely threesome climb in Salim’s cab and head towards Kentucky for a meet and great with the gods.

When Trees Attack

When Shadow and Wednesday escaped the massacre at the police station they weren’t exactly left unscathed. Shadow had a run in with a deadly tree branch and the scratch is becoming a nuisance. While driving, Wednesday wonders if Shadow is suffering from delusions caused by the grief of losing his wife and offers to charm the pain away. The only charm Moon needs is one that can heal the wound on his side from his “wood-be” assailant. The gash is deep and Wednesday pulls over for a better look. The offending tree was a direct result of Mr. World’s power and, unfortunately, that power is trying to rip its way out of Shadow’s body. Wednesday takes a swig from his flask and gets to business charming World’s evil root, right out of Moon’s side. With a few tugs and a kiss for good luck, Wednesday saves Shadow and throws the bloody invader onto the highway.

Also on a mission to find the gods is Mad, Salim and Laura who hit the road in Salim’s taxi, but not before Mad gets a few jabs in over the Jinn and his relationship. It’s not that Mad is a bigot, it’s just that he says whatever is on his mind in the harshest way imaginable and Laura is just about over the Leprechaun and his digs at their new friend. Salim ignores the insults coming from the back seat and admits that the Jinn is his afterlife. With Mad drifting off to sleep, Laura forces Salim to make a detour to see her mother (Sonja Smits) one last time. The trip is a waste of time since Laura can’t make her presence known and all three go to a bar for a pre-travel drink.

Vulcan, Virgina

When we check back in with Shadow and Wednesday as they’ve made it to Vulcan, Virginia, a town that has gone second amendment crazy. This version of America, which resembles 1930’s Germany, was born out their love for guns and their worship of the local ammunitions factory. The towns people are in the middle of a funeral procession led by Vulcan, the man Wednesday came to see. Funerals in Vulcan seem to happen often on the account of the fact a lot of people accidently die at the factory and coincidently wind up in the very vat of molten lead that is later turned into bullets. When the memorial is over and every honor bullet is shot into the sky, Wednesday and his old friend get down to business.

At Vulcan’s exotic taxidermy filled house, Wednesday offers him a spot on his God roster if the man will forge him a sword. Swords are apparently old news because from the looks of things, Vulcan (Corbin Bernsen) remains powerful with what he calls his “palm held volcanoes.” He goes on to explain that every bullet that tears through a movie theater is a prayer to him. In return, every person who feels their safety tied to their weapons becomes a prayer. His power stems from fear and violence and the occasional sacrifices to the molten barrels of lead that go into making the bullets.  Vulcan agrees to forge his friend a weapon fit for the gods and he follows through when he hands Wednesday a magnificent broad sword. Wednesday is pleased and asks Vulcan to join his fellow gods in war and that’s when things take a turn for the worse. Vulcan made a deal with the new gods and since he’s rebranded himself from blacksmith to worshipped gun slinger, he sold his old friend out to Mr. World. Wednesday might be old and his followers diminishing, but he’s not about to be stabbed in the back by one of his own. In true warrior fashion, Wednesday grabs the sword and with one swipe decapitates Vulcan and kicks him into the vat of molten lead. To add insult to injury, he urinates in the molten lead and tells a stunned Shadow that he’s “laying down a curse” by adding a part of himself into the mix. Now, with every bullet fired a prayer will be said in honor of Wednesday. With that, the old God and his man Shadow Moon take off before Mr. World can ruin their plans.

The episode ends on spiritual note of self-discovery. Laura, Mad and Salim pull over on their way to Kentucky so Salim can pray. Mad, for once, stays quiet about Salim’s beliefs and Laura sits on the road side pondering life after death. Salim turns to her and says, “God is good,” and Laura responds with, “No, life is good.” While the three travelers might have their differences, one things remain the same – they are all on a path to discovery and where it leads is anybody’s guess.