American Gods – Come to Jesus

By: Kelly Kearney

“American Gods” ended its first season not only gearing up for war, but with a shocking revelation that might be the spark that ignites Shadow Moon’s (Ricky Whittle) belief. Add a half of dozen Jesuses, an ethereal orgy, a visit from Judy Garland and episode Come to Jesus cements itself as one of the wildest season finales to date.

Suiting Up for a Battle

When last we saw our two main characters, Wednesday (Ian McShane) beheaded his old friend Vulcan (Corbin Bernsen) while Shadow got a front row seat to the lengths his new boss will go to in winning this war. Vulcan’s death weighs heavy on Shadow’s mind, but Wednesday is pushing forward towards his goal that apparently requires a fashion make over. Custom suits made from spun silk by the hands of Mr. Nancy (Orlando Jones) come with a dose of shade and a story that would make any feminist’s heart flutter. In his push to find Wednesday a Queen, Mr. Nancy tells the story of another Queen who fell on hard times thanks to men who took her power for granted.

The story begins in 864 B.C. in the Temple of Bar’an with Queen Sheba and her worshipers. Queen Sheba, who’s Bilquis (Yetide Badaki), usurps her power from her worshippers of which she had an army. She is a benevolent Queen in that she treats all her subjects equally, by turning them into a black and muddy liquid that she consumes like a lover. Like most women in power, the Kings of time were not pleased with Sheba and as Nancy says, “…came one after another to knock her off her throne.” Try as they might to knock the Queen down, Bilquis was powerful and easily adapted to her surroundings. From ancient temples to discos in Iran, Bilquis continuously faced persecution for her power and sexual prowess which lead her to America, a land where anyone can be who they want. Of course, America has its own history steeped in misogyny and issues with powerful women so over the years Bilquis goes from worshipped Queen to homeless drifter. She watches her temples destroyed, her lovers succumb to AIDS and a rise of extremism that has no room for a deity like her. With no worshippers, Bilquis is vulnerable. This leads her to find salvation in an unlikely source.

Technical Boy (Bruce Langley) finds the former Queen turned bag lady and offers her a deal, a new alter to replace the one that was turned to rubble. He hands her a cell phone and explains that this is the new alter everyone worships from and shows her a dating app he created in her honor. Every time someone uses this app it’s a prayer to the disgraced Queen. The internet is a direct path to worshippers and with it she can build her prayers with her followers. Out of options, the Queen has no other choice but to accept his offer, forcing Bilquis to turn away from the old gods and join forces with the new. Of course, nothing is ever free in America and the new gods offer comes at a price. After years of sucking up worshippers like a Hoover Vac, Technical Boy tries cashing in on her new-found success by testing her loyalty. We never hear what Tech Boy asks of her, but after she boards a bus to Wisconsin (ground zero for the god war) we can assume its royal trouble for Wednesday.

On The Road to Kentucky

With their eyes set on Wisconsin, Wednesday makes a pit stop in Kentucky to collect another ally. Unlike their polluted and terrifying trip to Virginia, the drive to Kentucky is heavenly. The scenery is brimming with bright flowers and happy bunnies, some of which Wednesday runs down with his vintage car like he’s trying to make a point. The two men reach their destination when they pull up to an enormous house, overlooking a sea of perfect manicured gardens. Inside, an Easter party is in full swing chocked full of pastel eggs and marshmallow peeps. The party is in honor of Ostara (Kristin Chenoweth) who is a chipper and radiant Goddess exuding happiness and light. Shadow is still having issues with believing what he’s seeing and it doesn’t help that the party is crawling with a dozen or so Jesuses. Everywhere he looks he sees the longhaired savior and even gets a glimpse of mother Mary feeding an infant Christ. Wednesday explains that Ostara came long before Christianity. She is the bringer of spring, the rebirth of the land and ancient people worshipped her with festivals in her name to celebrate the end of Winter and the beginning of Spring. Every Easter various activities from dying eggs to the sexual awakening of Spring breakers are a prayer to Ostara. Unfortunately, with the rise of Christianity and the popularity of Jesus Christ, Ostara has been pushed aside for the resurrected savior and her power is not what it once was.

With an entire guest list of Jesuses, Shadow starts to realize that the last few days with his new boss weren’t so much a dream, but divine intervention. His belief quickly goes from impossibilities to a heavenly reality and it hits him like a ton of bricks. Thankfully, meeting Ostara helps with his recovery when the two have a flirtatious encounter which is a far cry from how the goddess treats Wednesday. If Shadow is, as she says, “the sweetest damn thing I’ve ever seen” then Wednesday must be the saltiest because Ostara doesn’t seem happy to see him. Happy or not, the two get down to business and Wednesday offers her a spot on his team to fight the news gods. At first, the cheery woman isn’t keen on joining her old friend. However, he reminds her of all that she’s lost and could gain if they stop Mr. World (Crispin Glover) and reclaim their thrones. He reminds her that the people today celebrate Easter, not to honor her but to worship Jesus and that leaves her basically forgotten and unloved. Before Ostara can agree to anything, a bunny whispers in her ear that a dead woman arrived at the party.

Raising the Dead and Other Party Tricks

The dead woman in question is Laura Moon (Emily Browning), who followed Shadow’s light to the Easter celebration. Mad Sweeney (Pablo Schreiber) promised Laura he would take her to meet someone who could resurrect her and that someone is Ostara. Only, once Ostara gets a look in Laura’s eyes (something she calls an imprint of her last moments) she tells the dead woman she can’t help her. Angry and confused, Laura demands to know why and Ostara looks at Mad and then tells Laura she can’t be brought back because she was killed by a God. Obviously, this is news to Laura who thought she died in an accident with her head in her boyfriend’s lap. She demands to know who killed her and grabs Mad by the “family jewels,” hoisting him up in the air until he spills the truth that Wednesday killed her so that Shadow would be at his most vulnerable. As a matter of fact, Wednesday has been meddling with their lives from the start. He’s the reason the two met in the casino, he’s the reason Shadow wound up in jail and he’s the reason she’s dead. Mad explains that Gods are puppeteers and they are all their marionettes.

Taking Back the Spring

After an enlightening chat with Jesus (Jeremy Davies), where the savior turns Ostara’s pool into a wine, Shadow is quickly becoming a believer. Being that belief is where the gods find their power, Media (Gillian Anderson) shows up dressed in her best Judy Garland “Easter Parade” look with Tech Boy’s minions who are ready to cash in on Ostara’s supply. Media and Ostara appear to be friends, in that they both gain prayers on this day. Ostara finds worshippers in the pastel colored traditions of Easter and Media gathers power from the hordes of people that turn to the TV and the traditions of holiday films. Even though Media appears to show up for the party, she’s actually there with an offer from Mr. World. She reminds the Spring goddess that the only reason why she is still relevant is the Christian traditions that took over the day. Even St. Nick saw his end coming in the wake of religion and joined the new gods. Wednesday wanders out to the garden just in time to witness Media and the arrival of Mr. World and Tech Boy who tries to push Ostara to their side. Not about to give up another Queen, Wednesday calls upon the skies to strike down Media and World’s minions while reminding Ostara of her power. He tells her, “You know why things happen? Because gods make them happen.” Shadow is in awe of his boss’ power and asks him who he really is, a question Wednesday has avoided answering. Finally, in a dramatic admission, the man with many names admits he is Odin, the god of all gods. The beginning and the end.

His show of power is all it takes and Ostara rises above the gardens and casts a plight on the land, robbing it of the Spring and leaving a dark wake in her path. Wednesday, who is quite pleased, tells all the guests that she took their Spring and if they want it back they’ll need to pray for it. Media, Tech Boy and Mr. World look on as Ostara and Wednesday display their power and importance and the new gods are helpless to stop it. They flee, but not before leaving Wednesday with an ominous promise that war is coming and it will be his last.