American Gods on Starz

[The King in Black]

While McShane as Wednesday is still the top casting, Anansi , Gillian as Media and Stormare as Czernebog are in contention for close second 

[polishgenius]

Actually, gotta say, with Anansi- it was a great scene, but it wasn't very Anansi, was it? Or has he got a history as a revolutionary firebrand that the books don't get across?

[Swordfish]

I read the book a long time ago, but I don't really remember much about it.  I'm trying to decide when the best time is for a re-read, and I might just watch this til the end and revisit the book in a couple years.

[Astromech]

7 minutes ago, polishgenius said:

Actually, gotta say, with Anansi- it was a great scene, but it wasn't very Anansi, was it? Or has he got a history as a revolutionary firebrand that the books don't get across?

I had the same reaction. Anansi is a trickster god. He was much more mischievous and devious in the novel. His portrayal in that scene by Orlando Jones  was off. Not the message so much as the delivery. Too angry.

[HexMachina]

21 minutes ago, Astromech said:

I had the same reaction. Anansi is a trickster god. He was much more mischievous and devious in the novel. His portrayal in that scene by Orlando Jones  was off. Not the message so much as the delivery. Too angry.

You aren't going to trick someone into setting fire to the ship and killing themselves and all the others by talking in a clam reasoned manner though...being a trickster is all about knowing your audience imo so it worked for me.

I enjoyed this episode, and the casting of this show is brilliant I must say. Czernebog and Zorya were brilliant, and so was Media. My only complaint was  the part after Coming to America, with Shadow lying in bed then cleaning the old house. It was dragged out too long by stylistic flourishes. But other than that the episode was great. 

 

[briantw]

10 minutes ago, HelenaExMachina said:

You aren't going to trick someone into setting fire to the ship and killing themselves and all the others by talking in a clam reasoned manner though...being a trickster is all about knowing your audience imo so it worked for me.

I enjoyed this episode, and the casting of this show is brilliant I must say. Czernebog and Zorya were brilliant, and so was Media. My only complaint was  the part after Coming to America, with Shadow lying in bed then cleaning the old house. It was dragged out too long by stylistic flourishes. But other than that the episode was great. 

The casting for this show really has been exceptional.

[Astromech]

1 hour ago, HelenaExMachina said:

You aren't going to trick someone into setting fire to the ship and killing themselves and all the others by talking in a clam reasoned manner though...being a trickster is all about knowing your audience imo so it worked for me.

I enjoyed this episode, and the casting of this show is brilliant I must say. Czernebog and Zorya were brilliant, and so was Media. My only complaint was  the part after Coming to America, with Shadow lying in bed then cleaning the old house. It was dragged out too long by stylistic flourishes. But other than that the episode was great. 

 

Book Anansi would, though.  That is why the portrayal was off for me.

[Ser Quork]

14 hours ago, polishgenius said:

Actually, gotta say, with Anansi- it was a great scene, but it wasn't very Anansi, was it?

I agree.

[The BlackBear]

I haven't read the book. I don't think it makes any difference to my enjoyment of it though. At the moment it's a bit disconnected, a series of weird stylish vignettes, I'm never bored by any of them though.

Was the guy in the diner some form of Djinn?

[Astromech]

4 hours ago, The BlackBear said:

I haven't read the book. I don't think it makes any difference to my enjoyment of it though. At the moment it's a bit disconnected, a series of weird stylish vignettes, I'm never bored by any of them though.

Was the guy in the diner some form of Djinn?

Yes, that guy was an ifrit.

[red snow]

Not sure if it was sleep deprivation or just finishing season 2 of sense8 but I wasn't impressed with the second episode. In fact I was a bit bored. Too many random scenes of slow-mo, blood related with weird music for me and shows how Fuller can be frustrating without anyone reeling him in.

Was that the first erect penis on regular tv? I guess they got away with it because it was a 2D representation (on a phone/photograph) although I think the floating guy was happily sporting a boner in the Bilquis randomness.

At only 8 episodes in length it's already feeling like they probably only need 6. To be honest I'd have preferred "god per episode" format and would have welcomed them featuring additional gods from the book.

[red snow]

Not sure if it was sleep deprivation or just finishing season 2 of sense8 but I wasn't impressed with the second episode. In fact I was a bit bored. Too many random scenes of slow-mo, blood related with weird music for me and shows how Fuller can be frustrating without anyone reeling him in.

Was that the first erect penis on regular tv? I guess they got away with it because it was a 2D representation (on a phone/photograph) although I think the floating guy was happily sporting a boner in the Bilquis randomness.

At only 8 episodes in length it's already feeling like they probably only need 6. To be honest I'd have preferred "god per episode" format and would have welcomed them featuring additional gods from the book.

[briantw]

2 hours ago, red snow said:

Was that the first erect penis on regular tv?

There's a scene in The Wire where Herc walks in on the mayor getting a blowjob.

[The BlackBear]

6 hours ago, Astromech said:

Yes, that guy was an ifrit.

Cool, thanks.

2 hours ago, briantw said:

There's a scene in The Wire where Herc walks in on the mayor getting a blowjob.

Is HBO regular TV?

[HexMachina]

9 minutes ago, The BlackBear said:

Cool, thanks.

Is HBO regular TV?

Premium cable and satellite, like Starz

[red snow]

11 hours ago, The BlackBear said:

Cool, thanks.

Is HBO regular TV?

I think in the UK/US unless it's actual porn (which I assume requires some different license or results in a change from the show being drama and instead porn) or possibly an educational video (which is probably more for schools than tv) - tv programming doesn't show erect penises.  Me and my ex used to joke about it when watching "oz" and HBO in general. Lots of male nudity but always flaccid to the point where it seems there must be some rule in place as some of the scenarios would have to suggest sudden wilting for it to be in the state that was seen. We called it the "don't cross horizontal" rule.

So even though it is cable, I think scripted drama has some rule in place. In the US and UK anyway. I guess these "qualms" erode with time though.

From Fuller's post episode interviews on Hannibal, pretty much everything had to be run through in terms of what could and couldn't be aired. He was usually surprised at how much violence they could get away with in respect to sexual aspects. I'm sure Starz is a lot less restrictive (possibly encouraging) but I'd assume they still have to run the content via the channels censors or maybe even some independent board. I think Fuller likes to push the envelope which is good in terms of him being able to fully explore the medium. Although I sometimes wish there was a limit on gallons of blood we can see in an episode - it might spare us some of the slo-mo. Although we maybe get the slo-mo because there is a limit on how much blood can be shown

 

[PetyrPunkinhead]

On 5/10/2017 at 1:06 PM, red snow said:

Not sure if it was sleep deprivation or just finishing season 2 of sense8 but I wasn't impressed with the second episode. In fact I was a bit bored...

Sounds like fatigue b/c this was a fantastic episode. And you dug s2 of Sense8 then? 

On 5/9/2017 at 1:44 PM, HelenaExMachina said:

You aren't going to trick someone into setting fire to the ship and killing themselves and all the others by talking in a clam reasoned manner though...being a trickster is all about knowing your audience imo so it worked for me.

I enjoyed this episode, and the casting of this show is brilliant I must say. Czernebog and Zorya were brilliant, and so was Media. My only complaint was  the part after Coming to America, with Shadow lying in bed then cleaning the old house. It was dragged out too long by stylistic flourishes. But other than that the episode was great. 

 

AgreeD. I thought the revolution on the ship was a brilliant way to intro "Mr. Nancy" and just how malevolent he (and gods in general) can be. He straight up convinces these docile slaves to get so angry and riled up that they kill themselves and their captors as a sacrifice to Anansi. Great opening scene.

Agreed. Casting is so on point with this series so far.

Agreed. Shadow packing up went on longer than needed to get the point across, but overll it was still a damned entertaining episode.

On 5/9/2017 at 11:43 AM, The King in Black said:

While McShane as Wednesday is still the top casting, Anansi , Gillian as Media and Stormare as Czernebog are in contention for close second 

Agreed. I didn't read much about the series prior to air and basically only knew McShane and Crispin Glover were gonna be in it. So Anderson as Media was a pleasant surprise. The, "Do you wanna see Lucy's tits?" line killed me. If I recall correctly, that whole scene was straight from the novel.

[red snow]

2 hours ago, PetyrPunkinhead said:

Sounds like fatigue b/c this was a fantastic episode. And you dug s2 of Sense8 then? 

 

Could well be as I enjoyed episode 1. I know I'm currently having an ongoing problem with storytelling in TV - particularly american TV. It feels like they are designed to be watched in one sitting to not get frustrated by the lack of an "episode". So Sense8 season 2 worked for me but it did require me watching all of it in the space of a day and a half. I'm sure that probably affected my enjoyment of this episode as I like Sense8 a hell of a lot more. More often than not, I simply don't have the time to binge watch shows so when I wind up watching less than an episode a day and I'm wondering why I didn't really enjoy it as much as I should it's usually because it feels like I haven't watched the whole thing. A bit like watching a movie over 3 days makes it feel disjointed but I wouldn't blame the movie as it was made to be watched in one go. 2-3 hours is manageable but 6+ hours is asking a lot of the viewer if that's how it works best.

American Gods, I don't even have that option unless I wait 7 weeks and then binge it. It also doesn't help that by season 3 of Hannibal it was clear the episodes meant nothing in terms of structure so I know the chances are high that this is how american gods will continue

Episode 2 just felt like a string of, often unconnected, events.

Some of the events were good eg the opening and the TV scene but neither of those really had any bearing on the episode. I thought it would have been nice to have at least had Anansi fit in the actual episode. Personally, it would have made more sense to show us how Czernobog arrived in America. I felt that worked nicely in the premier given Odin was introduced in the modern day after we saw how he arrived in the US. Have Anansi's US origin when he figures into Shadow's story. These are just small things that help tie an episode together as opposed to a season.

And to be honest I'd have rather had the conclusion to Shadow keeping his side of the checkers bargain than it be carried over into the next episode. At least have the episode end with Shadow on his knees and Czernobog about to swing his hammer. Don't make me sit through 10 mins of checkers where I don't really get to see the game being played (so have no idea whether either of them were any good at it) and leave that as the finale.

I did like how it was implied Bilquis was in America because her jewels/tomb are in a museum as it opens the door more than the initial rule seeming to be, beleivers of a god had to arrive. Because I doubt there were any egyptians arriving in america who still beleived in egyptian gods. Same with the european settlers after columbus being christian.

I also admit that it may just be a dodgy memory/attention thing for me and that others can happily tune in/out and appreciate the style and acting over the lack of an "episode" attaching the larger narrative as they go along.

[briantw]

Honestly, I feel like this is a show that really benefits from a weekly release.  I'm not sure I could binge watch a show as weird as American Gods.  And I mean that in a good way.  Some shows get better when you binge them.  Some don't.

[red snow]

2 hours ago, briantw said:

Honestly, I feel like this is a show that really benefits from a weekly release.  I'm not sure I could binge watch a show as weird as American Gods.  And I mean that in a good way.  Some shows get better when you binge them.  Some don't.

I think long stints of this show could result in disturbed sleep. If I'm cutting the show some slack i could say the narrative structure is trying to capture that disconnect from reality too.