Spoilers for episode 5 of American Gods follow! You have been warned.
As each new episode of American Gods premieres, I worry occasionally that the series will eventually be straightforward enough that thereâll be nothing to âexplainâ from week to week. âLemon Scented You,â however, has quelled that fear in me the best way it could: with rapid fire David Bowie allusions. Somebodyâs going to have to pick those out for all of you, and it might as well be me, right?
Coming To America
In an interesting departure from the other âComing to Americaâ weâve witnessed on the show thus far, this episode documents the coming of Siberian travelers across the Bering Strait with stylized animation, using an aesthetic that feels reminiscent of the Tale of the Three Brothers from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Atsula and her god Nunyunnini should be familiar if youâve read the book, but theyâre not especially important to remember in detail, except to demonstrate that the Gods depend on the people who believe in them for survival. Or, as Ibis puts it: âThe Gods are great, but people are greater, for it is in their hearts that Gods are born and to their hearts that they return.â
Laura and the Coin
Now that the show has filled in all of Lauraâs backstory, itâs time to move forward to her reunion with Shadow. Itâs interesting to see how much more willing Laura is to embrace the world of Gods, a concept Shadow still has trouble with. Then again, Laura is a dead woman whose heart starts beating again when she kisses her husband, so obviously circumstances demand that she start believing more quickly than he does. Her existences still appears to be connected to the coin, which has somehow burrowed her way inside her and cannot be taken out by force–mostly because Laura can straight-up kill anybody who comes after her with that inhuman strength sheâs got.
Speaking of which, now that Mad Sweeney knows just whoâs got it, heâs not about to give it up easily, telling Laura itâs the sort of coin that âyou give to the King Of America himself.â Sweeney calls Wednesday Grimnir, another one of Odinâs names from a mythological poem known as the GrÃmnismál, and âginger mingeâ is Irish slang for a red-headed womanâs pubic hair. Not sure how Laura knows that one, but considering what Sweeneyâs calling her, it seems fitting.
Odinâs Raven
Eat your heart out, Game of ThronesâAmerican Gods officially has the best ravens in TV. In Norse mythology, Odinâs ravens Huginn and Muninn fly around Midgard and report information to him. Itâs unclear which one this is, but weâll definitely see them both again before the series is through.
The Media Who Fell To Earth
Turns out that virtual reality limousine where Shadow first encountered the Technical Boy is a device that other members of the New Gods can use, too–maybe Technical Boy stole it for a joyride? In any event. Media is back and sheâs got the keys to the limo for the time being. As we discovered in Episode 3, she assumes whatever form will effectively deliver her message most effectively, which (of course) tends to be iconic celebrities. Here she manifests as David Bowie in his iconic âLife On Marsâ music video look, because sheâs accusing Technical Boy of âbeating up the wrong guyâ–specifically, Shadow Moon, to whom their leader Mr. World would like him to apologize.
Other references you might have missed, in quick succession: Media says Technical Boyâs âgot your transmission and your live wireâ (from âRebel Rebelâ) but âyour circuitâs deadâ (from âSpace Oddity); that there is âa terror in knowing what Mr. World is aboutâ (from âUnder Pressure,â with a small modification); that Technical Boy is âputting out the fire with gasolineâ (from âCat Peopleâ); and that there are âStarmen waiting in the skyâ (from âStarmanâ). She also alludes to the infamous War Of The Worlds broadcast as an example of her power, saying âI was there when the Martians invaded in 1938. What a panic.â And then she disappears into a giant holographic projection of Mars, because of course she does. Somewhere right now, I can hear Bryan Fuller, Michael Green, and episode writer Maria Melnik clapping their hands with glee that they managed to fit all of that into roughly three minutes of screen time.
The Police Station
Even when Mr. Wednesday is trying to con his way out of an arrest, heâs downright poetic; the few lines of verse he speaks are by 19th century poet William Ernest Henley, who also wrote âInvictus.â In any event, everything that happens in the police station is entirely new to the series, placed there to establish a meeting between Wednesday and his âextremely extravagant enemiesâ and explain why he does not want to work with them. Itâs a necessary change, given that media and technology are as much mediums as they are objects that inspire worship. Otherwise, how do you explain online ministries?
With this in mind, Technical Boy offers Shadow an apology, which is somehow more about the problematic optics of lynching a black man than it is about acknowledging that he caused Shadow pain (boy, theyâve really nailed the internet with this depiction, havenât they?), and Media–dressed as Marilyn Monroe, though Shadow still recognizes her as âI Love Lucyâ–offers Wednesday a business opportunity: by naming via a missile after him, the New Gods could secure Odin a permanent means of belief and sacrifice. Naturally, Wednesdayâs not on board. âAll you do is occupy their time,â he argues. âWe gave back. We gave them meaning.â
And finally, in the middle of all of this, we get our first glimpse of the showâs Big Bad: Mr. World, the leader of of the New Gods, as played by the straight-up terrifying Crispin Glover. In the book heâs even more enigmatic than he appears in the series, where heâs the God of⦠systems? Of global capitalism? Surveillance? Whatever his power derives from, he can somehow use it to mutate the wood in an office chair to attack Wednesday and Shadow on their way out. I have an idea what this could be a reference to, but suffice it to say it would spoil the whole series, so weâll hold off on that for now.
What did you think of this episode? Anything else you need explained? Let us know in the comments and letâs see if we canât figure this out.
Images: Starz