American Gods Season 1 Episode 6 – Reaction Breakdown Review

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This episode opens at the Mexican border with ‘Coming to America’. They come to a river and stop for the night and pray to Jesus Christ for protection in their journey across as the river has a strong current. As they make it to the other side there is one man still wading in the water and as he begins to drown he is pulled to the surface by Jesus, who walks on water to the shore.

Just as the group think they are to safety, a group of Americans pull up in pick-up trucks with bright lights, hop out and open fire. Their guns are labeled ‘thy kingdom come’, ironically identifying them also as Christians. Jesus steps in front of some of the travelers and is shot in both hands, like the crucifixion, and in the chest and his heart appears to glow.

As we catch up with Shadow and Wednesday, they are debating the chicken and the egg, did Gods exist first of people believing in them. Shadow asks Wednesday who he was and Wednesday responded, if I told you, you wouldn’t believe me. Shadow tells Wednesday he saw Laura and the two return to the motel to find the room destroyed. Wednesday appears to not believe Shadow about Laura’s return, which he already knows about. He quickly gets Shadow out of the area as Laura finally returns in time to see them pulling off with Shadow lighting up the car.

Mad Sweeney shows up and convinces Laura that he has Jesus Christ connections and may know someone who performs resurrections. Laura is questioning Sweeney about what/who he is and as they argue as Sweeney tries to hot wire a cab. Salim appears with a gun and asks them not to steal his car but instead goes with them in hopes of finding The Jinn. Sweeney agrees to help him find the Jinn as long as he takes them to Kentucky.

All of a sudden Shadow’s wound is getting worse. Wednesday places his hand over the wound and says some sort of incantation and pulls some type of alien looking creature from the wound. I’m assuming that this was an implant from the tree in the police department, possibly a tracker from the New Gods.

Laura, Sweeney and Salim are traveling the car. Salim is talking the whole time, Laura is zoning out and her flies are still hovering and Sweeney is irritated with the whole situation, especially Salim’s talking. Salim asks Laura if she was dead and when she confirms he asks if she prayed for another life. Salim says that he does not pray to ask God for things, he prays to thank him. He admits that he prays to find the Jinn and Sweeney deduces that Salim and the Jinn have an intimate relationship. Laura doesn’t like that Sweeney is making fun of Salim and as Sweeney falls asleep, she turns the steering wheel and take them off course.

In the next scene, there is a supervisor clocking in for his day at work in a factory and The Partridge Family theme song is playing. He greets all his employees with a smile, leans on a rail and falls into a fiery smelting pot, and it World’s Greatest Boss cup melts in what looks like Lava. The metal is used to make bullets. We are in Vulcan, Virginia. The town has flags and firearm signs everywhere. The people have patches on their arms and guns in their hands, they are reminiscent of Nazis. There is a parade to celebrate the supervisor’s death, which Wednesday identifies as a sacrifice to Roman God Vulcan, who is also the factory owner and leader in this town. In mythology, Vulcan is the roman god of metal work and volcanoes, which was highlighted well in the this scene. Wednesday is there to encourage Vulcan to join the Old Gods in the war to come.

Sweeney wakes up pissed off because they are not in Kentucky. He gives Laura hell about her kiss with Shadow, highlighting that Shadow won’t want her back especially since she kissed him with her dead smelling mouth. He tells her that Shadow is now Wednesday’s man and not hers. Laura is focused on the fact that her heart beat when she kissed Shadow and is not deterred by Sweeney’s many attempts to set her straight.

Shadow does not like the feel at Vulcan’s house, especially with the noose on the hanging tree in the front yard. Wednesday asks Vulcan how he was able to build this life and Vulcan admits that it was through sacrifice. Vulcan refers to the gun as a modern volcano and essentially every shot fired is a dedication to him as a God. Wednesday toasts ‘God bless the believers’ and requests that he forge sword. Vulcan leaves and Shadow asks Wednesday does he trust Vulcan. Wednesday replies that he trusts who Vulcan has always been. Shadow questions how Vulcan knew he was lynched and Wednesday points out that the people who lynched him knew he was lynched, implying that Vulcan is on the side of the New Gods. Shadow is going on about Laura and Wednesday asks him to close his eyes and picture her, Shadow does and is able to get a vivid picture of where Laura is at the time that seems to point to some of Shadow’s abilities.

Wednesday compliments Vulcan on such a wonderful blade forged. Vulcan is shining the finished product and seems to be having a change of heart. Wednesday senses something is up and calls Vulcan out on selling him out. Vulcan admits that the New Gods revitalized him as a deity by giving him a modern gun for people to worship. Wednesday takes the sword and slits Vulcan’s throat and kicks him into the smelting pot, then lays down a curse by urinating into the vat, which goes into every bullet.

At the end of the episode, Salim has stopped at sundown to pray as flies hover around Laura and Sweeney is visibly irritated. Salim and Laura agree that life is great.

Another great episode. Still catching up on Season 1 reviews, I’ll be back soon with my review of Season 1 Episode 7.

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