These matters become pretty clear in the opening sequence after a boat-load of stranded Vikings start mutilating and massacring each other in exchange for celestial attention.
Our story begins with hero Shadow Moon (Ricky Whittle), who is having a bad day. He's trying to reintegrate himself back into society after years in prison. He's running late to his wife's funeral, back home in Eagle Point. He’s met someone who may or may not be a leprechaun. He's found himself squarely in the middle of a divine showdown.
The carnage is set in a dystopian future America, in a world in which tensions have arisen between the Old Gods (like Odin, bonus mythology points to you if you know what day of the week is named after him), who now face irrelevance with the rise of the New, as Media and developing Technology are worshipped by the masses.
Chief writer and executive producer Bryan Fuller first rose to fame for his work on Hannibal, where he somehow managed to aestheticise cannibalism through his camera work, routinely enact the worlds most outlandish murders and create a character-driven thriller.
Fortunately, Fuller brings his penchant for all things gothic to American Gods. In stark contrast to other shows (Quantico, for example), where the director reveals the ending of the series in the first scene and then spends the rest of his (or her) precious air time building the bridge between dramatic irony and plot, American Gods leaves you in the dark where you belong. Instead of obvious explanations and use of the camera as a spotlight to pick up on what will transparently turn out to be a plot point, American Gods doesn’t talk down to its audience.
Of course, you can always just come for the sex.
Watch episode one of American Gods on Amazon Prime now.
| What | American Gods Amazon Prime episode one review |
| Where | Amazon Prime | MAP |
| When |
01 May 17 – 31 Jul 17, 9:00 AM – 12:00 AM |
| Price | £n/a |
| Website |
