American Gods
Our Review
The adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s novel arrived fully formed: gods brought to America by immigrants are fading in the age of new gods — Technology, Media, Globalization — and a war is coming over the believers who remain. Ricky Whittle’s Shadow Moon, an ex-con who becomes the old god Odin’s (Ian McShane, obviously) errand boy, walks into a road-trip mythology across an America rendered as a roadside attraction.
Season 1 is gorgeous and confident — the Coming to America cold opens (each episode’s immigrant-brings-a-god vignette) were the show’s purest hits, and the salim-and-the-jinn hour is one of TV’s most tender episodes. Then showrunners Fuller and Green left, and season 2 shows the wound: the plot stalls in Cairo, the war doesn’t come, and the show loses its way in its own mythology. Season 3 recovers some road-trip beauty (the Lakeside arc) but ends unresolved — canceled on a cliffhanger. The first season remains essential.
Verdict: Watch season 1. Sample 2-3 if you must. Read the book for the ending.