American Gods ended its second season shaking everything up. Where season one let you know that everyone would probably have to deal with the repercussions of the spring being taken away, which really didn’t happen most likely due to the actress who played Easter leaving the show; “Moon Shadow” let us know that Shadow, Wednesday, and all the Old Gods are stepping into unknown territory. Mr. World made a very big statement and while people may have been skeptical about New Media, she’s clearly been able to manipulate the storytelling in ways that may not have been possible before. With New Media and the reincarnated Technical Boy aka Quantum Boy by his side, the leader of the New Gods has made it known that the Old Gods may have been around longer, but they’re [New Gods] the ones who control the script.
Your attention please.
A message from a family who embrace the future.
It’s time to upgrade your faith.
Believe in Gods that give you results.#AmericanGods pic.twitter.com/wiY0DBvucY— American Gods Intl (@AmGodsIntl) March 7, 2019
While we wait for season three, author Neil Gaiman sat down with EW to discuss what we should expect for the next installment of the live-adaptation of his novel. We obviously see Shadow escaping from the threat of prison, after the New Gods painted his face on TV as a murderer. He’s no longer trusting Mr. Wednesday, which is a good thing; as Shadow’s just found out the truth about Odin’s role in his wife’s death. This is something that doesn’t happen in the books until much, much later, but it adds a good shake-up in the show, as Shadow is less oblivious. He and Laura’s relationship has also broken off and Laura is no longer the wistful shadow she was in the book, rather out for blood (literally) and Wednesday’s head.
With the end of season two, it’s alluded that Shadow will go to Lakeside, as we see his new ID says “Mike Ainsel” a pseudonym that he uses while laying low in Lakeside. Gaiman commented:
“Shadow is going to try and find a place to be safe, and we’ll find out how well that works for him. Wednesday is also going to be determined to get Shadow back, and we’ll find out how well that works for him,” Gaiman said. “He believes the madness is over, that his dead wife is gone from his life, Wednesday is gone and he’s going to adopt a new identity and know who that is.”
And apparently, Shadow may get a new beau:
“We haven’t seen Shadow awkwardly dating, he hasn’t until now had to deal with anyone except Laura.”
Speaking of an old beau, Gaiman comments on Laura’s journey in season three. In season two, us #MadWife shippers got to see Laura Moon and Mad Sweeney intertwine in ways that we only thought possible in fanfiction, but that was quickly overshadowed by the fight they had. And, now Mad Sweeney is dead due to his tussle with Shadow, where he revealed everything to Shadow about Mr. Wednesday. With Laura coming to terms with the fact that she and Shadow will never be a thing again and her companion Sweeney is dead, where does that leave her in the next season?
“I love Laura in the book but she’s a shadowy figure mostly because you see her when Shadow’s interacting with her,” Gaiman says. “What Emily has brought to that character was something that wasn’t in the book, something gutsy and angry and really smart and something bleak and nihilistic and depressed at the same time. Laura is not a very nice person in death but she was really a very nice person in life. She does have this remarkable integrity in death where she doesn’t need to bulls–t, so putting her with Mad Sweeney gives you this fabulous dynamic and it’s not over yet,” he teased.
Even in death, Laura and Sweeney are connected together, Gaiman explained, as what happens to the body of the dead Irish former king is tied directly into Laura’s journey and will be “one of the engines that is going to drive season 3.” (Source: EW)
Be still my #MadWife beating heart – can we get a Mad Sweeney resurrection?
On top of Mr. Wednesday having to continue to wage his war despite the events of the second season’s finale, it seems that we are going to have a reason explained to us as to why it seems that no matter what Shadow finds out about Odin, he still doesn’t seem to register the severity of the warnings given to him:
“We’re going to learn why it is that it doesn’t seem to matter who tells Shadow that Wednesday is trying to f–k him over, he does not appear to hear this. There is actually a reason for this and why that is is going to become an important part for season 3.” Gaiman said.
Lastly, we have a new showrunner for season three after Bryan Fuller and Michael Green stepped out post-season one and Jesse Alexander departed before the second season aired. With Charles “Chic” Eglee, who has done work on The Walking Dead previously; it seems to be in good hands as EW reports that Chic is already planning out a fourth season, along with how to wrap everything up. This kind of long-term planning is good for American Gods, though; it will be interesting to see the style differences now (even though personally, I’ve enjoyed the second season slightly better).
Gaiman expanded on this:
“I got to specify that I wanted an experienced showrunner, somebody who would not be intimated by anybody, somebody absolutely familiar with every single part of the TV-making process. I wanted a steady hand on the tiller. American Gods, people love the characters and they love the world and with the seasons we plan to do, our plan is to get it sharper with better story-telling.”
What did you think of “Moon Shadow” and the second season? What do you hope to see in season three?
See my review for the second season’s finale here.
A girl with too many fandoms to count.
