This week American Gods opens with a scene in which we see a woman preparing a meal.
She reaches up to the top shelf standing on a stool, which is not safe. Her cat is protesting as if it can see what is about to happen.
The woman seems to get what she needs from the shelf and descends the stool safely, but that’s just from her point of view.
As she is adding the finishing touches to her desert her kitchen door opens and in the door way stands a striking black figure.
He reveals himself to be the Egyptian god of the dead Anubis and he calmly informs the woman that she has just died and must go with him. He helps her pass over to the afterlife once he has weighed her deeds on the scales.
The scene changes back to Chicago and Shadow Moon is sleeping on Czernobog’s sofa, but he is restless of the morning to come.
He goes out onto the roof and meets Czernobog’s oldest sister, who looks younger than the two younger sisters. The two have a discussion and she reads his fortune and says that if he believes in nothing, then he gets nothing.
She then asks him for a kiss and steals one from him. Before offering him her protection, which is made up of the moon.
Strangely encouraged by this, Shadow Man goes into Czernobog’s room and offers him a rematch at checkers.
If Czernobog wins he will get to opportunity to bash shadow in the head with his hammer, but if he loses he will agree to follow Wednesday and him to Wisconsin. Shadow wins the game and the deal is struck.
Outside on the house Wednesday is talking to Czernobog’s younger sister, who looks the oldest out of all his sisters. She reads his fortune and says he is going to lose everything. Wednesday says that is only today’s fortune.
By the time morning comes round Shadow Moon and Wednesday hit the road, but as they do Wednesday boldly announces that they are going to rob a bank.
At this point we have an interlude that sees a down on his luck salesman trying to get work, but unfortunately the guy he has an appointment to see has decided he does not want anything to do with him.
The salesman gets into a taxi and starts chatting with the driver. They are both from the same country and find some commonality.
The driver begins to nod off while stuck in traffic so salesman leans forward and gently squeezes the drivers shoulder. As the driver awakes from his snooze his sun glasses slip down and reveal flames in his eyes.
The salesman realises that the driver is an Ifrit — a type of Jinn — but for whatever reason the salesman seems unfazed by this revelation and continues the journey to his hotel.
When they get to the hotel the salesman invites the Jinn to his room and they engage in some adult fun. The Djjin says he doesn’t grant wishes and the salesman responds by saying you already have.
The morning after the salesman walks out the hotel wearing the Jinn’s clothes and drives off in the taxi.
The action now moves to the Crocodile Bar where we meet up once more with Mad Sweeney the Leprechaun, who seems to have run into some bad luck.
Sweeney is pretty much forced to leave the bar and winds up hitchhiking and gets a ride by a reformed alcoholic.
In a mad bit of bad luck some scaffolding falls out from the back of a nearby truck and flies through the car window impaling the driver through the head.
Sweeney barely escapes and continues his journey to try and catch up with Wednesday and Shadow Moon to retrieve his lucky coin.
Back in Chicago Wednesday and Shadow Moon are making preparations to rob the bank. This involves them taking down the phone number for a pay phone and photo copying some fake ID’s and signage.
Shadow Moon is not happy with this arrangement because Wednesday told him that they would not be doing anything illegal when he was hired.
In order to take Shadow Moon’s mind off the fact that they are about to scam a bank. Wednesday tells him to clear his mind and think of snow. Shadow Moon does so and it begins to snow.
Before they commence with their elaborate scam, Wednesday and Shadow Moon stop for a bite to eat and have an interesting conversation about belief and the power that it does or doesn’t have.
They get interrupted by an angry Sweeney and the Leprechaun demands that Shadow Moon give him his lucky coin back.
Shadow Moon tells Sweeney that he chucked the coin atop his wife’s grave in Eagle Point and he should go there and dig it up. Sweeney leaves and he’s not happy.
Having eaten Wednesday and Shadow Moon pull off their bank job, which involves Wednesday dressing up as a security guard and putting an out of order sign on a cash machine and collecting the four digit pin numbers off of passers by.
While Wednesday is doing this Shadow Moon is on the other side of the road at the pay phone. His job is to confirm to the police that Wednesday under his assumed identity is working for him and that they have been hired by the bank.
Funnily enough. The scam works.
Back at Eagle Point Sweeney is digging up Shadow Moon’s wife’s grave and trying to find his coin. He gets down to the casket and finds that the coin has burned a hole right through it. The casket is empty.
Back in Chicago Shadow Moon goes back to his hotel room and is surprised to find his wife in the room on the bed waiting for him.
American Gods: Questions we’re left asking
- How much time has the Leprechaun’s lucky coin brought for Shadow Moon’s dead wife?
- What happened to the Djinn?
- When are we likely to see more plot points open up with the new gods?