‘American Gods’ Series Premiere Recap [Spoilers]

American Gods premiered on Starz on Sunday night to a wave of great reviews. Based on the Hugo Award winning novel of the same name by Neil Gaiman, American Gods is one of the most anticipated series of the year. The premiere episode is titled, “The Bone Orchard.”

The premise of the show, adapted to TV by Bryan Fuller and Michael Green, is simple and but intriguing. Over the years, immigrants brought spirits and gods with them to the United States. Their power is sustained by those who believe in them. But now, in modern times, their power is fading and new gods – of technology, media, globalization, and the stock market – are getting stronger and threatening war.

And so we find our protagonist, Shadow Moon (Ricky White), a grieving former convict who takes a bodyguard job protecting Mr. Wednesday (Ian McShane). Shadow soon finds out that Wednesday is in fact the old god, Odin, the father of the gods. Together, they begin their journey across the country, hoping to corral the waining old gods into one final fight.

There is Bilquis (Yetide Badaki), the goddess of love who routinely eats men whole – with her vagina. Mad Sweeney (Pablo Schreiber) is a crazy leprechaun who offers Shadow a mysterious gold coin. We are also introduced to Technical Boy (Bruce Langley), the new god of technology who is aided by his vape and his army of online trolls.

Technical Boy orders his goons to beat up Shadow, who wakes up on a mountain covered in bones with a noose around his neck. As soon as he is sure he will die, the goons around him begin to fall in a bloody, gory fashion. It is unclear who is doing the killing but Shadow will be saved.

American Gods promises to be a show filled with violence and constant mystery. It is unclear why Shadow has been picked for this mission – Mr. Wednesday, in his infinite knowledge, must have picked him for a reason. It is also unclear why the new gods want him dead.

There will also be many theological and philosophical questions the show will raise, questions that aren’t typically discussed in American culture. Where does our faith as a society lay? Is religion just a path to violence? Are we all just a bunch of pagans? Hopefully, American Gods will clue us in.

American Gods airs Sundays at 9 p.m. EST on Starz. Each episode is available on Amazon Prime the day after it is broadcast. Watch the series trailer below.