American Gods Recap: Come to Jesus

We start the episode with  Wednesday and Shadow getting outfitted for suits by Mr. Nancy. He stops to tell them a story.

We then get to hear about Bilquis. She was a powerful goddess until her age passed. She went to America after the disco age passes from Tehran (at least, that’s what it looks like?). On the plane over, she absorbs a man in the airplane bathroom.

Also, can we talk about how much Yetide Badaki slays in this? OMG. Stunning.

So she gets to America, and eventually, her temples back home are destroyed by ISIS. Broken and alone, she lays in the street. Her hair and skin has lost it’s luster, she’s out of power. This is when Technical Boy finds her. He gets her back to her old self by setting up a dating app called Sheba (Bilquis was Queen of Sheba). This is how she ends up devouring worshippers one at a time. Now that people are once again worshipping in her name, she regains some of her old strength. So, now we know what side she’s on out of necessity.

“Get myself a Queen.”

Wednesday takes this as Nancy telling him he needs a Queen, so he travels to find one of his own. Eostre. Ostara. Easter. Before that, Nancy and Wednesday talk about Wednesday killing Vulcan. They also tell Shadow he’s not angry, he’s confused.

On the way to Easter, Shadow dreams again of the Bone Orchard and the buffalo with burning eyes.

As they get closer to Easter, the road is full of bunnies. Wednesday rolls the car over a few.

They roll up to a mansion, and there’s scores of Jesuses milling around the house. One for every belief set and culture.

“Welcome to Kentucky.”

Easter is the goddess of spring, so the property is full of flowers, and the mansion full of Easter colored decorations and confections. There’s even rabbits pooping jellybeans.

Shadow is a little overwhelmed by all the Jesuses.

Shadow keeps asking Wednesday who he is. He won’t tell him.

Ostara is fascinated by Shadow, and he seems slightly addled by her.

Wednesday tries to convince her to join the old gods in the war. He tells her she needs to take away the bounty of the earth and make humans pray to get it back. She remains unconvinced, and gets a bit pissed off when Wednesday insists on telling her she’s just as forgotten as the rest of them. He tells her the new gods killed Vulcan because Vulcan made him a sword and sided with him.

“Believing is seeing.”

Bilquis wanders a museum, looking at old artifacts of her days past. The phone rings, and it’s Technical Boy. She hits Ignore, and he appears instead. He is insisting on paying the favor she owes. She approaches him and whispers “I can take care of you.” Chills. This statement has layers of meaning. Of course, that’s not what Technical Boy meant.

No, he wants to point her at Wednesday’s camp. I can only think he means Shadow.

Back at the mansion, up rolls the ice cream truck from hell. A markedly rotting Laura and a tired Mad Sweeney roll out of it.

Shadow has a conversation with one of the Jesuses about belief. He’s having a problem believing everything that’s happened so far.

“You must walk that road until the end.”

Meanwhile, Wednesday seems to be winding Easter up. He really wants Easter to lay waste to the growing things, force people to pray to her to bring it all back. She spots Sweeney and Laura.

She’s pretty pissed he brought a dead girl to her Easter party. This is who Sweeney told Laura could resurrect her. She says she’ll have to see. She needs to know why Laura is dead in the first place. Easter figures out Laura was killed at the behest of a god, so she cannot resurrect her.

Laura wants answers, and she’s going to wring them from Mad Sweeney’s testicles if she has to.

Easter looks out the window, and spots Media at her Easter party.

“We built this holiday. You and Me.”

So apparently, Media counts herself as partially responsible for popularizing the chocolate rabbits and candy version of Easter.

Laura gets her answers. Sweeney admits he ran her off the road at Wednesday’s direction. Uh oh. He admits that Wednesday wanted to make sure Shadow lost everything so he’d have nothing left to lose. She asks him what Wednesday has to lose.

“I don’t have to fight, I have faith.”

Wednesday and Media and Technical Boy face off. Mr. World hijacks a faceless minion to intimidate Wednesday.

The sky fills with lightning, and he asks Shadow if he has faith. Shadow wants to know Wednesday’s name. He tells him, with drama and clashes of lightning. With that lightning he fries all of Technical Boy’s faceless minions in Ostara’s name.

He tells Ostara to show them who she is. She brings a rain of flower petals and a spring wind. Then she kills everything green and growing.

Mr. World tells Wednesday he’s got his war.

Wednesday asks Shadow what he believes.

Shadow says “Everything.”

Laura clears her throat and requests a word with Shadow.

Bilquis travels to House on the Rock.

Previous Episode: A Prayer for Mad Sweeney