American Gods Episode two: The Secret of Spoons
We open with more history–we meet Anansi (Mr. Nancy). This Anansi seems a far grimmer than the one in the book. He comes at the call of a slave’s prayer from the bottom of a slaver ship. He recounts much of the history of American race relations and encourages the slaves to burn the ship with themselves in it, because they’re dead either way.
Shadow receives treatment at a hospital where they ask him if he was shot at, as that would require reporting the incident to police. He assures them he wasn’t shot at as they staple the holes in his skin made by Technical Boy’s avatars.
When he tells Wednesday what happened, he’s angry but not overwhelmingly so. He’s more interested in a meeting he’s trying to set up that seems more important. Shadow needs one more day, though. He’s cleaning out the house before they move on.
That night, he dreams Laura came to visit him.
After Shadow cleans out the house, Wednesday sends him shopping. While he’s shopping, he meets the next of the New Gods–Media. She appears on the TVs in the electronics section as Lucille Ball, and she offers him whatever he wants to work with her. Of course, Shadow turns her down. He thinks he’s going crazy.
He tells Wednesday what happened, and gets a cryptic answer. Shadow is beginning to piece together what’s going on.
The two travel to Chicago to recruit someone important to Wednesday’s mysterious cause–Czernobog, a Russian god. He lives with the Zorya sisters, and he works at a slaughterhouse–one of the few places he can still engage in death.
Czernobog obviously despises Wednesday, but he agrees to come to Wednesday’s big meeting if Shadow can win against him at checkers. If Shadow loses, however, he has to agree to let Czernobog bash his head in with his bloody hammer.
As the episode closes, we see Shadow lose.
We all know Wednesday isn’t going to let go of him so easily.
Previous Episode: The Bone Orchard
JL Jamieson is a strange book nerd who writes technical documents by day, and book news, reviews, and other assorted opinions for you by night. She is working on her own fiction, and spends time making jewelry to sell at local conventions, as well as stalking the social media accounts of all your favorite writers.