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American Gods |OT| You Had Me At Bryan Fuller - Sundays on Starz

Watching now. Some really great visuals so far. The dream stuff like the Buffalo with flaming eyes is really cool. Also holy shit what at that sex scene, haha. Jeeeesus.

Leprechaun dude is an asshole, but great.
 

Klocker

Member
Yep, and Shadow is essentially the vessel for the reader/viewer to learn about the gods. He's the main character but we're basically along for the ride like he is.

As it should be. why would we want to ruin the art of telling a story by having it all dumped up front.
 

Lee

Member
The line about the weather being constipated and needing to push out a storm took me out a little bit. Didn't seem like something Shadow would say. More like a Rust Cohle line.
 

Platy

Member
One thing I thought was kind of cool for the others who've not read the book themselves. My wife said that Technical Boy was a more stereotypical computer nerd from that era (heavy set, acne, glasses, etc.) but that Fuller thought that didn't really work in 2017 so he went with the look they had instead.

Yeah ... they changed the basement fat boy for a full Milo Yanopopulus style asshole set
 

Stumpokapow

listen to the mad man
As someone who hasn't read the book, I found the Bilquis scene very important, along with the Viking scene, in establishing that gods gain power when they are worshipped.
 

Haly

One day I realized that sadness is just another word for not enough coffee.
The line about the weather being constipated and needing to push out a storm took me out a little bit. Didn't seem like something Shadow would say. More like a Rust Cohle line.

Yeah in the book it was
someone else who mentioned it to him, in passing, not in that overwrought way.
Bit weird.
 
Is this show worthy of the glory of this gif from the Hannibal thread?

Jmg6Riu.gif


Excited to watch episode one tonight.
 

Primus

Member
I really appreciated how Technical Boy's goons were a faceless attack mob he summoned up from the depths of the Internet. Gives it that extra Milo flavor.
 

Haly

One day I realized that sadness is just another word for not enough coffee.
As a book reader the most interesting part about this adaptation is how they're updating it for 2017, rather than sending everyone back to 2001. In one of the novellas, Shadow reminisces on how he was in prison during 9/11. I'm waiting to see what kind events they reference here to establish the time period (which should be the here and now), if the America they're living in is post-Trump or pre-Trump.
 
As a book reader the most interesting part about this adaptation is how they're updating it for 2017, rather than sending everyone back to 2001. In one of the novellas, Shadow reminisces on how he was in prison during 9/11. I'm waiting to see what kind events they reference here to establish the time period (which should be the here and now), if the America they're living in is post-Trump or pre-Trump.

The whole thing with the scene in the Limo taking place in VR was a really clever detail.
 

Theorry

Member
WTF. Did i watch. No idea whats it is or whats going on. But it was crazy and special enough to continue. Is this based on a comic or something?
 
WTF. Did i watch. No idea whats it is or whats going on. But it was crazy and special enough to continue. Is this based on a comic or something?
Just an ex-con getting involved with a conman. What's strange about that? :p

And it's based on a book by Neil Gaiman (author behind Sandman, Coraline, and a bunch of other stuff)
 
I read the book last year and loved it, but Id been feeling like id forgotten the vast majority of it.

Then I watched this and everything came flooding back, haha.

Will look forward to that happening more as the show progresses!

Great stuff!
 

Lee

Member
I read the book last year and loved it, but Id been feeling like id forgotten the vast majority of it.

Then I watched this and everything came flooding back, haha.

Will look forward to that happening more as the show progresses!

Great stuff!

Yeah I've considered re-reading the book this week, but I think not remembering everything is only going to make watching it more exciting.
 

cobell

Member
is it only one book? so it's gonna be a 1 season show or what is the roadmap?

American Gods is one book, but there are other books likely in the same world like Anansi Boys.

They've said Season 1 ends about 1/3 through the book. With further seasons to cover the rest if the show is popular.
 
is it only one book? so it's gonna be a 1 season show or what is the roadmap?
One book, but it's big and covers a lot of material. The first season is said to be only a third of the book, and they'e expanding on stuff and adding new gods into the mix
 
"What the fuck did I just watch" is probably the way I'm feeling right now.

Not in a bad way, mind you, it was amazing, but some stuff like the dream world felt way too cryptic.
 

Monocle

Member
That first episode was something. It's odd to see a fledgling story told with the lavish visual style of Hannibal, which matured over three seasons. I feel a disconnect between the show's narrative and presentation. Hannibal had a more organic transition to its weirder, more ornate visuals. Maybe this feeling will change on repeat viewings.

I really liked it though! The cast is absolutely perfect so far. With a few minor glitches, the show is a remarkably faithful adaptation—a very good thing when the source material is by Neil Gaiman. The violence threw me for a loop though. It's not off-putting, I just didn't get the impression of a bloodsoaked story from the book.

I wonder if most newcomers will be put off by this show's florid dialogue, relentless visual phantasmagoria, and the breathless pace where Strange Thing is followed by Strange Thing. If people thought Hannibal was inaccessible, how will American Gods win people over when it immediately turns the Fullerisms up to 11?

Maybe American Gods has the advantage of novelty, since it's not just the latest iteration of a well known franchise. I don't know.

Yeah. I'm not that familiar with Fuller's work, but I'm a little worried that he thought that was a good idea. It's a huge lapse in understanding basic character principles.
It's weird because Hannibal is such a masterful adaptation, it actually improves on the source material.

I will say that the the final version of the graveyard scene in AG's premiere episode
where the wife makes advances on Shadow in her grief
was just the kind of improvement I've come to expect from Fuller. Well written and beautifully played by both actors. A solid step up from an already effective sequence in the book.
 

Nikodemos

Member
McShane was channelling a bit of ol' Swearengen in his performance. I loved it.

Also, I've never read the novel, so I'm going in fresh, but I do know a good bit of mythology.

Mr. Ibis is
obviously Thoth, the Egyptian god of knowledge
.

And making the
god of technology
into
a high-on-his-own-farts neofascist fuckhead
is perfect. Having him depicted as the
outdated stereotype of a nerd with thick glasses
would be jarring in this day and age. Also, loved that scene.
He doesn't exist in the real ('meatspace') world, but his bullshit has very real consequences, like all the Internet witch hunts (ex. Gamergate).
 

Stumpokapow

listen to the mad man

LOL because I'm right or LOL because I'm wrong? The Viking scene establishes it pretty straightforwardly (worship and sacrifice summons the wind; and then the closing tag about their god was "still there" when Leif Eriksson came later); and Bilquis starts out apparently sincerely depressed, self-deprecating, and feeling ugly and unloved--and as the sex goes on she becomes more fired up and assertive, feeding off the guy's literal worship. Also, Technical Boy seems primarily angry that Wednesday, who is supposed to be old and forgotten, still has a "follower" in the modern world where people should be worshipping him. It seems like a pretty clear through line.

I guess I'm assuming that they're gods, but if the title isn't supposed to imply that I don't know what the title would be at all.
 
LOL because I'm right or LOL because I'm wrong? The Viking scene establishes it pretty straightforwardly (worship and sacrifice summons the wind; and then the closing tag about their god was "still there" when Leif Eriksson came later); and Bilquis starts out apparently sincerely depressed, self-deprecating, and feeling ugly and unloved--and as the sex goes on she becomes more fired up and assertive, feeding off the guy's literal worship. Also, Technical Boy seems primarily angry that Wednesday, who is supposed to be old and forgotten, still has a "follower" in the modern world where people should be worshipping him. It seems like a pretty clear through line.

I guess I'm assuming that they're gods, but if the title isn't supposed to imply that I don't know what the title would be at all.

You're not wrong. It's an important part of the overall story. Wouldn't even call it spoilers since it's a pretty recurring theme in a lot of fantasy works that "Belief Equals Power".
 
Do they ever mention Shadows prison buddy by name?

Book spoilers

I was wondering if they were going to give his name, because I couldn't think of a way to pronounce "Lowkey" without everyone catching on immediately and spoiling it.

Anyway. The pilot was fucking bonkers. And wonderful. I loved it.
 
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