American Gods 2017

I like Bryan Fuller’s take on things, and I have approached “American Gods” with the best intentions.
The show's premise intrigued me with its fresh take on fantasy and mythology infused with a bit of country flair. While the special effects weren't always top-notch, they somehow contributed to the show's charismatic and distinctive aesthetic.

Regrettably, the distinctive visual style was rarely complemented by a cohesive storyline. The episodes were filled with over-stylized vignettes and set pieces that introduced gods and characters who hardly directly impacted the main plot. As someone who hadn't read the novel, it took most of the first season to get a sense of where the characters were heading (and by the end of the third season, I'm still wondering). At times, it felt like an anthology series, while other times, it was just a slow-moving show that wasn't going anywhere.

Production troubles led to changes in showrunners for both the second and third seasons. Although the show maintained its consistent visual style (including the poor special effects), the writing issues worsened with each episode. Both seasons felt like fillers that added and removed characters without any real purpose, maintaining the status quo and stretching the source material to its limits. You could easily skip to the last episode of each season without missing much.

This comment is about season 1, which I have just finished. I should say that although I have read the book, I do not like it, it is the one thing Gaiman wrote that I did not care for. The fact that the TV series was suddenly not following the book precisely was a plus for me, but now I am wondering if they somehow managed to make it worse.
The cast is great - I think every actor involved did a fantastic job in their characters, and the characters came out much more interesting and likable than in the book. I particularly enjoyed how much screen time Laura is getting, and I loved how Browning also played Essie. The "Coming to America" sequences were my favorite parts in the book, and I am not surprised to have enjoyed them in the series also.
However, in 8 episodes, I mostly got the feeling that nothing happened.
They added a lot of new things, specially with Laura and Mad Sweeney, and Wednesday and Shadow felt more like secondary characters than main ones, as their storyline is basically empty while everything happens to everyone else. In 8 episodes, Wednesday has had barely any advancement in his cause, and while the congregation at the House on the Rock is one of the first things to happen in the book, the entire season ended before old man Mr. Nancy could ride the carousel, and that was a sight I was looking forward to!
With the current positioning of the gods, I feel like the series is aiming for a far more complicated plot than the one in the book, but the creative team is, unfortunately, failing at writing it to work with an 8 episode season. They have set what looks like a very big stage, but the plot does not feel yet big enough to fill it.
I am quite disappointed, as individually the episodes are ok, but they just fail to be cohesive together and convey a good story. I will probably check out the second season premiere, but unless they fix this awful writing, I will just look for better things to waste my time on.

Bizarre. Strange. Yet, finely crafted. The premise, that we give power to that in which we believe, sets the roadmap for this trek through AMERICAN GODS, which I would call American idols (but I guess that title was taken). The idea of the old gods vs. new gods, thumbs its nose at a generation that might think it has an atheistic world view by calling out Media, Technology/Social Media and Globalism as being the gods of our age. Because it makes the believer the actor of faith, it leaves the object of faith empty of its own content, which will be offensive to those who believe (I was particularly offended by S1 E8, which I'm sure will make the creators pleased with themselves). Good use of versatile performers that can morph through different incarnations. Unexpected cameos. Caution - highly salacious scenes. I binge watched the first season and I don't think I can hang in there for the episodic release of the second season, S2 E1 felt like space filler until its last scenes. It needs to get where it is going much faster. Much more should have been resolved by the end of the first season and I fear they have exhausted their characters' stories (which was what kept me engaged) and I don't believe their premise can resolve so much as implode. I will be putting any further viewing on hold until the second season is finished and I leave this series with a 7 (clever development of a premise) out of 10. [Fantasy Thesis]. Available on Amazon Prime.