‘American Gods’ Recap: ‘Donar the Great’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

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I’m honestly quite amazed at how American Gods keeps finding new ways to outright surprise me. Because the instant I feel comfortable as to where the show is going or what it stands for, it finds new ways to shift gears and for proof, look no further than the overall themes and concepts it’s taken the time to explore over the past two years. For season one was all about introducing us to a magical world filled with powerful Gods that roam among us and that served as the setup for a grand exploration on the nature and the power of faith and our need to believe in something in this world. Yet, it didn’t take long for the series to change things up in season two, since the series chose to dive into the nature of humanity and how our follies and our beauty reflect the Gods our minds helped to create, and really, I thought that’s where the rest of this season was going to stay, deep within the recesses of the human condition.
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But this is a show that is never content with the status quo, and the notion of surprise is on my mind today simply because of the fact that last night’s episode, ‘Donar the Great’, took me completely off guard by dusting off a storytelling style that’s barely been used this season; the character study. Yet, what made this so stunning, is that rather than focus once again on the demons and memories and pain that Shadow or Laura or a Leprechaun like Sweeney carry in their souls and their hearts, the show felt the need to instead focus on a true man of mystery; Mr. Wednesday. Which is a fascinating decision to say the least because a God as old as him has so much history to explore, that STARZ could likely greenlight an entire series about his past and have it run for a decade. But, I digress, because he was indeed the focus of this tale and what kept me enthralled is that this story showed us the beginning of the darkest era in Wednesday’s storied life since we now know that Grimnir is basically at a point where making deals and taking what he can get worship wise to get by, is all that a once glorious God has left.

Which is a sobering thought when one considers his power, but the proof was in the pudding in this tale since he and Shadow made their way to a decrepit mall where not even the sight of his staff was enough to excite the ancient dwarves that worked there. They instead demanded their own tribute to get the old weapon ready for war and this is where the story found a way to truly entertain us to no end since it turns out the Dwarves wanted a jacket worn by Lou Reed to get the job done, prompting Wednesday and Shadow to pull one of hell of a creative long con involving counterfeit bills and I won’t lie, this made for some hilarious moments to say the least. Because seeing Wednesday wearing a bishop’s outfit is the stuff that humor is made of, and Shadow dressing up like a Secret Service Agent in order to bring down Wednesday was equally as magical. But all of this served as mere setup since all the down time in this scam is where we learned the details as to when exactly Wednesday was reduced to the role of grifter. 

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As it turns out, pre-World War II America is when this happened since Odin adopted the name of Al Grimnir in Chicago and he recruited all of his friends to help him run a club in the city, wherein men and women of every race and orientation would come down ogle Gods in the midst of a burlesque show and Big Al even got in on the act by playing the role of the manager/host and the point of this scheme was to garner worship on stage and Grimnir would get his cut of the power, as would Nancy and others and this was just…well sad to see. Because a God of Wednesday’s caliber should engender better forms of worship, but here he was, pandering to a super young Technical Boy (who as it turns out wasn’t born in that flashback a few weeks ago, he came about when technology started to evolve and he merely helped our tech guru innovate), and he even found himself striking deals with sleazy Nazis to give his son the nutritious worship he so desperately needed and little did Wednesday know that his son, would never come to understand the power he could generate from having millions believe in him.
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In fact, Grimnir’s son more or less turned his back on his father’s lifestyle. He wanted little to do with adoration and the wonder that comes with it, and the more he showed up in the papers, and the more that people adored him for his feats of strength, the more he rejected it all. Which led to quite the confrontation between father and son, since dear old dad demanded his baby boy hang tight to this method of survival. But in the end, Donar abandoned his father and his brethren, leaving him starved and destitute to the point where he committed the ultimate sin and ended his own life, something no God can ever come back from. If anything, this entire story served as a grand tragedy, one that removed the specter of Wednesday and brought him down to the same level of an everyday man who is down on his luck and will do whatever it takes to earn a quick buck, and while that should engender pity, it only made me nervous because it makes Odin one dangerous God.

Because he’s creating his own war now, one amongst his own people to gain their adoration and worship and that continues to make me wonder if Shadow is the true savior we’ve all been waiting for when it comes to this story. Because he seems to recognize the danger and the B.S. that his boss spews, and when he finally comes to understand what’s at stake, then perhaps he can do what Wednesday’s real son could not, and stand up to a God and show him a better way, so that lives are spared and other Gods can continue a peaceful existence. But all speculation aside, this was a brilliant episode through and through, because it put a broken God on display, one whose heart is filled with ache and regret and who is desperate need of a win in order to feel relevant and perhaps that’s the biggest surprise of all, in that, by showing us all of this, perhaps this episode stayed in tune with the rest of the season after all, since there are so many everyday people who are just as shattered as Wednesday. Until next time.  

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