‘American Gods’ Recap: ‘The Ways of the Dead’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

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We’ve come a point now with American Gods, where I am truly expecting every episode to dive deep into the human condition and examine everything and anything about us and what flat out makes us tick because the show has done such a magnificent job of diving into such matters this season. Which quite frankly, is a wonderful thing if you ask me since a series such as this could instead focus on the fantastical since it features powerful Gods that can accomplish anything. But, I digress, because it’s the social commentary that we are here to talk about today. Because not only did the series take the time to live up to its new standard by digging into it once again last night, it also managed to surprise the audience along the way.
 
For initially, ‘The Ways of the Dead’ really seemed as though it was going to dive into a grand exploration on the nature of death, and everything that comes with it. Which meant this episode should have explored our fear of it, our desperate attempts to escape it and how we deal with it when it comes to our doorstep and to the show’s credit, some of those elements were examined over the course of the hour. But in reality, this particular episode went to some vastly different places, instead truly taking the time to examine the savagery of man, and how sometimes for us, we embrace the worst parts of us in order to find a sense of justice or peace in this world and all of these elements made this particular tale quite the compelling watch.
 
However, before we get too deep into a discussion about the animalistic behavior the masters of this planet exhibit, let’s talk about the examination of death present here, since it seamlessly wove its way into the true subject matter of this story and really, what first caught my eye when it comes to the nature of death, was Sweeney and Laura’s journey in this tale. For they eventually found their way to the Big Easy, wherein Laura asked her Leprechaun friend to finally take her to the legendary Baron Samedi to save her from the clutches of death and well, what we saw here was everything I made mention of a moment ago. Because Laura was desperate to escape the void and feared going back there and was willing to steer clear of it at just about any cost and well, the decision to come to Samedi’s place ended up being quite costly. 

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​But, more on that in a moment as well, because we need to talk about how this episode pivoted into a commentary on our savagery, and all of that was accomplished back in Cairo. For it was here that we were privy to the history of this small town, one that is ugly to say the least since the legend of Froggy James was put on display here, a tale that revolves around an African American man who once made eyes at a pretty Caucasian girl long ago, and for his moment of admiration, he was brutally murdered and his body was treated to great indignity, much to the delight of the townspeople and the point of this tale, was to remind all of us of how far we haven’t come in regard to how we treat our fellow man and how we tend to embrace our violent tendencies whenever necessary, and that was quite the poignant place to go, and it didn’t stop there.
 
Because this particular tale also became quite philosophical and with good reason. For there was a rhyme and a reason to providing us with such an angry and discombobulated story and that relates to the title of this episode. For ‘The Ways of the Dead’ is directly referring to humanity itself, for, as Mr. Ibis put so eloquently, and I paraphrase, we spend more time dead than we do alive. Which means the ways of the dead, are that of those who are fortunate enough to not yet be in the ground, and they are disappointing ways indeed, filled with fear and insecurity and a hunger for validation, as was demonstrated by Laura’s decision to once again turn her back on Shadow and spend a night with the Baron in carnal fashion and well, more and more, this series continues to give us pause and make us reflect upon what we’ve just seen, making this episode as brilliant as any other.
 
Yet, what continues to impress me about this series, is that it still doesn’t offer a single answer in regard to what it presents to the audience. It just makes us uncomfortable and puts our flaws in front of us in the raw in order to have us discuss such matters in platforms such as this and more. But, all philosophy aside, I’m fairly certain there’s a grand plan in place as to why we are receiving these powerful messages, one that goes outside of merely educating the audience, in that…it would seem that Shadow needs to learn more about the world he’s shunned, in order to potentially save it. For the upcoming war could be ugly, and costly to more than just the Gods, and perhaps figuring out how to turn a flawed creature such as man, into a beacon of hope, could in turn be spread to the Gods, saving countless lives, since they are…created in our image. Until next time.

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