From Page to Screen - A Book to TV Comparison of Episode 5 of 'American Gods'

Written by Scott Murray

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...

As always, I wish to remind you before you read any further that I will spoil only things which have occurred in the book or the show up to this point, but I will not mention things in the book which have not yet been seen in the show.

In Episode 5, we see the effects of the show’s re-ordering inversion of events more than ever here: while Shadow was detained in the book, and Laura breaks him out, here we see Wednesday and Shadow detained together and released by Mr. World. Mr. World steps into the light, both figuratively and literally, much sooner than in the book where Shadow is simply detained by other 'Mr.' people, the 'Black Hats' who represent the shadowy intelligence side of the Gods and eventually turn out to be Mr. World’s agents, specifically (Mr. Stone and Mr. Wood are the names of Shadow’s first two acquaintances). It’s interesting that Mr. Wednesday comes along for the ride here unlike in the book, because it makes him vulnerable before Shadow. His Spider-Friend’s handcuff tricks seem paltry before Mr. World’s Grand Entrance, and we get to really see the disparity between the Old Gods and the New, which was something we took much longer to have directly shown in the book. Having this parlay between the head honchos of both sides was a nice touch, and one we didn’t really get to see in the same way in the book either.

As far as Mr. World's offer, which Wednesday seems in no hurry to take, first let me say that the re-imagining of Odin as a war satellite raining deadly thunder is a brilliant re-imagining and modernization of the legend. We also get to see that The Technical Boy doesn’t really know his place. He has this sense of superiority but is missing the Big Picture. Although that becomes evident in the book, it, like many things about this episode, was shown to us a bit sooner. Mr. World’s respect towards Mr. Wednesday, whether it’s genuine, a product of fear, a precaution, or a trick, shows that The Technical Boy is really just a useful tool to him. Speaking of Mr. World’s attitude, I have to wonder if this peace offering is motivated by a genuine worry that they might lose the war, or a simple wish to avoid the trouble and casualties from a war they feel certain they will win. A similar offer is made later on in the book, and although I never questioned that the New Gods felt their victory was assured while I was reading, I look upon that offer now with a different, less certain mind. Maybe the New Gods were worried in the book, too? With regard to Mr. Wednesday seeming to not even consider the offer: Is it because he actually cares about the other Old Gods? Because he knows he’s attached intrinsically to them and can never truly re-make himself? Or is there some bigger picture at hand? In the book the New Gods’ offer is immediately followed up by some…rather pressing events which demand immediate action and so we don’t really get to explore Wednesday’s thoughts about the offer. It’s nice to see some of that here.

I also need to address the revelation of Mr. World, and specifically of what he looks like. I can’t talk about this too much here without spoiling book events which have yet to pass in the show, but let me just say that keeping Mr. World’s face in the dark helped build up to an important moment in the book, and I’m interested to see how they’ll pull that moment off in the show, assuming of course that they still intend to.

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Laura and Shadow’s conversation, while more detailed than on the page, essentially summed up what we got in the book: Laura wants to be properly alive again and Shadow…well he seems a bit more committed here to leaving her behind than he did in the book where he agrees to help her. Funnily enough, Shadow’s wish to bring Laura back to life in the book feels natural and understandable, (he later eventually sets her aside as he’s done here in the show), but his refusal to help her in the show feels just as relatable. The two different sequences of events and presentations make both paths feel appropriate. In fact, it almost feels like simply delaying the conversation the way they did means it’s still the same Shadow, just speaking at a different point in his development. She will no doubt continue to follow him, and be dogged by Sweeney along the way. This is a rather nice way to keep Sweeney on screen, without drastically changing his plot. Although I do see the opportunity for some character development, I would be quite satisfied if all that happens is Sweeney simply tags along before coming to the events of his second appearance in the book.

It was nice to see Wednesday’s little 'spider friend,' who I’m presuming is Mr. Nancy: the god on the slave ship who has yet to actually properly appear in the present day. He has a trend in the book of keeping his eyes open for Wednesday and showing up to help when needed, and this little extra moment of that was nicely done and smoothly inserted. Did Mr. World know Nancy was present, I wonder?

I feel a need to address the…uh…suspicious plant behaviors going on in the police station, chasing Shadow as he departed. I can’t recall offhand something like that, except for possibly a particularly important thing which happens to Shadow towards the end of the book, and some of his other dreams. I think about these because of the connection to when he was hung in episode 1, and because of the moving tree branches in his dream in the same episode. So far, skimming through the relevant sections in my book doesn’t seem to indicate to me any moving tree branches. Perhaps I need to look closer. For the moment, I don’t have any more concrete clues about what that might mean or where it might be headed, but it’s certainly ominous and I’ll be keeping my eyes open for more suspicious branches.

Last, I want to mention the intro animation, which is another 'Coming to America' segment, albeit one in which the God at hand does not survive. It’s a great illustration of just how America is a 'bad place for gods' and has been for a long time, and a great presentation of how the Gods live and die. There’s only one major change from the book I actually want to discuss here: when Atsula dies, a buffalo creature which looks suspiciously similar to the one Shadow has dreamt about kills her. In the book, there is no mention of the buffalo during her death in the 'Coming to America' section. Here’s the line: 'Atsula died at the foot of the cliffs when the spring sun was at its zenith. She did not live to see the New World, and the tribe walked into those lands with no holy woman.' That’s it. No buffalo. There have long been thoughts amongst some fans that Atsula is connected to a present-day character who hasn’t yet appeared, but I’ve been uncertain myself. The only real connection was Atsula’s line about gods being great but the heart being greater (this line was given to our narrator in the show) and how that belief connects to some themes surrounding the present-day character. However, said present-day character does dream of the buffalo, much like Shadow does, and connecting the buffalo to Atsula would seem to more firmly connect that character to Atsula. Since this as-yet-unseen character is one of my favorites, I take heart in these hints at their later inclusion.

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