From Page to Screen - A Book to TV Comparison of Episode 6 of 'American Gods'

Written by Scott Murray

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

This is your weekly reminder: I will not spoil anything that has yet to happen in the show, but I will spoil book and show events that have already been on screen.
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This week was another episode of original content leaving me with very little to talk about, so you can all breathe a sigh of relief knowing that you won’t have to suffer through too much of my verbosity today. In fact, I really only have a total of three points to address: what Vulcan (who is an original character written specifically for the show) means for the Old Gods, the information we got about the moving tree thing, and Laura beginning to consider just how terrible her old life was.

First, Vulcan. I think he feels like a natural addition to the American Gods Pantheon; guns and gun culture are certainly a very important aspect of American culture, and making him a modern interpretation of the old gods of forges, volcanoes, weapons, and security made a lot of logical and cultural sense. I think I already know one of the things Wednesday’s special sword is going to be used for later, and having it made by an Old God who adapted to the New World very well feels right for a few reasons.

Most importantly, Vulcan is a great representation of an Old God whose found his place in the world. He’s adapted, and although he’s not as powerful or prolifically worshipped as he may once have been, he still has his own perfect little world.  I found myself wondering why he would throw it all away and support Wednesday so quickly; was the potential weapon worship that would come from such a war really so tempting? To my relief, it turned out that no, it wasn’t: instead Vulcan, while helping Wednesday and giving him his sword, also gave him away to the New Gods in an effort to not pick sides and not risk his little bubble. Wednesday’s vengeance killing is one of the first serious showings of emotion and selfishness we’ve seen from Wednesday, and might help endear him to Shadow a bit, after Shadow’s discomfort at Vulcan’s people and what they stood for. 

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It also shows us a bit more about Wednesday’s ethos: he does not simply want the Old Gods to adapt or change. Rather, he wants them to seize control of the world but stay the way they are. It’s worth mentioning that Vulcan’s 'franchising' of his faith is not dissimilar to the offer the New Gods made to Wednesday in the previous episode. Clearly Wednesday cannot abide such a choice, seeing it as a betrayal of what the Old Gods are. It all actually reminds me of Bilquis, who we haven’t seen in a while, but who seemed to be gaining back some of her old power thanks to the way modern technology facilitates her hook-ups.

With Vulcan serving so many purposes in this episode, he was almost utilized too well. It makes me feel like his value wasn’t explored to its full potential. Although there’s much more to do and only two episodes left to do it, I’m almost sorry Vulcan appeared and vanished so quickly.

Something else this episode gave us was a small piece of information about the moving tree thing. The scene itself was quite nice, and felt like it came from a more magical, mystical version of The Matrix car scene where they pull the probe out of Neo. If anything, this info left me even more baffled than I was: Wednesday mentions a 'Mr. Wood' who had to do with trees and forests and 'became something else.' Well I have no idea where we’re going with that. I can’t remember anything along those lines offhand in the book and, although there is a 'Mr. Wood' character, he’s just one of the Spooks or Black Hats who work for Mr. World. (Who, I mentioned before, represents the New God of Surveillance and Intelligence and Shadowy Government Agencies.) All of Mr. World’s agents have mundane names, like Mr. Town or Mr. Road. As for Mr. Wood, he and Mr. Stone interrogate Shadow before they are killed by Laura when she breaks him out, and that’s the last we ever see of him. Whatever’s going on here, I feel like this tree thing shares nothing more with the book character than the name. Time will tell I suppose.

Lastly, I’d like to talk about Laura, Sweeney, and Salim. As readers will know, Sweeney’s journey with Laura isn’t in the book, and Salim doesn’t appear again after his 'Somewhere in America' introduction, but I’m absolutely delighted to see them all here. Their travels together mean we get to have the delight of seeing these characters and actors on screen, even without directly throwing the main plot off course. Their performances (and especially their scripts) are marvelous, and I thoroughly enjoyed every moment they appeared. I think I actually enjoyed their sections more than Shadow and Wednesday’s in this particular episode. Meanwhile, they do bring us some important book-based progress: Laura is dying, and Sweeney is only oh-so-pleased to constantly remind her that she has no life. He’s also particularly happy to remind her that leaving her old life behind typically involves getting a new one which she does not have. Laura’s slow shift in attitude in the book from 'I want my old life back' to 'Maybe I want a new one' to 'Maybe I should accept my death' is one of the key facets of her progression as a character, and adding Sweeney and Salim to walk alongside her on this journey is a great way to escort her down that path.

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