Martin Carr reviews the fourth episode of American Gods season 2…
Rarely do you see a synchronicity of thematic and visual styles so seamlessly fused as in the first ten minutes of episode four. Technological cues used to time stamp particular decades combine effortlessly with classical concertos and ever changing entertainment while a metronome ticks on. Composers are name checked, pianos become keyboards and an inherent reliance of old on the new is communicated without exposition. Such eloquence both in establishing character, providing context and fluidly moving between timelines is worthy of comment.
True invention comes in the ability to marry abstract notions of race discrimination and social constructs concerning monetary value. Table top train set travelogues sit alongside pixelated personifications of prominent characters, melding old and new forms of storytelling whilst the scattershot narrative continues. Carnal encounters arouse the same interest as skin separating from flesh or a history lesson in race relations. These discussions, these characters and this series has a sense of depth which is as much atmospheric as thematic in approach. A notion which gains further credence as you watch each actor truly inhabit their character.
Within the confines of that funeral home surrounded by surgical instruments sits a god amongst his work. Calm, methodical and unsullied by his toil Ibis breathes life into the sleeping forms of those recently passed over. In opposition stands Mr Nancy a beacon of pulpit preaching emancipation creating drama from thin air, dapper, dandy but completely self-aware. Completing this trio comes Bilquis personifying sex appeal, sultry without reservation and in need of adoration. Each is measured, each draws the eye, yet each makes room for the other. As equality between the ancients rages on and Wednesday alludes to blood soaked fields of old, American Gods gains in stature.
An audience is appreciated but not always necessary here as it marches to the beat of a different drum. New Media dominates the arena outside of these historical debates as much as Bilquis distracts within them. Still impishly sassy, silicone based sultry and immodestly aware of her superiority Kahyun Kim sits alongside an isolated World, who fears obsolescence as much as progress. Flying blind with no window on his world he must sit down to barter, negotiate and coerce. Whether Gods is a socio-economic fable, grandiose fairy tale of lost identity or something more whimsical it remains unique. Worthy of repeat viewings and unfettered from the restraints of cautionary network censors, it possesses boundless ambition and appeases nobody.
Martin Carr
