‘Samurai Jack’ 5.06 ‘XCVII’ Review: Ashi Discovers Jack’s Legacy

The entirety of the Samurai Jack revival has been a labor of love for fans of the original four seasons, and here we many of these previous events pay off in a big way. Ashi, having been separated from Jack due to the events in the previous episode, now seeks to find the samurai after he’s fallen into despair. Along the way, she discovers just how many lives he’s changed over the course of over fifty years.

When we last saw Jack, the samurai was seen skulking toward the mysterious, otherworldly presence known as the Omen after believing he was responsible for the deaths of dozens of children. Ashi, now fully understanding that Aku is the evil bringing ruin to the world, is now looking everywhere for the man who saved her life. Ashi spent the previous episode learning why Aku is evil, so it’s only fitting that she spends this episode learning why Jack is good, as she hears of tales of his heroic feats from the many people the hero helped over the years. Meanwhile, it turns out that Scaramouche, the singing robot assassin that Jack defeated in the revival’s premiere, is still alive as a disembodied head. Scaramouche intends to tell Aku that Jack has lost his sword (one of the only things that can kill Aku), but he’s met with obstacle after obstacle preventing him from accomplishing this goal – something that serves as a nice bit of comic relief to some of the darker places this episode visits. Hopefully, we’ll get to see a little more of him in the last few episodes, as he’s proven to be one of the more interesting villain-of-the-week types that Jack has had to face. Ashi, in the meantime, undergoes a physical transformation that signifies her character development and further establishes her separation from her abusive mother – in a sense, it’s almost as if we’re watching the birth of a soul.

Throughout the episode, viewers are treated to an abundance of references to the original series. We see the Woolies that Jack helped approach Ashi when they fear she’s a bounty hunter for Aku; the three archers fend off Aku’s beetle drones from a hidden location; Scaramouche visiting the seaport where the Scotsman took Jack to help restore his memory; the girl Jack rescued at a rave lead a rave of her own; the descendants of the Archaeologist Dogs throw Scaramouche off the boat; Da Samurai working as a bartender where a Spartan and Demongo visit; and finally, a small woman who appears to be Kuni from the haunted house, who then guides Ashi to a graveyard where Jack previously fought off an army of dust zombies. Aside from the return of Demongo – which was more or less treated as a throwaway gag – all of it feels organic with the story that’s being told. Every one of these scenes help reestablish the scope and scale of the world Genndy Tartakovsky created years ago and puts it under a fresh new light, showing that in spite of the standstill between Jack and Aku, the samurai has changed the world for the better.

Which brings us back to our hero. Here, we see that the presence following him – the Omen – has convinced him that he’s failed in his duty as a warrior and that the only thing he can do is commit an honorable suicide. Before Jack can commit seppuku, Ashi tells our hero how much he’s meant to this world and to her – and considering that three episodes ago, she was cursing his name, that’s quite a transformation that still feels like a natural progression of her character arc – and that’s what ultimately breaks him out of his malaise and allows him to return as the hero we know him to be. While I was surprised at how short the actual fight between Jack and the Omen was, I felt as though it made sense – this season has established that one of Jack’s greatest enemies is himself, and doing away with what appears to be a manifestation of his own lingering guilt in such a swift fashion effectively illustrate’s Jack’s renewed willpower. We end the episode with Jack’s hope and optimism renewed and the dawn of a new quest.

While I personally felt that the last two episodes – while great in their own right – didn’t quite live up to the promise shown in the first three episodes in the revival, this episode did more than to make up for it. It’s an incredible homage to everything that’s come before, builds upon what makes this series such a joy to watch, and sets up a strong foundation for the path of the next few episodes in order to lead into the long-awaited conclusion. I’m almost tempted to call this one the best in the entire series – whether I count the revival or not – but I get the feeling that the show can only reach new heights from here.

Oh, and before I forget – this episode has my favorite line in any Samurai Jack episode based on the sheer audacity of it. You know the one.

Samurai Jack airs on Saturday evenings at 10:00 CST on Cartoon Network.

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’Supergirl’: ‘Ace Reporter’ Review

Supergirl returned tonight as Kara deals with being unemployed after being fired from CatCo. She decides to focus on being the Girl of Steel, but unfortunately it’s – for once – a quiet day in National City and her services aren’t needed for now. Kara decides to hang out at home until Lena Luthor knocks on the door and asks her for a favor. Lena’s ex is back in town and invited her to a big press conference for his company where they are unveiling new technology. Kara decides to support Lena by going with her to the conference. Kara however runs into Snapper Carr and there is instant tension between the two of them.

The conference starts as Jack Spheer presents a new nano-technology, Biomax that can heal and eradicate any disease. It was a project that Jack and Lena worked on together when they were still dating. A Q&A is held and Kara asks the first question, but gets interrupted by Snapper. Kara takes the spotlight back and gets her question answered. Later on Kara and Jack are formally introduced to one another as he and Lena go to catch up. A Biospheer Technologies employee, Joe, follows Kara and tells her that he has some valuable information that she may be interested in. The two of them meet up later that night and Joe tells her what he knows, but suddenly some swarming nano-technology bees attack Joe’s car and blows it up.

Guardian is taking down a criminal, but is stunned when he sees Winn and Lyra making out in the van which annoys him. Winn tells James that Lyra is here to hell him with the crime fighting, but that doesn’t sit well with James. James reluctantly agrees to let her tag along with them which gets Winn excited. The next morning, Kara visits CatCo to ask James for a favor. Snapper interferes and is pissed that James is willing to help her, despite not being employed there anymore. Before she leaves, Kara overhears a conversation that Snapper is going to go meet a source about Biomax. She follows him and overhears the conversation between him and Derrick Simmons before the swarming nano-technology bees arrive to attack them. They destroy Derrick and try to attack Kara who uses her ice breath on them before getting Snapper out of the building.

When Kara gets back to the apartment, Mon-El tells her that Lena called to try and talk her out of having dinner with Jack. Realizing that he is up to no good, Kara and Mon-El go to the same restaurant to keep an eye on Lena. They decide to join them and Kara starts asking Jack about Biomax. Jack talks about how he regretted letting go off Lena and how he figured out the technology as he was missing Lena during that time. Lena tells Kara that she and Jack need some privacy so she and Mon-El take off. While hugging him, Mon-El manages to steal Jack’s security card to get into his building. Jack and Lena reconnect back at her office and the two starts making out. Meanwhile, Mon-El and Kara are sneaking into Jack’s office and trying to find more information about how he developed the nano-technology. They discover a video of him experimenting on himself as they see that Jack can turn into the swarming nano-tech bees.

As Mon-El plugs in the USB to the computer, Jack somehow gets the signal that something is wrong and leaves Lena. He makes himself into the swarming bees again and gets into the office as he is looking for the intruders. The next day, Kara visits Lena to apologize for intruding on their dinner last night. Kara goes on to tell her that Jack hasn’t been entirely honest and that Biomax is very dangerous. Lena doesn’t believe Kara, but gets shown the video that they found on his computer. Lena tells Kara to not bury the story, but to let her at least talk with Jack first which gets Kara worried as she thinks it’s dangerous. Kara pays Snapper a visit at CatCo and hands over the information she has on Jack in exchange of getting a second chance to work for him as a reporter. She apologizes for going behind his back with the Cadmus story and Snapper accepts it.

Lena confronts Jack about his secrets regarding Biomax, but he tries to deny it over and over again. Suddenly Jack’s assistant, Beth, appears and reveals that Jack is under her control. She tells Lena that he was controlled the whole time since they ran into each other. Beth tries to get Jack to inject Lena with the nano-technology so she can be controlled too. Supergirl shows up and starts taking on the swarming bees while Lena takes on Beth. The bees manage to trap Supergirl, but Lena destroys the device controlling Jack. He regains control and Lena tries to override the system as she gets warned by Beth that Jack will die if she overrides it. Jack tells Lena to do it and she overrides the system as the bees fall off Supergirl while Jack dies.

The next day Kara goes to comfort Lena as she is mourning Jack’s death. Lena tells Kara the story when Lex was arrested and how Lillian barely reacted when it happened. Lena is terrified that she is just emotionless as her mother and she explains to Kara how she fears about the person she might become one day. Kara comforts her and promises Lena that she will always be there for her, no matter what. Later that evening, Kara goes to Snapper’s office as she is officially reinstated. Snapper gives her the latest issue of the paper and reveals that he gave her a byline. He praises her for Kara’s good work before asking her to work with late. Back at Lena’s office, Rhea offers her a business proposal.

There was a lot that went down in tonight’s big episode that we have to discuss. So let’s go through the top 5 highlights and important moments of the Supergirl Season 2 episode: “Ace Reporter”

#5: Rahul Kohli As Jack Spheer

#4: Kara Danvers Vs Snapper Carr

#3: Team Guardian Gets A New Member

#2: Kara Grow As A Reporter

#1: Verdict & Other Thoughts

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’Gotham’: ‘How The Riddler Got His Name’ Review

Gotham returned this week and the episode opens up with Edward Nygma terrorizing a professor in the chemistry department who wonders who he is and Nygma admits that what he is trying to find out. Nygma gives the professor a riddle, but doesn’t get the right answer. He starts tying the professor’s hands while dropping another riddle, but Nygma is still not getting the right answer from him. Nygma starts turning on a bunch of gases and tells the professor what he had just experienced with Cobblepot. After Nygma’s third and final riddle, the professor still fails to answer it correctly and leaves the professor to die as the lab blows up.

The next day Nygma is reading the headlines that say that Mayor Cobblepot is still missing before he takes some unknown pill and suddenly sees Oswald in the room, but it’s just a hallucination. Nygma is frustrated that he isn’t able to find someone that is on Nygma’s intellectual level, a new enemy to fill The Penguin’s spot in Nygma’s life. Nygma decides to make Jim Gordon his next enemy and tries to take him out during a chess tournament where he is expecting Jim to show up with cops. But he changes his mind when he spots Lucius Fox and decides to make Lucius his new opponent. The GCPD arrives as they start seeing that people are getting electrified whenever pressing the chess clock that Nygma had re-wired. Later at the station, Lucius and Bullock go through some of the chess boards and pieces to see if the killer left a clue behind, with Nygma did, as he left a number under certain pieces that together form a phone number.

They dial it up and Nygma picks up and isn’t surprised that Lucius figured it out. He warns them of that he has set his eyes on a next target and that they will find it in “the belly of the beast”. Bullock and Lucius interrogate a pawn shop worker about the incident at the chess tournament. They get suspicious when the guy brings up that he was filling in for one of his colleagues who were missing and they know where to look. Lucius goes to see Leslie and discovers the missing pawn shop worker’s dead body and Leslie points out that someone had stitched him up at the side of his stomach. She opens the stitches up and finds inside Bullock’s police badge that had gone missing earlier that day. Lucius realizes that Bullock is Nygma’s next target. Meanwhile, Bullock is getting ready to address a group of police cadets, but Nygma shows up in a green suit and drugs Bullock. Nygma later goes out to speak with the cadets before unleashing a toxic gas to everyone in the room.

Lucius goes to look for Bullock, but is greeted by another message carrier from Nygma and the person accidentally refers to Lucius as “Foxy”, which makes him realize that Nygma is behind all of his. He calls Nygma who tells Lucius to meet him upstairs alone. He finds Bullock tied up at a chair that is hanging from an edge that could kill him. Nygma explains that the antidote is hanging around his neck and that if Lucius doesn’t get any of Nygma’s riddles right, Bullock will fall down to his death. Nygma goes ahead with the riddles, with Lucius answering the first two wrong. However, Lucius answers Nygma’s final riddle right, but the third rope isn’t strong enough to hold Bullock’s chair and he almost falls down before Lucius manages to catch him.

Bizarro-Bruce is rehearsing telling the story when Bruce’s parents died and Kathryn from the Court of Owls is pleased with his performance. She gives Frank Gordon a call to see how he is progressing with his nephew Jim. The Gordon men go for hunting in the forest as James confronts his uncle about what happened between Frank and Jim’s father. Frank tells Jim about the Court of Owls, what they have been up to throughout all these years and that they want Jim to become a member. Jim gets upset over the fact that his father was able to be part of something like the Court. Frank confesses that he isn’t loyal to the Court anymore and explains how Jim’s father discovered some of their darkest secrets which led him to his death. Jim gets furious about all of this and confronts Frank why he has been gone all these years. Frank suggests that they work together to take the Court down by having Jim joining the organization so they can destroy it from the within. Later on when Jim comes back to the cabin, Frank is nowhere to be seen, but he finds a family with photo that has a message on the back: “Help me honor his memory!”

Bruce is training with Alfred, but is clearly distractive because of his dispute with Selina a few weeks ago. Alfred notices and calls Bruce out on it as he shows Bruce a note that Selina left and Bruce storms out. Bruce, reluctantly, agrees to go and meet Selina if it will get Alfred to start nagging him about it. We see Bruce waiting for Selina, but hear a couple of guys and goes to see if they know where Selina is. One of them is Sonny, the guy that Bruce and Selina encountered in Season 2 and he starts harassing Bruce immediately. Selina shows up and breaks the fight up, but isn’t happy that Bruce is there. He tries to apologize to Selina, but she won’t hear it until Bruce confronts her about the note he got in his mailbox. Selina has no idea what Bruce is talking about because she didn’t leave a note for him and warns Bruce to not come back. Sonny and his gang aren’t done with Bruce as they try to rob him.

Bruce starts fighting back and puts his training to use as he takes the gang down. As Bruce tries to get out of the alley, Bizarro-Bruce shows up and asks him how it went with Selina. Bruce realizes that it was him who sent the note and picks up on the fact that his clone is dressed just like him. The clone injects Bruce with a powerful knock-out drug and tells the original version that he has only one purpose: to be Bruce Wayne. The clone returns to the Wayne Mansion and tricks Alfred that he is done with Selina.

Lucius gets into his car and gets ready to take off, but find Nygma waiting for him in the back seat. He confronts Nygma that the gas wasn’t toxic at all and that the antidote was just regular juice. Nygma goes on to talk about there being a stronger person inside of himself that he knew people would fear. When Lucius asks Nygma if he is supposed to fill Penguin’s old spot as a reflection for Nygma, he explains to the GCPD forensic that he finally knows how to be the man that he was always meant to be. Nygma explains that Lucius helped him get to that point. Lucius tries to convince Nygma to turn himself in and get help, but Nygma isn’t budging. Before knocking Lucius out, Nygma says he finally knows who he is: The Riddler.

The next morning, Nygma goes to the docks where he has one last conversation with the Hallucination-Oswald as he is ready to take on the city as The Riddler and throws the pills away. We cut to Oswald waking up in Ivy Pepper’s place and she explains that she found him weeks ago. Oswald remembers what happened to him and tells her that he has someone he has to kill. Frank has returned to the Court and tells Kathryn that he managed to get Jim to consider joining them. He asks her how it went with swapping the real Bruce with the clone and Kathryn assures him that it went more than well. Bruce wakes up as he finds himself in a different outfit and somewhere far away from Gotham City as he looks out through a caged window and sees snowy mountains.

A lot happened in the spring premiere of Gotham that we want to break down and discuss. So hit the NEXT button below and let’s go through some of the highlights and important moments of the Gotham Season 3 episode: “How The Riddler Got His Name”

#5: Edward Nygma Vs Lucius Fox

#4: Uncle Frank – Friend Or Foe?

#3: The Bizarro-Bruce Strikes

#2: Welcome Back, Mayor Cobblepot

#1: Where Is Bruce Wayne Now?

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‘Samurai Jack’ 5.05 ‘XCVI’ Review: Jack, Ashi, And Scotsman Fight Aku

Samurai Jack continues to maintain its good run during the revival, as the latest episode continues to show the changing dynamic between Jack and Ashi and features the long-awaited return of a fan-favorite supporting character: the Scotsman.

The episode starts off with an action sequence revolving around a now wheelchair-bound Scotsman as he leads his armies (including dozens of his own daughters) into battle against Aku, who emerges from his inner sanctum for the first time in years in an attempt to cure his ongoing depression. The battle against an invulnerable lord of pure evil without a strategy to face him goes about as well as one would expect, but the Scotsman gets a heroic – if undignified – end in the process: he manages to buy time for his daughters to escape by telling the evil overlord by insulting him and reminding him that Jack is still inspiring others to fight. Even if this does nothing to prevent his own demise, it puts Aku back into his glum state as he realizes that the Scotsman wasn’t wrong. Luckily for the Scotsman, he’s able to come back as a ghost since his sword was embedded with runes, allowing him and his daughters to come up with a better plan of attack.

At this point, we return to Jack and Ashi, who are still stranded on the island as they were at the end of the previous episode. Ashi’s lost in thought as she now has to consider the possibility that Samurai Jack isn’t her enemy, and that everything her mother told her was a lie. So Jack spends the rest of the episode begrudgingly showing the effects of Aku’s evil on the world to an unaware Ashi. The story truly culminates later on, when Ashi discovers that one of Aku’s henchmen has been forcing children into becoming brainwashed soldiers – a kind of pain that she can relate to all too well, as the slave-driver is quick to learn. While this action cements Ashi’s decision to defect from Aku, the seeming demise of the children (from Jack’s perspective) is something that finally breaks the hero and causes him to go off to parts unknown with the mysterious horseman who has been trailing him for so long. Ashi is left on her own as she realizes that she successfully rescued the children, but is horrified at the thought that the person who saved her is in serious danger.

I feel as though this episode had a key issue behind it that kept it from being better: Jack’s sudden cynicism about the future and his initial belief that Ashi is unable to change seems a bit out-of-place after the events of the previous episode. Though I get why it’s necessitated by the story (and particularly the cliffhanger ending), it seems like it would have fit in much better had this particular story followed the death of the first Daughter of Aku, since that was the point where Jack was at his most distraught. Conversely, it’s relieving to see that, even though the world is worse than it was when Samurai Jack first arrived to make a difference, there are still people who haven’t given up hope for a better future. The Scotsman embodies this even though he was in no position to fight Aku – and goes to show that in spite of the revival’s much darker approach, there’s still hope that Jack will find a way.

Visually, I don’t think the episode had as many standout moments as the previous episodes – but the sequence with the sea dragon was definitely a highlight. And while I don’t feel like this episode was particularly remarkable by the high standards it has already set, I would again like to reiterate that this series is incredibly well put-together. Knowing that the next episode is going to focus a lot on paying homage to the earlier episodes, I would say that the episode’s prologue does a commendable job in setting that up with the Scotsman – and, even though I thought it could have been executed better, it may also provide a solid contrast to Jack’s cynical outlook in this episode.

Samurai Jack airs on Saturday evenings at 10:00 CST on Cartoon Network.

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‘Powerless’: ‘Emergency Punch-Up’ Review

This week’s episode of Powerless, entitled “Emergency Punch-Up,” is a real gas!

The Wayne Securities team’s plans to go on a company retreat are dashed when a supervillain releases a mysterious toxic gas on Charm City. The building goes into lockdown, trapping the team inside, so Emily (Vanessa Hudgens) decides that if they can’t go to the retreat, she’s gonna bring the retreat to them.

Meanwhile, Van Wayne’s (Alan Tudyk) new plan for impressing his superiors at the company retreat only ends up annoying those around him.

There’s a lot to talk about in this week’s episode of Powerless, so hit the next button below to follow along as we break down the highlights and critical moments of “Emergency Punch-Up.”

5. She Really Emily’ed Things This Time

4. “So, that happened!”

3. “The V-Man is on Fire!”

2. DC Comics Easter Eggs

1. Final Thoughts

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’Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.’: ‘No Regrets’ Review

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. opens up with Coulson and Mace conducting a plan to trick a Hydra transport that they believe contains Daisy inside. They take down the Hydra driver, but they don’t find Daisy inside of it. Instead, they find several body bags at the back of the vehicle. Once back at S.H.I.E.L.D., Ward is relieved that Daisy wasn’t in any of those bags. Mack is still getting adjusted to the environment as he still doesn’t remember his life back in the real world. Simmons tries to get Coulson to help her find Daisy quicker so they can get out of the Framework, but Coulson stresses that they need Mace’s help. Coulson admits that he is still getting a weird feeling about Ward and Simmons reminds him about the history the two of them had in the real world.

Over at Hydra, the Madame and May are chatting about Skye as May is disappointed that she was naive to let Skye into Hydra. They start discussing that the Inhuman population is growing and that they need to put an end to it. May visits a Hydra scientist who has a temporary strength serum that will let her go toe-to-toe with The Patriot. A beaten up Daisy gets a visit by Fitz who tells her that he hasn’t told anyone about her Inhuman DNA. Fitz demands that Skye tells him where The Patriot is and whether he is also from “the real world”. Skye tries to get through to Fitz by reminding him of the love he has for Simmons, but that leads to her getting punched. Fitz promises that he won’t let her ruin his home. Madame Hydra decides to give it a try and tells Fitz to go and look over Project Looking Glass. She enters the room and starts telling Skye about how the Framework was designed, where she fixed a big regret in each of their lives. The Madame tries to convey Skye that she can live a happy life in the Framework, in exchange for where their bodies are back in the real world.

Fitz is seen speaking with a Scottish man who is wondering what is bothering him and we see later Fitz confessing to him that he shot Agnes. It’s revealed that this mystery man is none other than Fitz’s man, although no name is given or if he is actually real. We cut back to Skye who hears Radcliffe in the cell on the other side of the wall as he is screaming and crying. She finds out from Radcliffe that Fitz killed Agnes and gets stunned that he actually went through with it. Skye and Radcliffe start discussing about how a single regret in a life can change so many outcomes in someone’s life. Back at S.H.I.E.L.D., Ward and Mace interrogates Simmons again who is telling Mace about his catch phrase in the real world. Mace asks if they were close in the real world, where he is from and all sorts of questions. Despite all of his questions, Mace and Ward are still not buying Simmons’ story about the real world as Ward questions how she can be so sure that this world is fake. Later on, Coulson is given a fake Hydra badge by Mace as they are going to try and infiltrate the Triskelion to save Daisy. They manage to break in and Mace saves an old friend: Anthony Triplet!

He starts looking his boots as Trip claims there is something important inside one of them that he needs. Trip finds the knocked-out Hydra soldier wearing them, as Coulson sees his student that got taken from his history class and decides to go after him. However, May arrives, who is all juiced up, starts fighting Mace who notices that she is different. Mace gets away and May is determined more than ever to stop Mace. Coulson finds several teenagers as they are being brain washed by Hydra and gets help by Trip to get them out. However Hydra starts to destroy the buildings and May is stunned that there were kids being kept there as prisoners. May finds herself helping Coulson and his team to get the kids out of the building. As the building keeps shaking and falling, Mace keeps it up long enough for them all to get out, before it crumbles all together with him trapped inside.

We cut back to the real world where Mace has officially passed away as we get reminded that when you die in the Framework, you die for real. The episode ends with May walking into Skye’s cell where she asks her if it’s true that Skye is an Inhuman. Skye confesses and tells May that she is powerful enough to bring the whole place down. May says that she hopes that is true as she crushes a Terrigen Crystal, Skye gets covered in Terrigen Mist with the two women nodding to each other, implying that maybe, May has awaken.

With so much going down in this episode, we have a lot to discuss. With all of that said, hit the NEXT button below and let’s go through some of tonight’s biggest highlights and important moments in the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 4 episode: “No Regrets”

#5: Return Of A Friend

#4: Fitz’s “Father”

#3: A Hero’s Sacrifice

#2: Quake Awakens

#1: Is May Turning?

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‘American Gods’ Review: The Neil Gaiman Adaptation Goes Full Fuller

Credit: Starz

American Gods is exactly what you would expect from a Bryan Fuller adaptation of a Neil Gaiman book. Unshackled on Starz, the television auteur behind Wonderfalls, Pushing Daisies, and Hannibal) brings his full repertoire to bear to tell Gaiman’s story of the growing conflict between the washed-up gods of the past and the ascendant ones of the present. In today’s crowded TV landscape, standing out is key in the sea of shows and its a lesson American Gods takes to heart as it unspools many bizarre and in-your-face events in its introductory episodes. The show is experimental, dream-like, and perhaps a bit too inscrutably clever for its own good. Nonetheless, it is a great example of a simple story told exceptionally. Whether it is exceptionally well or exceptionally bad will depend on you.

Shadow Moon is the name prisoner played by Ricky Whittle, serving time for aggravated assault. On the eve of his release, he finds out his wife Laura (Emily Browning) was killed. On the flight to her funeral, he encounters Mr. Wednesday (Ian McShane), an enigmatic man who convinces him to work as his bodyguard on a road trip across America. Naturally, all manner of weirdness starts creeping into Moon’s life, such as a tall leprechaun named Mad Sweeney (Pablo Schreiber) and the all-powerful stoner Techincal Boy (Bruce Langely). See, Mr. Wednesday  is an old god and he’s not too happy with what the new gods have been putting down. A reckoning is coming.

Credit: Starz

If I’m being honest, the show snuck up on me and my rule (OK, more like guideline) of reading the book before the adaptation did not hold sway here. I can’t speak to the book-to-show comparisons specifically, but as a fan of Gaiman and Fuller both, it’s easy and fun to spot where one’s contributions may appear. On a show this out-there, it’s rarely an either/or. American Gods manages to synthesize the aesthetics of both storytellers into a purposely-garish yet beautiful pastiche of Americana. It doesn’t shy away from the ugliness of what that means either, with repeated digressions on human vices and the nation’s history of racism.

Starz’s adaptation fits snugly in 2017, both culturally and among its Peak TV counterparts. Watching the first four episodes provided for critics (of the eight comprising the first season), I  saw strains of American Horror Story and Legion but escalated in the realm of pay cable. It has the bloody campiness of the former along with the timey-wimey anachronism of the latter. That said, the show defies easy categorization thanks to its genre-smashing conventions, flitting between sci-fi and fantasy effortlessly. What it most resembles initially is a road trip movie, perhaps Little Miss Sunshine or even the recent Logan, with McShane playing Grandpa Tyler Durden to Whittle’s “Jack.”

Credit: Starz

 

This is not a show for the faint-hearted, in either the visual or the storytelling realm; at different points, an attempted lynching occurs and a woman (well, a god) swallows a man whole with her vagina during sex. The biggest touchstone I had for what I was watching was Fuller’s previous series, the critically-acclaimed NBC drama Hannibal, which took a Batman Begins-meets-Lewis Carroll approach the Hannibal Lecter mythology. Fuller has a talent for making his productions full-sensory experiences, composing shots so that they almost visually depict taste and smell. It’s gorgeous and, even though Hannibal eked out three seasons, was gone too soon. The show also got away with the farm by broadcast standards, as you can imagine on a show about a cannibal serial killer. Here on Starz, within minutes of the David Slade-directed premiere, geysers of blood open up, a ridiculous amount of arrows turn a man into a pincushion, and (I have to mention this again, though it happens later) a woman swallows a man with her vagina during sex.

The characters are inherently archetypal, given their basis in real world mythology and religion. Whittle does a fine job as the leading character. Like in other genre projects, the lead often has the shoulder the burden of ignorance in early episodes, asking expository question after expository question. Fortunately, both the writing, Whittle, and a plethora of “fucks” make the whole process fly by. McShane is always a joy to have on the big or small screen, and he chews through the dialogue with relish. Orlando Jones, Gillian Anderson, and Peter Stormare also had notable guest appearances in the first four episodes as various gods.

American Gods is the perfect example of a show balancing its satire with its own depiction of decadence. Some critics may indulge in the imitative fallacy with this show, but showing isn’t endorsing. The risks the show takes may not make everyone comfortable, but they are done with purpose. Many scenes, even long speeches, get backing music, giving the whole enterprise a pulsating rhythm, as if the show has a heartbeat itself. Like the traveling characters on the show, watching it is a trip, if you can find the show’s wavelength.

Grade: A-

American Gods premieres Sunday April 30 at 9 p.m. on Starz.

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