American Gods Review: The Bone Orchard (Season 1 Episode 1)

It’s not possible for Hannibal creator Bryan Fuller to double down on the weirdness department, right?

If you thought that, you are dreadfully, hilariously wrong.

Not only can Bryan Fuller and Co. top themselves, but they are more than willing to take it to the farthest degree possible and, remember, this is only the first episode.

American Gods Season 1 Episode 1, “The Bone Orchard,” follows Shadow Moon, played by The 100’s Ricky Whittle, who gets released from prison a couple of days early (which is surely the way that the American criminal justice system works) after his wife (played by Emily Browning) is killed in a freak car accident.

On the flight home, Shadow meets a mysterious stranger who names himself Mr. Wednesday (played by Ian McShane), who offers the convict a job to serve as his personal bodyguard.

Beyond that brief setup, you would have no way of deciphering the actual, moving plot of this series if, like some, you have never read the novel this series is based on.

This very well may be one of the cases where you are better off, at least on a plot coherency level, if you read the book before viewing the first episode.

This is also where the first episode fails.

Of course, American Gods will undoubtedly reveal itself in its own time and way, but a property (regardless of the medium or variety) ought to be able to stand on its merits without the audience having to do homework in order to enjoy it fully.

That being said, where the episode diverges from the book has such intrigue and mystique to it that the show completely owns the new scene and takes full advantage of how silently menacing and frightening the world of the series can be.

The series is unwilling, at least in its first episode, to lay all its cards on the table — which is fair — but it makes no attempt to help the viewers understand the larger plot at hand.

At the same time, however, the mild impenetrability is a part of what fans of Bryan Fuller’s previous show Hannibal enjoyed the most. This is perhaps more of something they loved to begin with.

With an aesthetic palate so far afield and coming characters that will get more and more strange as time goes on, the ground force is and will be Ricky Whittle. He manages a constant, quiet dignity, but never feels flat or devoid of substance.

Shadow is the one going forward that will be required to be “the straight man” of the cast and Whittle does that with an impressive blend of charisma, presence, and frequent bewilderment at the situations he finds himself in.

Ian McShane’s Mr. Wednesday, in what will be a surprise to no one, has instant chemistry with Whittle and the banter that erupts between them is nothing short of compelling and electric.

American Gods sets up a world in this first episode that is fascinating and confounding in the best possible way, but also in ways that are infuriating and obtuse. It is Bryan Fuller at the logical continuation of what he began in Hannibal, but your mileage may vary.

Some stray thoughts:

• Ian McShane’s introduction at the airport is outstanding and hilarious.
• Many people have wondered what “that” scene with Bilquis (played by Yetide Badaki) would look like in the show. It turns out they just went for it full hog.
• The amount of arrows to kill the Viking in the cold open seems a bit excessive.
• Don’t all of us just need to scream in a canyon sometimes?

What did you think of this episode of American Gods? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

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American Gods airs Sundays at 9/8c on STARZ.

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