American Gods Review: A Prayer for Mad Sweeney (Season 1 Episode 7)

American Gods Season 1 Episode 7 “A Prayer for Mad Sweeney” should be so much better than it is.

Mad Sweeney (Pablo Schreiber) and Laura (Emily Browning) have been wonderful, lovely aspects of the last few episodes. An entire episode with them (more or less) should be a welcome treat. But it’s not.

The series would like us to believe that Sweeney and Laura have some significant emotional connection that would result in Sweeney giving back the coin after it flies from her chest. There’s nothing from this episode or past episodes to make that feel at all earned.

For the entirety of Sweeney and Laura’s arc together, there has always been a sense that if he could take the coin from Laura’s chest, he would do it and not give a second thought to the corpse that would drop as a result.

We’re expected to buy this sudden turn based only on the Essie/Sweeney flashbacks and the knowledge that Sweeney was responsible for Laura’s death in the first place. Once again, though, that doesn’t feel earned.

“A Prayer for Mad Sweeney” is designed to be this drawing back of the curtain about who Mad Sweeney is, but it’s all rather surface-level. We learn that Sweeney was a king of some kind and refused to go to war, thus getting demoted to just a leprechaun. It might be character exploration, but it’s a shallow one at that.

As an overblown cold-open, it’s a good one. Focusing on Essie MacGowan (also played by Emily Browning), it tracks her progression to being falsely convicted of theft, serving a sentence on a ship bound for America, marrying, becoming an actual thief, getting convicted again, and once more getting married in America, where she brings her Irish beliefs with her.

As always, Emily Browning is phenomenal. Slipping on an Irish accent and a red wig the way some of us might change a shirt, Browning settles into the dual role with remarkable ease, while still giving viewers echoes of Laura Moon at the same time.

Laura’s reaction to being, once more, resurrected is perfect and serves as an encapsulation of what Laura is now. There’s no pretense, no waiting. It’s straight to the chase. She needs to get to Shadow again. There are steps that need to be taken, but all in the service of getting back to her “puppy.” Manners or etiquette are secondary.

Laura is of a singular purpose now. To call her a machine is unkind, but that’s essentially what she is. She has a goal and even stopping to give Sweeney a “thank you” for resurrecting her again is not part of her agenda now. This is echoed earlier when she flat out tells someone that she’s taking their ice cream truck. It’s happening and you can either be in the way or not, but that won’t change the outcome.

For an episode that is supposed to have so much heart and warmth, it leaves the viewer feeling how Laura must be now: cold.

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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