American Gods Review: Come to Jesus (Season 1 Episode 8)

American Gods Season 1 Episode 8 “Come to Jesus” ends the first season, which has been particularly hit-or-miss throughout, on a rather satisfying note.

However, going forward, one thing American Gods has to be better about is having us care more about Shadow Moon (Ricky Whittle). As it stands, he’s largely a doofus that we feel little to no attachment to or investment in, despite the writers’ efforts to the contrary. It’s unclear what it would take at this point to reverse that, but it’s sorely needed.

This episode in particular seems to drive that home in the sense that Shadow is this rube that is simply following Wednesday (Ian McShane) from location to location and will continue to do so blindly throughout the series.

The clear, obvious highlights of “Come to Jesus” are Kristin Chenoweth’s Ostara (essentially the Goddess of Easter), and, of course, Jeremy Davies’ Jesus (well, one of them).

Chenoweth is allowed to be bright and colorful, the very epitome of Easter, in ways that American Gods so rarely allows itself to be. It’s remarkably refreshing to watch her splash these wonderful pastel dresses onto the screen and breathe so much life into her scenes.

Not to be outdone is Davies, who performs as if Daniel Faraday had been the Son of God instead of a scientist. Although, this is American Gods and nothing is ever subtle: Jesus at all times has a bright, divine light just behind his head. This is neither bad nor good. It’s just what the series is at this point: woefully on-the-nose.

In other parts, in what is arguably (most of the time) the best part of the series, Laura (Emily Browning) and Sweeney (Pablo Schreiber) finally arrive in Kentucky in an effort to have Laura resurrected. These two have the most fun dynamic out of anyone, and it shines through at every moment. Laura, in general, is an amazingly well-realized character who is simply compelling.

A large part of this comes from the fact that Emily Browning is extremely comfortable playing this character and brings a lot of presence to the role. American Gods has something very special with this actor in such a prominent role.

The largest drawback of “Come to Jesus” is the extent to which the show expects us to care about Shadow finally learning who Wednesday is.

Big shocker: he’s a God. The fact that Shadow wasn’t able to figure that out at least three episodes ago is a deeply depressing statement on his overall intelligence. It also makes you wonder if Shadow is paying the slightest bit of attention to what’s happening around him.

Ultimately, though, there’s no reason to care at all what God Wednesday is. Even if someone didn’t know that he is Odin, it wouldn’t matter. It’s obvious he’s a God. It doesn’t make any difference what God that actually is.

First seasons can be tricky. Some shows, like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, have trouble figuring themselves out in their freshman year. Others never figure it out at all. There are too many of those to list.

On which side American Gods will find itself remains to be seen. If nothing else, this first season offers a sliver of hope that this is a series that Bryan Fuller and Michael Green can nail down next season.

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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