American Gods Review: Serious Moonlight (Season 3 Episode 2)

Small towns with a dark side have been a classic television trope for decades. So it’s no surprise that Lakeside reveals its own dark side on American Gods Season 3 Episode 2, “Serious Moonlight.”

After a rough start involving a shotgun, Shadow seems to initially settle into the town known for its freezing weather and warm locals. However, for savvy viewers, the red flags are there from the beginning when Ann-Marie Hinzelmann (Julia Sweeney) describes it as, “a magical little town.”

Lakeside is a little too perfect. The more cutesy details Hinzelmann reveals about the town (Their famous pasties! A festival from the old country!), the more suspicious you are. The excess allows the writers to signal there’s something else afoot while still saving some secrets for later. 

Everyone seems too cheery except for Shadow’s building manager Marguerite Olsen (Lela Loren). She’s the only one not talking Shadow’s ear off, making you wonder what she’s not saying. 

American Gods takes its time building up the tension in Lakeside, even taking a short break from the town to lower your guard while watching the episode. So when Shadow is later blindsided by accusations involving a missing girl, you are too. 

His cold reception at the diner after his return from a trip to Chicago makes your stomach drop as all eyes linger on him and the camera pans outside to see the Chief of Police staring in. Just like that, the facade of Lakeside is dropped and Shadow goes from welcomed guest to shunned outsider. 

The plot takes a few pages from the Twin Peaks pilot in the way it shatters a small town’s sense of safety but the writers invert that template by putting the reveal of the crime at the end. By the time Shadow’s alibi exonerates him from any involvement in the disappearance, you’re already drawn into the mystery thanks to the compelling setup. 

By placing the reveal at the end, the episode also encourages you to go back and reexamine the early scenes for potential clues. The Lakeside storyline introduced on this episode gives viewers a whole new reason to tune in every week. 

At the same time, the season premiere American Gods Season 3 Episode 1, “A Winter’s Tale,” left questions about how the show would balance the Lakeside story with the war between the Old and New Gods. Based on this episode, the answer is “not well.”

A memorial for a dead god brings Shadow back into their orbit, yet not enough happens with the characters to even warrant their appearances.

In fact, seeing Mr. Ibis (Demore Barnes) and Salim (Omid Abtahi) feels more like a desperate attempt by the show to remind viewers they exist than an attempt at actual storytelling. 

Salim’s heartbreak over the disappearance of his Jinn lover is a chance to dive deeper into the character’s motivations and why the relationship was so important to him. Instead, it ends up being just another instance of a character pointing out how much they hate Wednesday. Who, on the show, doesn’t at this point?

The variety of supporting characters (humans and gods) used to spice up the show, now their appearances just make it clear the show doesn’t know what to do with all of them. American Gods wants to be a sprawling epic, but this episode only achieves the sprawling part.

Bilquis’ scene offers similar problems. It’s obvious using her powers to absorb a cocky tech CEO is a shot at the New Gods trying to take advantage of her, but it doesn’t add much to her story that we didn’t already know. 

Yetide Badaki is a force when she’s on-screen despite being given too little material to work with. And Bilquis clearly has a desire to exert her power and free herself of both sides. So I hope we actually get to see that potential in action at some point. 

The one bright spot of Shadow’s side trip is the show’s further exploration into his destiny prompted by a conversation with Zorya Polunochnaya (Erika Kaar). Shadow may have started the series as a one-dimensional character, but he’s grown whether he likes it or not. 

Seeing him fight that growth makes you even more interested in what he’ll do next. Exploring this inner turmoil highlights the depths of Ricky Whittle’s acting abilities. He manages to exude Average Joe qualities in scenes while revealing glimmers of something deeper. 

Wednesday may be a literal god, but Shadow offers a far more complicated journey to fascinate the viewers. This episode nudges the show into focusing on that direction yet it isn’t completely willing to let Wednesday out of the spotlight. 

Hopefully, as the season progresses, American Gods gives us more of Shadow’s journey and fewer of these narrative repeats it has been leaning on this season. 

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

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American Gods airs Sundays at 8/7c on STARZ.

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