I think the most interesting parts of the show has become The Intros, Sweeney/Laura duo(now an even more oddball trio), and whenever Gillian Anderson shows up(which isn’t near enough).
I wasn’t impressed with Vulcan at all. Vulcan as an ammunition manufacturer seems like a tired idea. I mean, I get that we haven’t really seen something like it in film since The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, but I guess it was a little too on-the-nose for me. Following the ammunition from mold to shipping seemed like a direct grab from Lord of War’s amazing intro sequence. The commentary on guns and racism as small town Americana was, I don’t know, also a bit over the top? Literal arm-bands? Really? I didn’t think it was saying anything particularly new or thought-provoking. Just drawing on some way obvious imagery.
Finally, introducing Vulcan, then just killing him off in the same episode, just smacks of filling time. Nothing was really learned or gained. I suspected that stuff like this would happen when they announced that the show was expanding on the book and splitting the story into three seasons.
I did like seeing djinni-guy meet up with Laura and Sweeney.
I’ve been a few days behind on this show pretty consistently, but you really nailed my feelings on the head. Aren’t they planning like 3 seasons for book one? The book isn’t even as long as Game of Thrones (book 1, not the entire HBO series), and is most certainly less intricately plotted, so I’ve got no idea how this is going to play out without a bunch of filler episodes.
Overall I’m enjoying the casting, suspicious of the pacing, and hating the Hannibal-style music/sound design.
Seems to be what started getting served this week.
Essie’s story comes directly from the book.
Yes, the episode was mostly keeping time, but there was a pretty important (and non-book) story point.
Sweeney apparently caused the wreck that killed Laura.
Besides, I’ll take Laura and Sweeney over Shadow moping around any day.
Wait, what? That’s a huge change.
In the book, Wednesday definitely had a hand in the crash that killed Laura. I don’t remember him using Sweeny for it, but I don’t think he went into that much detail.
That’s how I remember it as well. It may have been Loki in the book, but I’m nearly positive it was not Sweeney.
In the book Sweeney isn’t even a big character. Personally, I like the show’s buddy road movie with Sweeney and Laura.
I agree. The book was very focused on Shadow, which was fine, but I’m really liking the expanded stories for all the minor characters in the show. I already know where the story is going, so I’m fine with them taking their time getting there.
Ah, so that’s what that was. I didn’t understand it, and thought it was some kind of vision like when he saw his death in the fire.
So, uh, that was some season finish.
On that ending:
A hearty WTF? Easter destroyed all the crops, so everyone would pray to her. How would they know to do that? The majority of prayers in America would be to God or Jesus right? No one is going to pray to Easter for their farms to be renewed.
As someone who hasn’t started the season yet and hasn’t read spoilers (I prefer to watch an entire season in a short period of time instead of a slow drip each week), how was the season? Worth watching?
Yeah, that ending. First huge change from the book that I can see.
I loved this season. A few friends reported their wives didn’t like it because it was too slow and they didn’t know what was happening at all. The finale finally spells it all out, but I can’t imagine you’d get that far if you weren’t into it in the first place.
I’m posting with my eyes closed. Does it finally move along? I stopped watching after Zombie girlfriend because I was getting tired of the enigmatic teasing.
Zombie girlfriend and the leprechaun are some of the best parts in an otherwise fantastic season so… /shrug
I watched every episode excited to see what each actor was going to do, minus Shadow. The whole hurt & confused puppy routine is tiresome.
I really enjoyed the season and will be there day 1 when the second season kicks off. I can see why the pacing (just like in Better Caul Saul) is not for everyone, but for me it worked perfectly. And just like BCS, there’s so much to ogle at with regards to how much thought is being put into each shot. The 7th episode had a bit of a ‘filler material’ feel to it, but I didn’t mind since the Laura/Sweeney tandem is so much fun to watch.
What seemed slightly weird to me–I haven’t read the books–was this aspect of how the world works. Spoiler for episode 8: Ok, only a spoiler if you haven’t paid attention during the 7 previous episodes. Wednesday rattles off a list of names he’s known by in different cultures. Sure, Odin = Wodan, but you’d think there are slight cultural variations. Why is it that each brand of Christianity has its own Jesus manifestation, but Wednesday and Ostara seem to be representations of concepts? Yeah, Easter/Spring has been around for ages, but there very clearly is a version that has strong Christian ties. So, if there’s US Jesus, Korean Jesus, Mexican Jesus and whatnot, you’d think there are more variations of Ostara or Odin around, too.
There are. Just not in America.
Yup. There’s a more thorough exploration of this in the book, but the series laid out the basics. People bring their gods and beliefs to America with them, so that version is the one that manifests on our shores. Since there are so many different versions of Jesus throughout the world with so many worshippers, the Big J gets multiple avatars, while a god like Odin would only really have the one since his followers wouldn’t have a lot of variety.
By the way:
https://twitter.com/BryanFuller/status/876611995017007104/photo/1
Heh. This bit from the AV Club finale review:
When Wednesday spits out unwelcome truths about Easter’s subordination to the many Christs, Jesus Prime takes the moment to make it all about him. “I feel terrible about this,” he said, his voice breaking, as he martyrs himself once again.