TVs talk and spiders tell stories.
You see, Anansi is a performer and Jones proceeds to put on one hell of a show.
“Once upon a time, a man got fed.
Credit: Starz
Now how is that for a story?”
“Because that’s the story of black people in America.”
He talks of discrimination, police brutality, heart disease.
“Split up, sold off, and worked to death.
The lucky ones get Sunday off to sleep and f and make more slaves, and all for what?
For a fing purple shirt.”
“Let it all burn.”
“I was lynched,” he tells Mr. Wednesday, still in disbelief.
“Strange fing fruit.”
“An assault on you is an insult to me,” he tells Shadow.
And for the first time, we see Shadow really break down and cry.
We’ve seen him face these things with disbelief, anger, stoicism…
The dude deserves a few minutes to break down and truly weep.
When he finally heads back to his and Laura’s house, he’s even more overwhelmed by emotion.
They weren’t kidding.)
It’s a gut-wrenching moment for Shadow, and not just because of how unpleasant that picture is.
And with that, they officially hit the road.
Well, sort of.
“The screen’s the altar.
“Then ‘til now, golden age to golden age.
They sit side by side, ignore each other, and give it up to me.
Time and attention, better than lamb’s blood.”
And so begins our introduction to Media, one of the most powerful and omnipresent new gods.
If Technical Boy was all holograms and vaping, Media is far more charming and seductive.
After all, Wednesday and his motley crew are no match for the power of Media.
He rebuffs her, but he heads back to Mr. Wednesday a little shaken.
Wednesday responds in the most Wednesday way possible, telling Shadow: “It’s an onset of strange.
Which is basically Wednesday-speak for: “You think Lucy Ricardo talking to you through a television is strange?
Honey, you ain’t seen nothing yet.”
Finally, Wednesday and Shadow arrive at their first destination: Chicago.
A third sister is sleeping when Shadow and Wednesday arrive.
He greets Wednesday as Votan, before promptly chucking a lamp at his head.
Wednesday never loses his smile, but it’s clear that he’s not welcome here.
Czernobog wants no part in whatever scheme Wednesday is cooking up.
(Indeed, our Czernobog mentions his fair-haired brother.)
The Czernobog ofAmerican Godsisn’t quite as outright evil, but he does revel in bloodshed.
“Now every monkey with a thumb can kill,” he says ruefully.
His bloodlust continues after dinner, where he challenges Shadow to a game of checkers.
It starts as a fairly innocent game, but Czernobog proposes a wager.
If Shadow wins, Czernobog will come with Wednesday.
If Czernobog wins, he gets to knock Shadow’s head in with his hammer.
At first, Shadow is taken aback, but he slowly resigns himself to the idea.
Unfortunately for him, he loses.
“It’s a shame,” Czernobog says.
“You’re my only black friend.”
The poor guy deserves a break.
