Review: American Gods – The Bone Orchard

Our Rating

Episode Score8.5
When Shadow Moon is released from prison a few days early, following the death of his wife, he meets the enigmatic Mr. Wednesday and is conscripted into his employ as bodyguard. Attacked his first day on the job, Shadow quickly discovers that this role may be more than he bargained for.
8.5

Oh. My. GODS!

Welcome one and all to our review of the series premiere of American Gods. The brand new series from Starz is an adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s novel of the same name and, at first glance anyway, a very faithful one. So here we go as we take a walk through The Bone Orchard.

The basics, for those of you who might not have read the books/have been hiding under a rock. American Gods centres on Shadow Moon, a convict who leaves prison and is heading home when he encounters the mysterious Mr Wednesday.

Wednesday makes him a very sketchy sounding job offer and before Shadow really knows what’s happening he’s been drawn into an epic confrontation. You see, the Gods of the Old religions, the ones brought over by the immigrants who settled in America are being neglected in favour of those of this new, technological age. And they aren’t happy about that.

First up, and I thought this from the very first announcements, the casting for this show is absolutely spot on. Note perfect performances from Ian Mcshane, Ricky Whittle, Pablo Schrieber, Bruce Langley and Yetide Badaki brought their characters vividly to life. So far we have met Shadow Moon, Mr Wednesday, Mad Sweeney, Technical Boy and Bilquis among the major players.

Bruce Langley as Technical Boy

The gorgeous Yetide Badaki as the goddess Bilquis

Demore Barnes‘ Mr Ibis pops up very briefly during the opening sequence but we haven’t really seen enough. Although he is suitably birdlike ;).

Major kudos to Mr Ricky Whittle for actually learning the coin tricks that are such an integral part of Shadow Moon’s character.

Visually the show is incredibly striking. Fans of another Starz show, Spartacus, will be satisfied with the gore levels I think. I haven’t seen slow-mo blood-letting on such a scale as displayed in the opening battle since Sparty. But right from the opening credits it strikes the right balance between the Old and New that is the central conceit of the show. This show is NOT for the faint of heart. The episode opens with some old school Viking violence and it’s all go from there.

Special shout out to Pablo Schreiber as Mad Sweeney the Leprechaun. You haven’t seen anything until you’ve seen a six foot five leprechaun swigging pints in the middle of a no-holds-barred barroom brawl. I confess I spent most of the fight giggling with glee.

Fans of the book will not be disappointed. THAT scene with Bilquis is one of the most jaw-dropping things I have seen in some time.

I’ve heard a few folks who are not familiar with the books say they felt a little lost at times. PLEASE don’t let that put you off. I felt like that at the start of reading the book. Basically the viewers ARE Shadow Moon right now. Thrown into this insane situation without any real clue what is going on. If they stick to the story then we will learn more as Shadow does. Stick with it, because this show is going places and you do not want to be left behind.

We really hope you guys enjoyed The Bone Orchard. Let us know what you thought, and do go show some love to the cast on twitter. After all, these Gods and Goddesses thrive on being worshipped!

About author(s)

Clare Hemsworth

Hey, I'm Clare, aka Ciara or C. My current fandoms are RWBY and The Last Kingdom along with a bunch of other stuff I tend to let build up and then binge! I'm a keen, albeit amateur, cosplayer and love attending cons in various cosplays. I'm also the resident comic book girl around these parts, especially small press comics, so if you've got an indie book you want reviewed, I'm your gal! When I'm not doing the fangirl thing I am a keen long-distance hiker, having completed Te Araroa in New Zealand and The Pacific Crest Trail on the West Coast of the US.