American Gods, first episode
I've read Neil Gaiman's fantastic book upon its release and was thoroughly impressed with it; also revisited it recently to prepare for the TV show. I've also checked a lot of news about the cast, crew and approach so I've been sort of adjusting my expectations to the adaptation.
The premise is not really a spoiler, so let's get through it: humanity's faith in their imaginary deities has the power to actually manifest these beings and even give them some supernatural abilities. And so, through the past millennia, all the people coming to America have brought their gods with them to this new world. But as history went on, beliefs have changed and old gods have started to fade while new and much stranger ones have appeared.
The central character, Shadow, is a convict who, upon his release from prison, finds his previous life gone; but meets a strange old con man and eventually decides to become his errand man. As they travel through the US, he slowly learns about the conflict between the gods and gets to play an important role in its resolution.
The book has many strengths; Gaiman has an incredibly deep knowledge of myths and folklore, and also based most of the "road trip" aspects of Shadow's journey on his own experiences in the US. The story is compelling, surprising, funny, tragic, and somewhat melancholic; there are lost and lots of wonderful characters and incredible places, and even the ending is amazing.
So, the first episode was a bit mixed IMHO, but mostly good.
One of the stranger things is how it changes from following the book almost to the letter at one point, and then doing something completely different at another; stuff that isn't really validated by the fact that a lot of written things just wouldn't work on the screen. For example, I understand that Shadow can't be as stoic and silent as a main character, but this also takes away some of the subtle atmosphere of the book.
It's also a bit strange to see such over-the-top visuals: one of the guys from the Spartacus show is in the creative team, so there's a LOT of blood and other stylized stuff that makes the whole thing a little less effective.
It also doesn't help a first time viewer that there are a lot of things to set up, so the first episode is really confusing, and makes little sense. There are a few "vignette" episodes (even the opening scene itself) and trippy dream sequences, that will only make sense later on, especially to people with less knowledge of folklore and mythology.
Still, the adaptation seems to be quite faithful to the original, and hopefully the hype was strong enough to keep people watching for the next few episodes. I believe the story is strong enough to engage viewers in a short while, and fortunately the casting seems to be near perfect as well. Ian McShane in particular, while completely different from how I've imagined his character, seems to enjoy this almost too much
, and I really can't wait to see what he does with the more complex aspects of Mr. Wednesday. Not to mention Peter Stormaire (yet to be introduced) or Orlando Jones, who play some of the best and most engaging characters from the book.
All in all, at this point I'd still mostly recommend it based on the strengths of the book; but the first episode is promising enough to suggest that the show will live up to it. The first season will only cover 1/3rd of the novel, but it seems to be almost certain that they'll get to do more. In the mean time, everyone can catch up with their reading on myths and such
