By Ryan Keating-Lambert
★★★★☆
SPOILERS.
Gillian Anderson is back as the truly twisted ‘Media’ and her many guises, including an uncanny David Bowie impersonation. A lot more of the newer gods in this episode, including the much anticipated introduction of Crispin Glover as Mr World in a truly psychedelic prison break scene.
After last week’s origin story of the Laura and Shadow romance, it’s good to get the engine going again, and this week sees the introduction of many new gods, including that of Nunyunnini, a Siberian god killed and soon forgotten after coming to America, and it was all told through that intricate animated openingg scene – unexpected and absolutely magnificent.
In present day, Shadow finally meets and talks to Laura, before he is (luckily) taken away by the police along with Wednesday, and Laura is visited by the leprechaun demanding his coin back. Anything to distract us from their so-so romance which is exactly what made things a little tedious in the last episode.
At least we get a lot more of the newer gods this episode. The Technical Boy (Bruce Langley) is taken into a limousine, which turns out is not his own, and given a stern talking to by Gillian Anderson’s Media in the form of David Bowie, and what a brilliant impression that was – on par with the Lucy scene or maybe even better. The undulating electronic pops and cracks sounded as though they were from an Aphex Twin track.. From this scene though, it’d appear that Technical Boy, is not as powerful as he seemed to be in the first episode, but rather just a pawn.
Ian McShane continues to show his amusing wit as Wednesday, even when in handcuffs and being interrogated, but it’s not long before the two were liberated, if that’s what they were, by Media, Technical Boy, and the Billy Jeanish introduction of Mr World (Crispin Glover). It’s a very vivid sequence that not everyone will get into, but how can you not be wowed by Gillian Anderson’s floating and giggling Marilyn Monroe. Stuff of nightmares.
So what have we learnt here? We know that Wednesday is a lot more powerful than we think, because Mr World wants to recruit him. We also know that Laura may be brought back to life eventually if Shadow can get her heart beating again.
The official WTF moment of this episode has to go to the tree-like monster in the police station. Interesting.
Photo: BWA Crew
Movie Barf 
