Decrypted: American Gods just made its heroes a lot less likable

Enlarge / Laura really has to keep those flies away now that she has become a zombie demigod avenger entity thing. (credit: Starz)

When I first watched episode 4 of American Gods, I absolutely hated it. After re-watching it and talking to Tokusatsu Network Editor-in-Chief Paula Gaetos in this week's episode of our TV podcast, I'm starting to come around. Maybe I shouldn't be so worried that our main characters are terrible people.

This podcast contains spoilers.

We talked at length about what it meant that this week's episode left Shadow and Wednesday behind and focused entirely on Shadow's dead wife, Laura. Paula loved what the show did with Laura's character. We talked about how Laura has been revealed as incredibly flawed-aimlessly depressed, apathetic, sort of a user-but, at the same time, she has a no-nonsense attitude that allows her to be brave in ways that Shadow isn't. Unlike Shadow, she completely accepts that the world is full of weird magical things and takes control of it. She even tells Anubis, the god of death, to "fuck off." That's pretty badass.

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