American Gods

It seems that each episode is trying to out awe the last leaving the viewer just wondering where it is all going at such a pace. No surprise then that it all lost its steam later on. Yes, we get it with the mystery and suspense but that needs kindling and careful character development. Instead it looks like production team were split on how best to achieve this - did they all read the book?

I just binged both seasons and if they don't make another season I'd be absolutely fine with that.

The cinematography is excellent and the performances are consistently brilliant.

The plot is weaker than a dead wife's fragile torso.

It tries to be sociopolitical instead of just telling a story.

It breaks off into so many unnecessary tangents that I found myself not caring what happened to most of the characters.

Just give me a Mad Sweeney and Dead Wife road story and bin everything else unless you plan to use Crispin Glover properly.

Shame I can't recommend this series to anyone anymore. The first season was amazing. Interesting plot lines put together with care. Great acting. Fantastic use of mini plots scattered through the show (particularly in the openings) to give information about the world this is set in and to provide contrast where needed to the way characters were responding. In some ways I actually think the show was better than the books, something I almost never say! Might be a bit confusing at times for those not up with their mythology but it may also keep the mystery more too that way too as they drop hints from episode 1 if you know what to look for. This is a show you need to watch, rather than half pay attention to. (I'd give it a 9/10).

Season two started showing cracks. Sounds like some drama happened behind the scenes and they lost characters that hurt the show. Still, they seemed to be trying to pick up the pieces and it looked like it was going to find its way through. (Maybe a 5/10)

Then season three happened. It's mostly awful. The storyline is all over the place and sometimes it seems like they just decide to substitute interesting story for long drawn out scenes of "adult" activities for.... reasons? Most of the characters become boring to watch and the show had completely lost its way. Such a sad end for a show that had so much promise initially. I'm not surprised it was not renewed for another season. (Score 1/10.) Watch the first season, skip the rest if you can handle leaving a series unfinished.

I agree with a number of other reviewers that Season 1 was stellar. It had some jaw dropping moments & made for a very interesting TV experience. Season 2 started losing its way & then Season 3 got lost in space. My recommendation is to watch the first season & then call it a day. Overall, I think that the book deserves a better vehicle & hopefully, in time, someone will reboot the series.

I am not sure what has gone wrong with season 2, but it is like someone has taken all the deleted scenes from season 1 and created a new season from them. That is the quality of season 2, the majority of scenes are dull, lifeless, and certainly don't contain any of that god like "magic" that season 1 certainly had.

There are still a few good parts, but the majority of season 2 was a chore to watch and I could not wait for it to be over. It is a real shame because season 1 was like nothing I had ever seen before. Season 2 seems to have the money, locations, actors, some elements of a story, but it just doesn't work.

I do hope we get a season 3, and that the makers of the show manage to capture some of that "magic" which made season 1 so great. Otherwise the god of disappointment is sure to have many more believers........