WiC Watches: American Gods season 2
By Ariba Bhuvad
EPISODE 207: “TREASURE OF THE SUN”
American Gods fans, we got ourselves a pretty damn good episode this week, and to think it’s the last one before the season 2 finale! I’m not quite sure how to process it just yet, but the hour kept me invested from start to finish. With an episode focused on Mad Sweeney, what could possibly go wrong?
Well, a lot, but I’ll get to that later.
We start off with Shadow finding Mad Sweeney, who is sans Laura. Sweeney doesn’t have much to say even after they head back to the funeral home. I guess there’s no subtle way to say, “I slept with your wife and then she ran away.” But hey, I’m sure the truth will come out eventually. Side note: What was up with those ants!? Talk about making us feel itchy.
Yggdrasil continues to flourish and grow back at the parlor while Wednesday and Ibis talk war. Ibis is sure that Jacquel will come running when he’s beckoned, and the Jinn is ready to join the cause as well. Maybe not excited about it, but he’s down.
Meanwhile, Wednesday takes a branch off of Yggdrasil and uses it to eliminate the gap in Gungnir. But then he does something…interesting. He entrusts Shadow to guard it with his life. If that’s not the next level of trust, who knows what is?
Did anyone else enjoy the interaction between Laura and Mama-Ji in this episode? I don’t know what it was but Laura trying to sass Mama just for Mama to snap back was everything. Just as other Gods get respect, Mama, aka Kali, asks for it too. And why shouldn’t she? Despite Laura being rude, Kali still imparts some wisdom and tells Laura that she doesn’t have to look for power anywhere else because it’s within her.
I’m not sure what type of sex Laura and Sweeney had but he’s feeling the aftereffects in the strangest of ways. Along with ants, he’s seeing things (the banshee) and hearing things. As Sweeney is tripping out, he ends up in the room where Bilquis is talking to the congregation, but it’s weird. Her talk gets everyone riled up to the point of…well you know. But is it really a surprise that the Goddess of Love can pull this off?
After she finishes, she listens to Sweeney talk all about his past. He was once a warrior living it up with a woman by his side and ignorant of a prophecy involving him. All this time later, Sweeney doesn’t really remember how the past went down, but flashing glimpses give us a pretty solid idea. He had a wife named Eorann and a daughter named Moira!
While he doesn’t quite remember his past, he does know one thing: he’s done with Wednesday and ready to move on. Sweeney is over being used and just needs Laura to give back his coin, which can only happen when she gives it to him on her own. Unfortunately, Sweeney is kind of stuck because he’s part of Wednesday’s plan to get rid of Laura once and for all.
As we learn more about Sweeney, we see that his past struggles mimic his current ones. Once a warrior, he was stubborn about letting anyone use his land and as a result became the target of a curse. Come on, Sweeney, you could have just let them do it.
Whatever the case, Sweeney tries to warn Shadow that he should free himself of Wednesday sooner rather than later because he’s only going to fall deeper in with him and his tricks. Angry and annoyed, Sweeney confronts Wednesday while he’s busy chomping away at his food. Gods have to eat too, right?
This scene is simultaneously the best and saddest moment of the episode, and is what makes the episode as good it is. Sweeney tries to grab Gungnir but Shadow’s got a pretty solid grip on it and is willing to fight for it. It finally comes out that Wednesday asked Sweeney to hurt Laura and is the reason why she got into a car accident. By doing so, Wednesday wanted to get Shadow’s support and help. Oh, and he spills the beans about having sex with Laura too.
Before we know it, this heated moment takes a turn when Sweeney is stabbed with Gungnir. NOOOO! We’re not ready to say goodbye to him. Why, why, WHY?!
With his final breath, Sweeney sends Gungnir off into the Sun’s Treasure.
Way to make an exit, Sweeney. We are going to miss you dearly.
