American Gods review, Episode 308: “The Rapture of Burning”

American Gods continues to up the ante in its third season as complex storylines start to intersect ahead of the season finale. Unlike previous seasons, there is a lot more depth and context to what the heck is actually going on in this series.

There’s been a lot of focus on Laura Moon’s (Emily Browning) journey this time around, and we’re finally understanding what purpose she serves to the overall story. This week, her quest to kill Mr. Wednesday (Ian McShane) gains traction.

Then we’ve got Shadow Moon (Ricky Whittle), who finds himself a prisoner of Tyr (Denis O’Hare). It ends up that Tyr has a longstanding feud with Odin/Mr. Wednesday over the love of both of their lives, Demeter (Blythe Danner). And what better way to get your revenge than hurt your enemy’s child?

Technical Boy (Bruce Langley) is still trying to come to terms with his incessant glitches and has a internal dialogue with his conscience, which takes on the form of Bilquis (no surprise there). And last but not least, Salim (Obid Abtahi) has the best story out of everyone this week as he finally works through the trauma of the Djinn leaving him by finding solace in the arms of another.

A battle of Gods

Let’s start with Tyr and Wednesday. After he knocks him out, Tyr takes Shadow to The Wolf’s Den. When he comes to, he realizes that he’s been pulled into the centuries-old drama between these two men. What I particularly enjoyed about this part of the episode is being pulled out of the present day and into another realm where Tyr and Odin battle it out, in their God forms.

The realm presents Odin in his classic appearance, with one eye missing. While Shadow watches the fight from a distance, these two Gods go at it in hand-to-hand combat. It’s a riveting back and forth and it’s not clear who will win, until Shadow steps in to help his father. Odin uses that distraction to run a sword right through Tyr, taking his life once and for all.

Laura and Salim find their purpose

The most intriguing and rewarding part of “The Rapture of Burning” is Salim and Laura’s journey. To backtrack a little, the episode kicks off with a flashback to 1951. A man rushes into a hotel, seemingly on the run from the authorities. He informs the owner that he needs a safe place to hide as he’s being accused of consorting with other men. Without any hesitation, the owner offers him the refuge he’s looking for and even manages to get the authorities to walk away.

We learn that the transgender hotel owner, Toni (Dana Aliya Levinson), recognizes one of the cops as a guy she hooked up with back in high school before her transition. That cop calls off the search, if only to keep his sexual identity a secret.

As it turns out, the man Toni saves is actually a God named Tu’er Shen (Daniel Jun), a rabbit god worshipped as a deity of same-sex love in China. In honor of saving his life, Tu’er Shen blesses the Grand Peacock Inn with all the prosperity he can offer. When Salim and Laura arrive there in the present day, it is prospering.

The goal of Salim and Laura’s trip is to find a leprechaun by the name of Liam Doyle (Iwan Rheon). Hello, Ramsay Bolton from Game of Thrones! It’s a pleasant change to see Rheon as something other than that evil, atrocious character.

Anyway, the hope is that Liam can access his horde and obtain Odin’s spear, Gugnir. With that spear in her possession, Laura would finally be able to kill Wednesday. But of course, that’s easier said than done. In exchange, Liam wants Sweeney’s coin.

Over the course of American Gods, we’ve seen Laura battle with her inner and outer demons. As a result, she doesn’t trust easy. And the thought of letting a stranger like Liam take Sweeney’s coin is daunting. But she decides to go against her better judgment and allows Liam to take it.

What should have taken Liam just a short amount of time ends up taking much longer than expected, so much so that Laura believes that he has betrayed them. Luckily for her, that is not the case, and by episode’s end, Liam shows up with Gugnir just as Laura emotionally scatters Sweeney’s ashes into the lake.

One can only imagine what the final two episodes have in store as Laura officially has all she needs to take down Wednesday. Will she be able to do it? Something tells me it won’t go her way.

As for Salim, he happens to be at the Grand Peacock Inn during the annual Jamboree party, where he not only meets and hooks up with a handsome bellhop named Kai (Noah Ricketts) but has an epiphany that leads him back to his faith.

Laura sets off on her mission but requests, or rather demands, that Salim stay back at the Inn. I’m really hoping that it doesn’t mean we’ve seen the last of Salim, especially with all the character development he’s had this season.

I’ve been saying this quite a lot this season of American Gods, but I’m rather pleased with the direction the series has taken. Not only are we meeting new characters, but we are getting to understand the ones we already know on a deeper level. It’s not just about Shadow’s journey anymore, but rather about many journeys coming together. And I think all we can really ask for as the season comes to a close over the next couple of weeks is the New Gods vs. Old Gods war we’ve been promised.

Grade: B

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