We were left with a bit of a cliffhanger last episode when it came to wondering what had happened to Bilquis and why, and of course, where she’d gone. Thank the gods for Technical Boy, at least this once, since he was able to show Shadow just who had taken her possibly why, since her last sacrifice was a bigwig in Mr. World’s domain, and had someone that was looking for him as well. Since she still had his phone, that led the guy’s people straight to Bilquis, where she killed one of them and was then drugged (apparently gods can be drugged) before being taken and held prisoner in a rather bleak cell. But if this episode showed us anything, and it did, it’s that social justice is alive and well in the world as the beginning of the episode brought us back to the plantations and the evils that were foisted upon the people that were unjustly taken from their home so long ago. The one thing that didn’t leave them apparently, at least until recent times it would appear, were the Orisha, who are spirits sent by the source of creation, and were seen to help the slaves of long ago break their shackles and attain their freedom and power. This is going to play into the story even more obviously since Shadow Moon has been seeing the Orisha as well in his visions, and since one of them came to visit Bilquis to remind her of who she was, it’s likely that we’ll see her free herself, or find some way to endure her captivity.
In the meantime, things are still happening as Shadow and Technical Boy are seeking Bilquis out, Shadow to see if she can help him with the missing girl, Alison McGovern, and Technical Boy to see if she can’t fix what she did to him, since his body appears to be destabilizing a bit, leaving his current mental state in question. As if that wasn’t enough, Mr. World, who truly needed the human that Bilquis sacrificed, is entering the game once again or moving about as he pleases, to likely play damage control as much as possible. But whatever is wrong with Bilquis, as we did see her throw up after the last sacrifice, is still uncertain, but it is evident that she is feeling guilt and even remorse over the loss of so many to her worship, meaning things are not as they used to be when she desired simple adoration, love, and sacrifice on a level that would be unattainable in this time and place without notice. It’s hard to know how to feel about Bilquis since she did throw in with the new gods, but she did so for a reason that made sense to her. Plus, it’s even hard to know what to feel about Wednesday at this time since his war is obviously for his vanity and his own desperation to cling to the old ways that were nearly abandoned so long ago. But one interesting question at this point has to do with Johan, who is played by Marilyn Manson. One has to think that he’s not as human as he appears, but given the fact that he blew up a biker bar near the end of the episode, it would appear that he’s not entirely human, if he’s human at all. It does feel like a stretch, but perhaps he’s the jotunn Surtur, or Surtr, depending on how one wishes to spell it. In pop culture, Surtur’s power is actually on par with Odin’s, and even in Norse mythology, he’s a character to be respected.
But the fact that he blew up the bar and left Wednesday/Odin a raving, maniacal mess is a bad sign that things are only going to get crazier unless Wednesday is pulling an act that will get him closer to Demeter and perhaps closer to funding his war. In the meantime, Laura Moon, who feels like a rather troublesome character, is still around, and she’s still learning things about herself that might come in handy later on, but Mad Sweeney is gone, never to come back it would appear, unless there’s a surprise that we haven’t been made privy to just yet. At the moment it does feel that the story is widening and contracting in different phases, bringing some elements close in while thrusting others wide to keep the audience off-balance and unprepared for what’s to come. While the story has deviated from the book a bit, there is still one surprise that readers of Neil Gaiman’s novel will know is coming, but I’ll not spoil that for anyone. The one hope left for this show, which has been entertaining so far, is that the ending will be kept roughly the same.
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