Attacked his first day on the job, Shadow quickly discovers that this role may be more than he bargained for. Wednesday and is conscripted into his employ as bodyguard. I also preferred the opening scene this week to the vikings on the beach vignette from last week (which was an odd change from the novel and fell a little flat.) This time we have Anansi (Orlando Jones) inciting a slave rebellion aboard a ship voyaging from Africa to the New World. When Shadow Moon is released from prison a few days early, following the death of his wife, he meets the enigmatic Mr. "No highways," he tells Shadow as they cross America's flat Midwest, before talking about how much he loves the pale-skinned, busy women in this part of the world.
All of Wednesday's dialogue is terrific, as well, though it certainly doesn't hurt to have Ian McShane in the roll.
This scene and the checkers game are high points for the episode, and this is where the show is strongest, in its weird moments and great dialogue. Wednesday’s bodyguard, Shadow finds himself in the. Left adrift by the recent, tragic death of his wife, and suddenly hired as Mr. Little does Shadow know, this storm will change the course of his entire life. The I Love Lucy bit was also pretty great, and it took me a second to realize it was Gillian Anderson pulling off a remarkably good Lucille Ball. When Shadow Moon is released from prison, he meets the mysterious Mr. The Fargo actor really inhabits the role, and he's at once frightening and strangely likable. Mostly, though, I love Peter Stormare's magnificent performance as Czernobog. I liked this episode more than the season premiere, in part because we've been introduced to the mythology of the show, the backstory of our hero, and now we can start to get our fingers dirty. Starz can't kill off the show's central protagonist just three episodes deep. Of course, we know something has to happen in the next episode to change Shadow's fate. "A shame," Czernobog muses over yet another cigarette. But if Shadow loses, Czernobog gets to kill him at dawn. If Shadow wins, Czernobog will come with Wednesday and help him with whatever scheme he's cooked up. He challenges Shadow to a game of high-stakes poker. Over dinner, Czernobog describes his work in the slaughter house, and how over time the art of a good sledgehammer kill was replaced with a machine that any dunce could operate.