The show is quite adult, which is in line with the book's content. There's a lot of sex, violence, and gore (although the blood and gore are somewhat stylized). Interestingly, it seems that the violence is intended to disturb rather than glorify itself. In fact, most of the episode was rather disturbing. It was stressful to watch. It's probably a good thing I'm going to have to wait a week between episodes because I'll need the time to recover my emotional energy.
It's interesting to see Shadow Moon, a protagonist whom I have always read as a very laconic and self-contained person despite his thoughts on the inside, on screen. It will likely be necessary for him to express emotions and thoughts out loud more frequently than usual for him, for the show to make logical sense.
I was particularly pleased with the small updates that helped to firmly situate the show within our current time. Bilquis uses e-dating services to lure her victims, and virtual reality is incorporated into certain aspects of certain characters as well. I feel like these updates were quite seamless and made a lot of sense.
American Gods has always been one of my favorite books, and this adaptation respects the source material. For people who have read the books, there are a few details that they will probably catch a little sooner than those who have not: recognizing the character who dictates the exposition, noticing an early character who will later be quite important, knowing Mr. Wednesday's identity, catching references to some of the larger overarching plot that Shadow (and likely some of the viewers) has not yet discovered, and so on. It's difficult for me to know for certain, because I am familiar with the book, but I imagine the show would also be quite compelling and make some sense (or at least enough for now) for those who have not read the original book.
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