American Gods (TV Series) Git Gone (2017) User Reviews

The Irony of Death

[ThomasDrufke · 9/10 · 23 May 2017]

To this point, American Gods has been enjoyable, but difficult to get into without knowing all of the nooks and crannies that the source material has to offer. With that said, this most recent episode managed to secure my faith back in the property as there was a bit of an "explainer" episode if you will. Instead of continuing with Shadow and Wednesday, we got a flashback episode entailing what Laura Moon has been up to all this time, considering she wasn't in her grave. As it turns out, she was able to cheat death, or at least come back from it, which we can only assume has something to do with Mad Sweeney's coin that was left on top of her grave. Although the episode doesn't break any new ground, as it ends as Shadow finds his alive wife, it added so much necessary context to what's going on. I didn't entirely care about Shadow's loss at the time, but I feel like seeing their relationship unfold naturally over the course of an episode was a great addition to the season. As was the welcomed return of Audrey, who can now say she was a part of both of my two favorite scenes this season, her and Shadow at the grave, and her seeing one-armed Laura return from the dead (and proceed to crap out some sort of side effect to death on a toilet). I'm realizing now that the series will always tend to stray on the side of obscurity and weirdness, but it's episodes like this that break the mold and give us a new perspective, that feel so powerful and important.

9.0/10

Death and the young woman

[lady_hotaru · 8/10 · 21 May 2017]

Well, this was a a fun ride that I did not expect at all ! Probably my favourite episode up to date, with the first of the season.

"Git Gone" departs from the main Shadow story line to focus on his wife Laura's past. We are shown a totally different woman than what we've seen from Shadow's perspective as a sweet, loving wife (before he learns of her infidelity). The real Laura Moon was a bored croupier in an Egyptian themed casino, filled with emptiness and a constant death wish. But even cheating on Shadow with Robbie and dying in a freak accident does not seem to satisfy her and some godly force takes her back to earth where she wanders as a zombie in search for her husband, more alive than she's ever been. Again, the casting in this series proves right and Emily Browning did better than my expectations. I liked watching her refusing Anubis's judgment and sort-of making amends with Audrey after scaring the hell out of her (special mention to Betty Gilpin's acting in this scene, she was hilarious). She sells this apathetic character with ease and I think she did a fine job.

As a mid-season episode, I feel like this was an intermission before heading back to the storm. It had interesting revelations, like it was Laura who saved Shadow in the first episode and her new super strength. In the book, she arrives earlier but I feel like the writers did it just right by bringing her at this point and I wonder what her future role will be. By the way, I often spoke of the amazing visuals of this series in my previous reviews but I must say the music in "Git Gone" was really good too, in the last scene in the hotel room in particular.

Now that we've come to terms with the past, I feel like the table is set for Shadow and Mr. Wesdnesday's quest to unfold. And for the gods to properly enter the story.

"I think being dead has me at a disadvantage" (dialog)

[A_Different_Drummer · 10/10 · 8 July 2017]

Can we talk for a moment? Please pull up a chair.

In recent reviews I have tried to document the extraordinary evolution in TV since approximately the early 1990s to the present, an evolution that by this year (2017) has not only surpassed the quality of "theatrical movies" (something that would have unheard of a few years ago) but a phenomenon which I felt deserved its very own name, ie, TV 3.0

Shows like Breaking Bad, Sopranos, Dead Like Me, Banshee, are all iterations of the TV 3.0 phenomenon. However, until the arrival of this mind-boggling show, I felt that 2017's Westworld, with its huge names in front of and behind the camera, and massive budget, was the leading exponent.

I was wrong.

The clearly insane and deranged -- yet brilliant and unequalled!-- American Gods takes first prize. I confess I was spellbound but still "on the fence" until this specific episode.

However as I watched the incomparable Emily Browning trying to sew her arm back on while apologizing to her former best friend for urgently needing a toilet -- among many other unforgettable plot arcs -- I realized that it does not take big names and a big budget to evolve TV to the next level.

It takes only talent and guts, both of which this show has. In spades.

This is possibly the most startling and unforgettable episode of TV I have seen since (only fans will remember this) Angel turned "evil" after sleeping with Buffy and started killing everyone.

Props to the producers, writers and stars. This was not merely good TV, this was a piece of history.

Wow.

Absolutely spectacular

[shahar-zivan · 10/10 · 21 May 2017]

This was the first episode to tell a story that is (mostly) not adapted from the book. And as a huge book fan - this is my favorite episode so far. Seeing everything from Laura's perspective was wonderful and brought a fresh point of view, and many more layers to Shadow and Laura's relationship. The episode was riddled with brilliant dark humor (First time I actually laughed out loud), great dialogue and wonderful acting (that, just this once, wasn't overshadowed by Ian McShane's brilliance). I also believe that, if you haven't read the book, this is an episode where some pieces will start falling into place.

Overall, a definite 10/10 in my book

This episode makes the series worth it

[inspe13 · 10/10 · 27 January 2019]

Since the first season ended I keep coming back to this episode in my mind. I admire Emily for embodying such a complex and gloomy character. I cannot wait to see more of her acting.

This episode made me look into reading the book but I found out that this character does not play such a big role in the books and presented only from the Shadow's viewpoint.

Book reviews reveal sad ending but I keep hoping))

Zombie Hawww

[injury-65447 · 10/10 · 29 June 2020]

Wow! Blown away.

The detour taken really pays off. This episode is a masterpiece. Phenomenal performances. Great backstory. Perfect blend of horror and humour.

I can't understand the negative reviews, I really can't. I guess people are just impatient?

It's a Drag

[odaist · 6/10 · 23 May 2017]

I loved the first three episodes and then this episode was dropped. The 4th episode seemed more like back story than story to me. I certainly hope sitting through it was necessary to understanding the rest of the series. The episode focuses on Laura Moon (played by Emily Browning) and the development of her relationship with Shadow. Neither the character nor the actress were compelling enough to carry an entire episode. I hope the show gets back on track next week.

Meh.

[b_raven · 5/10 · 21 May 2017]

Wow. I can't believe how drastic of the turn, this show took with it's fourth episode. The Tagline says it's exploring Laura life,relation and death. And it does. Literally. It's all it does for full hour. I rated it 5/10, because it's not all doom and gloom. There are comedy relief and even few sprinkles of decent acting, particularly from Chris Obi. Laura charactecter is not very believable, nor their love story. For me the show started in about last 5-10 minutes. The rest was fluff, I could live without and which be easier condensed into 10-15 minutes tops.

p.s: I don't think I have any spoilers, but rather be safe than sorry.

A pointless episode

[terjebjelseth · 2/10 · 22 May 2017]

Dedicating an episode to Emily Browning, who can't act her way out of a wet paper bag, isn't the most brilliant idea to begin with. The producer seems to have realized this at an early stage as virtually nothing of relevance happens in this episode, except for in the last 10-15 minutes. Sadly they try to fill the void with Browning being... Something. I think I can characterize it as the worlds worst attempt at a tough independent woman who don't need no man and doesn't take crap from anyone, but it's anyone's guess... Whatever it was it failed.

This episode feels mostly like filler, seeing as the episode doesn't even continue the storyline from the previous episode.

Death and more death.

[rhymingvibes · 5/10 · 24 May 2017]

It is hard to see why anyone liked this episode. We always knew the TV series was going to go beyond the book --and I applaud that idea, but this was a slow uneventful peek into Laura's world which felt uninteresting, and worse, commercial. I hope the next episode that breaks the book mold is better than this.

Filler episode that you can safely skip

[sonofhades · 4/10 · 31 August 2017]

Especially if you're a fan of the book. However, my son who has not read the book thought that this was simply a boring episode that wasted x minutes of his life.

There are filler episodes in most series, i.e. episodes that you can safely skip since they: A) Do not add anything important to the storyline B) Reset the show. I.e. anything that happens in that particular episode has no effect on the rest of the series. Some parts of it may be in contradiction of events of previous episodes or storyline itself.

This is a pretty nice example of such filler episodes. There is little - if any - stuff that is of any importance. Dialogue and events are in contradiction of the storyline - and quite frankly, this proves why some authors write best-seller books and some have to be content to write dialogue for a television series. I wish these screenwriters had read the book - or even the scripts of the three previous episodes with some thought put into it.

At the beginning of the show, Shadow is in prison for assault. He is not a master of magic tricks to start with, but has learned coin tricks in prison because he had to spend time there and wanted to do something with the time at hand. Robbie is his best mate from years back who has got him a job. Now it felt as if he was nearly a complete stranger.

There are some beautifully directed scenes and some decent acting. However, the scenes are quite long cuts. There was this juvenile joke that was classic Adam Sandler - funny, i.e. some children in kindergarten might laugh at the joke: a woman farting loudly at the toilet seat. The rest of the world - not. Poor dialogue at the same time? Yay.

There are two main characters in the show: Shadow and Wednesday. I can see the screenwriters going "Hey, lets make an entire episode about a completely different character for fun. We'll cut significant pieces of storyline from the book to make room for this".

I wish someone had warned me about this episode. At least now you have been warned...

The zombie episode

[Radiante · 1/10 · 27 July 2017]

The worst episode of the series. The Walking Dead invaded American Gods. The arm sewn by needle and thread is the emblematic of the ridicule embodied by this useless episode. Laura is an annoying character; an hour to say something that would be enough for 10 minutes. Empty passage.

Boring and empty

[bburton-59015 · 2/10 · 8 November 2021]

This one could have easily been cut down to 5-10 minutes. Or less.

Annoying irritating character in an annoying and irritating episode.

Pass on this one, unless you are sitting in the DMB with an hour to kill.

I kept waiting for something to happen...

[forgotten707-1 · 5/10 · 8 April 2019]

...and then it did. The exact same thing we saw in the previous episode, where Shadow walks in and boom there's Laura. So great I'm watching an hour to see the same scene without any additional story.

So I guess we're supposed to care about the motivations behind Laura's decision to cheat? Which this episode didn't explain. She was bored? She was lonely? She was really just the most uninteresting person the world has ever seen?

I have to give it to Browning for not cracking up laughing during this monotonous drudgery. But then I've seen "Sleeping Beauty"...

It was just bad. Not every episode can be perfectly amazing perhaps, because this one has thrown the train off the rails. I'm hoping that episode 5 picks it up a little bit. The writers on this one should be ashamed, I don't remember this part in the book. Or maybe I fell asleep during this chapter.