Originally Posted by Discuss Thrower:
Kinda thought it would be a while for the gay sex but oh well.
Apparently one of the producers is a dick wrangler who felt the book didn't spend near enough time or detail on the gaysex scene. So he re-wrote a two minute scene into 10 minutes that do absolutely nothing for the story other than perpetuate his gay vision. Same guy who thought he give himself AIDS by masturbating with a cut on his hand.
The senseless re-writes continue; the pace absolutely crawls.
You were spot-on about needing to drag it out enough for two seasons. Which would be great if the were good at it.
Difference between HBO and Starz. [Reply]
STARZ is kind of championing the dick showing as kind of a gender equality thing.
Usually that kind of pandering annoys me, but w/ever. Fuller and Green are reading it as Salim was a repressed gay man, whereas I felt that the scene in the book was beyond a gay/straight dichotomy because the djinn is.. well, a djinn.
Overall, I liked the episode. It's strongest with McShane being on screen (duh) and Shadow is likeable if still a bit bland. Pablo being cast as Mad Sweeney is fucking amazing too and we need more of him.
Spoiler!
I think they made the right move revealing Laura as an episode cliffhanger.
Originally Posted by Discuss Thrower:
STARZ is kind of championing the dick showing as kind of a gender equality thing.
Usually that kind of pandering annoys me, but w/ever. Fuller and Green are reading it as Salim was a repressed gay man, whereas I felt that the scene in the book was beyond a gay/straight dichotomy because the djinn is.. well, a djinn.
Overall, I liked the episode. It's strongest with McShane being on screen (duh) and Shadow is likeable if still a bit bland. Pablo being cast as Mad Sweeney is ****ing amazing too and we need more of him.
Spoiler!
I think they made the right move revealing Laura as an episode cliffhanger.
I can put up with some back alley zipper fights in a series especially if it's balanced out by hot girl action (I'm looking at you Trueblood) but that was too much. Fast-forward FTW. I read an interview with the gay producer, Bryan Fuller, that made it pretty clear there will be more gay pandering where that came from.
Anyway though, fully agree with McShane nailing it. Not so much because hes perfect for the part, he plays the exact same guy in every show he's in, but because the part is so perfect for him.
Not very far behind him is Mad Sweeney. Dude is full on.
Shadow is a distant third up to this point.
Spoiler!
Agreed again. Their treatment of Laura is the one rewrite that looks like it will completely work. Is the dude who brought the old lady to the afterlife at the beginning of the episode the ibis or the dog?
I thought episode one was great and was ready to settle in for a wild ride. After episodes two and three I'm ready to go to sleep. Seriously, if not for Mr. Wednesday and Mad Sweeney I would have already stopped watching. Hope they pick up the pace soon. [Reply]
Episode 4 is the biggest addition to the source material yet. I think on the whole it was positive, though I'm sure people will bitch about Laura being an aerosol huffer. The whole WTFness of her being revenant in Audrey's house was comical but fitting considering the tone of the show writ large. We also got a bit of world building of the mythos as Fuller and Green are depicting it, with Laura being a pretty assured faithless (both in belief and in deed) yet still finding herself defiantly face to face with Anubis. Of course, she's aware of the concept of Anubis because of the casino as well as being a reader of history, so we don't have all the answers about how there gods exist without strict belief in said gods.
First a Muslim, now an atheist -nobody can escape death as it has been personified by Mr. Jacquel. Interesting stuff.
Beyond the spoiler-y bits, the big take away is that you have to think of this as a graphic novel adaptation of Gaiman's work... except that it's a graphic novel that is animated with live action.
It's a graphic novel based on how they've chosen to shoot the scenes, the verisimilitude of what we are seeing and hearing and the subject matter at hand. It's not going to make everyone who read the novel happy, nor will it be a typical viewing experience for those who prefer episodic dramas. The events of episode 3 are going to make a lot of people uneasy and that's okay. I just hope people give it at least a full season to appraise one way or the other. [Reply]
Had to catch up on a reddit thread to help shit this thought out:
One valid reason to dislike what Green and Fuller have done is the circumstances of what put Shadow away. Instead of Shadow tuning up his fellow crooks, he tried to rob a casino on Laura's bidding. Further, Git Gone demonstrates the pure switch in tone that Shadow and Laura have been subjected to as an adaptation: Laura was "dead" in her life according to the TV show and only in death did she find the reason to be alive whereas Shadow was "dead" in his life prior to meeting Mr. Wednesday. For the sole purpose of adapting from one medium to another, Shadow has to be an active character on TV instead of a passive vessel for reader projection. I think it's persnickety to find this as the overriding fault in the adaptation.
But I do recognize that the shift of being a lifeless character from Shadow to Laura can piss people off and I think this is reasonable, but still hope people give it a chance.
Episode 4 is the biggest addition to the source material yet. I think on the whole it was positive, though I'm sure people will bitch about Laura being an aerosol huffer. The whole WTFness of her being revenant in Audrey's house was comical but fitting considering the tone of the show writ large. We also got a bit of world building of the mythos as Fuller and Green are depicting it, with Laura being a pretty assured faithless (both in belief and in deed) yet still finding herself defiantly face to face with Anubis. Of course, she's aware of the concept of Anubis because of the casino as well as being a reader of history, so we don't have all the answers about how there gods exist without strict belief in said gods.
First a Muslim, now an atheist -nobody can escape death as it has been personified by Mr. Jacquel. Interesting stuff.
Beyond the spoiler-y bits, the big take away is that you have to think of this as a graphic novel adaptation of Gaiman's work... except that it's a graphic novel that is animated with live action.
It's a graphic novel based on how they've chosen to shoot the scenes, the verisimilitude of what we are seeing and hearing and the subject matter at hand. It's not going to make everyone who read the novel happy, nor will it be a typical viewing experience for those who prefer episodic dramas. The events of episode 3 are going to make a lot of people uneasy and that's okay. I just hope people give it at least a full season to appraise one way or the other.
So think of it as a comic book instead of Gaiman's work and it won't suck as bad?
I dunno man. [Reply]
Also, it's not like Gaiman has zero influence on what's going with the show.
Got ya'; appreciate the input.
I haven't watched 4 yet, going to stay hopeful and give this season a chance to gain momentum and come together. It's not gotten off to the best of starts but we'll see. [Reply]
I watched 4. Worst episode of an already not-so-good season. SOOOO slow. I fas forwarded through 15 minutes of the first half hour of needless, boring, Shadow and Laura tripe.
I won't even touch on Laura being at Audrey's where she inexplicably needs an arm sewn back on.
It's called "American Gods", not "American Stiffs". An entire episode without showing any of the interesting characters was a horrible idea.
They've been losing viewership each week. If they want to reverse that they'd better show a whole lot more Odin and Mad Sweeney and bring in some other interesting characters or soon nobody will believe in this show and it will die.
Maybe it's different if you haven't read the book. What do those of you who have not read the book think of the series so far? [Reply]