American Gods Episode 5 Review: “The Ways of The Dead”

Published April 11, 2019 · Updated March 19, 2020

American Gods Episode 5 Review: "The Ways of The Dead"

American Gods Episode 5 Review: “The Ways of The Dead”
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“The Ways of The Dead” “”episode 5 of American Gods’ second season”” tackled racism in America, showed us just how graphic STARZ is willing to get, and finally gave us the Laura Moon and Mad Sweeney sex scene we never knew we wanted.

Along the way, we were dragged through barrage of historical and mythical allusions, including:

the murder of William “Froggie James”
Arviss The Dwarf King
Yggdrasil The World Tree
Hildisvoni The Battle Swine
Baron Samedi and Maman Brigitte
and Buile Shuibhne.

And you bet your ass King Bee and Gene Lyons dug into every one. Plus, we get another voicemail from listener Tequila Mockingbird and an email from American Gods superfan Elizabeth.

Storyline for “The Ways of The Dead” :
Episode 5: Laura arrives in New Orleans, and meets up with Sweeney, who introduces her to Baron Samedi and Maman Brigitte, two loa he claims can bring her back to life. Samedi gives Laura a potion, but to work it must be mixed with “the blood of true love”. After a confusing night, Laura leaves Sweeney, believing that Wednesday is manipulating her through him. From the sapling sent by Iktomi, Wednesday plants a new Yggdrasil in Cairo, then leaves to retrieve Gungnir from the Jinn and Salim. Wednesday asks Alvoss, King of the Dwarves, to repair Gungnir, but Alvoss says it is the runes on the spear that must be repaired. Shadow learns about Froggie James, a black man who was lynched in Cairo many years before, and who still haunts the town “” furious at his own people who did not come to his aid when he needed them. Anansi suspects that Ibis and Jacquel remain neutral because Froggie’s curse ensures them a constant stream of dead bodies, so they do not need a new war. In an attempt to free the people of the curse, Shadow allows Froggie to tell his story by speaking through him at Ruby’s funeral.

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