American Gods, season 3 review: a miraculous turnaround for Amazon’s outrageous series

Shadow Moon has meanwhile tried to move on from his past life as bodyguard to Odin (whom he has recently discovered is his father). But his attempt at a new beginning working at a steel mill in Milwaukee comes unstuck when his criminal history is rumbled. He’s soon on the road again, with Wednesday sending him to the Coen Brothers-esque American Midwest town of Lakeside Wisconsin.

Here, Shadow experiences the racism bubbling under its apple pie exterior after a teenager vanishes. As he joins the hunt for the missing teenager, other gods such as love deity Bilquis (Yetide Badaki) weave their own plots. And Wednesday reconnects with his old love Demeter (Blythe Danner, aka Gwyneth Paltrow’s mother). 

Shadow’s ex, Laura (Emily Browning), has problems of her own in so far as she is trapped in literal purgatory. This resembles an over-crowded airport departure lounge where there are never enough seats and your flight takes an eternity to board. 

Gaiman has a huge fanbase and yet American Gods has failed to give either him or Amazon a breakout mainstream hit. The show initially had simply too much of everything: too much sex, too much violence, to many weird flashbacks to the gods’s glory years across human history. Series three is where the fever belatedly breaks and everyone involved takes deep breath. Oh miracle of miracles, American Gods may finally be watchable.