American Gods Season 2 Episode 4 Recap & Review

The Battle Lines Are Drawn

After the events of the previous episode, American Gods picks up with a brief change of pace in the form of a prologue segment involving a young Asian boy. With a childhood revolving around a heady mix of video games and playing the piano, we see him grow through the years with both of these passions remaining a mainstay in his life.

As the boy grows into a man, these two ventures blend into one as he works as a programmer, creating a synthesized, artificial intelligence that creates classical music on the fly. Impressed with his son’s genius, this close father/son bond reaches its climax as we cut forward in time, accompanied by this beautiful juxtaposition of emotion and coding, through to his Father’s funeral. It’s here where we see the first glimpses of Technical Boy glittering into existence and our presumption that this is really a tale told to showcase his birth. 

After this segment, we witness Shadow Moon’s particularly pleasant dream before waking up in a strange bed within the house of the Egyptians. After a brief, awkward encounter with Anubis he heads back on the road with Mr. Wednesday. As they trek across America, they stop at a nearby cafe where Mama-Ji shows back up again as a waitress. She warns Shadow Moon, telling him this God will be the death of him, before leaving things on an ominous note.

Meanwhile Nansy and Bilquis, have a particularly fiery showdown, thanks to their deep-rooted history together, causing ripples in the ranks. Nansy questions her loyalties before Anubis chimes in and the three discuss their newfound place in this post Old-God world. This leads to the three agreeing to stay on the same page, for now.

They’re not the only Gods who have tensions either, and interspersed around these stories is the ongoing saga involving the New Gods. With Technical Boy and New Media reconvening back at their headquarters, Mr World shows up, none too happy that they haven’t done anything to progress their cause. Promising to make amends, Technical Boy meets an old friend who just so happens to be the boy from the opening prologue. Failing to convince the man to join their cause, Mr World shows up and flexes his God-like abilities.

This leads to a showdown between Mr World and Mr Wednesday as the battle lines are drawn and the two Gods share their vision for what the future should be. As Mr World leaves the cafe, things flutter back to normality, leaving Shadow Moon and Mr Wednesday to stew over his final words.

While there isn’t much in the way of plot development this week, the fascinating part of this episode comes from the conflicting viewpoints of the various Gods and what they make of this new world order. Bilquis and Nansy’s showdown is particularly tasty, as is Technical Boy and New Media’s love/hate relationship. Ultimately though this showdown between Mr World and Mr Wednesday is really what’s going to make or break this season. The two have a wild chemistry together and this uneasiness is certainly setting things up for an interesting few weeks to come.