American Gods “Ashes and Demons” had a lot going on with Shadow, Wednesday, and teased a little bit about Bilquis. But all we can think about after watching this episode is Laura Moon. After turning into ash, we weren’t sure what would happen next. And if it wasn’t for previews showing us Laura footage we haven’t seen yet, we would’ve been sure that her journey was done on American Gods.
After “Ashes and Demons” we’re sure that Laura’s journey is just really starting. Let us explain. Laura has had this skewed picture of herself from day one. Like many of us it started when she was a child. Her parents let her believe, maybe not knowingly, that she was the problem when it came to their marriage. They did nothing to protect Laura from what was tearing them apart and this little girl blamed herself for everything.
This carried onto every relationship in Laura’s life. Like she said, she fucked them and fucked up their life at the same time. She used and used until there was nothing left. And she moved from one person to the next, repeating the same cycle because she thought that’s what someone like her was meant to do. And that’s a miserable and fucked up existence, if we’re being honest.
But Laura Moon had never seen the reality of it til “Ashes and Demons.” She was a kid when her parents starting fucking around. She wasn’t responsible for what they did. They were. And this picture that she painted of herself, it wasn’t real. It never had been real. It took Laura dying for her to see that and it hurt us just as much as it hurt Laura to realize that. There was nothing wrong with her.
It doesn’t mean that all of a sudden Laura is a changed woman. She did what she did in life and she owns it. But her perspective on what started it all and who she is has shifted. Hell, it’s shifted how we see her completely and a rewatch of American Gods is needed immediately. And now we get to see how this realization is going to shift and define her as a woman and in her mission to destroy Wednesday.
This proves what we’ve known since the beginning: Laura Moon is the most interesting character on American Gods. Part of it is due to this journey that we’ve seen her go on. But a lot of it is due to the fact that we don’t get to see messy AF women like Laura on TV. Women who mess up, get dirty, maim and destroy, and still have startling realizations about themselves that change who they are.
What comes next is uncharted territory for Laura and for us. She’s stuck in purgatory without a body to come back to and a bunch of well-wishers and do-gooders around her. Whatever direction she goes in, whatever steps she takes to get back to the land of the living, it’s going to be messy but so damn worth it. We just know it. So, watch out Wednesday. There’s a storm coming and her name is Laura.
American Gods airs Sundays on Starz.
