American Gods “The Lake Effect” set the stage for the season 3 finale and the war that is about to erupt amongst the Gods. Because Wednesday dying, it’s all part of an elaborate plan to get the Old Gods to fight. It’ll work just like Wednesday knew that Shadow would figure out what was happening in Lakeside. And just like Wednesday knew that something was coming for him, every single step he took forward bringing him closer to death.
Shadow’s Possible Life at Lakeside
Shadow could’ve had something beautiful in Lakeside. A part of him thought it would be possible. Marguerite felt like a port in a storm that had been following him for a very long time. And he even imagined a future with her where they were together and had a baby. Shadow had hopes and dreams and that was ruined by Hinzelmann in “The Lake Effect.”
I’d like to start off by saying, I fucking knew it. From the very first moment that Anne-Marie popped up on screen I knew that she was the one to watch out for. Sure, now that I flipped through the book, I should’ve known. But it’s been so long since I’ve read the actual book, I want to be surprised, that it was just an itching feeling under my skin. And I was right.
Anne-Marie, in all her Old God-ness, ruined any chance of Shadow having a life in Lakeside. She tore through Shadow’s idyllic life in American Gods and gave him a choice to forget this moment and live a lie. Knowing Shadow like we do, we knew that never was going to happen. Shadow cares too much and there was no way Hinzelmann was going to continue doing what she was doing.
In a way, it’s really fucking sad that Shadow can’t seem to find a place to call home. He’s trying, believe me, we see in everything he does. But the Old Gods and the New have to keep sticking their heads where they don’t belong and make a mess out of things. Lakeside is just the latest fall out and from the looks of it, it won’t be the last that Shadow experiences as he tries to find a place to call home.
Thinking About the Future
I don’t think Laura has ever sat down and thought of the future on American Gods. Sure, she’s thought about the small nuances of her day to day life; paying bills and all that jazz. But I don’t think she’s ever taken a moment to take stock of her life and then make a decision based on that. She did that for the first time in “The Lake Effect.”
With a different leprechaun by her side, and the same lucky coin, Laura had a moment where she decided it’s time for a change. Yeah, she’s still going to be the same asshole we know and love. But things are different now. Things like quitting cigarettes and fucking whoever she damn well pleases as a means of feeling something.
This could be her final chance at life and I think she’s planning on making it a life worth living in the tiny amount of life she’s got. Laura is basically proof that change can come at any time. Even after you stumble and fall, you can rise up and grab life by the horns, steering it in the direction you want. And that’s what Laura is doing and why we’re so proud of her.
I Don’t Feel Sad for Wednesday
Wednesday had this coming for a long time. And I’m proud of Laura for being the one to do it after the turmoil that he has caused in her life and so many others. Because Wednesday, he’s fucked over too many people to count and I’m really surprised someone hadn’t done it earlier. But I don’t feel sad for him. Why? Because he’s planned for this.
There’s just something about the way that Wednesday was in “The Lake Effect” that leads me to believe that this was all part of the plan. He came to Czernobog, well known amongst the Old Gods, and brought him to the peace talks with the New Gods so he could see that Wednesday had “given up.” That would’ve, and it totally did, stirred up Czernobog to fight in Wednesday’s place.
I think Wednesday has seen that the only way that he was going to stir the Old Gods to fight the New Gods was by being a sacrificial lamb. Laura just happened to be there, at the right place and time, to land the final blow. Do I think Wednesday will find a way to crawl back into existence? Yes. But he was the lamb that will stir the Old Gods awake. And in a way, he got what he wanted from the very start: war.
American Gods airs Sundays on Starz.
