American Gods: The Nice Girls Host a Mad Sweeney Prayer Meeting

Mad Sweeney (Pablo Schreiber) made me cry tonight. Let’s start with the ending first!

Mynda: May we all be so blessed in life to to be escorted out of this life into the next by our own dark leprechaun. How awesome was the end of life scene with Essie?

Alex: I wouldn’t be surprised if this was the final Coming to America, at least for the season, considering it was the first of these stories to turn into an episode’s main plot. I now wonder, since Sweeney came to America the same way the gods did, why characters such as himself and the Jinn are different from gods. Is it simply because of the way humans view and treat them?

Roz: I love that the whole episode was told with the Coming to America story and that Essie/Laura and Sweeney are tied together. (Am I the only one who thinks Laura is a descendant of Essie?)

Cara: This Coming to America is my favorite.  I thought it had been replaced by the earlier story about Anubis, I was really excited when I saw it here.  I love the extended story, and I thought it worked as a great frame for giving background on Sweeney’s involvement in Laura’s death.

The name of this episode made me think something very different was coming,  so I was relieved to see that it was explaining a little about what’s going on with Mad Sweeney.

The BIG REVEAL!

Did you catch what happened between Mad Sweeney and Emily? I was live tweeting and missed it the first time around. Mad Sweeney caused the wreck that killed Emily on orders from Big W. This explains a lot to my mind why Sweeney was so over the top angry with Emily aka “Dead Wife.’ What are your thoughts?

Alex: This is definitive proof that Shadow isn’t some random guy that Wednesday hired, but we still don’t know what makes him so special. I’m sure Shadow will be furious when he inevitably learns the truth, but I also bet Wednesday will remind him that he never would have known of Laura’s affair if she hadn’t been killed.

Roz: I think it goes back to what I just asked; it feels like Laura and Sweeney were always going to be interconnected regardless of what Wednesday wants. It also explains so much about Laura’s backstory and how much she enjoys stealing.

Cara: Mad Sweeney seems to be as much of a pawn in the gods’ game as Shadow. Wednesday is using Sweeney to get what he wants,  but it’s not turning out well for Sweeney. Wednesday got Sweeney to start the fight with Shadow too, which is how he lost his coin. I think Sweeney is angry at how Wednesday is using him, and I also wonder why Sweeney is so beholden to Wednesday.

My Precious! Mad got his lucky coin back and willingly then returned it to Emily! The Leprechaun may be a ‘unpleasant creature’ but there is a kind, albeit very immature person underneath all that piss and vinegar. Were you surprised he gave the coin back?

Alex: I’m not surprised, since he clearly felt guilty about her first death. Besides, they were already on their way to resurrect Laura, so he probably feels that he may as well see it through and hope his guilt will go away. He has to sacrifice his coin a little while longer this way, but he’ll still get it back.

Roz: I don’t think it’s surprise so much as it’s a slow understanding of how gods still need their people to worship. If we take Laura to be Essie’s descendant then they need each other, and Sweeney will always be drawn to her, even in dislike.

Cara: Sweeney was made to kill Laura by Wednesday, but I don’t think that Sweeney is a killer.  Mischief doesn’t usually mean murder.  So, when it came down to it, he couldn’t just let her be dead.  I am also loving the irony of a leprechaun with terrible luck.

American Gods  season finale airs this Sunday at 9 pm only on STARZ.
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• Creator of Digital Euphoria! • Extreme southern speaker, big hair believer & professional geek • Follow @PxlWvr or contact at Mynda@nicegirlstv.com