The Final Ballad Of Mad Sweeney
Returning for another slice of deity action, American Gods returns this week with its penultimate episode of the season and a long-awaited injectment of excitement before next week’s finale. The episode itself begins with Mad Sweeney going off the deep end, blind drunk and stumbling around whilst talking to Shadow Moon. Their conversation inevitably turns to Laura whose gone rogue this episode and winds up in a pretty heated conversation of her own with one of the Gods in the cafe. Sweeney manages to weasel his way into conning Shadow out of some money before advising, with a sneer, he doesn’t know where she is. Meanwhile, the other Gods prepare for the battle ahead. Wednesday gives thanks to his sacred tree, cutting off a branch and magically weilding it into a spear, ready for the fight ahead. Bilquis spends the episode pretending to be a priest, which amuses Mad Sweeney who finds himself in attendance, listening to her sermon. After the speech, he tells her about how his legend has changed over the years which acts as the catalyst for a series of flashbacks interspered throughout the episode. These work really well too, showing how Sweeney’s legend has changed and evolved over the years. Between various segments involving the other Gods and their preperations, the episode itself ends with a proverbial last supper, as Wednesday gathers the Gods round for one final meal and a toast. While most of the Gods lament his idea of toasting, Mad Sweeney stumbles in with a drink of his own. Unhappy with Wednesday’s lack of an invite for him, Shadow squares up to Sweeney which leads to the two fighting. Unfortunately, this fight sees Sweeney stabbed with the spear and in his final triumph, grins at Wednesday before signing out of the world with one final curse. American Gods’ second season has really been quite the tumulutous ride. From the highs and lows, this penultimate episode really does well to inject some late tension and drama into the series. While Mad Sweeney’s death is certainly a big surprise, it’ll be interesting to see what direction the show takes without one of its most charismatic characters. Quite what will happen next week in the finale is anyone’s guess but for now, American Gods has enough in the tank to make it an interesting prospect going forward.
