American Gods returns with episode 8 of season one, the season finale, entitled “Come to Jesus” and everyone is eager to have a meeting with Ostara.

It was time for Mr. Ibis to take a break and for Mr. Nancy to be the one in the spotlight (quite literally). Nancy tells the story of Bilquis, Goddess of love and character who is not unfamiliar to us viewers. This backstory was definitely something that we needed, we just didn’t know it. We saw that she went from a Queen who had everything she wanted, to a homeless woman who didn’t have a lot more than the clothes she was wearing. We were able to find out that she, like Vulcan, accepted the help of the New Gods in order to rise again, and that is something pretty much everyone would do. Maybe Bilquis isn’t as loyal to them as Vulcan seemed to be, but ultimately the new Gods took her out of poverty and starvation, and so she is in big debt to them. Moral of the story: “You need to get yourself a Queen”.

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Wednesday and Shadow head to Kentucky to do just that. There, they find Ostara, commonly known as Easter, Goddess of Spring, resurrection and rebirth. Ostara was definitely not nearly as happy to see Wednesday as Wednesday was to see her, but she became quite charmed with Shadow and the feeling was clearly mutual. Nowadays, when we think of Easter we think of Jesus and the resurrection, but truth is that Easter existed long before that and, just like Christmas time, Easter celebrated the equinox. Ostara may be, among the Old Gods, one of the few who is doing fine, but, in the end of the day, she is just as forgotten as they all are. Even though people still celebrate Easter (which gives her some power), they don’t do it in her name anymore, and Wednesday makes sure to point that out.

It totally made a lot of sense seeing many Jesuses in this episode. In fact, there are many people who worship him, but everyone has a different tradition, a different interpretation of the bible, and so, without realizing it, people believe, not in one Jesus, but in several ones. And, as it is our belief that creates Gods, apparently it can also create more and more Jesuses.

Meanwhile, Laura and Mad Sweeney arrived to their destination, and who better to bring someone back from the dead than the Goddess of resurrection herself? But not all deaths are the same, and after looking into Laura’s case, Ostara realized she can’t bring her back to life because she was killed by a God (or as Sweeney put it, she was sacrificed to a God). It is this way that Laura finds out that she and Shadow have been manipulated by Wednesday for a while, at least since they came up with the “perfect plan” to rob the casino. For some reason, Wednesday wanted Shadow in a position where he had nothing to lose because he had already lost everything. This definitely proves that Shadow wasn’t the one picked to be Wednesday’s body guard just because he was the first strong guy Wednesday could find. There is clearly a lot more to it and I can’t wait to find out what it is.

It was after this that we got to see that amazing, crazy super scene in which everything was happening at the same time. Media arrived. Unlike the Technical Boy, Media doesn’t want to start a war (I am not really saying the Technical Boy wants to start one, but he probably wouldn’t mind it too much). Media wants to enlist Gods to keep them in check, to make sure they are not going to start a mutiny, but she is not willing to do everything to make this happen. Ostara feels misrepresented by the media and the new Goddess pretty much says that she doesn’t care, and tells her to adapt. This is how it has been and this is how it will continue to be.

After Media, it didn’t take long for the other known New Gods to show up, and I have to say, I always love Media and Technical Boy’s outfits. Media’s outfits are always very modern and fashionable but at the same time, historical and old. Technical Boy’s are always so futuristic and rebel teenage-like. The New Gods couldn’t be more confident they will prevail. As they said, they control everything. The only way the Old Gods would announce themselves would be if they went house by house knocking on doors and, even so, no one would listen to them, no one would care about them. The New Gods are “the flow”; the “platform AND the delivery mechanism”.

But the New Gods weren’t seeing the big picture, they were underestimating Ostara. After having her power increased because of a few deaths in her name, Ostara was able to take the spring away, and so the scene just got better and better. Apparently, the Old Gods didn’t need a delivery mechanism, because they have one that is more effective than any other. If people want to see flowers again, leaves on trees, crops grow, green fields… they are going to have to pray for it. “You give a little, you get a little”. That is how it used to be, and that is how the Old Gods want it to be again.

It makes all the sense in the world that the war between Old Gods and New Gods isn’t a physical one, but a war for everyone’s belief. First of all, because no physical war would live up to the audience’s expectations. Secondly, even if the Old Gods won and killed the New Gods, what good would that do? They would still not be important, and the New Gods would eventually be back because people would continue to believe in them. If the Old Gods want to kill their opponents, they will have to make sure that no one believes in them anymore.

It was also in this overwhelming scene that Wednesday revealed who he really is: his real name is Odin, Germanic God of all Gods. Like everything in this show, the pseudonym “Wednesday” didn’t come out of nowhere. “Wednesday” is derived from the old English “Wodenstaeg”, which means day of Woden (which is one of Odin’s many names).

I am going to apologize in advance for what I am about to say because not a lot of people share my opinion in this, but if I have to pick a team, I will pick the New Gods. Everyone likes their TV, their technologies, social media, oil… and that is what the New Gods represent. The Old Gods had their time of prosperity, now they either need to “adapt and survive” (like Media said), or disappear and die. It is a good thing that the New Gods are making sure some of the old palls still survive and still have some believers. They should be happy with that. It is definitely time to say: Out with the old and in with the new.

This was definitely an awesome episode. Finally Shadow believes, finally the war is on, finally Wednesday revealed his true identity, finally Shadow saw Laura again. There was only a problem with it, a very big one in fact: after watching it, we have to wait almost a year to watch a new one. I am giving this episode a 9.9/10 (I am saving my 10, in case there is a better one coming).

With this, I conclude my reviews of season 1 of this amazing show. It was, like any other, a season with its highs and lows, but overall a really amazing one. Hope it doesn’t take too long for season 2 to start.