American Gods Recap: The Secret of Spoons

Season 1/ Episode 2/ Starz American Gods almost has more scene-stealers on the roster than I can handle. The first episode introduced Wednesday, Bilquis, Mad Sweeney, a vengeful widow and even Shadow’s curious cellmate. Episode 2, entitled “The Secret of Spoon”, introduces a new batch of characters who, collectively, are probably even more entertaining. Shadow’s starting to remind me a lot of another bald black man who’s well-used as the least interesting person on his own show. He should probably avoid yellow t-shirts to prevent any confusion. “The Secret of Spoon” has a handful of standout moments, the brightest of which are placed perfectly at the beginning, middle and end of the episode. The first of these comes in the tale of another god finding their way to the United States. In 1697, a group of Africans are being transported across the ocean as part of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. One of the men pleads to Anansi to help him. He has no idea where he’s going, where his mother’s gone or why he’s sitting on the bottom of a ship. As he prays, a colorful spider makes its way down the stairs before transforming into a man wearing a purple zoot suit, fedora and oxfords – yes, this is still in 1697. This man (Orlando Jones), speaking in English, lets the man know that his mother was thrown overboard and drowned because she couldn’t swim.

Confused, the African man asks the well-dressed visitor if he’s Anansi. While never saying yes, the man begins to walk around the lower-le…