EDIT: ** SPOILER WARNING ** Forgot I watched this early OnDemand but it doesn't *air* until later.
I did wonder before you edited your post how you saw it before the rest of us...
Last night was the first I've felt Season 2 managed to hit its groove, perhaps not a coincidence that it didn't feature the new gods. I've been surprised at the racial elements that have been raised, the seeds were there in season 1 but they're really front-and-center now. Wednesday seems a little off to me but maybe that's just due to his truer colors showing through and they haven't quite figured out what to do with Bilquis but regardless I think the episode worked more than it didn't.
Yeah, I'm also surprised how much the racial themes have played out this season but I'm loving it. Aside from the one episode in season one that covered the slave trade, it wasn't really covered that much. In season two, however, they're going all out and it feels
very right. It's been years since I've read the book so I don't know how much of that is true to the book. Shadow is black in the boo, too, so obviously it did play a role, but I just don't recall how much of one. I have a feeling a lot of it is Gaiman and company adjusting accordingly with the times, much like how technology, media, and the social culture has been updated from the book, which is something Gaiman has talked about in interviews in the past.
New Orleans can be held up well against with the stylistic moments of season 1. Probably didn't hurt to have Mustafa Shakir and his steel eyes on hand. I was introduced to him as Bushmaster in Luke Cage and feel I need to find more of his work. I wasn't sure about casting him as Jet Black in Netflix's upcoming adaptation of Cowboy Bebop but I'm ready to check it out when the time comes.
Agreed! I've loved everything Shakir has done. He has a substantial role in David Simon's current show,
The Deuce, or at least, as substantial as one can get in a Simon show.
Emily Browning and Pablo Schreiber bring the heat. Laura seems to have more heat and chemistry with others than she has with Shadow Moon but that is not inappropriate to the story.
No kidding. Browning and Schreiber's chemistry has been raw since the beginning, but they really cranked up the steam in this one!
I'm curious how much of this is in the book or has been introduced/enhanced in the series. I keep going back and forth over whether or not I should read it or wait until after the series is finished.
Like I speculated above, I think a fair amount has been adjusted for the times. I've also debated about going back and reading it again, but I think I'm going to wait until after the series is over. Which is easy for me considering I'm drowning in books I'm reading and needing to read.
Nice to see Lee Arenberg playing another legendary dwarf. I was not a big fan of Once Upon a Time but I liked him.
Oh, wow, I didn't even recognize him with the giant beard and good teeth! I know him best from the
Pirates of the Caribbeans trilogy.