‘American Gods’ Episode Order Cut Over Discarded Material
It’s taken long enough for TV to adapt Neil Gaiman’s American Gods, and there were bound to be hiccups along the way. So much so, in fact, that Starz and Bryan Fuller apparently agreed to cut two whole episodes from the first season’s order once they realized “we didn’t like what we saw.”
You’re warned of a few minor American Gods spoilers from here on out, but where initially Starz placed a ten-episode order for Fuller’s take on author Neil Gaiman’s famous novel, the final product was quietly whittled down to eight episodes. As Fuller and co-producer Michael Green tell TVLine, certain physical sets and the rhythm of Shadow Moon’s journey felt off during production, requiring a complete revamp of their third episode:
‘When we shot it, we didn’t like what we saw,’ Fuller tells TVLine. ‘There were issues with the sets. There were some things that happened too early in Shadow’s journey that changed the perspective of the story.’ So he and Green decided to eliminate what they didn’t like, instead cutting two episodes in half and stitching them together to make what would eventually become Episode 3.
‘We went back to the concept that was the strongest,’ he adds. ‘And in order to pay for it, we had to drop an episode.’
Starz agreed to (and even encouraged) the shortened order to deliver a final product worthy of the trailer’s rave review at Comic-Con, but Fuller later elected to drop another episode from the season, noting that the eighth hour had a more natural endpoint. As such, material shot by Hannibal director Guillermo Navarro would be redistributed throughout the season, including Orlando Jones’ introduction as Mr. Nancy, and a memorable side-story of a cab-driving Ifrit.
We don’t mind telling you that the rhythm of American Gods’ third episode is noticeably altered (more on that with our full review), but will the rest of the season feel short-changed by the shuffle? Is Starz essentially guaranteeing a second season?