Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
Sunday night’s episode of American Gods, titled “Git Gone,” was the fourth of four that were initially sent out to critics for preview, and it’s the one that shows the most hope for the show as it attempts to create a seasons-long series out of the Neil Gaiman novel. Not coincidentally, it’s also the first episode to go almost completely off-book, opening up the universe of the show (and for a show that is already about the world opening up to the universe of the gods, that’s saying something) in order to delve into the backstory of one particular character: Laura Moon. And while stretching beyond the boundaries of the book was indeed an inspired choice, the reason that “Git Gone” stands out as the highlight of American Gods‘ impressive first season is all about the actress behind Laura Moon, one Emily Browning.
Browning isn’t a household name at this point, but she may well be a familiar face. American audiences likely first encountered her in Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events (the 2004 one, with Jim Carrey), playing the eldest Baudelaire sibling with a kind of captivating efficiency. Perhaps that was more a function of the character, but Browning was the rare child star who never seemed to be seeking approval in her acting choices. The reviews for the film were tepid, but she got a Broadcast Film Critics nomination for performance by a younger actor. Still, she would only make two more movies in the following seven years, before Zack Snyder cast her as the lead in his problematic-ass-kicking-girls movie Sucker Punch. That movie was pretty much a disaster, but Browning has been working ever since, in smaller but often more rewarding movies, like the Julia Leigh-directed Sleeping Beauty, or God Help the Girl, for which Browning and her co-stars won the Sundance Jury Prize for dramatic acting. In 2015, Browning played the love interest to Tom Hardy’s character in Legend. American Gods may be the thing that finally launches Emily Browning for real; after an episode like “Git Gone,” it deserves to.
In the novel American Gods, Laura Moon is an important character, just not a very well-explored one. She’s the wife of main character Shadow Moon who dies in the book’s first pages. In many ways, she’s a ghost; literally, of course, she’s a ghost come back from the dead to haunt Shadow; she’s also a ghostly presence for him, reminding him of her final act of betrayal (she and Shadow’s best friend, Robbie, were killed in a car accident, as she was fellating him, as so often happens in life). She’s also an avenging angel, saving Shadow on numerous occasions with her newfound zombie strength. The entire climax of the book hinges on Laura’s actions. But as a character, she’s remarkably flat.
“Git Gone” changes that, taking us into Laura’s life before she even met Shadow. She’s a single woman, living alone and working in a casino, contemplating suicide by insect-spray-in-hot-tub. The scene where Laura meets Shadow — as he tries to scam her blackjack table — is the first time we’ve seen fire in her eyes, not just in this episode but in the series. She’s weary, yes, but she’s sharp as hell, and you get the sense it’s a rare occasion that Shadow’s cunning has been met by a prospective mark.
The rest of the episode follows Laura and Shadow’s relationship, his incarceration, and what brought her to the point where she would betray Shadow with his best friend. In the novel, we learn about Laura’s infidelity when Shadow sees Robbbie’s widow, Audrey, spit on Laura in her coffin. She’s dead and cold with no way to defend herself. Here, we not only see Laura’s own reasons, but after she comes back from the grave (via Mad Sweeney’s enchanted coin), Laura and Audrey have a moment of reckoning that is some of the strangest, funniest, and yet most honestly captivating TV you’re going to find this year.
By the end of the hour, we’re snapped back into the arc of the series, with Laura waiting for Shadow in his hotel room. The story of the season can move on, with Laura now fully a part of it. She’s no longer the spectral angel who haunts Shadow’s memories and obliterates his enemies when he’s not looking. I mean, sure, she might still do that. But she’ll do it as a person that the audience now has some real investment in. Laura Moon was a part of Shadow in the American Gods novel. Laura Moon is a woman I care about on the TV show.
