Though Starz’s live-action adaptation has been met with more than a few bumps in the road over the course of its first two seasons, the series is set to return for a third season that will take its hero Shadow Moon to the strange town of Lakeside. He initially believes himself to be safe, only to find that things in the picturesque locale aren’t all that they seem.
Despite the fact that American Gods has been haemorrhaging cast members at an alarming rate for some time, executive producer and author of the original novel Neil Gaiman penned an open letter to the show’s fandom expressing his sincere belief that by giving Shadow a chance to “lose himself in normality” and find himself in season three, American Gods is going to give audiences something to sink their teeth into.
“And at the same time, in Season Three, we wanted to focus on the characters and their journeys,” Gaiman wrote. “To show Shadow forging a path guided by the Gods of his ancestors, becoming more himself while deciding who he is and what side he’s on — humanity’s or that of the Gods.”
Gaiman didn’t provide many concrete details about what to expect in season three, but he mused that American Gods will once again return to unpacking what America, as a concept, means to different kinds of people, many of whom immigrated to the country either through mystical or mundane means. This season’s story, Gaiman said, will be “timely” in a way that surprises people
“We knew also that we wanted to continue to root the show in the landscapes of America,” Gaiman said. “To explore what ‘America’ means to its people and to talk about immigrants — about the very different people who came to this remarkable land and brought their gods with them. The new gods of phone and app and glitter demand our attention and our love, and the old gods want to mean something again.”
In truth, much of what Gaiman’s saying here sounds more or less like what the show was attempting to do at various points throughout seasons one and two, and it’s not really clear what’s going to set this chapter apart, location aside. With so many of American Gods’ more memorable deities having been written off the show, it’s tough to imagine season three capturing that same early magic, but hey, one’s gotta have faith if one’s into that sort of thing.
American Gods stream internationally on Amazon Prime beginning on January 12.