“ | Did you make snow? Well, if you choose to believe you made snow, you get to live the rest of your life believing that you can do things that are impossible. Or you can believe that it's a delusion. | ” |
–Mr. Wednesday to Shadow |
"Head Full of Snow" is the third episode of the first season of American Gods and the third of the overall series. It debuted on May 14, 2017.
Summary[]
Shadow questions his decision to work for Mr. Wednesday after learning of his plan to rob a bank; Shadow makes a surprising discovery when he returns to his motel room.
Plot[]
In Queens, Mrs. Fadil cooks dinner for visiting family when there is a knock on the door. Anubis enters and explains to Mrs. Fadil that she has died and he has come to take her to the Afterlife because of her belief in her Tita's stories. She follows him to her fire escape and up a seemingly never-ending staircase until they reach a sandy desert. They sit down in front of his scales and he places a large feather on the right scale. He removes her heart and places it on the left scale to see if she used her heart well. Mrs. Fadil tells him she tried her best and Anubis replies that her best is good. He leads her to five pillars, each of which will lead to one of the many worlds of the Du'at, and tells her to choose. She tells him he is kind and asks him to choose for her. He points to the center pillar and a door opens. Mrs. Fadil pauses at the entrance expressing momentary doubt, and her cat pushes her through the doorway anyway.
Shadow awakens in the middle of the night in Czernobog's and the Zoryas' apartment. He discovers the living room window open and climbs out onto the fire-escape and up to the roof. Zorya Polunochnaya is star-gazing, keeping watch over Odin's Wain and the Great Bear. She explains to him that she and her sisters monitor the sky day and night to make sure the "bad thing chained up in those stars" does not escape and eat up everything. She reads Shadow's palm and says he has nothing because he believes in nothing. She asks if he sold his head to Czernobog and tells him she can help him in exchange for a kiss. They kiss and she proceeds to tell him to "take the moon." He doesn't understand what she means so she does it for him and plucks it out of the night sky. She gives it to him, telling him it is protection but not as strong as the sun protection he was given once before. She tells him to wake up.
Shadow wakes up and goes into Czernobog's room. He tries to convince Czernobog to play one more game of checkers with him by pointing out that Czernobog is old and weaker and he might need two hits on the head in order to successfully kill Shadow. If Shadow wins, then Czernobog has to go with him and Mr. Wednesday and Czernobog still gets his one hammer hit after they're done. If Czernobog wins, he gets two swings at sunrise. Czernobog agrees to the terms and they start playing checkers.
Mr. Wednesday enters Zorya Vechernyaya's bedroom where she is getting ready for bed. He comments on how she has learned to live with less but she is deserving of better. He pours his coffee grounds onto his saucer and asks her to read his fortune. She tells him that whatever he is trying to do, he will lose. They go outside for a walk in the night and Zorya Vechernyaya warns Wednesday that what he is doing will kill him this time. He gives her a kiss to remind her of when they were young. Zorya Vechernyaya pulls away just as it starts raining and asks him angrily what he has done. Wednesday responds with "war."
In the apartment, Shadow wins the checkers game against Czernobog and Czernobog agrees to go with Wednesday to Wisconsin then he will kill Shadow. Shadow wakes up the next morning and looks out the window to see there is no fire escape but in his pocket is a silver coin. Wednesday enters the room and asks Shadow if he wants some coffee before they go rob a bank.
At Jack's Crocodile Bar, Jack enters the bathroom with a shotgun to evict Mad Sweeney. Sweeney tells her to not push her luck by trying to shoot at him because it won't work but she does anyway. The beer bottle in Sweeney's hand explodes and it surprises Sweeney. He leaves and is walking along a highway when a friendly man pulls over and offers him a ride. Sweeney gets in and they begin driving. The truck in front of them has a blowout and a load of pipes in the back come loose. A pipe flies through the air, stabbing into their car's windshield and impaling the friendly driver's head. The police come and one of the officers mentions to Sweeney that it is "some crazy bad luck." Sweeney begins looking frantically through his pockets, tossing gold coins everywhere as he discovers one is missing.
Salim is a young Muslim man selling trinkets and souvenirs for his brother-in-law. He sits all day long at a company called Panglobal, waiting to meet with Mr. Blanding who never shows. He asks if he can make an appointment for tomorrow and the assistant tells him he has to phone for appointments. He walks out into the night rain and hails a cab, giving directions to his hotel. The taxi driver speaks Arabic and they discuss Oman, where Salim is from, chatting about the Lost City of Towers, which vanished thousands of years prior. The taxi driver apologizes as he has been driving for 30 hours straight and Salim tells him about how he just arrived in America a week ago and is selling worthless trinkets to people who won't see him.
They get stuck in traffic and the taxi driver falls asleep. Salim reaches over the seat and gently rests his hand on his shoulder to wake him. The taxi driver awakens and Salim catches a glimpse of fiery eyes in the rear-view mirror. Salim recognizes him as an ifrit, a person of the fire that his grandmother once told him about. The Jinn tells him that he does not grant wishes and his life has been reduced to this terrible job as a taxi driver. Salim reaches over to once again touch his shoulder in comfort. The Jinn caresses his hand in return.
They arrive at Salim's hotel and Salim invites the Jinn up to his room. Salim undresses as the Jinn comes out of the shower, his eyes aflame. Salim tells him that he does grant wishes and they make love. When Salim awakens the next morning, the Jinn is gone and all that remains behind are the Jinn's belongings. Salim dresses in the Jinn's clothes and heads to the taxi, getting into the driver's seat. He looks in the rear-view mirror and says, "I do not grant wishes."
Shadow and Mr. Wednesday arrive at the bank they're going to rob. Shadow is incredulous and doesn't want to enter but Wednesday drags him along, promising him he won't get in trouble. Shadow notices all the cameras in the building as Wednesday tries to avoid having his face captured. Wednesday grabs a pile of deposit slips and they leave the bank. They walk across the street and Wednesday has Shadow write down the number of a payphone. He brings Shadow a hot chocolate and tells him to "think snow" to concentrate his mind. They head to a photocopy shop as Shadow thinks about snow. While they wait for service, they chat about the many versions of Jesus. Wednesday tells Shadow to keep thinking snow while he makes business cards and posters. Shadow zones out again while thinking about snow before Wednesday startles him, telling him to stop because it's snowing enough now and they don't want to immobilize the city.
They sit down for some lunch as Shadow questions Wednesday about the snow, wanting to know how it happened when the weather was supposed to be clear. Mad Sweeney abruptly shows up, demanding his gold coin back from Shadow because he gave him the wrong coin. Shadow asks him how he did the coin trick before he'll tell him what he did with the coin. Sweeney once again claims that he plucked the coin out of thin air. Shadow says Sweeney can find the coin on Laura's grave back in Eagle Point. Sweeney leaves, telling Wednesday he'll see him in Wisconsin.
Shadow and Wednesday arrive at the bank with Wednesday dressed in a security uniform. He passes a business card to Shadow, reading "A1 Securities" with the name A. Haddock on the card. Wednesday will pretend to be Jimmy O'Gorman. He tells Shadow to do a bit of shopping at the grocery store and wait by the pay phone before he heads across the street to the bank. He places out of order signs on the ATM and night deposit slot and begins collecting night deposits and providing fake receipts to unsuspecting bank customers. The cops pull up and question Wednesday who hands them a business card. The pay phone rings and Shadow answers it as Andy Haddock, Jimmy O'Gorman's boss. They are calling to check up on Jimmy and Shadow reassures them he is supposed to be there, going so far as offering them a job with his security company. The police leave Wednesday to continue with his business.
Shadow is driving while Wednesday counts out the money from the bank scam, paying Shadow his salary. They continue driving back-roads out of Chicago as Wednesday presses Shadow about him pretending that he "cannot believe in impossible things." A wolf crosses the road in front of them, causing Shadow to slam on his breaks. Shadow asks Wednesday directly if he made it snow. Wednesday offers him the choice of either believing he did or acknowledging he is delusional. They go on to discuss Shadow's belief in love and Wednesday's fear of being forgotten.
Mad Sweeney arrives at Laura's grave and begins digging, looking for his gold coin. He gets all the way to the casket and finds a hole burned through the lid. He opens the lid and discovers the coffin is empty.
Shadow gets the key to his motel room from the front desk and heads to his room. He opens the door and discovers Laura sitting on the edge of the bed.
Cast[]
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Notes and trivia[]
- Famous conman Frank Abagnale claims to have successfully pulled off the bank robbery scheme. Two men also robbed a bank using the same method in Tigard, Oregon in 2008.[1]