American Gods (season 2)
The second season of "American Gods", based on Neil Gaiman's novel of the same name, was broadcast on Starz between March 10 and April 28, 2019, and consisted of eight episodes. Jesse Alexander adapted the second season, serving as the sole showrunner after Bryan Fuller and Michael Green departed the series, and production began in April 2018 after the season was officially greenlit in May 2017. The season stars Ricky Whittle, Emily Browning, Crispin Glover, Yetide Badaki, Bruce Langley, Pablo Schreiber and Ian McShane, who all return from the previous season, as well as Orlando  Jones, Mousa Kraish, Omid Abtahi and Demore Barnes, who were promoted to series regular status for the second season. The second season follows Shadow Moon, an ex-convict who is the right-hand man and bodyguard for Mr. Wednesday, an Old God who is in the midst of a war between the Old Gods, the gods from ancient mythology, and the New Gods, the gods of society, technology, and globalization. Episodes. <onlyinclude></onlyinclude> Production. Development. On May 10, 2017, the series was renewed for a second season. On November 29, 2017, it was announced that Fuller and Green were  departing the show and were to be replaced as showrunners for season two after having completed writing roughly half of the season's scripts. On January 12, 2018, Starz President and CEO Chris Albrecht clarified the ongoing struggle with mounting a second season, including Gillian Anderson's and Kristin Chenoweth's involvement, Fuller and Green's continued involvement – stressing that they were never fired, nor did they quit – given their schedules, and showrunner and budget concerns, while stressing the difficulty of adaptation and the network and Fremantle Media's continued commitment to the series. On February 2, 2018, Jesse Alexander , writer for Fuller's "Hannibal" and "", was announced as co-showrunner for the second season alongside Gaiman. In September 2018, it was reported that Alexander had been removed as showrunner from the series by Starz and Fremantle. The series was also six weeks behind schedule and was forced to go on hiatus due to having an unfinished script for the season finale; Alexander submitted multiple drafts for the finale, but they were all rejected. Fuller and Green had scripted the first six episodes of season two, but they were thrown out once Alexander was hired to rewrite them. The season  two episode order was trimmed from ten to eight episodes, similar to season one, in an attempt to trim the budget. The first season was $30 million over budget. Cast members were unhappy with the new scripts and they were often rewritten on set, including Ian McShane improvising dialogue. Starz was unhappy with Alexander's direction of the material, which was more "conventional", different from Fuller and Green's more "atmospheric, hypnotic" tone. With no showrunner, producing director Chris Byrne and line producer Lisa Kussner were left in charge. Filming. Production began on the second season in April 2018 , and with the season premiering on March 10, 2019. Writing. During an interview with Neil Gaiman on June 24, 2016, he discussed plans for future seasons of the show beyond the first, should it be continued, and noting that the first season only covers the first third of the novel. The second season was intended to cover the Lakeside section of the novel, and "a big pivotal thing that happens to Mr. Wednesday" was likely to be a season finale for either the second or third season. However, the Lakeside arc was later pushed back to a potential third season . Casting. On June 4, 2018, it was announced that Dean Winters, Devery Jacobs and Kahyun Kim would join the cast in the second season as Mr. Town, Sam Black Crow and Media; with the latter now known as New Media after the departure of Gillian Anderson in the role. It was also confirmed that Kristin Chenoweth would not be making an appearance in the season due to scheduling conflicts. Reception. Critical response. The second season has received mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has a 60% rating with an average score of 6.11 out of 10 based on  27 reviews with the consensus stating: ""American Gods" retains its bombastic style but loses its divine inspiration in a derivative second season that, after a change in show-runners and even some crucial cast members, feels like a false idol." On Metacritic, it has a score of 45 out of 100 based on 7 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Alan Sepinwall of "Rolling Stone" gave it 2 out of 5 stars, calling it "aimless" and despite having a "talented cast", Sepinwall ultimately felt "the whole thing is hollow and dull."