American Gods

TV review by Joyce Slaton, Common Sense Media
American Gods Poster Image

Common Sense says

age 18+

Gods are real on brutal, graphic, visually arresting show.

Starz Drama 2017
Rate TV

Parents say

age 16+

Based on 5 reviews

Kids say

age 17+

Based on 4 reviews

Common Sense is a nonprofit organization. Your purchase helps us remain independent and ad-free.
Rate tv

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

A Lot or a Little?

The parents' guide to what's in this TV show.

What Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that American Gods is a surreal drama (based on the book by Neil Gaiman) that truly earns its TV-MA rating. There's frequent brutal violence, with onscreen deaths by decapitation, stabbings, slashings, bludgeonings, with spouting blood, lingering shots of gore, dead bodies, and disembodied limbs. Men take part in a ritual in which one eye is stabbed out, men punch each other in the face until they're bloody pulps, complete with sickening crunching noises. A woman kills a man during sex by devouring him with her private parts, and there's a lot of horror-movie type imagery: henchmen with featureless heads, a ground heaped with human bones. Characters have sex nude; the woman's breasts are visible for a long time as she thrusts and moans, exchanging very graphic talk with her partner; other scenes include full-frontal male nudity and same-sex couplings. There are vulgar terms for different types of sex, and for body parts (male and female); characters urinate onscreen. Many characters curse routinely: "f--k," "f--king," "motherf--king," "goddamn," "a--hole," "s--t," "ass," "hell," "teat," "piss off," a man calls a particular group of woman "bitches." Characters drink, take Ativan to deal with emotional blows, and in one vivid scene a god smokes "synthetic toad skins" (a hallucinogen?) in a vape-like pipe.

Community Reviews

CSMContentDefault
CSMContentDefault Adult
April 3, 2019
age 18+

It's like Percy Jackson for Adults except everything is a Metaphor (Season 1 Review)

Violence: Occasional moments of graphic violence, some cartoonishly over the top, others more realistic. Violence is usually quite bloody and results in gore, some violence is ritualistic. One character is undead, and occasionally comes apart. | Language: Some very strong language, including f*ck and c*nt, as well as milder language such as sh*t, *ss, hell, b*stard etc. Some language is used in an aggressive context. | Sex: Several sex scenes which while not explicit, contain strong detail and prolonged partial nudity. One goddess consumes people during sex. Some graphic nudity outside of a sexual context | Drugs: Some social drinking and smoking. One god smokes "synthetic toad skins", though doesn't appear to get high from it.
1 person found this helpful.
Scott T.
Scott T. Adult
March 28, 2018
age 16+

Neil Gaiman at his Best, Starz, Meh, Not so Much

American Gods, Season 1, is a television series based on the Neil Gaiman novel of the same name. It’s a tightly structured fantasy set against the back drop of an American road trip that criss-crosses the continent. The novel is a tour de force: a defining and crowning achievement in Mr. Gaiman’s career. The series fails to deliver on scope and vision. It faithfully represents the most evocative images from the book; however, the dependence on green screen is evident in poor lighting of the effects heavy scenes. The acting is b-level with a few standout performances from Gillian Anderson and Pablo Schreiber. I disagree with the casting of Shadow Moon. Ricky Whittle lacks the range to carry half the scenes. The television series is entertaining if a bit uneven overall. I would recommend it based on the success of the novel. It’s an original and enthralling story with an exciting climax.

This title has:

Too much violence
Too much sex
Too much swearing
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
See all 5 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Gods and mythological creatures are real! That is, they're real when people believe in them. But as belief in old gods like Loki, Kali, and Anubis has blinked out, so have their powers; new gods, AMERICAN GODS have arisen, dedicated to technology, celebrity, drugs. Not all the old gods are ready to fade into history, though. And so the menacing Mr. Wednesday (Ian McShane) is beginning to gather the pantheon of old gods together, ready for an epic battle with the gods we worship today. With his faithful servants Shadow Moon (Ricky Whittle) and Mad Sweeney (Pablo Schreiber) at his side, Mr. Wednesday has a cabal to put together and a cataclysmic battle to plan. Will Technical Boy (Bruce Langley), Mr. World (Crispin Glover), and Media (Gillian Anderson) be as easy to defeat as the old gods were to forget?

Is It Any Good?

This is an eyeful with an interesting premise and a whole glittering galaxy of terrific actors, but it's not for kids, not even close. Even if you can handle your kids seeing a Viking warrior get his head sliced in half in slow motion, or don't mind them watching as a totally nude sex goddess refreshes her life force by sucking the entire body of a man (played by Joel Murray a.k.a. Mad Men's Freddy Rumsen -- naked!) into her vagina, you'll probably be done by the time Jesus Christ (Jeremy Davies) shows up. This is strong stuff, but also arrestingly beautiful too. The way we meet Technical Boy is a wow: a tiny robot leaps up to cling to Shadow's face, and Technical Boy takes shape pixel by pixel, Tintin quiff and all. The jaw-dropping scene that introduces Mr. Nancy (Orlando Jones) has him turning into a spider to creep onto an African slave ship to predict several hundred years of future American racism to the terrified captives.

Ian McShane's Mr. Wednesday is equally creepy, dropping hints of his true nature to a confused Shadow. Who, it must be admitted, is still trying to recover from his shock when the coin he drops into the grave of his wife Laura (Emily Browning) accidentally turned her into one of the undead. As you see, the show's just a little complicated, as you would know if you've read the epic Neil Gaiman novel of the same name. It's snappy, it's weird, it's absolutely beautiful in a way that recalls mystical sci-fi from Pan's Labyrinth to Legion. But if you watch American Gods, unless you have older teens, wait for the kids to go to bed first.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • American Gods is an extraordinarily violent show, with bloody injuries and frequent on-screen deaths. Why do some dramas show blood and guts? Is it entertaining for the viewer? For you? What's the impact of media violence on kids? Would the level of violence make you uncomfortable about watching with a young friend or relative? Your mom? Your grandmother?

  • It's pretty common to make TV and movie adaptations of popular books. What other adaptations can you name? Is it more or less enjoyable to watch a show when you haven't read the book on which it's based?

TV Details

Our Editors Recommend

For kids who love fantasy and science fiction

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

See how we rate