Shadow Moon’s dead wife, Laura (Emily Browning), finally takes centre stage, taking us right back to the beginning of their relationship before filling in some vital gaps in what we’ve already seen.

At the European premiere of American Gods we asked Emily Browning what had lured her to the role of a dead wife – surely she’s capable of far better roles? She explained that when originally courted by showrunner Bryan Fuller she told him that she was fed up with just playing ‘the wife’. He convinced her that Laura was a very different proposition, but up until now she really been a very minor character standing on the fringes of the show. Until now.

Starting in an Egyptian-themed casino, Laura’s life is revealed to be humdrum and unfulfilling. Dealing cards to guests, she’s approached by a hustler who she recognises is about to try a scam… and will fail. She takes pity on him, warning that his ruse will fail, and before long they’re making love in her rundown home.

In addition to showing what we’ve previously only concluded from Shadow’s perspective, we essentially get to hear Laura’s views on mysticism and the afterlife, her cynicism and unwillingness to accept her lot. We see the guilt and temptation that she suffers while Shadow is serving his time, and crucially, just whose idea it was to commit the crime in the first place. Browning’s Laura does not come across as sympathetic, and neither does she try to convince us that she’s anything other than weak and human.

Craig Zobel directs an episode that proves to be the most straightforward narratively to date. As gaps are filled in our knowledge we eventually catch up with the main story and appreciate what has been going on behind the scenes. Just when you think you’ve cracked the show’s formula – the Somewhere in America and Coming to America interludes – you get an episode like this that dares to do its own thing, sidelining its main characters. It’s a brave move, but this is a confident show that has already shown on many occasions that it isn’t prepared to follow pre-conceived conventions.

Verdict: It’s ‘When Shadow met Laura’ as we finally get to know what’s driving American Gods’ female lead. She’s not your everyday loyal, loving wife. Loving? She’s not even living! 8/10

Nick Joy