I have fallen in love with American Gods and this episode was just as good as of previous ones. Her brief reunion with Shadow in the last episode Laura turns to an unlikely travel companion to find her way back to life, and back to Shadow. Mad Sweeney is her companion along with an Asian taxi driver.
“A Prayer for Mad Sweeney” focused mostly the episode on Mad Sweeney’s coming-to-America story through the eyes of an Irish immigrant named Essie MacGowan, played by Emily Browining (who also plays Laura Moon on the show). The episode weaves together this story in the 1700s with Laura and Mad Sweeney on a road trip in the present day, searching for a way to resurrect her so he can get his coin back.
Essie's story is interesting on its own: a domestic servant who is betrayed by the rich young asshole she loves, she is sentenced to seven years servitude in America. She escapes her punishment, though, by shacking up with the captain of the boat that is taking her overseas.
Shortly after she marries the captain and he goes back to sea, she waltzes away from his house and takes up a successful life of London pickpocketing. No matter what, she always leaves food and milk for the wee people but after a sexual encounter she forgets and just like that, a bow street runner, a police officer, busts her. When she is in jail, she not only remembers to feed the fairies, but also ends up in a cell next to...Mad Sweeney!
Earlier, we had seen that Essie was the one who originally left Sweeney the lucky gold coin that is now inside Laura's body. So clearly, the leprechaun and Laura have a strong connection. Remembering the tribute, she is now in jail and sentence to hang when another piece of luck comes her way in the way of her jailer who has a way for her to dodge the hangman. It involves sex and getting her pregnant
Duly knocked up she goes before the judge and sent to America for good. Only this time, she never forgets to leave out food, so she brings her leprechaun, Mad Sweeney to America She passes on stories about them to her children after ending up marrying the farmer who initially bought her service.
While all this is going on Lara, Mad Sweeney’s road trip with Salim continues until they tell him he could go, and there was no asking him twice he was gone. They enquire an ice cream van with Lara dead it would help with the flies that are attracted to her. Lara and Sweeney are pretty much left to their own devices and continue their journey to find the friend of Sweeney that can resurrect Laura until the crash.
At the end of the episode, when a car crash the coin is knocked out of Laura's body… Sweeney is happy to have his coin but he puts it back inside her, bringing her back to life a second time. That's a lovely, powerful gesture that only makes sense because of what we learn from this week's back story.
Frankly, I could spend a lot more time with these two. Does Laura feel the ancient connection to Sweeney, too? In addition, how will she react when she learns -- as we do this week -- that he was involved in the car crash that killed her in the first place? It's possible that Essie McGowan will never show up again -- that she's just another short story element -- but the memory of her will certainly colour whatever happens to the Leprechaun and Dead Wife from here on out.
Emily Browning puts in a great performance here and her accent is pretty consistent throughout the story.
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