In the first episode of Starz’s television adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s American Gods, protagonist Shadow Moon dodges getting a blowjob over his dead wife’s grave. His wife and his best friend were having an affair when they died together in a blowjob-related car accident, and his best friend’s wife, Audrey, wants revenge.
In the scene, she drunkenly and tearfully makes a pass at Shadow, reasoning “an eye for an eye, a blowjob for a blowjob — right here where they can see us.” Shadow deflects her and the scene ends with the two embracing in the graveyard as she cries. But originally, showrunners Bryan Fuller and Michael Green planned for the blowjob to actually happen. Neil Gaiman told The AV Club that he put his foot down.
Gaiman said,
“I’m like, ‘Okay, guys, if you do that, I will go and step in front of a bus, and I will leave a suicide note explaining exactly why this is your fault.’ They were like, ‘You really feel that strongly?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, I really do. He would not do that, and it’s wrong, and it throws everything out of kilter.’ And they are like, ‘Yeah, but he’s just out of prison. Wouldn’t he want a blowjob?’ And it’s like, ‘No. Not in that circumstance, not from that person, and he’s heartsick over Laura and this is the wrong time. No, don’t go there.’
The scene still acknowledges Shadow’s “just out of prison” status, as Audrey hugs him and says, “Shit you just got out of prison, you hadn’t been hugged in how long? I read that’s a thing with ex-cons — forgetting what it’s like to feel someone.”
Considering the fact that the first episode also featured a man getting eaten by a vagina, it was probably wise to stop their interaction at just an uncomfortable hug.
Shadow and Audrey in 'The Bone Orchard'
American Gods is currently airing Sunday nights at 9 p.m. Eastern on Starz.
