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Season One
Episode 1 - The Bone Orchard
- In the opening segment with the Vikings, the amount of arrows that are shot upon landing
is... excessive. - Wednesday's "senile old man" act to get himself bumped to first class. When Shadow ends up sitting next to him, he can't help but chuckle at the cleverness of it.
- Wednesday claims to have two talents: He can sleep absolutely anywhere at any time, and he generally eventually gets what he wants. Sure enough, when he decides to go to sleep on an airplane flying through the storm of the century, he's out like a light. Shadow does a double take when he realizes how fast he went to sleep.
- Shadow is a little disbelieving when Sweeney claims to be a leprechaun.Shadow: Shouldn't you be shorter?
Sweeney: That's a stereotype, that is. - Sweeney's coin flip. He flips a coin, Shadow waits to see it come down, and when it doesn't, he turns to talk to Sweeney for about 30 seconds... and then the coin loudly falls to the table.
- For a dark example, Audrey's drunken ranting about Robbie and Laura, especially her reaction to Shadow refusing her proposal: "I'm trying to reclaim my dignity here!" while throwing herself at a grieving widower, by his departed wife's grave, under the influence of (at the very least) alcohol, so that she can spit his ejaculate on to her dead husband's grave. DIGNITY!
Episode 2 - The Secret of Spoons
- When Shadow meets Media in the big box store, his immediate decision is to unplug the plasma screen display she's on. He never factored in the possibility that she could just turn them back on.
- When Shadow buys Wednesday a burner phone and tells him he might need it if he needs to talk to anyone, Wednesday responds with an incredulous "Why the hell would I want to talk to anyone?" and throws the burner phone and Shadow's phone out the car window.
- Shadow glancing over at his and Laura's framed wedding picture and instead seeing Robbie's dick pic. The entire idea of a framed dick pic is hilariously absurd.
- Most of Shadow and Wednesday's interaction with the Zorya sisters, from Zorya Vechernyaya guzzling half a bottle of vodka (with Shadow's impressed reaction) to the deadpan reading of Shadow's future that everyone involved obviously knows is bullshit.
- Shadow drinking coffee from a tiny cup. The contrast is hilarious.
- When Anubis tells Mrs. Fadil about what will happen when her family finds her body.Anubis: (solemnly) They will be sad for a time, then they will find happiness again. Your Assaf will marry in a year and name his first daughter for you.
Mrs. Fadil: A bullshit middle name?
Anubis: (trying to suppress a smile) A bullshit middle name. - When Anubis casually reaches over and tears Mrs. Fadil's heart out, she only gives him a look of mild indignation, saying "I was using that!"
- "Kissing is disgusting... but in a good way."
- Wednesday greeting Shadow when he wakes up.Wednesday: Hey, you're up! We're gonna rob a bank. You want some coffee?
- A Stealth Pun that wouldn't have been possible when the book was published: the jinn is a taxi driver who originated from the lost city of Ubar. He's an Ubar driver.
- Shadow and Wednesday have a discourse about the various incarnations of Jesus. When Wednesday gets up to make some copies for their bank robbery, you can see what is clearly white Jesus working the desk at the copy shop, for just a second, a bit out of focus.
- Shadow's furious declaration that he likes marshmallows. It Makes Sense in Context.Wednesday: (handing Shadow a paper cup) Got you marshmallows in your cocoa. You like marshmallows?Shadow: Why are you talking to me about marshmallows? Like I'm worried about marshmallows. (Beat) ...yeah, I like marshmallows.
- Laura, convincing Shadow to rob a casino: "I have a smart plan. I have a perfect plan. You will never get caught." Smash cut to jail: "...How did you get caught?"
- The look on Anubis' face when Laura suddenly flies up out of the afterlife. It's as if he's thinking "...well...that's different."
- Laura crawls out of her own grave, looks around at the cemetery, takes a deep breath... and pukes up a gallon of embalming fluid.Laura: Oh, that's disgusting...
- Laura quite calmly talking to Audrey, who's naturally freaking out given how A) her dead best friend is standing before her; B) she's missing an arm and C) needs to use the toilet.Audrey: Get out of my house, you zombie whore!
- Laura's adorable "Oh" and Oh, Crap! face when Audrey asks if she just happens to remember how she died.Audrey: I found out you two were dead and having an affair in the same sentence. The same breath.
Laura: Might have been a run-on sentence. - Discussing Audrey's odd grieving process.Laura: Does Shadow know [I slept with your husband]?
Audrey: Yeah, he knows. I tried to fuck him. On your grave. Seemed only fair.
Laura: Yeah, that does seem fair. - Since neither of them know how Laura came back, there are some incorrect but logical implications they have to work through.Laura: Is Robbie dead too?
Audrey: Yes.
Laura: Is he still dead?
Audrey: (sliding to the floor) Oh, Jesus Christ... I mean, he was... - Despite everything that's happened, Audrey helps Laura by sewing her arm back on. The attempts at awkward small talk are hilarious.Laura: Thoughtful of you to make us a scrapbook.Audrey: Fuck you, Laura.
- Laura is annoyed her obituary is so short and meaningless.
- As Ibis and Jacquel are repairing Laura's arm and working on her stitching, Mr Ibis gets a shot in.Mr Ibis: Please don't move, you're still tacky.
- Laura can only give him an "Oh, really?" eyebrow as if to say "Cheap shot, bro."
- Media speaking to the Technical Boy as David Bowie and showing up at the police station in the form of Marilyn Monroe, the latter while floating several inches off the ground and with the famous Marilyn Maneuver blowing her skirt up, all for no apparent reason.
- Technical Boy's reaction to seeing Media as David Bowie? A very flat "What?"
- When the New Gods' sales pitch to Wednesday fails, Marilyn!Media takes on an annoyed look and immediately steps off her floating platform, then trudges out of the room.
- Sweeney's meeting with Laura at the motel. The entire thing. The best part is at the end of the scene when Sweeney pushes Laura into the tub and attempts to drown her out of frustration. The police then arrives while Sweeney is in the middle of drowning Laura. Sweeney attempts to tell them that Laura isn't dead yet but considering that Laura is literally just a walking corpse now without the need of bodily functions, she convincingly plays dead. Sweeney's response to this is hilarious:Sweeney: Oh, you're an asshole. You're a fuckin' asshole, dead wife. You're a fuckin' asshole, dead wife! You're an asshole, dead wife!
- The sheer fact that he calls her 'dead wife' because he can't remember, or didn't even bother to learn, her name.
- Once the police officers who've arrested him go to find out what's happening at the police station (and get Killed Offscreen) Sweeney makes his escape. Alas, he can't even do that without bad luck getting in the way, crushing his nuts as he clambers out of the smashed car window and landing cheek first on the tarmac and potentially some broken glass.
- Wednesday giving a Sarcastic Confession, knowing that the police officer interrogating him won't believe in a war between the gods. At one point it cuts away to Shadow's own interrogation, then cuts back to Wednesday explaining how Mad Sweeney's too much of an idiot to get involved, but how Mr Nancy might be more inclined, all while the detective is staring at him deadpan.
- While Mr World and Media's offer to Wednesday of bombing North Korea to kill millions in his real name is horrifying, it's also hilarious in that Media's video has the rocket powered by rainbows, producing teddy bears as it flies, and the impact creates a unicorn.
- Mr. World shows off his power to Shadow Moon by listing various facts about him, including the face he makes when masturbating (albeit accompanied by a horrifying pixelation of his face), that the face is the same one his mother made, and that his mother had 86 sexual partners. Wednesday turns with a look that suggests he's impressed, though it's ambiguous if he's impressed with Mr. World or Shadow's mother.
- Shadow trying to deal with last episode's event, screaming about "I got stabbed by Charlie Brown's Christmas tree!"
- EVERYTHING with Laura and Sweeney hitting the road.
- When he casually mentions Jesus:
Laura: Did you just casually name drop Jesus Christ like you know a guy who knows a guy?
Sweeney: I do know a guy who knows a guy. - Salim shows up asking about finding a djin. Sweeney just nods as Laura just wants to hit the road.
- Laura realises that she'll never see her mother again, or hear her mother say her name, or smell her mother's cooking. Just as things start to approach Tear Jerker territory, she concludes, "And thank fucking Christ for that."
Episode 7 - A Prayer For Mad Sweeney
- After Laura releases Salim from his service to her and Sweeney, Salim thanks her then proceeds to insult Sweeney repeatedly for being a Jerkass while he hurriedly runs back to his cab to drive off.
- Also great (and rather adorable) is that Salim's insults toward Sweeney consist solely of calling him an "unpleasant creature." Especially since he's been shown to use swear words before.
- After this scene, when Sweeney asks Laura how they'll get to their destination now without a ride, Laura points to an ice cream truck. The ice cream truck driver tries to stop them from stealing it, but Laura just puts a bunch of dollar bills in his hands in order to get him to agree. The truck driver then says his boss won't believe him because he hasn't been beaten up. Sweeney attempts to oblige him, leading to this exchange:
Truck Driver: (nervously) Oh, uh, I'd rather she hit me.
Sweeney: Oh, trust me, you don't want her hitting you. (punches driver unconscious) - After Sweeney returns his lucky coin to Laura in order to revive her, she thanks him by punching the wind out of him.
- The episode opens with Nancy working on clothes and preparing to address the camera with a story...and then it turns out he's talking to Wednesday and Shadow, with Wednesday complaining "we haven't got time!"
- There's a hell of a lot of surreal humor at Easter's party, a sunny affair with rabbits that crap jelly beans, multiple incarnations of Jesus (one with jelly beans spilling from his stigmata), and some Black Comedy as Wednesday runs over a bunch of Easter bunnies in his car with a smirk on his face.
- One of the Jesuses is sitting on Easter's pool and tries to set his drink down, apparently forgetting that he's on water. When the glass sinks, he mutters, "Goddamnit."
- When Wednesday is ranting at Ostara about how Jesus stole her holiday from her, a Jesus is standing right next to Ostara, and genuinely looks sorry for having stolen the holiday.
- Laura holding Sweeney by the balls to interrogate him, at Easter's house during the party.Laura: I will squeeze them straight out of the sac, it'll be kind of like shucking peas. I swear to Jesus. He's right outside.
Season Two
Episode 1 - House on the Rock
- In the episode's opening, an old man is enjoying a nice game of golf, only to get unceremoniously run over by Technical Boy's limo. Even funnier, Technical Boy (New God of modern technology) is having an argument with his GPS on the directions of their location as he carelessly drives on the green. By the time they make it to Black Briar, Mr. World stumbles out of the car like he was put through an active laundry dryer.Mr. World: You c-could have killed [Beat] me.
- The Jinn is dumbfounded when Salim shows up, much to Bilquis' amusement.Bilquis: Do you boys need a minute?
- Anansi informs Wednesday that Ostara won't be showing up, because Wednesday ran over a few of her rabbits in the previous episode. Wednesday, for his part, seems bemused by that.
- Mama-ji promising Wednesday she'd offer her blades up for the war... that is, only if she can get off her weekend shifts.
- Mad Sweeney's bad luck is still rolling, as Laura points out a cow in the middle of the road as the two discuss infidelity. Sweeney swerves, just barely missing the cow and grins confidently at Laura. Then, there's a close-up of a nail in the road, and they get a flat tire.Sweeney: ... FUCK!
- Later as Laura is lifting the car up with some noticeable difficulty, Sweeney is about to roll the new wheel in when Laura's grip slips and the car falls on Sweeney's foot. Needless to say, he doesn't feel better afterwards.
- Anansi muttering to himself about how Wednesday didn't ask him if he wanted something to eat, and then got back in the car with a bucket of "fried fucking chicken".
- Anansi eyes the bucket of chicken, takes out a drumstick, and then tosses it out the window as Wednesday is sleeping. Taking advantage of this moment, he grabs the whole bucket and drops it all outside. Wednesday wakes up and asks where the chicken went, and Anansi says that he ate it all and it was good.
- Anansi's reaction ("Aw, hell no!") when he realizes that Wednesday is about to sacrifice their car to destroy the New Gods' train. Topped with his response when Wednesday makes a comment about the car going to Valhalla.
Anansi: Valhalla?! Ain't nobody going to fucking Valhalla! I'll see you in Cairo.- Nancy's reaction is a bit Justified since Wednesday was planning to sacrifice "Betty" by having it get hit by a speeding train...while the African god was still in the backseat of the car.
- Upon seeing Laura reduced to a pile of body parts, Wednesday cracks a reference to Humpty Dumpty.
- Laura witnesses Mr. Ibis eating, well, a part of her.Laura, absolutely indignant: Are you eating me?!
- Mad Sweeney's attempts at stealing a ride:
- He breaks into a pickup, adjusts the mirror, sees the pit bull in the back seat, and screams like a girl.
- Unmoors a boat, yanks the starter cord straight out, accidentally drops the engine into the water, breaks the fuel line open, and his cigarette falls in the gas puddle he slips on.
- Hitches a ride with a bus, which turns out to be a tour bus for a Christian rock band.
- New Media introducing herself to Mr. World and Technical Boy, mimicking Marilyn Monroe's "Happy Birthday" with emojis over her face. Technical Boy just looks utterly confused, like watching a parent trying to use new slang.Technical Boy: How the fuck is this an improvement?
- Technical Boy's reaction to New Media's idea of negotiations with Argus.
- Technical Boy: Uh, guys? ...Never mind.
Episode 4 - The Greatest Story Ever Told
- Shadow calls out Ibis (the Egyptian god Thoth) for settling in a town called Cairo. Ibis admits it's a bit of "tongue in beak" humor.
- Shadow's double-take when Mama-ji is shown working at a dinner in St. Louis, despite previously working in Wisconsin.
- Wednesday's disbelief that Shadow doesn't have a credit card.
Episode 5 - The Ways of the Dead
- In the beginning of the episode, Mr. Wednesday plants the sapling Iktomi had the Jinn give him and proceeds to piss on it to water it. When Shadow points this out, Wednesday admonishes him, saying how one does not simply piss on the World Tree Yggdrasil.
- Wednesday with Salim and the jinn. He refuses to let them sit in the backseat together, and so, the three of them ended up crammed together in the front seat. He tries to convert Salim from Islam to belief in him. Some lines include:Wednesday: I'm here to pick up two gentleman from the city of Sodom!Salim, to a dwarf he was told to either compliment or goad: You are very tall for a dwarf.Wednesday, to Salim: You misguided monotheist. You know, there's still time to join the party train to Valhalla... I have faith in you!
- A Running Gag has the Technical Boy getting everyone's name wrong.
In General
- Several people mistake Salim for an old god and try to figure out which he is. Salim's response is always along the lines of, "No, I'm a mortal named Salim, just following this jinn around."
Season Three
Episode 6 - Conscience of the King
- Shadow painting a room while loudly listening to Bel Biv Devoe and dancing around in nothing but his shorts.
Meta
- The promotional images with the characters praying under a Background Halo with a word starting with "god" has Laura Moon as "goddamned"... and Flipping the Bird.
