On American Gods Season 3 Episode 8, everyone is pulling themselves up by their bootstraps to prepare for what's to come.

Well, everyone except Wednesday, who has no idea what's heading his way.

This was definitely a filler episode in many respects, even if it launched the story forward.

Salim's sexuality and his inability to let go of Jinn were at the forefront.

This story is important because it represents repressed views against the LGBTQ+ community. I'm not doubting that.

But I supposed I'm a bit of a prude because while I am thrilled for Salim to have gotten out of his own way with regard to Jinn, I'm not sure that I needed to participate in it.

Salim's one-night-stand with the hot bellboy, Kai, was a relief for Salim. He has been beating himself up over losing Jinn without realizing that if Jinn didn't want to be there, for whatever reason, then it is better for Salim in the long run.

For any relationship to work, whether sexual, romantic, or just friendship, all parties have to be equally invested, or it just doesn't work.

Pining after someone who walked away only hurts the person pining even more. Whether it's finding scenarios in which the leaving wouldn't have happened or accusing yourself of doing something to push someone away, what good does it do?

At best, it might offer you some insight into who you were in that relationship. But at worst, it keeps you stuck in the past, and nothing you learned is worth anything anymore anyway.

So, yes. Salim got his groove on in a place blessed by a Chinese god who blesses homosexuals and, I assume as time has passed, the whole array of LGBTQ+ lifestyles and loves.

Hey, I loved the fairy wings! But all of that, um, action wasn't necessary for me to enjoy the story.

Laura and Salim wound up at the Peacock Inn because that's where Laura would find the leprechaun who could get her Mad Sweeney's sword, which she desperately needs to kill Wednesday.

Laura's initial reaction was to dismiss Liam as a thief and a liar. She thought that's what she learned about leprechaun's from her time with Sweeney. But she learned a lot more in that time, even if she wasn't ready to admit it.

Being with Sweeney felt right to her because they were both assholes and used to messing things up in her point of view. When you're a f#ckup and all alone, it's not as easy to accept. But together, she learned to accept herself.

There's nothing wrong with accepting that you're messed up. In Laura's case, recognizing that was quite literally the key to her salvation. I'd say now she's having a harder time accepting that she's not the mess she once was.

I seem to have a thing for leprechauns because I was totally into Pablo Schreiber as Mad Sweeney and thought Iwan Rheon was a compelling replacement for our lucky charm.

Maybe Laura can come back around to the lucky charm once she carries out Wednesday's death sentence.

The odds are with her for killing Wednesday, but even so, she's not necessarily doing it for any particular reason other than revenge. With everything that has come to pass for her so far, I hope there is more meaning behind the deed as she prepares to carry it out.

As to whether it's still worth her time to kill the bastard, well, who cares? The whole book on the old gods versus new gods just got slammed shut when Wednesday got his revenge on Tyr.

Sadly, it wasn't even vengeance against Tyr for kidnapping and threatening to kill his son. Their beef goes back millennia, and both gods believed that they'd been wronged by the other for both large and minuscule reasons.

But dang. Who deserves to win or live when the only answer is death?

Their fight was top-notch, though, and I really hope Ian McShane and Denis O'Hare got to get into costume and do a little swordplay. Who would want to pass up that opportunity?

With the burden off of his shoulders, Shadow will follow where the advertising takes him. It's steered him in the right direction time and again. Instead of heading back to Lakeside, he's going to follow the trail to see if he can discover anything about Marguerite's missing son.

You've gotta hand it to Shadow. He's been through so much by this point in the tale that when he realized his dad just sloughed him off like yesterday's news, he didn't even care. He's ready to follow his own path, wherever that might lead.

Technical Boy is finally on the right path, too.

And whether he believes it or not, the path he's taken has been forged by Bilquis. She's even the person his subconscious calls when his mind needs help.

That tells him that he's known all along what's been causing the glitches. Bilquis awakened his emotions, and whether he follows them or not doesn't matter. He just needs to allow them to manifest.

If he fully opens the door and feels, his glitching will cease. Now, I'm all for Tech Boy going to the extra step and allowing his emotions to be a guide, but if he'd prefer not to acknowledge their importance, that's OK, too.

The Bilquis he created in his head was so different than the Bilquis we've come to know. But even though she looked and sounded different (Kudos to Yetide Badaki. She nailed it.), she offered the same advice as the actual Bilquis.

If nothing else, that proves there is hope for a successful alliance between the new gods and the old.

Now we need to wait for the drama to unfold and for Laura to make a stand against Wednesday. Will that be the end of this journey? With two episodes to go, they could easily accomplish that during American Gods Season 3.

But that's not the end of the story. What do you expect from the final two episodes?

After you watch American Gods online, drop down below and make a comment. I read them, and I take them to heart. Without a comment for the previous episode, I would have never gotten out of my own way to see Tyr as the person killing Wednesday's followers!

Carissa Pavlica is the managing editor and a staff writer and critic for TV Fanatic. She's a member of the Critic's Choice Association, enjoys mentoring writers, conversing with cats, and passionately discussing the nuances of television and film with anyone who will listen. Follow her on X and email her here at TV Fanatic.