There are signs of a struggle along with pools of blood in Bilquis’ home as Starz’s American Gods season three episode four, “The Unseen,” opens. Shadow Moon (Ricky Whittle) blames Technical Boy (Bruce Langley) for harming the missing Bilquis but Tech Boy claims it was the other way around. Shadow doesn’t believe T.B. and tosses him around a little before realizing he could be telling the truth.

Technical Boy explains he needs Bilquis to fix him and needs Shadow’s help finding her. He reveals Bilquis hooked up with Bill Sanders, the billionaire philanthropist, who’s now gone missing. They’re all aware Bilquis can make people disappear, and Technical Boy proves it’s true by picking up Sanders’ phone which was left behind when Bilquis swallowed him whole.

Technical Boy continues his story, laying out the details of how Bill’s men arrived after their boss disappeared and broke into Bilquis’ home. Some of the blood on the floor is from a throat Bilquis slashed before they managed to inject her and haul her away. The men removed their fallen comrade’s body, leaving a bloody trail as they dragged him through the house.

Shadow doesn’t care what Technical Boy wants or needs and is only concerned with locating Bilquis. Bill Sanders’ phone might provide a clue as to her whereabouts but Technical Boy’s unwilling to hand it over. Instead, he absorbs the phone and demands to be allowed to accompany Shadow on his search for Bilquis.

Shadow’s about to leave when Technical Boy plays messages from Sanders’ daughter. She sounds desperate to find her dad and Shadow believes if they can lean on one of Sanders’ bodyguards, they might discover where Bilquis has been taken.

Bilquis (Yetide Badaki) cries in her locked cell as three men discuss who she works for while watching a security camera feed. They know Sanders has been seeing her for a year, but they don’t know much about her.

Meanwhile, Wednesday (Ian McShane) is ready to take on Demeter’s conservator, Larry Hutchinson, who apparently won’t release Demeter or her money into his custody. Cordelia’s done some research on Larry and discovered he has offshore accounts and is siphoning his clients’ money. However, she needs his computer to figure out exactly what’s going on.

Wednesday announces it’s game on. He calls Shadow requesting his help on the Hutchinson job, but Shadow’s busy trying to find Bilquis and refuses to help his dad.

The unlikely duo of Technical Boy and Shadow Moon spot Bill Sanders’ daughter’s car, accompanied by an additional vehicle driven by one of her many bodyguards. Shadow’s able to make his way into the backseat of the second car and places a knife to the bodyguard’s throat.

The bodyguard’s taken to an alley where he manages to play tough for a while. Shadow demands Bilquis’ location but it’s not until Technical Boy begins glitching that the bodyguard seems to understand he’s in above his head. He reveals Bilquis is in Hoboken in a building behind the lumber supply.

Ms. World (Dominique Jackson) learns her plans have come to a halt due to Bill Sanders’ disappearance. She transforms back into Mr. World (Crispin Glover) after discovering Bilquis is being held prisoner because she had something to do with Sanders going missing.

Mr. World pays a visit to Bilquis in her cell and reminds her he allowed her to accept worship from Sanders only if she promised not to sacrifice him. He asks her to fully commit to the new gods in order to sway others to reject Wednesday’s war. Bilquis remains firmly against choosing a side. Mr. World explains that with the new technology both new and old gods will have a “direct interface” with worshippers’ minds.

Bilquis is leery of Mr. World’s promises but he assures her she’s stuck in this cell until Bill Sanders reappears. He claims his way is the only way to save her life.

Mr. World leaves and the torture begins. Her captors pipe in heavy metal music and use strobe lights to get Bilquis to talk. She begins crying alone in her cell and then realizes one of her tears has cracked the floor where it landed. She places her finger in the teardrop and the crack expands and fills with liquid bubbling up from underground. She stares into the pool that’s formed and has a vision of men asking her to devour them while praising her beauty.

The sounds of her screams as she absorbs these men overwhelm her senses. She demands silence, crying out, “I am not what you say! I was not made for you.”

“My name was…my name was…” says Bilquis as Oshun (Herizen Guardiola) appears before her. Oshun tells her to see the truth of who she is and who she’s always been. “You are not who they say you are. You are whoever you want to be,” suggests Oshun.

“I am She Who Has Always Been,” replies Bilquis.

Wednesday continues with his mission to obtain Hutchinson’s computer, hitting up a member of the Lords of Valhalla biker gang at the Valhalla Bar to help carry out a home invasion. The guy agrees but only if Wednesday gets rid of Johan (Marilyn Manson) who always causes trouble in the place and who has just started a brawl as they speak.

Wednesday tries to calm things down by escorting Johan to a booth and buying drinks for the house. Wednesday understands Johan’s grieving his dead bandmates, and the heavy metal singer’s eager to avenge their deaths. However, Wednesday thinks perhaps Johan killed them while in a rage. Wednesday reminds him his music brings in disciples so it’s important he move on and form a new band.

Johan’s enraged by the accusation he killed his bandmates and stabs his own hand. Wednesday’s done playing nice and demands Johan go home and sleep it off. He agrees and Wednesday, seated under a “Welcome to Hell” neon sign, leads the bar patrons in a toast to the god in whose name we stand tall.

Cordelia’s waiting in the parking lot for Wednesday when a massive explosion rocks the bar. Wednesday emerges from the smoke and appears to have lost his ever-loving mind as he strips off his clothes, leaving only his jacket in place. He walks into the street, flashing passing cars, and wandering off down the middle of the busy road.

Cordelia calls Shadow in a panic to explain Johan blew up a bar and Wednesday’s now in an ambulance on the way to the hospital. He’s mumbling incoherently in the background while Shadow chuckles about his dad being strapped to a gurney and on the way to a psychiatric ward.

Cordelia begs him to come help but Shadow refuses. He does, however, promise to check in tomorrow.

And now we turn our attention to Laura Moon (Emily Browning) in purgatory. She looks through the newcomer’s guide as she impatiently waits for what’s to come. She’s warned by a fellow cardholder not to worry about what happens next. This stranger’s been waiting since the summer of ’93 and still hasn’t budged from the waiting room.

Laura asks the woman if she’s seen a large red-haired Irish-ish man with a bad attitude. The woman hasn’t and wonders if Laura’s into the bad boys. Laura denies it but then has flashbacks of her time on the road with Mad Sweeney and her final trip to deposit him in a crypt. She admits Mad Sweeney killed her but still isn’t able to completely hide her true feelings for the giant leprechaun.

Laura’s got a tune stuck in her head and can’t get anyone to tell her its title. She stops the AV guy who explains she left the theater before learning she has a “powerful destiny” – meaning she attracts powerful enemies.

Meanwhile over at the crypt, a young boy’s stumbled upon Mad Sweeney’s remains. A crew arrives and takes his body away to be cremated. Mad Sweeney’s coin and Laura Moon’s ashes remain behind on the crypt’s floor.

One of the maintenance people returns to the crypt to wash away Sweeney’s blood. The water inexplicably turns off and as he leaves to check it out, he steps on the bottle containing Baron Samedi’s potion and breaks it open. Sweeney’s blood mixes with the potion and that action rips Laura Moon from purgatory back to earth.

The AV guy watches her disappear but no one else in the waiting room seems to pay any attention to the strange event.

Laura crash-lands in the crypt, naked as a jaybird. Her presence shocks the maintenance guy and after learning she came from purgatory, he hands over his jacket. She’s stunned to discover she’s alive, again, and asks about Sweeney’s body. The kind stranger explains they took him away for cremation. She spots the coin on the floor and realizes Sweeney’s actually completely dead.

Laura can taste food again and has almost an orgasmic reaction to a candy bar. A short while later the groundskeeper hands over Mad Sweeney’s ashes and she’s amazed he fits in one small box. She heads off with Sweeney’s ashes to “see a man about a song.”

Laura hitches a ride and after being dropped off, she spots a light in the night sky that’s similar to the light that used to guide her to Shadow Moon. She climbs a small hill and discovers the light’s actually coming from the Truck Stop Diner sign. She’s disappointed at the light’s source but heads down to hitch a ride. A trucker agrees to take her north and she heads off down the road on another adventure.

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