I will admit it has taken me until this past month to get into Good Omens, and that was only due to recommendations from several trusted sources.
The past few times I’d tried I just couldn’t get into it… but this time, something was apparently different, because before I reached the end of Season 1 my casual grazing of the series while I played some Sims 4 had become me pausing my game for extended periods of time because I was now too focused on Good Omens to do much of anything else.
In short, I was hooked.
And Season 2, in it’s devastating rom-com glory only solidified that.
So, while Good Omens remains a somewhat new addition to the endless, and ever-expanding list, of fandoms I find myself in, it is one that I have greatly enjoyed, and now litters all the social media on which I choose to doom scroll. You just can’t escape the ineffable husbands. The book is now on my TBR, which is just as long a list.
Before we take a dive into this post, let’s start with the boring bits.
An Introduction
Good Omens is a Fantasy/Comedy created by Neil Gaiman, based on the book of the same name by Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. Gaiman is credited with Writer, Creator and Producer credits on the show, which could perhaps give somewhat of a reassurance that these characters may never be handled poorly, but you only have to look to his activity on social media to know that.
It is a joint production between Amazon Studios and BBC Studios. The BBC ran a UK release of Season 1, while Amazon released both worldwide to Amazon Prime. Season 1 was initially slated and marketed as a Limited Series, and it certainly ends in such a fashion. Then, in June 2021, it was renewed for its Second Season, and a Third one is hopefully coming.
A full list of people dedicated and credited to the show can be found on IMDb, as it has a long list of Producers, and all the roles that make a show run, from editors, to cinematography (which is stunning) to make-up artists, including Contact Lens Painters.
Good Omens famously stars David Tennant and Michael Sheen, as Crowley and Aziraphale respectively. Both of which seem to enjoy their roles, and though they may have barely known each other before Season 1, they can be seen getting along well in interviews, and are known to have shot Staged together in the intermission between the Good Omens seasons. Dare we say friendship?
As a side note, I kind of adore the both of them. They’re both brilliant actors, and seemingly people. They bring such a care and love to their roles, and their depictions of their characters are fantastic.
Good Omens can be streamed on Amazon Prime Video worldwide.
A Summary (Mostly Spoiler Free)
Beginning, Good Omens follows the demon Crowley and angel Aziraphale as they stumble their way through an attempt to save the world from an upcoming Armageddon, with both preferring the earth to remain intact, and its residents to remain alive. After all, what is there without books and music?
Both seasons treat us to a myriad of flashbacks of Zira and Crowley through time. They serve as Heaven and Hell’s representatives on earth respectively, and have done since… well the beginning, biblically speaking. They are to perform angelic miracles and demonic temptations on the human race as they exist here. So, there is 6000 years of history between them, that the show occasionally allows you a glimpse to see.
Season 2, and proceed here with caution if you have not seen Season 1, follows our pair of celestial beings as a particular archangel makes an unwelcomed surprise visit, and they deal with the ramifications of their actions in the Season 1 finale. The majority of this season is the calm before the storm, one that starts in the finale.
And so, on to the fun!
Summaries are really hard, okay?
This is your SPOILER WARNING
So, having debated where to go with this show, I opted for this. I hesitated to say too much on this show, with it being such a fresh addition. So, this is perhaps more of a first impression, than it is any kind of deep analysis.
A Love
As much as I am on the ride that is the Crowley and Aziraphale situation, that is not where I’m going to start. Rather we shall start with the appreciation for the world.
Season 1
Aziraphale falls in love with earth. He loves books, and music, and dining at the Ritz, especially when a certain demon joins him for it. His driving force behind his actions in Season 1? It’s his love. He is a being who, for now, refuses to admit anything to Crowley. He barely believes they’re friends when the first Episode comes around. He knows they shouldn’t be, but they are. Yet, he goes against the institution he pays so much allegiance to, for love. Crowley pleads with what would be lost if Armageddon were to come. No more Mozart, no more dusty books, no more Ritz, and he agrees to help.
Now it should be noted that this plea is coming from Crowley, who lets just agree Zira’s feelings for are complicated, regardless of whether he wants to admit that or not. Still, Crowley’s plea is for saving the world, for all the things that Zira has fallen in love with while he has been on earth these last 6000 years, and it WORKS.
Now! Crowley also pleads with Zira to run away with him in Season 1. Go to some distant galaxy and exist just them. Their initial plan to stop Armageddon does not work as planned, and it’s looking like it’ll happen. So, Crowley wants to save THEM. This plea does not work with Zira, however, who if not aligned to Heaven is at the very least mostly loyal. Crowley goes back to his plants in anger.
But note, Crowley wants to save himself and Zira. He, in fact, does not leave earth without Zira, though this could be due to the demons that show up at his door. Crowley, instead, will end up screaming for his friend when the bookshop burns, and drinking away his sorrows when he figures Zira to be dead. He is not, of course, but Crowley is immediately affected when it appears he is. Do you get it yet?
Just to cover our bases before we move further down this line, one could argue Crowley does have a material love like Zira. His plants, who he cares for like an abusive father. In all its yelling, it’s somehow sweet. Then, of course, there is his car, which he also treats with much the same sentiment, but as he manages to drive through a thick wall of fire in Season 1, I’m gonna say it’s working. Crowley loves the world as much as Aziraphale, though he may not realise it. The Earth gave him his Bentley, and his plants, and myriad of other things he has deep affections for, he’s just somewhat in denial of the extent of his love for the world. Perhaps he’ll realise in an oncoming season.
On the Ineffable Plan
It should be noted that Crowley and Zira only barely affect the outcome of Armageddon. They really just sort of stumble their way to the end, with their journey there being filled with a variety of mistakes and misjudgements, and in the end the best they did was give a less than stellar pep talk to Adam, who had already decided he’d had enough of this end the world stuff on his own volition.
Nevertheless, their efforts are much appreciated, and have no less implications for their relations with their respective Head Offices, regardless of how effective they were.
At least they were fun to watch while they tumbled through.
It just goes to show you don’t need to have protagonists that know what they’re doing, or even succeed at what they’re doing to have memorable ones. Crowley and Aziraphale leave an imprint on you. So much so that you may not even notice almost everything they did was ultimately ineffectual at the end of it. You’re too caught up watching them flounder through history, loving every moment of it, to see that their actions in the present were about as consequential for the Ineffable Plan as Adam’s parents.
Now, yes, they do contribute. Zira does become discorporated in his efforts, and Crowley drives through fire (possibly for Zira). They try so hard, but always seem to be just out of reach of it. Regardless, they’re entertaining.
And somehow, I feel this was not the only Ineffable Plan.
Season 2
This brings us in to Season 2. Crowley keeps his plants. He’s living out his car but keeps his plants! Everyone’s gotta have a hobby, and those shivering greens are his. Like I said, somehow sweet.
Everything Crowley does is for Zira. This is of course a very broad sentence to make, so I will state that there are possibly a few things he does that are of his own volition, for himself, and his own reasons, in fact one giant one comes to mind. For the large part, though, much of his actions this season are for Zira.
He tries to get two lesbians to fall in love for Zira. He aids Zira in hiding Gabriel, not because he wants to, if he could keep Zira safe and have Gabriel out that bookshop, he would. He hates the angel, and for, what he perceives to be, good reason. He lets Zira have the car because he asked real nice, and then he plays Gabriel babysitter, why? FOR ZIRA. This demon goes to heaven to save Zira’s life.
Tell me this demon ain’t smitten?
As that’s what we’re getting at here. Crowley’s love, in the end is for Zira. He hasn’t realised yet, but he will. We know he will, and that scene is emotionally devastating.
Let’s take a brief break and return to Aziraphale for a moment, though, because this Angel is spending this season running around the love lives of Lesbians and trying to figure out why an amnesiac archangel showed up stark-naked on his doorstep. Quite the handful of tasks he has. I know he’s an angel, but in a weird sense he’s almost too good for his own good. Whether you love or hate Gabriel, it is not in Aziraphale’s best interest to take him in regardless of the state he shows up in. Now, yes, it turns out that doing so works out the best for a number of individuals. Nevertheless, Gabriel is more of a threat to Zira than anything, but it should be said that the only one who remembers what Gabriel did and said to Zira in the Season 1 finale is Crowley, and unlike Zira, Crowley isn’t quite so well-tempered.
So, the too much good in Zira opts to help the archangel living in his guest room and goes on ventures to find out just what has happened to him, and only vaguely manages to get to the answer. Is it not Crowley who will eventually figure out this mess on an unwanted and dangerous trip to Heaven?
Zira’s love in this season is… well, always his books. When he uses them as bargaining chips later in the series Crowley is genuinely shocked and had used selling them as threats earlier on when the car was yellow. Books are Zira’s world, and he has a whole one and more so to explore, but where else would he get his books? He owns a bookshop for a reason.
But then, Zira spends time working towards the solution of other loves, the lesbians down the road, and unknowingly Gabriel and Beelzebub. All this effort into everyone else. Arguably, books are the only thing he does for himself.
And so we get to Season 2, Episode 6: “Chapter 6: Every Day”
Scream your heart out, let’s start there.
Then, those last 10 minutes. Tell me those words don’t run circles round you? I can see it. It doesn’t help that it is possibly one of the most edited scenes I’ve seen recently.
In short:
“I forgive you.”
“Don’t bother.”
Aziraphale & Crowley – Good Omens
This rom-com of a season, ruined immediately, in all the best ways that hurt so much.
So, did you figure it out? He’s always loved him. 6000 years, and a pair of lesbians to figure it out, but it’s always been there. Crowley doesn’t prioritise the world, or him, but THEM. He and Aziraphale. That’s what he cares about, all the rest is just dressing.
And he likes them on earth. Dining in this peaceful existence, being who they are, and not what Head Offices think they should be. If he has a love on earth it is the freedom that it has given him, and with that comes his friendship with Aziraphale. He loves this angel, that he affectionately refers to as such, and knows the voices of, and screams his name when he thinks he’s gone. This demon loves.
But Zira? He can’t bring himself to that. He is near denial. He’s still seeking approval from an institution that would rather see him dead. So, he goes back. He takes this offer from the Metatron. He thinks he can change an institution but… well, institutions don’t change, do they?
The Metatron, by the way, must be planning something. Come on, what was with the coffee?!
That split is heart-breaking. We don’t want that for them. We’d rather they were joined at the hip, but instead they could not be further apart. Damn you, Gaiman, how could you do this to us?
So, Aziraphale thinks he’s making the best choice for the world. You could argue, that in his head, ‘the world’ includes Crowley. I mean, he offered Crowley a place in Heaven, but that’s not what Crowley wanted. Aziraphale thinks what he’s doing is for them both, for he and Crowley. He loves Crowley just as much, even if he has yet to realise, and this is what he thinks will make them both happy. What he didn’t see was; Crowley’s happy here, he thought Zira was too, but for Crowley he didn’t hear love back, like he hoped, and thought he might, he heard from Zira that he wasn’t good enough as he is, that everything they had here, this tiny peaceful existence, the demon he is, wasn’t enough for Aziraphale. That hurts, and yet Zira hurts because Crowley rejected what he thought was wanted.
Curse our celestial lovebirds and their deeply engrained communication issues.
A Conclusion
Yeah, I’m not over it yet, and I started watching this only half-paying attention as I raised virtual children in a Sims 4 game. Good Omens has an IMPACT.
In a much shorter edition of Fortnightly Fixations I do hope you enjoyed this one. With A Love, taking a very central aspect to much of the fandom content I see for this online at the moment, it seemed like the best approach to looking at this show.
My thoughts here are in no way in depth, and entirely subjective. Don’t take anything I have said for how you should interpret this show. It’s beautiful and filled with all the dedication of a writer that cares. Gaiman is holding out on us, and I can feel it, but he’s doing it for the betterment of the narrative, so I suppose we’ll have to let it slide for now.
If we do not get a Season 3, I may join in the riots.
I can’t wait to get my hands on the literature collaboration that inspired this series, and take a deep dive into that novel, but for now this show will have to satisfy me.
I hope you join us again in a fortnight for another instalment of Fortnightly Fixations!
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the images, narratives or characters present or referenced in this post. All rights belong to Amazon Studios, BBC Studios, and other relevant parties.