The two-season TV show, “Good Omens,” based on the 1990 novel written by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, is a fantasy-comedy story featuring Christian themes and figures. It follows a variety of characters attempting to stop the apocalypse. All of the events are documented through the view of the two narrating characters: Crowley, a demon, and Aziraphale, an angel.
The show is humorous, with quips and situations perfectly timed to pull a laugh from the audience, yet beautifully interwoven with the more serious scenes that drive the plot. The cinematography is gorgeous as it captures both moments that are central to the plot and the blossoming relationship between Aziraphale
and Crowley.
Alongside “Good Omens,” Gaiman is best known for books such as “Coraline,” “American Gods” and “The Graveyard Book.” Pratchett for “Discworld,” a series of 41 novels. Pratchett was also appointed officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1998, and in 2009 was knighted for services to literature. Due to Pratchett’s passing in March 2015, Gaiman worked alone on the
show’s production.
Season one of “Good Omens” follows Aziraphale and Crowley, lifelong acquaintances who have spent almost 6,000 years on Earth working together. Respectively, they are representatives of Heaven and Hell, but they are fond of each other despite their opposite natures. When the Antichrist is born, they agree to raise the child together to prevent the Apocalypse. Unbeknownst to them, the pair end up spending 11 years raising the wrong child.
Ultimately, despite their mistakes, the Apocalypse does not come to pass, and neither does a war between Heaven and Hell. Crowley and Aziraphale are deemed traitors but are left alone to a quiet life on Earth.
“Good Omens” season two, which premiered July 2023 and is set post-COVID lockdown, follows a new plot line. After the Archangel Gabriel, with no memories of his past, appears at Aziraphale’s bookshop, Aziraphale and a reluctant Crowley use a miracle to hide Gabriel from Heaven and Hell. However, a low-ranking angel named Muriel is sent to visit the bookshop to investigate after the miracle catches Heaven’s attention. Aziraphale lies that he was trying to make two human women fall in love, and when Muriel reports this back to Heaven, Aziraphale and Crowley must then make the two women, Nina and Maggie, actually fall in love.
The second season is filled with comedic moments as Aziraphale and Crowley continue trying and failing to execute elaborate schemes to lure the two women together, effectively drawing the audience into their ridiculous plans and causing one to root for them, despite the ludicrous nature of what Aziraphale and Crowley are trying to do.
Season two also features the development of another relationship between an angel and a demon: Prince of Hell Beelzebub and the Archangel Gabriel. Throughout an episode in season two, it is revealed that the two have been working together for much longer than the audience realized, and have grown fond of each other. Ultimately, Beelzebub finds Gabriel on Earth and Gabriel regains his memories. The two flee together, leaving Heaven and Hell behind.
At the end of the season, Aziraphale is offered the position of First Principality of Heaven, the role vacated by Gabriel’s desertion, effectively tearing Aziraphale away from Earth forever. The Metatron tells Aziraphale that, if Crowley desires, Crowley can be made an angel again.
However, Crowley is furious and pleads for Aziraphale to stay with him on Earth. Aziraphale, believing that he can make Heaven better, refuses. As a final attempt to convince Aziraphale to stay, Crowley kisses him. The scene is beautiful and heartbreaking, with gorgeous filmography and a soundtrack that makes you want to cry at the lost possibilities of
their relationship.
There are a variety of impactful themes featured throughout “Good Omens” as a whole: good and evil, the nature of being human, destiny versus free will, love and friendship. The second season delves even more deeply into these themes than the first, especially that of love and destiny, inviting the viewer to dive into the story as if they were experiencing
it firsthand.
Furthermore, “Good Omens” satirically critiques the strict system that the characters in Heaven and Hell enforce, parodying a toxic and semi-abusive workplace, where anything less than perfection is punished. After Gabriel flees Heaven, the Metatron states: “For one prince of Heaven to be cast into the outer darkness makes a good story. For it to happen twice, makes it look like there is some kind of institutional problem.”
The line is ironic and humorous, almost sarcastic in nature, though the character delivering it is
absolutely serious.
The first season featured several queer themes. Though Crowley spends most of his time presenting as a man, there are several times throughout the show when Gaiman has confirmed that Crowley was instead presenting as a woman, confirming Crowley’s genderfluidity. Aziraphale, on the other hand, while referred to with masculine pronouns, does not strongly identify with any gender.
“Good Omens” received praise for the diversity it featured in the second season: the lesbian couple who were center stage for the majority of the season, Muriel, whose gender is simply “angel” as stated by Gaiman, a queer relationship between Beelzebub and Gabriel, disabled representation in the angel Saraqael who uses a wheelchair and, ultimately, a kiss between Aziraphale and Crowley.
The second season of “Good Omens” takes the meaningful themes of season one and expands upon them, even as the show narrows its focus to the relationship between Aziraphale and Crowley. It builds the narrative in such an enticing way that watchers cannot help but invest themselves in a love story between an angel and a demon, rooting for them
despite the odds.
The season ends with Aziraphale asking the Metatron what the next step in God’s great plan is, so he might know what to expect. The Metatron only says it is called “The Second Coming,” hinting at the plot of a possible season three. The cliffhanger ending of the season as Aziraphale leaves for Heaven, abandoning Crowley on Earth, is enough to pull at anyone’s heartstrings, leaving one hoping for a third season to fix all the mistakes made by the beloved characters. Though “Good Omens” has not officially been renewed, the success of season two has fans excitedly waiting to see if the trials and tribulations continue, awaiting the fate of the much-beloved characters from the series. Will Aziraphale and Crowley’s love story prevail? Or in the face of Heaven and Hell, will their relationship crumble to pieces?
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