Spoilers ahead for both seasons of ‘Good Omens’ (and, technically, the book)!
Back in 1990, Neil Gaiman and Sir Terry Pratchett published Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch. It told the story of an angel, Aziraphale, and a demon, Crowley, who had existed on Earth since its creation and eventually came to like humanity as a whole. They plotted to foil the end of the world which would be brought about by the Antichrist. The book places the supernatural beings in many comedic circumstances, showing off the interesting dynamic they’ve developed across six thousand years. Helping each other in their respective duties was the norm, and now they had to use that to save the world! Eventually, a six-episode series aired on Amazon Prime in 2019, with David Tennant and Michael Sheen bringing Crowley and Aziraphale, respectively, to life.
Now, four years later, Neil Gaiman has put out a second season for Good Omens. It has been about two years since the failed apocalypse and Crowley and Aziraphale continue to be part of each other’s life. Everything seems to be going well for the pair until the Archangel Gabriel (portrayed by Jon Hamm) shows up, naked, at the doorstep of Aziraphale’s bookshop. Now, he and Crowley must hide him from the forces of Heaven and Hell, who’ve all begun stirring at the news that the Supreme Archangel has gone missing. That’s when the chaos really begins.
From the start, Crowley is extremely apprehensive about protecting the archangel. During the first season’s finale, Crowley and Aziraphale took each other’s places to protect themselves against Heaven and Hell’s punishments for their roles in stopping Armageddon. At that point, the demon was taken to heaven (disguised as Aziraphale) and was going to be swiftly destroyed by having him step into hellfire. In character, Crowley attempted to speak as kindly as he believed his angel to be. Gabriel, who was in charge of the execution, simply responded with “Shut your stupid mouth and die already,” and put on a fake smile. Given that that was Crowley’s last interaction with the archangel, his anger is more than justified. However, when another demon tells him about how punishments would be doled out if Hell found out where the Supreme Archangel was, Crowley reluctantly agrees to help hide Gabriel. They begin to refer to the now-clueless archangel as Jim and both of them have different relationships with him. Aziraphale is just slightly exasperated, but he doesn’t think twice about showing him kindness. As for Crowley, he shows a surprising amount of patience when asked things like “How does gravity work?” The demon pauses and explains to the best of his ability, even if he still harbors negative feelings over the past.
The shift in Crowley and Aziraphale’s dynamic in this season is quite apparent. While their relationship was akin to best friends in season one, the angel and demon fully embrace the old married couple lifestyle this time around! Jokes aside, their bickering does feel slightly more flirtatious this time around as they come together to protect Jim from the ones who are pursuing him. They perform a miracle to hide him, which only leads to several angels showing up at the bookshop. On the hellish side of things, a demon named Shax plots to have her way and get Beelzebub, one of the Dukes of Hell, to support her siege on the bookshop to find Gabriel. All the while, it becomes clear that Crowley is smitten by Aziraphale and is willing to do everything he can to help him, and Aziraphale lets him.
However, they don’t seem to realize that they’re very obviously falling for each other (even though several people tell them so). Crowley does eventually realize it in the last episodes of the season, and we see how he quietly comes to terms with it. And while he does eventually muster up the courage to talk to Aziraphale about it, it definitely does not go as you would hope. He asks Aziraphale to run away with him, to go off together, away from Heaven and Hell. But the angel refuses, explaining how the Metatron had just offered him the role of Supreme Archangel and that he’d accepted. Heartbroken, Crowley goes to leave and Aziraphale tries to persuade him to go to Heaven together and work to make it a better place. They argue quietly and, in a last-ditch effort, Crowley kisses Aziraphale desperately. Shocked, Aziraphale tells Crowley that he forgives him, and the latter replies “Don’t bother.” That was unfortunately the last interaction the pair shared in the season, much to the fans’ dismay.
To cheer things up a bit before ending this review, let’s briefly discuss the show’s secondary ships!
One of the show’s subplots involves Maggie and Nina, a record shop owner and a cafe owner, respectively, and the pair find themselves brought together by a mishap on Crowley’s behalf. He accidentally locks them in Nina’s coffee shop at one point and the two begin talking. They don’t really have much in common, but Maggie already had a crush on Nina by that point. They continuously find themselves bumping into each other, under the guise of Crowley and Aziraphale performing a miracle to get them to fall in love. Though they’re not officially together by the end of the show, there seems to be a spark between the two that could lead to a relationship in season three.
I would be remiss not to talk about Gabriel and Beelzebub being revealed to have a relationship. As fandoms typically do, the Supreme Archangel and the Duke of Hell were already being shipped after season one (because of course they were), but we certainly weren’t expecting Neil Gaiman to make it a reality. It is revealed that the pair bonded after Armageddon’t and grew to love each other, away from the prying eyes of Heaven and Hell. Ultimately, Beelzebub was the catalyst that led to Gabriel regaining his memories. The couple ended their appearance on the show by quietly singing the chorus to “Everyday” by Buddy Holly to each other, going off to God knows where to be together.
All this to say, this was an incredible season. It expanded on a wonderful world that nearly ended the last time we saw it. Good Omens 2 was fun, campy, and painful. While most of it was just Aziraphale and Crowley’s shenanigans across time and them trying to figure out their newest predicament with Jim, the last few minutes of the season just completely wrecked me. As I imagine the rest of the fandom to be doing, I curse the moment when the Metatron decided that he just had to go ask Aziraphale to be the new Supreme Archangel of Heaven. But hey, at least we got a kiss (even if it ruined me for about a month). Thanks for the pain, Neil Gaiman. I’ll be looking forward to season 3.