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He/Him This turned out to be a Good Omens Rescueing Blog after the... little, thiny hitch that happend to be during the pre-production lately

[idonthaveany]

The Metatron's Motives During the FF

So, I'll ignore the existence of the finalain't for obvious reasons (hence no s3 spoilers here). But I have ✨questions✨ about s2.

Why did the Metatron need Az in Heaven?

AZ clearly is not a good replacement for Gabriel, by Heaven's standards. The Metatron knows very well that Az doesn't want the Second Coming to happen, or at least not to happen as intended. And if knowledge of how things on Earth are done is really needed, there surely are better way to gather it than making Az Supreme Archangel. 

Yet the Metatron looked relieved when Az got into the lift. Like actually bringing him to Heaven was a very big deal, and a very big problem if he failed. 

But why?

If he wanted him out of his way, so not to be able to interfere with the Second Coming, he literally could have just erased him from the BoL. Same he could have done with Crowley. 

And why does he suggests Az to bring Crowley to Heaven? 

That bit of the conversation can be really well read as a threat. "I know you and Crowley work together, and have worked together ever since the beginning. You know that it is irregular." But why actually proposing to allow Crowley to become an angel again? 

It looks like the Metatron wanted both of them in Heaven. 

Apparently already having Az is a result, because he looks relieved when pressing the button in the lift, but it looks like he wanted both.

Is it possible that he lured Az with the promise to become the Supreme Archangel only to trap him? 

On one hand I'd say "why not just erasing him from the BoL, then?" On the other there might be a reason for that, and the best option was trapping him somehow in Heaven so that he could not make more damage. 

And then there is the smile. Az's smile in the lift. 

What does it mean???

To me, he doesn't even look like himself anymore, it looks like he is being possessed. Like, that is not the way Az smiles! 

And there would be no reason at all for him to smile so suddenly. He is heartbroken, he was breathing heavily trying to hold back tears until an instant before, and then, suddenly, out of the blue—that smile. 

Even if he had a plan, it is hard to think that the thought of a plan would dampen that pain—the pain of what happened minutes before, and of the prospect of spending who knows how long apart from Crowley who is being threatened—enough for such a sudden change in emotions to happen. 

Az's smile looks more like Crowley's smile. And I would think they might have body-swapped again. There are ✨clues✨ in season 2, like the display on a shop what shows very Az and Crowley coded outfits, but mixed up. But Crowley was so heartbroken as well while driving off, that from that side-to-side scene it doesn't look like that is what happened. 

So what if they put someone else inside Az? 

We learn from Jimbriel that memories can be store in flies, but also that Heaven has kind of a database of all the memories and they can erase them with a tap on a tablet. So what if they can also move them? 

Can they have put another person inside Az? Could it be possible that the Metatron needed Az's body? 

Could it be possible that he wanted both his and Crowley's because of The Littlest, Most Unsubstantial Fraction of a... 25 Lazarii Miracle they performed together? 

Can it be that he wanted their power?

Now, God surely would have that power. But, again, God has not been heard for, how long? She doesn't talk to anyone, does She? 

The Metatron is the voice of God, but we never saw him perform any kind of miracle, so we cannot say that he is more powerful than any other angel. And if "only the mightiest of the Archangels" could have performed a 25 lazarii miracle—which happened while trying to make the smallest half a miracle possible—maybe there is no angel in the whole Heaven capable of doing a big miracle. A miracle that would be huge compared to that 25 lazarii one, and that may be needed for the Second Coming for some reason, or for the Metatron's plans, which may or may not be to make the Second Coming go as planned.

So I still have no real answer to this. But it is surely interesting that the Metatron offers Az to be the Supreme Archangel, and his motives are maybe the biggest and most interesting mystery of s2.

[idonthaveany]

You know why Crowley would have never asked that to God? Because, unlike the writers of the finale, he had imagination!

[idonthaveany]

How *that* scene really went, work not in progress anymore:

[idonthaveany]

How that scene really went, work in progress:

(Dear lord I haven't done a portrait since... 2015?)

[miellez]

Oh for somebody' sake just please show people that you at least watched other seasons

[idonthaveany]

⬇️⬇️⬇️

⬆️⬆️⬆️

[child-of-ineffable-divorce]

"Stop saying the finale was objectively bad, just say you didn't like it!!!1!"

In less than a week, I am graduating with a degree in screenwriting with a minor in creative writing. I know story structure and rules. A story that has a plot that goes nowhere (Jesus plot), poor pacing (smushing 6 episodes into 90 minutes rather than adjusting for the form), and inconsistent lore (if the book of life burned and Whickber street was all that remained, why did Aziraphale, Crowley, and Satan still exist) (just to name a few things), it is not well written, which is what I mean when I say bad.

I don't care if you like it. People like bad movies all the time. I'm just laying out the facts of the matter. The finale was half-baked.

[idonthaveany]

It was definitely objectively bad. Then one can like it or dislike it. That's a different thing. A lot of people like bad stories and a lot of people don't like good stories, and it is fine. That's the difference between objective and subjective. Objective is if the movie was good or bad; objective is if any of us liked it or disliked it, which is gonna be different for each person, exactly because it's subjective.

[idonthaveany]

It's such a shame that s3 has been cancelled, isn't it? We will never know what happens after Az goes to Heaven... I guess we can only try to figure out what the plot was supposed to be by analysing s2 even more 🤷🏻‍♂️

[bad-apple-darlin]

a sketch that I just kept working on because I can’t think of anything else when there’s just four days left!!!

[bad-apple-darlin]

Y’ALL I DIDN’T MEAN TO—

[idonthaveany]

Y'all folks! We found Agnes!

[snogfairy]

in good omens the question of free will was always both treated lightly, amusedly, and also as the crux of many of Aziraphale and Crowley's arguments in an interesting and productive way – Crowley often tempted Aziraphale into doing something by saying "if it's ineffable* anyways...then nothing you do can be wrong..." (flirting) and Aziraphale then used that as an easy excuse to do precisely what he wanted to do. it was endearing and a dance around an old philosophical question that can never be answered, not in their universe nor in ours (if you allow for God's potential existence for the sake of argument). good omens never even asked "Do humans have free will?" because the answer the story provided was a clear yes. the question of free will mostly came up between Aziraphale and Crowley with regards to themselves. (and there too, the text implied a clear yes.) the og story never framed "Do angels and demons truly have free will?" in a critical or negative way (rather in a curious, investigative, playful one) and never even attempted to provide an answer either, but rather used it as a fun argumentative plot device. then suddenly in the finale the topic of free will became this almost would-be-villain. that sits so wrong with me tbh

*ineffable, it bears pointing out the obvious, also does not mean predetermined but rather unknowable, indescribable, beyond understanding or expression

[idonthaveany]

Even in s1 and s2 both Az and Crowley literally, clearly state that people have free will. "People have free will, it includes the right to murder!" (Crowley after turning paintball guns in real guns) "I'm the good guy, you're the bad guy. But people get to choose." (Az while arguing with Crowley about body snatching)

[polymona]

[lelet-draws]

Oh yeah there was no kiss because they wanted to represent us asexuals, 100%, no doubt.

It’s not like the show is being produced by a billion dollar conservative corporation that has a habit of censoring queer people.

[ladybracknellssherry]

So tired of hearing the excuses for this. Did they need to kiss? From a screenwriting standpoint? Absolutely they did. For a few reasons.

The most important reason being that in the FF of S2, Aziraphale and Crowley showed us that They Want To Kiss.

Pronounce the capital letters.

[idonthaveany]

This.

The point isn't that there is the need to see a kiss to know they're in love.

The point is that THEY felt the need to kiss. And it is written all over their faces in s3 as well.

[lancrewizzard]

Actually, I'm not over the genius of Pratchett with the resurrections after the Apocalypse That Wasn't (Armageddon't) making sure to show that people (apparently) killed by Heaven, Hell, and Humanity were all fine.

Aziraphale vanished a soldier at the airbase, and he was sent home to his family in America. Hastur killed the call centre employees, and one of them called Jasmine Cottage the day after. The deliveryman killed himself to deliver Death's message, and then the next day delivered the second volume of Agnes Nutter's prophecies.

No one died so Adam could live. No one is expendable, because everyone is a person, and inherently precious because of that. There's no such thing as an unimportant character in a Pratchett novel, just a character who the story isn't about.

[idonthaveany]

This is not how the story was planned to end, and not only not what Pratchett didn't plan, but not even the original 6 eps.

Fore one, it is written all over s2. I'm not going to write the analysis here, because this would end up atrociously long if I did, but all over s2 you can see that it was setting up a totally different plot.

Moreover, we have an important ✨Clue✨ (for those who don't want to trust s2 analysis to draw conclusions): when the script was that of the 6 eps, the Pratchett Estate pushed and fought to have the finale done. But then it was confirm and produced, and they made it so that Pratchett is NOT credited for ANYTHING in the finale, except for the original book. In an interview (don't remember which) Rob said the snow globe had a big part in the finale, but was cut to a blink and you'll miss it. We see that what had a plot point, became nothing more than an easter egg (most likely put there because they already produced the merch and they needed it to appear in the movie otherwise it would not sell).

This is not Pratchett's ending, but neither is the ending that was initially planned. It is crystal clear that the plot was mostly, if not entirely, rewritten. (Which is understandable, it is likely that s3 would have a structure more similar to that of s1, so with many different stories of different characters coming together at the end, which would be impossible to squish in 90 minutes. But good lord how bad a job they did rewriting it!)

[twilightofthesandwiches]

Today's vent:

[idonthaveany]

If there is no free will, why is Jesus — a part of God that hence must know there is no free will — going around encouraging people to do certain things (like telling Mrs Sandwich to visit her ill mother)?

What's the point on trying to convince a person to do something if the will of that person is not what determines their actions?

[baggvinshield]

because it already was a real world. because the humans and all the life of the earth and the angels and demons were already real. just because they were created by a sadistic, psychopathic omnipotent being for a cynical, selfish purpose does not mean those people didn't have free will, and it certainly doesn't mean they weren't real. that was the whole point of the apple business, that was the whole reason that Aziraphale and Crowley could never really change them, try as they might to follow the orders of their respective head offices (or not). it's why Adam Young didn't need an upbringing by a demon to make mistakes with his power, or an upbringing by an angel to choose to reject it. he was already human, and real. it's why Crowley and Aziraphale loved each other at all, because they were already real, too, and yeah, they also had free will, which is why they chose "to the world", and each other. the point is that it was all worth saving, whatever its flaws.

I utterly reject the ill-conceived, capitalist, nihilistic, filmed & aired "finale" of this story as the anti-life, anti-humanist propaganda that it is.

the world is always worth saving, no matter who or what has tampered with, exploited, or tried to destroy it. that was & is the real message of Good Omens.

[idonthaveany]

Didn't all those people deserve a chance? A chance not to be obliterated? A chance to be brought back? Didn't their lives matter?

[cobbbvanth]

gonna start throwing rocks. crowley was not the best angel! he was a good demon! he didn't like the end goal but he still did his job (mostly)! and people had the free will to fall for his temptations! sometimes they did and sometimes they didn't, sometimes they made up worse things! and that's why he liked them so much! keep testing them BUT NOT TO DESTRUCTION

[idonthaveany]

This.

There's always been free will. Even Hastur and Ligur, when they recount the Deeds of the Day to Crowley, they say "I tempted a priest, show him a girl and put doubt into his mind", "I temped a politician, made him think a little bribe wouldn't hurt". This is the same thing humans do with other humans. If humans didn't have free will, demons would have just slapped their fingers and people would have done what the demons wanted them to. Instead it is clearly stated in s2 that this is not possible: "Well do a little miracle, Nina falls in love with Maggie, problem solved!" "Oh... miracles don't work like that." Az trying to kinda hypnotise Maggie "Better if you forget it all, and do what my friend says" "are you trying to hypnotise me?" And the miracle doesn't work. Because they can't make people do what they want.

[nolitimere54]

I knew I remembered a line from the book that made that ending so OOC for Crowley.

They either wrote him wrong or he is so utterly broken it changed his core self completely. I don’t think it was the second option.

[idonthaveany]

They manage to both brake him and write him ooc, and write Az so ooc that in turn broke Crowley even more.

Crowley didn't want the new children of Job's, he wanted the old ones to survive. Our Crowley would have thought of all the living things that had just been erased and how they needed a chance, and that chance was given 30 seconds before by God's "do you want me to put it back as it was? Your choice"