I never had a best friend. So, I just relied more and more on the Little Debbies, and it was as much for me as it was for them. But then I met you. And I didn’t need them so much anymore. Well, makes sense. I’m your number one fan.
the thing is. you know. if crowley and aziraphale destroyed their universe in order to build a universe without angels and demons and God. And that universe they made seems to be our universe. then we must acknowledge that the people in this Godless universe probably still think there is a God and act like there is a God and hurt each other like there is a God so. Uhhhh. I’m not exactly seeing what was worth all that sacrifice, is what I’m saying.
I keep seeing people claim that this ending was the only one possible, that the whole narration up from s1 (or even the book) was building up to this finale, that a hard reset of the universe was the endgame all along.
I don't see how. Good Omens's original charm was being a parody of all religions (and a bunch of deterministic movies like The Omen). The problem of free will was discussed often with a light-hearted, parodic approach. I'm reminded of when Ligur said "I made a priest look at pretty girls in the sun today: he could have become a saint, now he's going to hell." Isn't this literally a parody of how simplistic religious moral beliefs are? The whole point of GO was not just to mock them, but to reflect on how humans are more complex than that, in a universe where, even if Hell and Heaven are literal and operative, humans still managed to successfully exercise their free will AND avoid Armageddon, even if it was advertised as inevitable by Heaven/Hell. The point was to prove both wrong. Az and Crow were there just to say that “who's to say it wasn't God's plan all along, maybe there were some small-font clauses hidden somewhere in the Plan?”
It was beautiful, hilarious, humanist, comforting, open-ended. God was never this evil final boss, overarching puppeteer: the point was that she almost didn’t seem to exist at all and it was just a bunch of humans doing things while claiming a bigger entity wanted them to do that.
My takeaway from the book and first season has always been: Azira and Crowley thought they could impact humanity with their work, then quickly realized they didn't need to do much work AND that both their bosses would never understand that, so they just relaxed and enjoyed the ride lol.
What I liked the most about the GO's message was: humans are both bad and good, beautifully human anyway, even in a world with Heaven/Hell, which doesn't impact their lives that much. Dumb Corporate thinks they're pulling the strings of the world, when in fact the strings have always been so loose they could as well be nonexistent: still, humanity is doing just fine.
The point of avoiding Armageddon was to protect that world, created with free will and humanity being its beautiful, "human incarnate" self. That Specific Humanity was worth saving, just like Job wanted His Specific Kids back.
The best thing was that humanity saved itself! No need for celestial beings basically Jesusing themselves for the world, except what they're saving is the abstract concept of a “free humanity”. Where did s1’s love for That Humanity go? They only save the ideal of it with their sacrifice: was that really the only option? It’s a fictional world, so every writing choice reveals a specific intention and message.
That's why the ending of s3 feels really disconnected to me: suddenly we're in a world where God is extremely involved, humans can never have actual free will, they're all "puppets in her own book", all the messages of caring for others and trying to improve the existing world instead of throwing the whole thing in the trash (The Them at Adam during his power trip), trying to find your footing in life despite your past and your nature (Crowley being a failed demon, Aziraphale struggling with his wavering faith, etc.), all blown out the window! I don't want to say it feels like a retcon, but it definitely feels like they flattened a lot of the previous messages and themes just to achieve the tearjerker ending. It doesn't feel earned, it doesn't feel organic, it doesn't feel particularly satisfactory as a way of tying up all the loose ends. It's nothing short of an "it was all a dream" ending.
TLTR: on where the 3 seasons differed to me:
S1 was hope and humanity in all its beautiful, messy glory, making Az and Crow basically useless, giving them a relative freedom from their jobs. Humanity is the main protagonist, it saves itself, who's to say that wasn't the Plan all along? Sure, there’s the "this wasn't the big one, the next one will be Us against all of Them" line, but it doesn't have to be literal: a well-written sequel could have kept the original themes while exploring other interesting moral conundrums in a clever way, instead of going the cheap route of "it's all bleak, let's press reset."
S2 was a wrestling match between different, opposite outlooks on life: do we stay and try making the world better, or do we run away and choose each other? Is there any reason left to hope, or is the world bleak? Can we reform an unjust system, or is it rigged from the start? A more intimiste approach, a slice-of-life approach, if you will.
S3 doesn't even try to do anything except say from the start: everything is ending, there's no point in this life, all is lost, humanity is doomed, free will never existed, I'm tired boss let's just restart the universe because as long as God exists we'll never be free (in a show from a book that was basically saying the opposite and also, a friggin' PARODY of religion, it was never supposed to get that serious*).
*Small footnote under the cut:
s3 feels, all in all, like a fix-it fic from someone who took the first book way too seriously, injected a sense of extra existential dread into a world order that was just meant to be a parody, and basically run with this idea so much that they took the liberty to kill the whole franchise and restart it to their own liking.
It reminds me of Toy Story 4 and why many people hated it: first 3 movies were fun but also bitter sweet because toys were often abandoned by their children, so it was all about finding happiness where you could, seizing the moment, and making bonds with your friends, while surviving in a world where the laws were tried and true. It didn’t try to shy away from difficult themes and difficult choices. It had guts and took risks. It didn’t try to mollycoddle their audience.
Then the 4th movie came out and suddenly all the previous messages were thrown out of the window: toys should just run away from their kids and find their own happiness, let’s dismantle the system! Except it didn’t feel like an empowering message, it felt like breaking all the previously established, bittersweet but beautiful messages, trampling over them, just to get this cheap, individualistic message out.
What is with sequels and their need to completely negate all the previous messages? This constant need for a hard reset, which never feels satisfactory anyway, because it rarely feels earned?
crowley always being SO careful of aziraphale's boundaries and almost never touching him in the thousands of years he knew him. for once in his life deciding to be brave and cross that line after which he spends years miserable and drunk and alone. and then they never touch again and they die. it's just more profound this way dude it's really about deep emotional connections and eternal love. because two men being physically intimate can't possibly be love. there's for sure no reason to examine why that belief exists.
“Cold Harbor is at 100%”. Very happy to share my final poster for season 2 of Severance! Congrats to the entire cast and crew on an incredible finale and season. Can’t wait for season 3!
If anyone is interested in prints, visit jjlendl.com/lumon. Prints for this episode and the rest of my episode-inspired posters will be available for a ONE WEEK ONLY limited timed pre-order window ending next Saturday, March 29th. Thanks!
So much to say about s2 e7 but first and foremost I have to say that Jessica Lee Gagné absolutely killed it with the direction and cinematography. At the very first shot, you can tell that the episode is going to be different. The flashback scenes were so visually distinct from the rest of the show, and it really highlighted the contrast between Mark and Gemma's past vs present lives. Incredible work
no dentist's office. no writing christmas cards. no taking flights. a world where every pain or minor annoyance is dismissed as your consciousness is replaced with a different version of you. a life without pain, or agitation, or monotony. and conversely, a life full of only that for every version of you who experiences the chores you wished to evade.
forget skipping work or school or birth. try everything. never experience anything that expires a negative emotion. the ideal consciousness sold as a product for the price of a version of you that you'll never meet.
but it doesn't matter. you carry the hurt down with you. in your hands, in your mind, your mouth. the grief mark experiences carried into his innie, gemma feeling the pain she experienced in the rooms even after she's been severed.
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