I am newish to tumblr and still learning how this thing works, but I've decided to overcome my social media allergy so I can ruminate on Good Omens 24/7. Mostly meta and nearly all Good Omens, for now.
This isn't new, but i love that they redressed the Whickber Street set for the sixties sequence, clearly wanting it to seem like it was taking place in another bit of soho.
Where Crowley talks to Shadwell is directly opposite the bookshop. (Between what becomes the coffee shop and the French Cafe)
Which means the lit up signs for 'striptease' are actually on/in front of the bookshop (you can see the doorway column on the far right)
(And yes, in S2 the Dirty Donkey pub where Crowley makes his plan here is opposite the shop entrance, but in S1 it wasn't)
I love this, because it's ingenious redressing of the set, but also because if you make it canon/in-universe reality, then "I work in Soho, I hear things" becomes "you are literally parked outside my shop you idiot", and "I'll give you a lift, anywhere you want to go" is an invitation to a date - for Crowley to take him out somewhere, because he obviously doesn't need to be dropped home.
The friend who tipped me off to this said he hasn't seen anyone else talking about it so here's the elaboration.
Georgia added an online portal that lets you cancel other people's voter registrations if you have all the requisite personal information (like the stuff that keeps getting leaked in massive data breaches).
Supposedly this was so people could cancel the registrations of dead relatives, but like. There's apparently no requirement to prove that the person is dead.
NAACP President & CEO: “We will continue to utilize all of the tools at our disposal to advance Black votes and ensure Black voices are hear
1.Lesley. Is Lesley the prototype or spirit of the Tigris River?
The Tigris River is one of the most famous and significant in the world. It flows through several countries in the Middle East. The Tigris and Euphrates are biblical rivers. From the Bible, you can learn that the Garden of Eden was located between the Tigris and Euphrates. The Tigris River (from ancient Sumerian - fast water) had a fast flow, unlike the Euphrates - a smooth flow. For this reason, the Tigris River was of great importance in ancient times in terms of transport and trade. What is not an international means of communication, like the company Lesley works for?
2.Maud. How can the Maud be conceptually related to the Tigris River? Matelda (abbreviated Maud) is a character in Dante's Divine Comedy. Dante meets her when he visits the Garden of Eden. She stands near the Lethe River and collects flowers. Moreover, in some texts it is found that the Tigris and Euphrates rivers flowed inside the Garden of Eden and were respectively the rivers of Lethe and Eunoe. Matelda acts as a mentor, she knows the answers to many questions and encourages Dante to ask her questions. Secondly, she is a priestess, she offers the soul to drink water first from the Lethe and then Eunoe (repentance and healing).
3.Symbols and hints.
On the bedside table of the Maud are:
-the apple (of Eden)
-nightingale (symbol of love)
-a glass of water (what Matelda brings to the souls in the garden)
-books and glasses (symbol of knowledge)
-flowers on the bed linen (like Dante, we first meet her near the Tiger and in flowers)
-the painting on the wall (it is poorly visible, but obviously has African or Oriental motifs)
4.Another divine couple.
There is a huge mirror opposite the bed, behind which there is darkness and no wall. I assume, Lesley and Maud are the prototypes not only of the Tiger and Matelda, but also of the Nile River and the goddess Maat. The Nile River is consonant with the name Neil Gaiman. Maat is the egyptian goddess of justice and divine law (about this and not only in more detail in the second part). Here I will once again mark the books on the bedside table. The bottom book is blue like a river. And on top there is a red and white book. Maat is often depicted in red and white clothes.
The Price of a Life: Death and Dying in Good Omens
In this meta I want to take a closer look at one of the prominent themes I’ve spotted running through Season 2 of Good Omens. While S2 has been billed as the gentle and romantic bridge towards S3, in a few ways it actually had darker tones than S1. If that’s your cup of tea - read on!
What is the value of a human life?
This is a question which has been pondered by philosophers far back into the reaches of history. More recently, economists have attempted to put a price on human life, which is then used when justifying the various societal costs associated with governing a population (i.e. healthcare, education). These two different schools of thought are sometimes at odds. Immanuel Kant proposed that humans have invaluable dignity, but not a price - being “not merely something to be used for the ends of others, or traded on the market”[1]. In opposition, value of life calculations, by definition, put a price on the value of an individual.
What side does Good Omens S1 take?
In Good Omens Season 1, one of the significant moral dilemmas, at least for Aziraphale and Crowley, was about whether or not to kill the antichrist.
I've never actually... killed anything. I don't think I could.
Not even to save everything? One life... against the universe.
Following their failed attempts to influence Adam’s childhood development, once at the airfield, Aziraphale believes it to be a foregone conclusion that Adam should be killed - eliminate one to save the many. Of course, their attempts fail and Adam faces off against Death, the Four Horsepersons and Satan himself, eventually getting his own way. However, the moral question posed about killing Adam never reaches a definite conclusion.
With the flashback scenes that S1 added to the book, we are shown this same theme when Aziraphale and Crowley attend the crucifixion. The crucifixion is shown in agonising detail here, and gives us an empathetic look at the sacrifice of one life for, presumably, the overall good of humanity. (Although, what metaphysical impact Jesus’ death had in the Good Omens universe isn’t exactly clear). We see Aziraphale and Crowley stand idly by while the Great Plan is enacted.
Does S2 do things differently?
While Good Omens S1 dabbles lightly in the philosophical question about the value of life, Season 2 picks up this thread time and time again - sometimes attaching some numbers!
One of the key mysteries of present-day S2 is the mammoth miracle performed by Aziraphale and Crowley. Registering on the scales at 25 Lazari, this is 25 times the cost of human life in Heaven's accounting system. Presumably, one Lazari is the amount used when Jesus resurrected Lazarus of Bethany four days after his death. As we'll see, this attaching of numbers to human lives is then repeated throughout each of the minisodes.
Firstly we have the flashback sequence with Job and his children. Aziraphale makes the argument that just doubling the number of new children wouldn’t adequately compensate Job and Sitis for the loss of their existing children - since they “quite like the old ones”. The value of human life is not a simple accounting exercise and one life cannot be substituted for another, in the case of the people you love - they’re priceless.
We see this same idea demonstrated again throughout the Resurrectionist minisode. We first meet Elspeth MacKinnon when she is exhuming a body to sell, in order to buy her and her partner a slightly better life worth living. However, the surgeon Dalrymple is not above haggling over human remains. To him this is a business transaction, in which dead bodies are worth no more than five pounds a pop. To Dalrymple, the cost of saving future lives is that others should risk the grave gun gathering bodies which he may then dissect.
Aziraphale is first opposed to anyone being dug up, but then is won over by Dalrymple’s argument, at least until Wee Morag is killed and suddenly for sale. As Crowley says, echoing the Job minisode, “it’s a bit different when it’s someone you know”. In opposition to Dalrymple’s accounting exercises, and, indeed, the 90 guineas with which Aziraphale buys Elspeth's life, Crowley is offering an alternative view. A life is of higher value when it is someone we, personally, know and care for.
We also witness this theme during the 1941 flashback / Nazi-zombie minisode. The magic shop owner warns Aziraphale that he is about to take on a death-defying trick - one which people have died trying, no less! “Your life is worth a lot more than seven pounds five shillings,” argues the shopkeeper. Instead, it turns out that a customer’s life is worth about 27 pounds and five shillings, since he more than willingly accepts that offer - “on your head be it!”.
As human beings, the price we are willing to place on an individual life, how much we are willing to sacrifice for that person, is all dependent on how well we know them.
“He’s just an angel I know”
But it’s the knowing that makes all the difference.
“It’s a bit different when it’s someone you know”
So, for his life, what price are you willing to pay?
What if it was “one life... against the universe”?
Lastly, death is the price that all humans must pay, no matter what. As the Metatron asks at the end of S2 - “Does anyone ever ask for Death?”. But those are thoughts worthy of a future post.
Thank you to everyone at the @ineffable-detective-agency as always, but especially @lookingatacupoftea and @embracing-the-ineffable for their feedback on this post.
[1] Nussbaum, M., & Pellegrino, E. D. (2008). Human dignity and bioethics: essays commissioned by the President's Council on Bioethics. JAMA, 300, 2922.
interesting thoughts! another thing these scenes are doing in the story, (well, the whole story... but staying more or less on topic) is first presenting an either-or dilemma, kind of like the trolley dilemma, but then going in another direction. showing that there are more than the initial two options. at the airfield, aziraphale starts with the choice: let adam live, and bring on armageddon, or kill him and stop it. turns out there was a secret third option: let him live, and support him in stopping armageddon himself.
the eventual, irl solution to the resurrectionists dilemma, was to set up voluntary body donation. that was still a long way off from elspeth's predicament.
I still can’t get over that we got a shot of this.
Of Shax watching as Crowley goes up the elevator to Heaven.
It feels like such an overlooked moment because yes,
It emboldened her in her attack on the bookshop now that it was just Aziraphale
but also,
She now knows a demon can get into Heaven through the elevator she just used to come up from Hell.
And just the way we linger on this shot, hell ep.5 ends with it. It feels a bit more significant than we give it credit for, the implications it may have on next season.
Demons able to get into Heaven, if it has to be angel assisted or not is unconfirmed. I’m voting unassisted just cause the way Michael was able to go to Hell. But anyway,
A Heaven that is going through a change in power, one most are probably not happy about.
and Shax who is very good at making connections, collecting debts.
Okay so maybe not a hill a willing to die on but definitely one I'm willing to plant my flag on at point is that when Aziraphale says to Crowley, "I forgive you" both times it's about Crowley not having faith in Aziraphale. It's the opposite of "'you said trust me', 'and you did'."
Yes, God yes, and I’ll stick my flag beside yours on this ground: Aziraphale never forgets that Heaven never forgave Crowley’s questions. Heaven’s door was closed forever to Crowley once he refused to just go along with their plan. And Aziraphale wants to be absolutely sure Crowley knows that for the two of them love means “I will always forgive you when you question me. You never have to do what I say to keep my love. My door will always be open to you, however many times you walk out of it. You are free to be who you are with me.”
Hi, reblogging this post again because????? How does it only have 300 notes??????
This genuinely altered my brain chemistry, I don't understand how it hasn't blown up. Do you understand???? This has literally given context to the "I forgive you"s that I have not stopped thinking about since I read it.
I know this isn't how Crowley hears it, but I think more than anything, it's along the lines of "I forgive you for not trusting me in this" or "I forgive you for abandoning me in this when I told you I need you, for rejecting what might be our only real chance of being together in a way where we can be safe and happy" or even (depending on what theory you believe) "I forgive you for not understanding what I'm trying to tell you, for not listening to me and reading between the lines like we have ALWAYS done with each other."
Despite the anger and frustration and hurt behind it, there's something really beautiful about the implication behind Aziraphale's "I forgive you" (and all the ones he's said before): it seems to imply "You're doing this thing that hurts and upsets and frustrates me, but there is nothing that you can do that I will not forgive you for. You do not need to follow me blindly to earn my love or my forgiveness, even if I am so, so angry with you right now. You are not unloved and unforgiveable, you will never be unloved and unforgiveable, not to me. I will never cast you out for doing something I don't agree with."
I forgive you = My love is not/will never be conditional
Don’t leave this in the tags because it’s what I wanted to say
Thank you thank you thank you
I thought it was quite obvious after S1 that ‘I forgive you’ was a faith statement and reassurance from aziraphale. So that deep down, Crowley would know even if he absolutely didn’t believe in aziraphale about something, aziraphale would always still forgive him and still welcome him back.
Add that to NG’s statement that Crowley needs to learn he’s forgiven and accept that forgiveness and to forgive himself.
NGL this actually made me break down crying. Aziraphale making sure he never, ever does to Crowley what God did. My door is always open to you, no matter how much we disagree, I will never cast you out.
My love is not conditional.
I'm really baffled why so many people go around these words and seek some meaning that is different form the most literal one.
Each time Aziraphale says "I forgive you" is after Crowley did or said something hurtful.
Each time is as simple as that. You hurt me, you did something I don't like, but I forgive you. This does not end our relationship.
This is why Crowley's "don't bother" in final 15 tears my heart out much more than anything else. Because if anything, THIS was the rejection and cutting things off.
So, hear me out. I keep going back to this post, where @dee-morris's kid pointed out that there's definitely something going on, but it may not be the pieces that's wrong. Rather, there's just something off with the whole picture.
Season one, Adam stopped the world from ending, reset reality, and putting everything back to normal...
Well almost, but not entirely normal.
What if that's what's been wrong in season 2? The fact that everything has been a little off because, well, a literal child put the world back together?
Someone thinks Maggie and Nina are interchangeable.
Over at the Ineffable Detective Agency we've been cleaning house, trying to determine what we haven't posted yet. This quick one has been on the back burner for months!
In the beginning of Episode 6, watch the blocking of the 56 second scene where Aziraphale and Jim deposit candles around the magic circle. Two weird things are happening at once here, see if you can spot them:
Here are paused images of the same angle, in case you missed it :
As well as the candles all going down unlit and suddenly being lit when Shax enters the doorway, Maggie and Nina decided to teleport to each other's spaces in the blocking of the shot.
Needless to say, this is a big no-no in filmmaking and blocking in general. You want to know where people are moving in a shot sequence, otherwise your brain loses sense of relative position in the scene. There are co-ordinators and script supervisors who spend their days on sets like Good Omens making sure this never happens. You have to actively try to make a blocking mistake this bad.
So why are Nina and Maggie so interchangeable in this scene that it doesn't matter which one is occupying the left or right of screen? Or is it the switch that's important...
With love,
Your whole ineffable detective team
@embracing-the-ineffable, @kimberleyjean, @theastrophysicistnextdoor, @ghstptats, @somehow-a-human, @lookingatacupoftea, @dunkthebiscuit @havemyheartaziraphale, @komorezuki, @251-dmr, @maufungi
The Ineffable Detective Agency presents:
Decoding 1941 Hell – The Hidden Morse Messages
The Good Omens team never fails to surprise us: In the Hell scenes set in 1941, there are subtle beeps in the background that many might have missed: morse code messages!
We took the time to decode these messages from about 5 minutes of the show – some parts are easy to identify, some parts are really hard due to overlying sounds or noises.
We used the 5.1 audio and selected only the channel with the morse signals. Check out an easy snippet – which line is it? :)
Then, we applied high- and low-pass filters to emphasize the code’s pitch around 1360 Hz. Some of us have pretty sharp ears, some of us worked with the frequency spectra to mark short and long signals as well as pauses in between.
Here is what we have heard or seen, together with some facts and thoughts on the lines. Let us know what you think!
S2E4 06:19 to 08:23 “Have a miserable eternity”
Here are the pieces we have successfully decoded:
HAVE A DREADFUL ETERNITY
We are wondering why this is different to the text via loudspeaker as well as Furfur’s “have a miserable eternity”...
TOMMY’S A LEGEND
Do we know a Tommy?
1) There's the Welsh magician/comedian Tommy Cooper (his magical act specialized in magic tricks that appeared to fail), who was the inspiration for the red fez in the magic shop. Cooper died live on television suffering a heart attack. :(
2) There's also the lead character Tommy in Brigadoon, the plot of which feels seriously GO-coded. There is a magic village hidden outside time that only appears in Scotland once every 100 years and is connected to the rest of the world with a bridge, outsiders who find "clues about the village and its people that make no sense", and a plot about unlikely lovers who are separated (because one "can't just leave everything in the real world behind"), and an ending that reunites the lovers against all odds because of the strength of their love ("I told ye, if you love someone deeply enough, anything is possible ... even miracles.")
PAUL’S OUR MIXING HERO
Could that be the Re-Recording Mixer PAUL McFADDEN?
ABANDON ALL HOPE YE WHO ENTER HERE
CHEER UP IT’S ONLY ETERNAL DAMNATION
ABANDON ALL HOPE YE WHO ENTER HERE
CHEER UP IT’S ONLY ETERNAL DAMNATION
ABANDON ALL HOPE YE WHO ENTER HERE
CHEER UP IT’S ONLY ETERNAL DAMNATION
ABAN
The phrase "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here" is a quote from Dante’s Inferno, Prelude to Hell, Canto III, Vestibule of Hell: Dante passes through the gate of Hell, which bears an inscription ending with the phrase "Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate".
So, the minisode is THE place where we get quotes from the two most famous literary accounts of Hell – with Furfur's quotation of Paradise Lost in the dressing room at the Windmill Theater: "In dubious battle on the Plains of Heaven".
S2E4 09:16 to 10:09 “Processing the Nazis”
ABANDON ALL HOPE YE WHO ENTER HERE
CHEER UP IT’S ONLY ETERNAL DAMNATION
ABANDON ALL HOPE YE WHO ENTER HERE
CHEER UP IT’S ONLY ETERNAL DAMNATION
S2E4 11:07 - 13:12: “The offer to return as Zombies”
These two minutes are very tricky: while in the first half it is ok-ish to identify the signals in the spectrum, the second half is overlaid by so much noise… – yes, we are calling the dialogues and sounds in hell noise now :D – that we chose a different approach.
It looked as if the sequence starts from the beginning, so we compared both parts, and now we are quite sure that it is the same pattern.
DO NOT LICK THE WALLS
HEAVEN LOOKS DOWN ON YOU BECAUSE YOU ARE PATHETIC
ABANDON ALL HOPE YE WHO ENTER HERE
CHEER UP IT’S ONLY ETERNAL DAMNATION
DO NOT LICK THE WALLS
HEAVEN LOOKS DOWN ON YOU BECAUSE YOU ARE PATHETIC
ABANDON ALL HOPE YE WHO ENTER HERE
CHEER UP IT’S ONLY ETERNAL DAMNATION
DO NOT LICK THE WALLS
HEAVEN LO …
So those are the sections we are pretty certain we have correct. However, there is one section we are still unsure on - maybe you can help?
Back to S2E4 06:19 to 08:23
We have been fighting hard with the first six seconds, before “HAVE A DREADFUL ETERNITY” and we think it is:
SHE’S IN MA PHONE
Who are we talking about now?
Do you have any other ideas of what this could be?
If it is “She’s in ma phone”, what does that mean?
Or is the S just noise and it starts with an H?
Or even with a B – BE’S IN MA PHONE?
So, what are your thoughts on all of these messages? Why go to the effort of putting morse code here? Is it a fun easter egg, or something more? And why say “dreadful eternity” in morse when the quote used in the show is “miserable eternity”?
We have so many questions!
Spoiler: There is more code hidden throughout the series.
Let us know what you see or hear!
As good a time as any to remind folks of the 14 properties of "ur-fascism" (described by Umberto Eco, who grew up in Italy under Mussolini, in his 1995 essay Ur-Fascism). Not all need be present for single regime to be fascist, but a Venn diagram of all fascist regimes will cover them all.
CULT OF TRADITION. The old ways are best. The New is not worthwhile.
REJECT MODERNISM The development of Western philosophy post-Enlightenment is seen as a descent into depravity. See also : Reject post-modernism, which is seen as an even greater descent into irrationality.
ACTION FOR ACTION'S SAKE. Action is to be taken without reflection or introspection - that's for weaklings and degenerates. Often seen in a derision of "intellectual elites".
DISAGREEMENT IS TREASON. Analytical criticism cannot be allowed. A pantomime of discourse may be allowed, but only within the accepted framework and only if reaching the foregone conclusion.
FEAR OF DIFFERENCE. Outsiders are your enemy. Those who are different are evil and want to corrupt you and destroy all you hold dear.
APPEAL TO A FRUSTRATED MIDDLE CLASS Capitalising on genuine frustrations by pointing them toward convenient scapegoats. Real concerns used a recruiting tools.
OBSESSION WITH A PLOT. There is a conspiracy run by THEM. You are besieged by THEM. THEY are behind all your ills. THEY are working in the shadows to enslave and destroy you.
THE ENEMY IS BOTH STRONG AND WEAK. When rhetorically convenient, THEY are all-powerful. When rhetorically convenient, THEY are feeble, stupid, weak. The rhetorical focus shifts regardless of self-contradiction, because all that matters is positioning the enemy where the speaker's goal requires them to be at any given moment.
PACIFISM IS THE ENEMY. LIFE IS ETERNAL WAR. There must always be an enemy to fight. When that enemy is defeated, another must be found. When they cannot be found, they must be created, even from within. There is always the promise of a Final Solution bringing Ultimate Triumph, but it can never be achieved.
CONTEMPT FOR THE WEAK. Elitism disguised as populism. Everyone of US is superior to THEM, cockroaches and drains on society that they are. But people are sheep who require strong leaders, who are by their nature superior to others.
EVERYONE IS TAUGHT TO BE THE HERO. A CULT OF DEATH. Where in myth the hero is exceptional, in fascism everyone must be the hero. They crave heroic death, the reward for heroic life. In seeking it, they send others to die. (See also: Militarism).
MACHISMO. Disdain for women and femininity. Intolerance of non-standard sexuality and gender expression.
SELECTIVE POPULISM. The People are viewed as a monolith with a single will, as interpreted (in reality, determined) by the leaders. Democratic institutions are viewed as illegitimate because they run counter to the narrative of the existence of a single Voice Of The People.
NEWSPEAK. Vocabulary cannot expand. If anything, it must shrink. Variation and nuance in dialogue means variation and nuance in thought. This cannot be allowed. Therefore categories must be binary. Definitions are simple and limited. If it cannot be boiled down into snappy catchphrase it does not exist.
I know a little out there thing to say but it’s a theory i’ve had hanging around in the back of my head for a while now because the thing is,
Crowley seems to have held the rank Raphael has but Aziraphale shows more of his actions.
These two theories have been around for a while and at no point am I trying to take away from what people have put together. This is just for fun and silly purposes. and I wasn’t kidding when I said I’ve had this theory for a while and just didn’t know how to put it in words so it might not be the best.
But let’s just start with who is Archangel Raphael
Raphael
The Angelic Prince of Healing
Well let’s start at the beginning, or well before the beginning.
According to the Midrash Konen, before he was Raphael he was the angel Libbiel.
In this God gathers all their angels before Adam is created and hears their opinions. While some angels praised God for their creation others spoke out against it. The Angel of Love and the Angel of Justice were both in favor while the Angel of Truth and the Angel of Peace both objected.
For this the Angel of Truth is cast out Heaven by God. God then summoned a band of angels under Michael, Gabriel, and Libbiel. Both of the bands under Michael and Gabriel scornfully called out against the creation of man and were too cast out. Libbiel seeing what happened to those bands warned his own to call out in favor of creation of man and thus was rewarded with the new name, Raphael, for his efforts.
Raphael, the rescuer, Angelic prince of Healing.
This is just one story of Raphael, if we take a step outside religion but still the very important book, Paradise Lost by John Milton, we can find Raphael there as well.
He is the angel that comes to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden to warn them against temptation. Through him we hear about the rebellion and war in Heaven. He eats with Adam and Eve and doesn’t just directly quote God but rather shares his own views and opinions.
An interesting and very important take on Raphael but let’s just jump back into the religious stuff.
In the First Book of Enoch he is the angel over the spirits of men and set over all diseases and wounds. He was instructed to bind Azazel and heal the Earth that has been corrupted by the Watchers.
In the bible Raphael was one of the three angels that appeared to Abraham in the oak grove of Mamre. His task was the heal Abraham and save Lot. (Genesis)
Though not identified with name he is credited to be the angel who periodically stirred the pool of Bethesda (John)
His main story though comes from the Book of Tobit. He acts as a guide on Tobias’s journey to Sarah disguised as a human peasant. On this journey they gut a fish that they then end up later using to expel the demon, Asmodus, and heal his father, Tobit. This is the story where most of his depictions come from including the one above.
In Jewish text, under the name Israfil, he is depicted as the angel who stands eternally with a trumpet on his lips waiting and ready to announce the day of judgement.
Wooh that was a quick run down. (pls correct me if any of this was wrong) But moving on for now.
Title Sequence
Disclaimer: Not main supporting evidence. Secondary at best. Really just something interesting that didn’t fit anywhere else.
Now before we get into how this all connects in the show I wanted to make stop to point out something from the s1 TS that I have never been able to explain away.
Both of them getting sucked up into the spaceship and then it burst into fish.
Fish huh? Interesting…
Gabriel’s Trial
This is the part that gives us some of the biggest pieces of evidence for a Very Highranking AngelCrowley.
Before we even get to the trial we have Crowley able to get into the file that only a throne, dominion, or above could access.
Then we have Gabriel saying he is “the only first order archangel in the room, or yknow the universe” with the immediate cut to Crowley. Visually this is a very obvious signal that this is something to pay attention to, foreshadowing that something is not right with this statement.
The clip above also gives us that this being would have been considered a Prince of Heaven.
Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, and the last three kinda vary. But we are just going to focus on these four anyway since that seems to be the number the show likes.
The only one missing from those four is Raphael and it seems that the Metatron still holds quite the grudge and memory of this being….*cut to Metatron glaring at Crowley*
But there is also something else we learn in this Trial.
That the name Gabriel is tied to his angelic status, a name he was about to lose along with his memories. A name he does end up losing while he doesn’t have his memories, getting replaced with Jim.
But one thing I did want to mention in this section before leaving, even if it didn’t happen during Crowley’s trip to Heaven, was when Michael says “there is always a Supreme Archangel.”
All of this has some very interesting implications of what happened in the past, and let’s not forget that Aziraphale was battling demons while all this was happening.
Now though that this has all been laid out let’s get into the meat of this.
Aziraphale and Crowley
yknow for this being about them I haven’t talked about them a lot lol. But let’s start at the beginning of them, the time one became two.
Originally they were written as one character, a fallen angel, until it was eventually changed into the two characters we know and love, Aziraphale and Crowley.
Now I’m not claiming to know what was going on in their heads during the creation process, just that the absence of a single prominent archangel when they were originally a single character is…interesting.
but that’s what got me thinking.
In Before the Beginning there doesn’t really seem to be a rank system more along the lines of groups that have certain jobs in the creation process of the universe. Not saying there wasn’t a ranking system but I doubt it was as large and complex as it is in present day.
However there is no denying the parallels that Gabriel and Crowley play to each other, particularly with their Angelic Ranking.
So what I’m proposing is that yes, Crowley was a very high ranking angel, perhaps on the same level as Gabriel - an angel named Raphael.
But he Fell, his name taken away from him in the process and he became Crawley.
With this though it left a space open, a Raphael shaped space up in Heaven and History. The Job of who Raphael was supposed to be.
A job that another certain angel seems to take up through his actions, Aziraphale.
Aziraphale’s name quite literally means “helper of Raphael” which technically he did do when he helped start up the star factory.
but even in that moment it was the two of them doing a job that was supposed to be only meant for one.
It’s a theme they continue throughout their years together, they cancel each other out, they take to doing each others jobs that never tip off the other side. They are the most powerful when they are working together, helping to stop Armageddon and the 25 Lazarii miracle they perform together. Two sides of the same, single coin.
The spot for Raphael was only meant to be held by one, the place Crowley held before the Fall. The place Aziraphale took up in the aftermath. There is always a Raphael.
However one does not just lose the power of being a first order archangel hence why Crowley is still so powerful.
The only one to realize this - The Metatron and well probably God too. Hence the need for at least Aziraphale back up in Heaven, as well as just keeping an eye on him.
and this really all just makes me want to point out that after Armageddon was diverted and they were out there on the bench and Crowley asks if God,
“Planned it all like this, very beginning.”
and I can’t help but say, yes. Two angels designed for the same role, one fallen and one not. Together they are complete and bound through history. Together they are the most powerful. 
something something the value of printed records and the written word to a creature that is native to a society in which one’s own memories may be altered by outside forces at a whim
Usually one would think of going through their memories as a learning experience as more of a "rummaging around in the attic" metaphor, since the brain, the keeper of memories, is in the highest part of our bodies. But one of S2's underlying themes is the looming Second Coming and the resurrection of the dead, so its underground that we need to head - to the basement.
Aziraphale does a great deal of "stocktaking in the basement" during his trip to Edinburgh. He recalls the encounter with the body-snatcher Elspeth and her companion wee Morag in 1827 on the way up, has his memory jolted by the statue of Gabriel to something more recent, then thinks about what happened in 1941 on the way back. We are largely going to deal with aspects of the 1827 minisode in this meta, and some possible implications for S3.
Lets have a look at why this year, 1827, was chosen for this minisode. The Anatomy Act of 1832 gave doctors and medical students legal permission to use donated bodies for research and educational purposes, and was made so to stop the distressing trade of body snatching that was occurring at the time. But this minisode isn't necessarily about stopping that activity, rather the reasons for doing it in the first place. Looking at Strong's Concordance, as we must, in the Greek, 1827 gives us "convince" or "prove to be in the wrong." This sounds about right for this minisode, which includes the conversation about poverty inducing more opportunities to be wicked, which somehow leads to holiness, from the book. The minisode shows how Aziraphale has this idea turned around for him - he's convinced otherwise, and shown how his initial beliefs about the practice turn out to be wrong.
Also, around 1827 is the time when the building of private mausoleums was at its peak. A mausoleum was (and still is) a display of wealth, so featuring one here plays into the story in the minisode of the virtues of poverty versus the rich. (It's also a call back to the origin of the Bentley's number plate, which was written on a mausoleum in a Monty Python sketch.)
Digging Up the Past
Shax does her own stocktaking when she receives the above push-back from Crowley, and realizes that Aziraphale is not in the bookshop at all at that moment, and goes looking for him. Later, she digs up his own dirty past to taunt him with, in an effort to make him crack and give up Gabriel.
But why is Aziraphale digging up this particular memory at this time? We know he is fond of Edinburgh and has visited many times, so this particular memory must contain something of importance for us to see.
There is the title of the minisode, some Masonic symbology and the metaphorical act of the snatched bodies as the dead rising from their graves which all point us in the direction of the Second Coming and Judgement Day, which we will cover in Part 4, so we'll put that to the side for the moment.
Changing Sides
Let's have a look at some of the blocking of the scenes in the Resurrectionists minisode. This wont cover everything, so if you do go back to have another look at it yourself, do pay close attention to who stands where.
When we first meet Crowley and Aziraphale in 1827, they are standing on what we think of as their "normal" sides, angel on the right and demon on the left. Elspeth, caught in the act of body snatching, is even further to the left, the real demon on the scene, which actually pushes Crowley back to the middle ground.
Straight afterwards, we see all three of them walking together through the streets of Edinburgh. Crowley is still in the middle, but now Elspeth is in the angel's position and Aziraphale on the far left as a demon, as they all discuss the virtues of poverty. Oh dear, Aziraphale, you're losing the argument here, and losing badly!
Inside Mr Dalrymple's rooms, Aziraphale decides to take matters into his own hands, where he thinks he is doing the right thing, and miracles the first body into soup. Elspeth is caught innocently in the middle of this, and Dalrymple is on the demonic left.
A conversation is had with Dalrymple following this. Crowley is hidden in the right-hand chair, Aziraphale, who needs to be swayed, is in the middle, and Dalrymple is still on the demonic left.
After heading back to the cemetery for another body, Crowley and Aziraphale inspect some of the protective measures set up to guard the graves. Crowley is still on the moral right, questioning if the rich are more worthy of being protected from body snatchers than the poor.
Despite changing his mind about body snatching, Aziraphale still ends up on the wrong side of the argument in the end. As a giant Crowley looks down on the two of them, its Aziraphale standing on the demonic left side as the virtues of poverty lose out once more.
Timely Lessons
Back to the fireside chat with Dalrymple. We have this heartfelt reaction from Aziraphale when he learns the preserved specimen he is holding came from a seven-year-old boy.
AZIRAPHALE: [takes the jar] Well, that's a foot. So it's definitely not a foot. [laughs]
DALRYMPLE: That's my point. If you two smart gentlemen can't identify it, then what are my students to make of it? I removed this tumor from a seven-year-old boy.
AZIRAPHALE: Oh. Oh dear. And… Is he…?
DALRYMPLE: [shakes head] And that is why we need a steady supply of cadavers. We need to cut. If we can't cut, we can't learn. If we can't learn more, a lot more, then how on earth are we going to win the battle against monstrosities like this one? I'm just trying to save lives and teach students. I either end up with a knighthood or condemned as a resurrectionist and hanging from a rope.
This, I feel, is an important lesson for them, and it seems for Aziraphale in particular. Why? This part focuses more on his reaction to the tumor, rather than Crowley's, and when we focus on Aziraphale it has ramifications for the future.*
A physical problem is usually easily identified (such as the foot). But what if the problem is invisible, because its on the inside? How do you see into a body, find a problem and make it visible, if you have not been presented with this problem before? Or perhaps you know something is wrong, but don't know what to call it?
It doesn't even have to be physical, it can be a mental, or a psychological problem. One still has to learn how to "see" the problem, to identify what it is (such as a particular pattern of behaviour) and to know the best course of action to overcome it.
Crowley wishing for more murderers to facilitate Dalrymple's research is one thing, but not being able to save a 7 year-old boy...this is the theme of the death of innocent children we've seen repeated throughout the series (the Flood, Job's children, the aborted attempt on Adam, the Crucifixion, and the implications around Crowley's Fall, to name a few.)
This also plays into the "representation matters" theme from the end - you can't be what you can't see.
This is not a lesson about the fact that they care, because they do, but how they learn to see the real problem in the first place.** I'll be interested to see the matching scenes/parallels to this in S3.
The Two Dalrymples
It has not gone unremarked that there is a Dalrymple mentioned in S1 as well - Witchfinder Colonel Dalrymple, who made the fancy Thundergun that was taken to Tadfield to shoot the antichrist with.
Now we can talk about the connection between the two Dalrymples - they are both about removing "monstrosities" from humanity.
Take the line in the passage above: "If we can't learn more, a lot more, then how on earth are we going to win the battle against monstrosities like this one?"
As I've mentioned before, the root of the word monster is from the Latin for monstrum, "a divine omen (of misfortune)," but also monstrare, which means "to point out," which bring us back to this scene in S1, on the tarmac of the Tadfield Airbase:
Aziraphale took Witchfinder Colonel Dalrymple's Thundergun to remove the monstrosity that was Adam the antichrist to save humanity, and Mr Dalrymple the surgeon is trying to learn how to remove and save humanity from the monstrosity we know as cancer. I'm just making a spot now on my S3 bingo card for a third Dalrymple mention, that will no doubt have some connection to the removal of monsters and/or monstrosities from the world.
Balancing the Books
The final bit of stocktaking might just be the coldest part of the whole recall process.
When Aziraphale calls from the cemetery in Edinburgh, he mentions Dalrymple's fate to Crowley:
AZIRAPHALE: Oh, do you really think so? Um, Crowley… Do you remember Dr. Dalrymple, The one who bought, err…
CROWLEY: Wee Morag's body. Not a doctor… A mister, yes! Yes, whatever happened to him?
AZIRAPHALE: [reading pamphlet] He left Edinburgh in disgrace. And then he killed himself.
CROWLEY: Mmm.
Mmm, indeed. They might have saved Elspeth from Hell to meet up with wee Morag again, but the count of souls was still balanced out in the end, with Dalrymple heading the other way. The last time we see him he is still on the demonic LHS of the screen in blocking as he pays for wee Morag's body. Hell had him marked well in advance of his demise.
Time to move on to Part 4: Judgment Day, where we look at all the signs that the End Times are approaching. Again.
Thanks to @vidavalor for the thematic inspiration for this post.
For further reading:
You Say Potato, I Say Excellent! Or blocking, accents and legacy of morality tales in ‘The Resurrectionists’ minisode PART II by @pommedepersephone
The linked post at the beginning Historical Analysis: class and injustice in 'The Ressurrectionists' minisode by @bowtiepastabitch is here.
An intro to Elspeth and wee Morag being parallel characters to Aziraphale and Crowley by @good-soupmens I'm going to follow up on this in Part 5.
*I explained in Part 2 that I believe we are being shown the future through Aziraphale and his parallel characters, Beelzebub and Maggie. Another reason for this is that in S1 is that Anathema is one of his parallels, and she is also caught up with living in the future through the prophecies of Agnes Nutter. In contrast, Crowley's story, and that of his parallels, such as Gabriel and Newt, are about the past and trying to live the life you want that isn't bound by expectations. Urrgghh, I can see I might have to expand on this somewhere later.
**Crowley, with most of his story in the past, shows us an example of this with his "looking where the furniture isn't" comment.
The other posts in this series can be found here:
Part 1: Detective Aziraphale
Part 2: Aziraphale-Beelzebub Parallels
Part 4: Judgement Day
Part 5: I Know Where I'm Going
So, I was rewatching Good Omens, as one does, and I noticed something about the baby delivery failure. Like, a lot of the emphasis about what happens is put on people acting as people, and causing things to happen sometimes, in that case, Deidre and Arthur arriving too early and Sister Mary Loquacious taking the baby, which causes the mix-up.
The thing is, in the book, when Crowley gets the instructions, they directly appear into his brain and he knows what to do, but that's not exactly how it happens in the show. The informations are not transmitted directly, but through some smoke that delivers the information.
But just a few seconds after that, a truck is coming in front of him on the road and Crowley has to move to avoid the collision, but by doing that, he also moves away from the smoke.
Which means that he likely didn't get all of the message, a part might be missing here. And from what we can see in the covent, the Sisters are actually extremely well organised (to the exceptions of Mary Loquacious of course), so it would have made sense that the number of the delivery room was something established and known, that could maybe have been given by Hell itself, and that Crowley was supposed to know as well. But he missed part of the message, and played confident (not as if he was going to ask Hell for more info anyway) and that lead to the mix up.
The thing is, Adam growing as a human, is probably what saved humanity, so I guess shout out to the random truck driver that was there for making that possible.
"nothing is real atoms never touch each other youve never touched anything in your life" ok. well when i pet my dog he is soft and when he licks my hand it is wet and that is far more real to me than whatevers going on at an atomic level
nuclei don't touch, but the nucleus is not the core of reality. reality is made of electrons dancing. reality is made of bonds.
you pet your dog and the atoms that are you brush up against the atoms that are him, and the electrons that are you press into the electrons that are him, and both of them change their movement.
electrons of course are not really particles and do not really move.
you pet your dog and the electron-orbitals of your skin overlap with the electron-orbitals of his fur, and both are changed by the contact. you are not made of little motes floating alone in a void. you are a single unfathomable chord formed of a trillion vibrations, and so is he. and the note you play is changing at every moment by what you touch and how you breathe, and so is his. and atoms do not really have edges, and to touch is to interact, and when you put your hand on your dog the universe does not know that you are separate. the song expands to hold you both.
Your flesh is borrowed from others, bit by bit, bite by bite, and returned as fertilizer when you are done with it. Your breath borrowed from algae and trees and returned just as fast. The water in your blood filtered through roots and exhaled from leaves to fall again in the rocky highlands where springs feed.
Your dog and you share space, and so you share air, pieces of them recognized by you as a smell of friendship and love. Oils made to protect your skin work into your dog as you scratch and rub, and so a part of you becomes a part of them.
Your skin is sacrificial, a chain-link wall of flattened dead cells that leave tiny imperceptible fragments on every object you touch. Your passage through the world peels away your outer layers as you grow without ceasing, glowing dimly all the while with the luminous warmth of your chemistry and vitality.
When you walk in parts of the world that are still Alive, every step brings you in contact with other Life. We must wrap ourselves in the woven tissues of dead plants and borrowed skins of dead animals, pants and coats and boots, to protect ourselves from such contact. Every place where you can walk freely had to be first cleared, and covered with a protective veneer of dead flat stone. Any patch of earth liberated from such bondage bursts forth with Life anew given half a chance and a spring rain.
The appearance of your isolation is an illusion.
The world flows through you. You are it. It is you.
I was wondering if you've talked about why Gabriel was on a jog in season 1 episode 4. It always felt off to me since it's such a human activity
Hi @anxious-al! 💕 Hope you're having a nice week so far. *gets the mugs* as there's always hot chocolate available for Gabriel-themed questions. 😊
What a time to be going for a "human" jog, eh? This takes place on the morning of The Last Day of The World:
Gabriel is supposed to destroy this planet later that day and he's down on it, alone, jogging in the park... why?... and what of the human woman dressed as an angel at the edge of the park?
The scene wherein Aziraphale interrupts Gabriel on a morning run in the park begins with one of the strangest moments in the series-- Aziraphale being distracted by a human woman dressed in head-to-toe gold with harp-like angel wings. She is a performance artist and her art is that she is dressed as an angel. She stands there, silent, sending her artistic message for both the characters in the story who notice her and for us as the audience to interpret. This makes her a bit meta for the story of Good Omens as a whole.
What message is The Angel Woman saying to her fellow humans with this? is a question that leads us to another one as a result:
What is Good Omens saying by using angels and demons in their story written for us humans?
Perhaps that there is divinity in humanity? Perhaps that we spend all this time glorifying holy beings that we can't prove even exist when, really, we humans embody the angelic and the demonic and everything in between? That we're really the magical ones?
The Angel Woman is a character in a story written by humans who are using angels and demons to make points about human living... and who are the other characters in this scene? Gabriel and Aziraphale... a pair of angels on Earth and who are both engaged in aspects of what they might see as "human" living.
This scene is one in the story pointing out that "human living" is really just living, period.
Aziraphale stops and contemplates the angel-dressed performance artist and that is the start of the scene. The "human cosplaying" Gabriel then jogs by them-- paralleling both the angel who lives like a human and the human who is dressed as an angel. Here's The Supreme Archangel of Heaven on the last morning on Earth and what is he doing?
He's jogging in the park. Like a human.
The episode is called "Saturday Morning Funtime" and has more Gabriel in its front half than any episode prior to it, as we begin to see that he's actually who it's named for. Everyone is miserable ahead of Armageddon but the one who has a Saturday Morning Funtime routine is Gabriel. This guy who is the commander of the armed forces of Heaven and entrapped by a supernatural fascist regime hellbent on destroying this place?
Yeah, he secretly kinda loves Earth.
Gabriel is keeping himself from going mad by carving out some escape time on Earth where he does some moderate exercise in the fresh air and clears his head. No one knows who he is down there. He's just another hot dude running in the park. It gets him away from the other angels always circling him like vultures and gives him some precious alone time.
There are other scenes that indicate that, as Earth has gone on, Gabriel has been using the power of his position to escape to it from time to time. Gabriel's only possessions until S2 are his custom-tailored clothes and they were made on Earth. He shows a curiosity about how Aziraphale chooses to live in the sushi scene in 1.01. Yes, he's judgy about it but he's judgy to hide the fact that he's asking out of interest-- rather than using the power he has to order Aziraphale not to make his own choices over it.
Gabriel is shown to be a lot more "live and let live" than he might initially seem to be. He is one of the only angels who doesn't view the demons as beneath them and he covers for Michael's relationships with them. Several scenes suggest pretty heavily that he's known about Crowley and Aziraphale for ages and has been keeping that knowledge from The Metatron. He doesn't care that Aziraphale does human things on Earth like eating or that he wants to live a more human-like existence. He doesn't totally understand all aspects of it but that doesn't stop him from being more fundamentally curious about it than anything else.
Gabriel actually doesn't care that Aziraphale's in love with Crowley. Gabriel can get the appeal, actually. Gabriel knows how it goes anyway... he's got a bit of a thing for the "informant" he references to Aziraphale in 1.01-- Lord Beezlebub, the only being he feels like he really be anything close to his true self around, who also happens to be a demon. The demons are supposed to be the angels' mortal enemies but Gabriel thinks that's kind of bullshit. They're just people and he remembers what a lot of them were like before Hell became a thing. They were smart, creative people, most of whom did little wrong but for asking the same questions that Gabriel privately asks himself daily.
So, he's been coming down to Earth to check it out for awhile, when he can come up with an excuse to escape his prison. Sometime pre-S1, he started to do more than observe and basically got himself a hobby in jogging, like a human might do. Something for him and him alone. This is a big deal because Gabriel has virtually nothing else that is own.
Gabriel doesn't own a single, non-clothing material object in S1 and never has at this point. The first present he'll ever be given is the fly in the matchbox from Beez. His clothes are his only possessions, which is partially why he's so vain about them. They are the only way he's allowed to express a sense of individuality in Heaven-- and he made that happen.
This is related to the jogging and is a much, much bigger deal than it might initially seem...
In S2, when we go back to the Job minisode era, we see that all of the angels used to dress in, more-or-less, the same thing. They all look like what they are-- members of a cult. Even The Supreme Archangel is wearing basically a white sheet roped off in gold. The homogeneity of the look is the point.
There's a psychological reason why cults of all sorts-- and armies of all sorts-- have an uniform. It's to reinforce a sense of negative groupthink over a sense of individuality. When you are allowed to dress as you wish, you have freedom of expression, and this obviously causes you to consider how you wish to express yourself to others. It gives you the free reign we all should have to be who we are-- and to be able to consider who that is and evolve our sense of self over time. This is absolutely against the mindset of dictatorships and cults and anything in that vein.
The last thing they want is for people to see themselves as individual people because that stuff gets dangerous. They might get ideas. They might form their own opinions and start to act on them. It makes people harder to control. This is why Gabriel and his clothes are so important.
The only way the whole 'everyone is basically wearing a table cloth' situation changed for the angels sometime post-Job is if The Supreme Archangel okayed it. He's the only one with just enough power to have made this happen, if not enough power to overthrow The Metatron on his own. Gabriel saw Aziraphale begin to wear different things on Earth with the built-in excuse of Aziraphale having to blend in with the humans and white robes were no longer a style that would work.
Aziraphale, as a result, became the first angel to have an excuse to express himself as an individual because he got to choose what he'd like to wear while he was on Earth. Gabriel noted this and basically said to himself that looks fun. Our dude was very tired of this white robe situation and seeing Aziraphale get to play made Gabriel want to as well so he went to Aziraphale at some point and basically said teach me about what the humans are doing about clothes.
Gabriel had an excuse to change his look, too-- he'd have to go to Earth sometimes to do Supreme Archangel Checking Up On Stuff Things. He'd have to look like a human, too. He loved it. Playing human dress up was super fun and brought all new kinds of thoughts. What fabrics he liked, what looks he liked, what he thought about how the different clothes looked on him, what made him feel different ways about himself. Clothes are self-expression, after all-- they reflect how we feel about ourselves and support the image we are trying to project. Gabriel got into this, big-time, and then turned around and asked the dangerous question to himself:
What if we did this in Heaven, too?
What if he used what power he had to change the rules about what the angels wore? What if he told everyone they could wear whatever they wanted? The army would still have an uniform for when they were running drills or whatever and maybe there'd be a color-scheme because Gabriel knew The Metatron was going to lose it about this so he came up with some parameters but he basically overthrew the tablecloth tyranny and told every other angel that they were free to express themselves the way they wanted and, if you ask me? That's why he and The Metatron are snarking about Gabriel's suit during his trial.
The Metatron never got over the fact that Gabriel pushed the clothes thing and knew how to get just enough of what he could without making it more trouble than it was worth to kill him over it. The Metatron takes some evil delight in telling Gabriel that "appropriate raiment" will be provided for him-- he'll have to wear what The Metatron dictates, in other words-- now that he'll be a bottom-of-the-barrel junior recording analyst. Gabriel, though?
He got the last laugh. He used taking off his suit as a reason to leave, along with clearing out his non-existent desk, and fled Heaven buck ass naked rather than put up with The Metatron's bullshit for another minute.
The moment Crowley fell in love with Gabriel was when he saw just how much Gabriel loathes The Metatron in these just take me out back and shoot me ffs faces he was making during his trial:
Anyway, the point is that all the angels are following Gabriel's lead and that's probably half the reason why almost everyone in Heaven dresses in a variation of Aziraphale or Gabriel's styles. (Ever notice how Michael and Uriel look like they're in some kind of suit battle and both of them are trying to emulate Gabriel a bit?) While many of the angels aren't really reinventing the rules of fashion up there, the idea worked: they all look different from one another. They all can express themselves as they desire when it comes to how they look. They've all had to think about themselves for at least long enough as it takes to come up with outfits and view themselves as an individual person to do so.
It's perhaps worth noting in here then, too, how funny it is that The Metatron is a floating head... that's how he presents himself. He's the one character who doesn't have a body. It's symbolic of how he feels he's above even the idea of having anything like the pesky needs of human corporation. The ideal of Heaven is him, in his eyes, and he is above the vessel through which all living beings actually live...
...and the one challenging him every step of the way as much as he can is The Supreme Archangel...
...who, amusingly, happens to have a rather pleasing physical corporation appreciated by many, many different sorts of beings.
Looked at that way? Gabriel's peacocking about his clothes is not pure vanity but just the best example of what little rebellious fires he's been able to start Up there. A focus on clothes is also a focus on your body-- for better or worse-- and so it's not really surprising that Gabriel's Earthly hobby is looking goooood in some grey sweatpants while he escapes a little from the pressures of his world.
There's something kind of delicious about Gabriel deciding that he has some Saturday Morning Funtime now-- he has an exercise routine. He's like peace out, MetaT-- I'm going to take my fantastic corporation *jogging*. Rot in Hell, you fascist Mr. Potato Head...
Aziraphale is interruping Gabriel's alone time in 1.04 and if you look closely, you'll notice that Gabriel actually looks upset as he's running before Aziraphale sees him. He doesn't actually want to destroy Earth. He feels he has no choice and he's terrified of The Metatron but he likes Earth. He doesn't fully understand of it-- to be fair to him, no one really does lol-- but he likes it enough to have been escaping to it for awhile now.
By S2, in a parallel scene to the jogging one, Aziraphale will be beginning to get the idea of him and Gabriel both having versions of the Heaven-induced perfectionism and anxiety a bit more, though... and about how that's not any different from humans who go through the same thing.
The angel human doing performance art (complete with foreshadowing the discus halo) in S1:
The art of the Gabriel statue in Edinburgh in S2:
In S2, the art is a human-made sculpture deitifying Gabriel. It causes Aziraphale to further consider what life might have been like for a being who is, really, just some dude, but who has been held up as a holy symbol in this way by angels and humans alike.
Adding to this is that the statue of Gabriel is in the middle of a human graveyard. While this has a really eerie layer in S2 considering that we see it after Gabriel has fallen, which is a kind of death, and now lives among the humans, there's a way of looking at it that is also in keeping with what S1's human performance artist angel was talking about-- there's not this big line between these kind of beings.
Emphasizing this? The Angel Woman isn't just dressed as an angel-- she is also wearing a dress and a human sun hat. She reflects how having a halo hanging over your head symbolizing your need to be perfect in a way that causes you to see yourself as someone who should be above humans is not just an angelic thing-- it's a very human thing, too. That's the point of these angels and demons in Good Omens. They're just like us in every way that really matters and their stories are no different at the core from what we experience.
Crowley and Aziraphale actually have it a lot better than most of the angels and demons. They have been able to live on Earth since the beginning. They aren't completely free of the regime that threatens them but they've found a way of escaping it as much as they can. They've been free to learn and explore and experiment and enjoy much more than the others have. They've been free to have a relationship with one another-- to have a friend they can trust and talk to-- which not all of the angels and demons do. (Not all humans do, either.) Of all of the less fortunate characters? Gabriel, despite having some power in Heaven, might have actually been one of the worst off.
Why is Gabriel jogging in the park on the morning of the last day of Earth? Because Gabriel likes to go for solo jogs in the park...
... just like many humans who have stressful jobs and like to wake up on Saturday morning and throw on a sweatsuit and sneakers and get outside to get some fresh air, move, and try to quiet their thoughts.
That Gabriel is already in this place in S1 is a surprising twist thrown into 1.04 that actually makes us kind of want to scream at Aziraphale 'ask him why he's fucking jogging, Az!' Aziraphale is trying to make the point that they don't need to destroy Earth but the one thing he fails to point out is that Earth is the planet that they're currently both standing on and which Gabriel seems to really be enjoying.
Gabriel couldn't agree with Aziraphale in the jogging scene, though, even if he wanted to, for the most ironic reason possible. This one:
Crowley and Aziraphale don't realize it because they're afraid of Gabriel until S2 but he's as trapped as they are. He's as watched as they are. Ducks have ears-- there's always someone listening in the fascist regime of this Heaven/Hell system. Gabriel couldn't say in a public park anything that sounds outside of what he's supposed to say, even if he wanted to, or he'd be in danger for it.
Gabriel is wearing human clothes that are appropriate to the time period he's in while he's jogging. He has a preferred park and route. He's gone through a whole thing to get to this point-- seeing this activity, learning about its benefits, deeming it appealing and something he'd like to try, getting what he needs to do it, finding a time to do so, trying it out and getting good at it... he's done all this already by this scene, showing that he's already subtly rebelling.
There is also that a lot of humans jog, at least in part, to manage mental health issues. It's prescriptive for depression and when we see Gabriel in the post-S1/pre-S2-set flashbacks, he's exhibiting signs that would have gotten him instantly diagnosed with depression had he been a human. It was not new-- more like his default state-- before talking more intimately with Beez started to help him manage it.
This might indicate that Gabriel was already in a place pre-S1 where he viewed humans as having knowledge that could benefit him and other angels-- a point of view that Crowley and Aziraphale also share. To get there, he'd have to have stopped seeing himself as superior to humans-- if he ever did in the first place, which isn't really known. Gabriel does show a surprising aptitude for subversive thinking so it's possible he never really bought the idea that they were superior beings but, even if he did, he doesn't by sometime prior to S1 because the human activity he's gotten for a hobby is one known for helping humans manage the anxiety and stress he knows he also feels.
It's also an activity that Gabriel can get away with doing because it's physical and he's The Commander of The Heavenly Host, Heaven's armed forces. No one can question why he wants to go to Earth to work out because it seems like he's just a devoted soldier when, really, he's doing it to get away from everything for a bit. Jogging gives him time and space to think and to be alone, away from Heaven. It's peaceful when he knows precious little peace. He's also quite literally running from Heaven lol and this was already happening for awhile before S1 happened, let alone S2.
You might say: ok, but Gabriel doesn't *need* to jog... he's magical!
Yes, he's magical... which seems to be like having an extra-long, somewhat-eternal backup battery. It doesn't actually mean that Gabriel doesn't need to exercise. Living beings can go a surprisingly long time repressed from what it is that they need to survive and being magical is suggested to have caused some of these angels and demons to remain alive so long without what it is that they truly need to thrive as people that they've convinced themselves that they don't actually need these things.
Sure, the angels and demons have superhuman powers but they are also very human at the same time...
In S2, Gabriel will describe having what we might call human physical sensations on his way to the bookshop. His arms got sore from holding a box at a weird angle for awhile on his walk-- just like ours would. He was cold from being naked until Aziraphale gave him a blanket. Aziraphale was winded trying to jog with him in this scene in S1. Crowley has basically developed a human sleep schedule over the years to a point that while he can survive missing a night of sleep, he feels the effects of it, as he was mentioning in S2.
To say that these characters being magical means that they're "flawless" would be to get a little "master race" gross, right? And the show does not. The angels and demons have human corporations in all shapes and sizes. Human corporations are just one option for them, even if also the most common, and those options are not built to be without any challenges-- they're built to be human.
Crowley, for instance, is basically a god in terms of power and he's also canonically far-sighted. He built the known universe but he also can't read the paper you just put in front of his eyes without his reading glasses. He can make it rain with his fingertips... and he also has an anxiety disorder. All of this is a story that is using angels and demons as metaphors for human living. We humans have more power than we think, as shown through how the magical angels and demons in the story are more "human" than many of them have been led to believe.
All of the angels and demons might not be at risk from most major human disease, for example... but that's if you're talking about things like Covid and bubonic plague... not if you're talking about the most common ailments plaguing humanity. The major supernatural characters in this story have things like anxiety disorders, depression, and PTSD. Many of them have complicated relationships with food and insecurities about their corporations. They deal with issues of loneliness and the effects of different kinds of trauma and abuse. Every one of them has trust issues for days. Aside from the main four, most of the angels and demons have no idea how hungry, tired, lonely and unfulfilled they are because they think they aren't actually supposed to want things like food, rest, creative outlets, and friendship. If they do feel a desire for these things, they think there's something wrong with them because they've been told they not to want or need in this way.
The few of the angels and demons that can get beyond the b.s. they've been taught and consider that they might not be superior to humans and might have some things in common with them? They break through and start to learn from humans.
Even though they both see each themselves as not fully human and as basically living amongst-- rather than with-- the humans, both Crowley and Aziraphale have experienced enough of the world to know that they're not terribly different from humans. They don't see a lot of their own challenges and experiences as different from that of humans and they actively seek out human knowledge and thoughts on how to manage their way through life. They recognize that their full range of emotions is not any different from that of the humans-- whether the emotions in question are the love they feel for one another or something they have to deal with, like anxiety.
As we see in S2, the choice of corporation for a supernatural being can have consequences that can affect them as a whole. Yes, these beings are more protected than humans, as they can morph into whatever they want and they have miracles that they can use to protect themselves in most situations... but they can actually die if they get into a situation dangerous to them enough, like what The Bullet Catch could have been.
Furfur said that if Crowley had missed and Aziraphale had been shot in the head, that "they might not have been able to put him together again"-- meaning, that Aziraphale could have actually died from a bullet to the head... just like how humans can. While in human form, the angels and demons' minds really are contained within their brains, like is the case with humans. Supernatural beings have a mind-body connection to their corporations of choice-- just as we do with our bodies-- and they're basically all out here choosing human bodies as a default option, right? So, how different are they from us, really? Not that much.
This would mean that their corporations do need the same things that human bodies do. The difference is that, being magical, they can go for eons without addressing these needs, whereas most of us who are only human over here get hangry after four hours without a snack and need to sleep for several hours every day in order to function.
They do need to breathe to be healthy, if not to completely stay alive, because their corporations prefer oxygen and breathing causes the human body to function properly. They can go for millennia without eating... but that doesn't at all mean that they should. When they finally do, they can eat an entire ox without a second thought and why? Because they're starving. They can magically last an absurd amount of time in their repression but they're unnecessarily suffering in doing so.
Crowley and Aziraphale know this. They've learned it themselves. That's why they're giving out warm beverages and sarcastic masturbation tutorials to whatever interested supernatural beings shows up at the door for much of S2.
This is Gabriel's office, shown to us moments after his jog in the park:
That is where he's spent thousands of years. This is his office and what counts as his home. This dude doesn't even have a chair. Look at how huge that space is and how small he seems in it. He can't go out on that balcony. This isn't an office or a house so much as it's a prison cell. This scene shows us why he jogs in the park-- it's his time in the yard during his prison sentence, basically.
Look at how we and Michael come into the scene and see that Gabriel is just staring out the window at the world, tapping his finger against his mouth, lost in thought. This is not a being who is super jazzed to destroy this place later in the day. He's up there like a damn fairy tale princess, trapped in a glass tower in the sky, looking down at the human world and wondering why it is that it's only humans can have it when they really don't seem that different from the angels and demons.
All of us humans with terrible jobs and other stressful situations can usually find a way out of it, except for maybe those of us trapped in an active war zone. What do we humans do? We sleep, we shower, we do some yoga or meditate, we enjoy stories, we make art, we have some good food, we find things that make us laugh and share them with friends and loved ones. Some of us also seek other kinds of connection as well-- a sexual and/or romantic partner. S2 shows us that Gabriel is not aromantic, as he's fallen in love with Beez-- which just emphasizes that, for thousands of years, this sort of thing was never an option for him and another need that was not being met.
Michael is correct in S2 that Gabriel doesn't have a desk to clean out. He has a single, white pedestal without any drawers onto which the occasional file folder can be placed if someone has a meeting with him. (One wonders if Heaven only even has physical file folders as an excuse to have the occasional barely-there table just to break up the expanse of empty space to keep them all from going mad.) Aside from his clothes, he does not possess a single material object, as he's not allowed to.
Imagine not owning a single book. Not having a favorite blanket. Not having a favorite mug. Not having lost these things but having never had them before at all. No presents because you have no friends. The first person to ever give Gabriel something is Beez and that hasn't happened by this point in the story.
We know Aziraphale understands this. Aziraphale wanted a home with a door he could lock and privacy enough to try to live a life of sorts with his partner and a place to store the material objects that he owns. His own, cluttered desk with a million little nooks and shelves. A chair, books, a bed he can be in with Crowley without Head Office finding out and killing them for it. That's the genius bookshop embassy that Gabriel will run to when he finally cracks but Gabriel himself?
He's had almost none of that kind of freedom for himself.
Aziraphale knows what it is to have nothing of your own and that's why he gives Gabriel his angel mug. He's literally writing Jim's name on everything that Jim owns because he knows that while it's not about material objects, Gabriel doesn't have anything of his own. It's about choice-- down here on Earth, Gabriel can choose to call himself something different. He can have a more peaceful and satisfying job and books to read and a favorite drink and a mug of his own and friends to talk to. He can try the hot chocolate and the tiny dinners if he wants without anyone judging him or trying to kill him for it. He can be free to be his own person on Earth.
Consider the contrasting shots of Gabriel in 1.04, shown staring out the window of his prison walls at the Earth he was supposed to destroy... and Jim waking up on Earth, in cozy pajamas, to look out the window of the bookshop while making himself a warm, morning drink in his own mug.
Kind of makes you want to hug him, doesn't it?
Back in 1.04, though? The scene in Gabriel's office showed us what he's up against Up there and just how isolated he is at that time. Michael is the one angel you'd think he'd be able to trust, as they've been through it together for thousands of years, but we see very clearly why Gabriel does not trust them.
Michael is a hypocrite. They talk to the demons unofficially and Gabriel has been protecting them for it from The Metatron. Yet, at the first opportunity, Michael throws Aziraphale under the bus by reporting him for doing the very same thing they are. After S2, we see that this is also a swipe at Gabriel himself-- Michael knows that Gabriel knows about Crowley and Aziraphale and has never done anything about it, even though he "should" by the rules of Heaven. This isn't just Michael selling out Aziraphale-- it's Michael taking a shot at Gabriel himself. It's a reminder that there's always someone who seeks favor with The Metatron watching and Gabriel is completely trapped-- more so, even, than Crowley & Aziraphale.
He doesn't have any choice but to tell Michael that they can pursue it but he's gloriously bitchy about all of it. He doesn't so much as blink in telling Michael that he's sure there's "a perfectly innocent explanation"-- meaning: sure, go ahead, take a shot, but I am in charge and I will continue to be doing fuck all about Aziraphale boffing Bildad the Shuite, Michael.
He also is sly as all hell when he reminds them that "there are no back channels"-- by 'back channels', you mean you're calling your demon boyfriend, have I got that right, Michael? The one I happily pretend you don't have? God, you're awful...
Michael wants Gabriel's job and the brownie points with The Metatron so they're pursuing Aziraphale to show that they're willing to go after subversive angels and they're threatening Gabriel with exposing that he's known for ages about Aziraphale and did nothing-- which makes him an accessory to it. Gabriel has no other choice but to tell Michael to keep pursuing it but it's an example of how the wolves are always circling for Gabriel and how trapped he really is. His only defense is his you're going to regret fucking with me attitude.
As Michael leaves, the scene ends on Gabriel picking up one of the pictures of Crowley and Aziraphale. He's drawn to the one of them sitting together where?
Where Gabriel himself just was.
In the park.
What would it be like to live like they do? he seems to be wondering, for probably the millionth time. How much longer am I going to be able to keep them alive? Am I going to go down with them?
