GO3 Thoughts From the Lonely Middle Ground
I have spent a long time struggling with my feelings about S3. For me, it’s not about the ending, or at least, not only about the ending. It’s about what came before: the story with so many plotholes that it makes no sense; the drastic changes in characterization; the lack of nuance. Some of that can be explained by the season being cut to 90 minutes, but not all. There were lovely moments throughout, but without a cohesive narrative arc, so much of the movie felt to me like an AI-generated fever dream. The only part of the story I truly loved was the last five minutes, because it felt like an entirely separate entity reminiscent of human AU fanfics. I wish that I’d instead watched a 90-min movie based on that story, starting with the meet-cute and ending in the garden, and gotten all the in-between bits along the way.
But to me, the human AU ending with its lovely Asa/Anthony story has nothing to do with the film that came before it. The film that came before was so messy and riddled with continuity errors that suspension-of-disbelief never had a chance for me. Those who have known me for a long time know that I really dislike the idea of the Book of Life because it makes no sense. If it can be changed, then the present stops existing. If, say, you wipe Aziraphale from existence, then he couldn’t have given the flaming sword away, couldn’t have sheltered Crowley under his wing, couldn’t have lied to save Job’s children, etc. Who would Crowley be now if Aziraphale had never existed? What about the things they did together? Those things couldn’t have happened. Everything changes in ways that make the present entirely unrecognizable. The one thing that I didn’t want to happen in S3 was for it to be a Book of Life story. Then it was, and internal logic ceased to exist, and I felt betrayed by the writing itself.
The thing is, I know that many people who hated the finale would have loved it if the ending had been different. If Aziraphale and Crowley had properly communicated and found a way to put the world back without sacrificing themselves and everyone else, there wouldn’t be such a tear in the fandom. But for me? A happy ending would not have changed my feelings at all. My disappointment doesn’t hinge on the angel and demon getting their HEA, but on the poorly-plotted script. I can handle ambiguous endings and tragic endings. No, it’s not what I wanted for Aziracrow, but I can be satisfied – IF the story is written in a way to get us there properly. This story, this writing, didn’t fit the tone of the book or the former seasons, so the ending we got couldn’t change my thoughts on the show.
I’m happy for the people who really loved it, and sad for the people who really hated it. And I feel a bit lonely, stuck in this vague middle area of enjoying pieces of the show but ultimately feeling disappointed, underwhelmed, and pining for a better-written S3. Sure, I can write my own fix-it (and I am – one good thing about the BoL plot is that it makes writing a canon-compliant fix-it super simple!), but for me, the sadness I feel about what we got last month is exactly the same sadness I would have felt if the show had been canceled altogether. I can’t view it as canon, due to its own discrepancies, and therefore I can only imagine what S3 might have been.
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