“Doing good again, angel?“ - Aziraphale Deserves So Much Better
Let me preface this with: More power to you if you liked S3 and the ending of it. I wish I could see it that way and have peace. But here I am, still sad and a little bit angry. Setting the record straight for Aziraphale is my way of coping.
I will mainly be referring to S1 and S2 Aziraphale, as I feel he was grossly mischaracterised in the finale.
You wouldn‘t be looking for him unless you needed something. Cause you‘re a taker, you are. You never cared for him, or Whickber Street. … Where were you when it got bad? … I never thought you‘d be back to gloat.
No you haven’t (come back to help me)! This is about Jesus! You were bringing him back and now you’ve lost him … You leave me to sort out Heaven, you‘ve made it into more of a mess than it was already … You still don‘t get it. You can’t change anything! It‘s all rigged. There‘s always someone above you … You clearly can‘t do this on your own! … Does that (making good, upstanding choices) include choosing Heaven instead of me?
You just wanted to be left alone to read, to consume all the yummy human food, the lovely human music.
You were the first angel to lie to me. … You were lazy, gluttonous, prideful.
So, everybody and their neighbour literally feels justified to insult and humiliate Aziraphale.
What I like about S3 Aziraphale is that he has clearly given things some thought and makes an effort to defend himself when faced with accusations. He says as much to Crowley: “You showed me to be brave, to make a difference, to stand up for what I believe.”
Some of the allegations are true, and he even admits to them. “You say all that as if it negates me wanting to do the right thing”, he tells Satan. But much of it is hurtful, unjustified and downright false.
‘What were YOU doing when it got bad’, I would like to ask Mrs. Sandwich. How is the downfall of Whickber Street Aziraphale’s fault? Isn’t it more likely that it was his presence that upheld it for so long, maybe for longer than it would have stood in its own right? He forgave people’s rent so they could prosper and didn’t have to worry so much. Who, pray tell, is the taker here? When Aziraphale went to Heaven, he left people to their own devices, yes, but what kept them from taking matters into their own hands? Making yourself the victim is easy, leaving the garden and taking responsibility for yourself not so much.
I’ll give Mrs. Sandwich credit for supporting Crowley, and in all likelihood she had to listen to his ramblings for three years, making her take his side almost by default because Aziraphale never came back to explain himself. Not that I believe Crowley talked bad about Aziraphale, she just came to her own conclusions.
But she really knows nothing about Aziraphale if she assumes he would come back to gloat.
Crowley is heartbroken and bitter and has a hard time coming to terms with Aziraphale‘s reasons to leave for Heaven.
(Honestly, that shook me badly, realising that the F15 of S2 were actually meant at face value. No long term plan or secret language, no body swap, no hidden message or exchange of an item in the kiss!)
The facts are these: The Metatron threatened Crowley’s safety, and not at all subtly. Moreover, when he heard about the plans for a Second Coming, Aziraphale knew that Crowley as a demon would be damned forever if it happened in the biblical sense. Hiding on Alpha Centauri was not going to change this final outcome. Aziraphale tried to do right by Crowley and humanity probably in that order, I’ll admit.
And I know Aziraphale hasn’t always behaved saintly. Exhibit A:
“Doing good again, angel?“ Crowley asked Aziraphale in S2 when Maggie thanked him. He knows Aziraphale‘s nature well and still puts him down again and again and can‘t seem to let it go. Talk about holding a grudge! Which ultimately hurts no one worse than oneself. As much as I love the sad, wet snek, Crowley, too, could have taken responsibility for himself, picked himself up and done something apart from protecting the bookshop with the years in-between, even without his magical powers. Instead, he chose to wallow in misery and his own victim mentality.
Satan is right with his allegations and at the same time he‘s not. Yes, Aziraphale loved food, books and music, but he was also sweet and kind, he brought light to his neighborhood, he did try to help people, supporting them through his own resources, and to do the right thing when challenges presented themselves, even though the results were sometimes questionable. Exhibit B:
Aziraphale gave Adam his flaming sword to make sure he could protect his family in the wild. Otherwise the whole story would have ended before it even began, so not only was this an act of kindness but it was also crucial to God’s plan.
Accusing Aziraphale of lying, and I guess She means the sword more of a white lie than an actual one, imo, not Job’s children, is therefore quite self-righteous and lacks the kind of wisdom one would expect from an omniscient God. Also, She leaves everyone in the dark about Her own plans…
The rest of God’s accusations are downright mean and cruel. If Aziraphale was a vital tool to achieve Her plan, then even his love for quiet and food were part of it, just as much as his bitchiness. All of these brought him to where he came to be, helped him cope with his anxieties (we haven‘t even touched on those), and made him the resourceful angel he was.
I cannot believe the contempt in God’s tone and behaviour when She speaks to Aziraphale. Even when She talks about his love for Crowley it feels condescending, like, ‘well, that was cute and amusing and kept me entertained’.
It‘s a miracle to me how love found its way into this world at all with such an arrogant, spiteful and calculating God.
Personally, I choose to believe that it was Aziraphale and Crowley who brought love to humanity.
Edit: Quickly jumping back on here to say that the purpose of this is not to bash Crowley but to defend the angel we knew from before. I could have just as well taken Crowley‘s perspective and pointed out Aziraphale‘s behaviour in this mockery of a finale.
Credit and many thanks to @fuckyeahgoodomens for some of the S1 gifs!
