Folks let me talk about Crowley and sunglasses, because I have a lot of emotions about when he wears them and when he doesnât, and Hiding versus Being Seen.
Weâre introduced to the concept of Crowley wearing glasses even before weâre introduced to Crowley, by Hastur: âIf you ask me heâs been up here too long. Gone native. Enjoying himself too much. Wearing sunglasses even when he doesnât need them.â
Honestly Crowleyâs whole introduction is a fantastic; we learn so much about his character in a tiny amount of time. The fact that heâs late, the Queen playing as the Bentley approaches, the âHi, guysâ in response to Hastur and Ligurâs âHail Satanâ. I like this intro much better than the one originally scripted with the rats at the phone company, but I digress.
Crowley wears sunglasses when he doesnât need them. Specifically, he still wears them around the demons, and when heâs in hell.
You know where Crowley doesnât wear glasses? At home.
We never once see him wearing glasses in his flat, except for when he knows Hastur and Ligur are coming. Thatâs an emotional kick to the gut for me. Hereâs one of the only places Crowleyâs comfortable enough to be sans glasses, and when he knows itâs going to be invaded he prepares not just physically with the holy water, but by putting up that emotional barrier in a place where he wasnât supposed to need it.
An argument could be made that Crowley actually never needs glasses. Weâre shown that itâs well within the angelsâ and demonsâ powers to pass unnoticed by humans. Crowley and Aziraphale waltz out of the manor in the middle of a police raid, and going unnoticed by the police takes so little effort that they can keep up a conversation while they stroll through. Even an unimaginative demon like Hastur apparently doesnât have trouble with the humans losing it over his demonic eyes. The humans in the scene at Megiddo are acting like âthis guy is a little weirdâ and not âholy shit his entire eyeballs are black jellyâ
That means that Crowleyâs glasses are a choice, just like Aziraphaleâs softness. Sure, he could arrange matters so that nobody ever noticed his eyes, but he doesnât want to. Crowley wants acceptance, and he wants to belong, and heâs never, ever had that. He didnât fit in before the Fall in Heaven, he doesnât fit in with the demons in Hell. With the glasses, and with the Bentley and his plants and with the barely-bad-enough-to-be-evil nuisance temptations, heâs choosing Earth. This is where he wants to fit in, perhaps not with the humans, but amongst them.
Even after Crowley is at his absolute lowest, when he thinks Aziraphaleâs dead and heâs on his way to drink until the world ends, he takes the time to put a new pair on when the old ones are damaged. He needs that emotional crutch right now, even with everything about to turn into a pile of puddling goo heâs not ready for the world to see his eyes.
Which is why I swore out loud when Hastur forcibly takes them off.
Itâs about the worst thing that Hastur could have done. Rather than leading with a physical threat, his first act is to strip away Crowleyâs emotional defences. Itâs a great writing choice because god it made me hate Hastur, even more than all the physical violence we see him do.
Itâs also the moment that Crowley really truly gets his shit together, and focuses all of his considerable imagination on getting to Tadfield and Aziraphale to help save the world. Heâs wielding the terrifyingly unimaginable power of someone whoâs hit rock bottom and realised it literally could not get any worse than this. He doesnât put another pair of glasses on after discorporating Hastur, and he spends the majority of the airbase sequence without them.
He puts them back on again, I think, at the moment that he really lets himself hope. When he thinks âshit, there may be a real chance that we get through this to a future that I donât want to loseâ.
The vulnerability is back, and he needs Adam to trust him. In Crowleyâs mind being accepted by a human means he needs to have his eyes hidden. Someone give the demon a hug, please.
Interestingly, thereâs only one time in the whole series that we see Crowley willingly choose to take his glasses off around another person. Only one person heâll take down that barrier for, and even then heâs drunk before he does it.
Dear God/Satan/Someone that makes my heart ache. Crowleyâs chosen Earth, but heâs also chosen Aziraphale. Heâs been looking for somewhere to belong his entire existence, and itâs with the angel that he finally feels it.
When the dust settles and the world is saved and they finally have space to be themselves unguarded, I like to imagine Crowley takes off the glasses when itâs just the two of them; the idea of being known doesnât scare him quite so much anymore. Â
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