For weeks, I've been seeing a resurgence of focus on the scenes involving Muriel's introduction and Aziraphale's reporter scene shortly thereafter.
I'd like to point some things out that I think might need to be noticed.
First, while we do see Muriel becoming something of an Ally to the ineffables eventually, when they are first introduced, there are a myriad of ways they could present themselves.
They chose to do so in a passable but not accurate costume and be perceived as innocent, naive, and ultimately benign.
Because they were perceived as such, they were welcomed inside, offered sustenance, and given a perception of the ineffables at ease.
That scene where they are calm and relaxed and we are all squealing about how married they are sitting on that chair? They are doing so in front of an essentially unknown entity of heaven. Purely because Muriel is perceived as nonthreatening.
Had they approached the bookshop in their own heaven clothes, they would have been less conspicuous to the public but also more suspicious to the ineffables. The plan was to spy on them, not the public. Best way to do that? Get in there. And that is exactly what happened. Is Muriel a cinnamon roll? I'm sure. But Muriel is not dim. Was the presentation done intentionally? Idk, but it certainly served their purpose.
So, next we see Aziraphale in his outdated costume entering the pub. We see him playing up the inexperienced, innocent, nonthreatening behavior.
Why? Well, it works.
One tends to attract more with sweet than bitter, yes?
When someone is calm and relaxed, not only are they more likely to answer any questions, they also show you more of their behavior and nature than when they feel they are being interrogated.
Aziraphale has literal millenia of seeing that pattern repeated. Muriel was a reminder for him of how well that approach can work as much as an example for us.
It's also what he does in the graveyard with the thugs, but with a bit more competency.
It doesn't always work because the person showing you their true nature may not be the nicest and will use that perception to attempt to overwhelm someone they perceive as weaker, but we know our Aziraphale has that steel core, don't we?
So, while I routinely block Aziraphale haters and so have not seen much of the ugly floating around out there, those who don't appreciate his genius and genuine kindness, don't really understand Crowley either. Because no one who does could hate Aziraphale.