Michael once again reminds us what an incredible actor he's always been. This single shot holds all the pain and horror of war.

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Michael once again reminds us what an incredible actor he's always been. This single shot holds all the pain and horror of war.
Absolutely. I don't even have anything to add. The story ended up becoming exactly what it had been mocking all these years. LMAO.
Book/s1: the apocalypse is averted by 4 kids+dog, a witch, her himbo bf, a witch hunter and his seer fiancé. A couple of ethereal/occult dumbasses give a hand while looking cute in the background. s3: the apocalypse is real and ineluctable, only supernatural beings are left in the end, discussing very sophisticated themes in the most ham fisted way possible. Everything is suddenly so serious but the writers don't have the skills to deal with that. YMMV.
Husbands flirting around part 2 (I wasn’t sure what to add in that bubble so you can let your imagination run wild)
folds study with a pretty angel <3
This may have been obvious but I just put this together
"I work in soho, I hear things."
No, that's not it, Aziraphale. You got shadwell to spy on your boyfriend, didn't you?
Have we established how long Shadwell and Aziraphale have known each other because I find it convenient that just as Shadwell shows up to Crowley's meeting in the Dirty Donkey, Aziraphale turns up there too.
That's the face of a man who just got caught
This is exactly what happened, and we have a couple of clues to that end.
When Shadwell initially enters the heist meeting at the Donkey, we learn that Crowley had actually hired Mr. Narker. Shadwell informs Crowley that Mr. Narker has died and given over his business to Shadwell. Two things about this.
First, this plot point and dialogue are completely unnecessary unless it's a clue. My guess is that Mr. Narker experienced a "miraculous blessing" of fortune which detoured him away from Crowley's heist. Aziraphale then sends in his (hu)man Shadwell, with the story that Narker has died.
Which leads to the second point, being that Shadwell's story about Mr. Narker is pretty questionable. If Mr. Narker was dying and had the foresight to bequeath his lock master business to Shadwell, he apparently hadn't told his clients, aka, Crowley? And if Mr. Narker died unexpectedly, well then, there's no bequeathing of anything. It's a flimsy story either way.
Something I noticed on subsequent viewings is that when Crowley leaves the Donkey, Shadwell is already outside, standing and facing the bookshop. Possibly signaling to Aziraphale on the second floor confirming the heist is a go?
No matter what happened in 1941, no matter what transpired between them, Aziraphale has been keeping tabs on Crowley, protecting him from afar. Aziraphale is Crowley's guardian angel in the most literal sense.
And based on what we see at the heist planning, Crowley very much needs one because he is the worst criminal mastermind ever. He goes by his own name, he unquestionably accepted Shadwell into his heist gang on a word, without confirming anything, and my favorite bit, whips out a huge wad of cash in a room full of thieves who outnumber him three to one. Crowley. Darling demon. You may be able to perform miracles, but all it would take is a lucky bullet or knife blade to be discorporated. That eternal optimism can work against him.
One final observation. Given this, Shadwell's been on Aziraphale's payroll since at least the 1960's, and this "church caper" is almost certainly how Shadwell comes to work for Crowley. Which means he's been working for and checking up on both, each for the other, and double-dipping them for cash, for more than fifty years.
« I will try to understand why Heaven is a non-smoking area »
So, let me tell you a little story. Basically a friend and I got together to analyze a couple Good Omens scenes of our interest because we’re THAT obsessed, and I decided to actually post that, so here’s one of those analyzes.
Dine at The Ritz
I wanted to analyze the very last scene, and we ended up comparing it to the very first time we see our Ineffable Husbands protagonists having a meal together.
The sequence starts very abruptly, the camera focusing on the table and panning to Aziraphale finishing something and Crowley staring at him, keeping the whole sequence JUST on them.
The picture here is pretty symmetrical, divided by the chandeliers and the candle holder, wine shelves on both sides, and placing the angels on each side of the frame, though there was something a little off here. Aziraphale is siting up gay straight while finishing his meal, and Crowley, while having nothing more than what looks like coffee, is leaning towards him, breaking the composition.
He wants to get closer, but something’s stopping him, that “imaginary line”. We’re JUST starting the show, so our protagonists are not so close to each other as we’re about to witness. Aziraphale is still very well on “Heaven’s side”, so he’s keeping his distance.
But what happens at the very end?
This time, the transition from St. James Park to here is gentle, slowly dissolving and introducing us to the exact same location we’ve seen before but much more welcoming now. (I’d also like to mention how the color pallete resemble them and their clothes).
We first see/hear a person playing “A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square” on the piano; the camera takes us through the place, focusing on a couple of other ocuppied tables, and finally reaching our angels enjoying their evening.
Now, their table is full with food; both of them have a plate, a cup and glasses, and champagne is being served to them. Now, they’re actually taking their time to enjoy.
Something I LOVED about these two scenes was the uncorking of the champagne.
The first time, again, we’re presented VERY abruptly to the sequence. Not only the transition from one scene to the other, but the sound of the opening of the bottle. It’s the very first thing we hear.
And we never see who this bottle belongs to, where it’s opened, but it’s there, somewhere. A champagne is being opened, but it’s not theirs. This one is not for them. Not yet.
But at the end
As we get closer, the camera captures the exact moment the waiter opens the bottle. Now we see, NOW it IS for them
After a few lovely words and some heart eyes, they have a toast, breaking the “imaginary line” that was keeping them apart from each other.
Finally, again very gently, we’re taken away from the scene, leaving our protagonists chatting, as this great post mentions right here, with Aziraphale being the one leaning towards Crowley.
I’d also like to include this awesome tweet, which mentions this shot mirroring the scene at the Gate of Eden where Aziraphale puts his wing above Crowley’s head to protect him from the rain.
Anyway, this show has ruined our lives and we’re very happy about it
A Mini-Meta Musing #1 - Anything To Protect Crowley
I'm always a bit surprised at how Aziraphale is underestimated in the fandom. (I know he's in everyone's bad books rn, but breathe deeply and hear me out!). I've seen a lot of debate about how much, in his relationship with Crowley over the years, Aziraphale is rigidly fixated on right/wrong, good/evil, and uses it to push Crowley away. Sometimes, however, these discussions forget to take into account how often Crowley was punished by Hell. And Aziraphale knows.
Once he understood the constant risk of retribution the demon faced, Aziraphale's primary instinct and his self-appointed mission in the relationship became Protect Crowley. No matter what. Protect Crowley even when his friend is careless with his own safety. It's a huge factor in why he so often pushes Crowley away in later years, when they seem to be beyond all that. And I believe that it's also the real reason he built the bookshop.
Aziraphale desperately hopes the bookshop can help keep Crowley safe.
From the DVD commentary, episode 1:
The Garden of Eden scene, the wing scene is coming up
Douglas Mackinnon: And we’re heading towards what, I think, is actually my favourite shot in the entire series, which is the shot where it starts to rain and a wing comes up to cover the other angel.
Neil Gaiman: And it also covers Adam and Eve.
Douglas Mackinnon: Yeah.
Neil Gaiman: I love the fact that they’re covered by it too.
People have pointed out that the piano lid in the very very very last shot of the last episode reflects that wing and I’ve always meant to ask you if that was intentional or just gloriously accidental.
Douglas Mackinnon: It was gloriously intentional.
Fun fact: is some languages the grand piano is called ‘a wing’ :) (Flügel in German, křídlo in Czech)
IT ALSO PROTECTS ADAM AND EVE
Oh. So this may or may not be something:
At the table situated between Aziraphale and Crowley’s table and the grand piano, another couple is seated - a man and a woman, again.
And this time, at the Ritz, they are not covered by Aziraphale’s protective wing. They easily could have been, and still been seen clearly in the shot, just by seating them on the same side of their table behind Crowley, instead of where they are, on the same side of their table behind Aziraphale.
But they aren’t. And looking at the continuous shape they form, they almost seem to make up part of Aziraphale’s piano “wing.”
It’s almost as if humanity, no longer needing protection, are also Crowley’s protectors now.
Wouldn’t that be a thing. As if creation - the universe, if you will - were looking out for him. Makes you wonder what our poor, bedraggled, frequently damp, often singed demon did to deserve it.
I saw a post a week or two ago, somewhere in the GO3 tag, talking about how fans need to realize that writers don't owe them a "happy ending." Or any specific character resolution, story resolution, etc. Obviously referring to the notion the people upset about GO's finale needed to remember that they weren't entitled to the sort of ending they wanted, and there was nothing wrong with the story as it ended up concluding.
And I agree! Sort of. Meaning, I agree with the idea that people aren't entitled to a story working out the way they personally want.
BUT.
In my admittedly limited time hanging out in this fandom, I don't think that's what I've seen. It's certainly not what I personally experienced in my own viewing of the finale.
While it's perfectly reasonable to say that people aren't entitled to stories working out the way they want, I think it's just as reasonable to say that they are allowed to expect a story to function and resolve following its own internal rules. They are allowed to assume a story will maintain its genre, follow through with its message, address loose threads in a way that makes sense within its established logic.
It's not "entitled" to be weirded out and disappointed when your whimsical, fun, satirical comedy-with-a-dash-of-romance suddenly veers wildly off-course and ends up awkwardly metamorphosing into a nihilistic tragedy. It's not petty or whiny to be sad about characters you've known and loved for years being destroyed so suddenly and unexpectedly. Falling in love with a story that - for decades - has had a specific, uplifting, accepted thematic message, only to be upset when that message is abruptly tossed out and replaced with something wildly different isn't the same as demanding writers bend to your will.
Isn't that the point of choosing a genre, or an established fiction? If I want to watch something scary, I'll seek out horror. If I want something heartwarming, I'll go for... I dunno... a Pixar movie or whatever. That's not me demanding things or being entitled; it's me making a choice about what I want to see based upon the established characteristics of specific bits of media.
People aren't upset just because they didn't get the kiss they wanted; they're upset because they decided to watch GO3 with the understanding that this piece of fiction was built around a specific sort of theme and vibe and wholesome message - based upon an established canon - and then they were smacked upside the head with something entirely different.
It was disorienting for me, and I've just been partaking in this fandom for a few months. I can't even imagine how shocking and jarring it was for people who've been here for years.
~ the prettiest star 💫~
inspired by this beautiful frame from the good omens s2 opening title sequence
ok how about this. one day in the bookshop when aziraphale is out crowley takes a jane austen book off the shelves just out of boredom and curiosity. the cover falls off. it was a sleeve. underneath? demon fucking smut
(putting this here so as not to clog the comments further)
"Angel, when you said Jane Austen wrote novels, I didn't realize you meant THIS."
Crowley held up a book with a very, erm, well-endowed engraving pasted on the cover, entitled Ye Wily Serpent, Satiated. "Thought you meant Georgette Heyer stuff, more in your line."
Aziraphale's glasses fell into his tea. "Give me that!" He snatched the book from Crowley's hands, cheeks burning very unangelically. "She didn't write, er, stuff like this. A customer must've... misshelved it. When I wasn't looking."
"...Riiight."
Probably the semi-popular GO fandom take that most grinds my gears is how many people eat up the C&A mentor-protégé dynamic that S2 introduces and S3 really commits to. It's just so insidious. Even in relatively benign posts, people's delight in the idea that Crowley is teaching Aziraphale how to live in and see the world, with rarely any acknowledgement of reciprocal influence, is very upsetting to me.
And, now that we have the full show canon, it's apparent that this is what the primary show writer intended to convey. So I can't get mad at people for seeing that.
Tbf, I'm sure plenty of people who liked this note in S2 draw the line at how it played out in S3. Even if it's not my favorite way of looking at the story in total, it's a valid interpretive lens on S2 that Crowley, who has been forcibly ejected by heaven, is showing Aziraphale, who is still somewhat (and increasingly reluctantly) affiliated with heaven, another perspective.
But this is a far cry from S3's message that a) Crowley is solely responsible for any courage, understanding, or growth on Aziraphale's part; and b) it is fitting for Aziraphale to cede control over his own fate, even to the point of death, to Crowley.
And it has been heartening for me to see that even people who have a more critical take on Aziraphale than I do think the S3 message is bonkers.
I hear you thinking "but S2 does show that Aziraphale has influenced Crowley!" And I agree that the joint magic trick theme shows that Aziraphale has helped Crowley learn to trust. But that, to me, is outweighed by moments like Crowley introducing Aziraphale to food, Crowley playing Socrates in Edinburgh, and Crowley scolding Aziraphale for hosting the ball.
I see tiny indications of what was to come in S1, but overall it feels like the S1 narrative actually respects Aziraphale as a subject, an individual in his own right, rather than Crowley's puppet, and shows a more mutually beneficial partnership between them. While S3 turns Aziraphale into an object through which Crowley realizes his One True Heroic Purpose.
And to the extent that S3 does prove Aziraphale right (via some terribly written dialogue) by confirming that Crowley is good and that it would be wrong to run off to Alpha Centauri while humanity suffered, it never feels like victory or vindication for Aziraphale. Instead his correctness on these points merely confirms that Crowley is the new Messiah.
Maybe I'm just annoyed with myself for expecting S3 to recontextualize this stuff, to clearly show that Aziraphale has influenced Crowley, too. To bring them back into balance, shades of grey, different but equal.
Ah, those heady post-S2 days when I would think, "it's television, and scenes are cut. Perhaps we lost them that way." And yes, I always thought it would balance out.
Interestingly, I always thought that the thing that Aziraphale taught Crowley (or tried to) was very much like the quieter way he protected Crowley (the bookshop) and saved him (sleight-of-hand, pedantry).
He tried to teach Crowley to find and fully feel joy in everything despite all they were up against, and not to give in to cynicism*.
And that is indeed a wisdom, but again, very subtle. I'm not sure the writers noted it. *this isn't the word I need, but I don't feel like "despair" really is either, "world-weariness"?- anyway, rather than sit on it till I find the proper word, I'll let you clever people find it yourself.
You bring up some examples that I had deleted from a previous draft! I do agree with you about these other ways that Aziraphale contributes to the relationship.
I think it's strongly implied that Aziraphale's capacity for joy has positive effects on Crowley. Aziraphale makes him smile, makes him laugh, makes him stop and enjoy life.
I also think Aziraphale made the bookshop a home for Crowley. Obviously, he's the only demon allowed in (prior to the FF morning), and the statue for his glasses, the scotch (I doubt Aziraphale drinks scotch on his own), and the sofa all seem like homey touches meant for Crowley's use.
The weaponized pedantry is definitely a strength of Aziraphale's, and I think it's possible Crowley learned that from him. The order of operations at the airbase is that Aziraphale starts the rules lawyering, asking about the difference between the great and ineffable plan, and then Crowley joins in. Later, in S2, Crowley makes up the rule to keep the demons out of the bookshop. But the connection is a bit tenuous.
We also never get confirmation of Aziraphale's big special power like we see Crowley's time/matter power. My hc is that it's healing, and the war opening hints at this, but it would have been nice to have seen him really use his power. And @masnadies I know you have a (very logical) hc that Aziraphale is good at wards and protection spells.
It makes me so sad that Aziraphale's strengths and the times when he is in the right are either left to founder in the subtext or, as in bookshop Eden, are used as a launching pad for Crowley to attain new levels of Big Pointless Heroics.
And, let me be clear, I think book/S1 Crowley would not approve of any of this!
Can we all just appreciate that when Aziraphale was playing Crowley, he played him far cooler and sexier than Crowley had portrayed himself the entire show. Crowley is a dork, but that isn’t how Aziraphale sees him. He genuinely believes Crowley is the suavest and coolest being he knows.
And Crowley plays Aziraphale as incredibly brave, yet extremely forgiving and kind to the end. Someone who shows no weakness even when faced with destruction.
Just the fact that they each see the other as the best version of themself is so incredibly sweet and perfect to me.
One of the most haunting things about GO3 for me is that the ending transforms the entire meaning of “eternity” in Good Omens.
Back in season 1, when Crowley tries to convince Aziraphale to help raise (educate) the Antichrist, one of his biggest arguments is the horror of post-apocalyptic eternity.
Not death.
Eternity.
Not simply losing Earth and humanity, but losing everything that made existence meaningful in the first place:
food, music, books, art, messy human lives, arguments, wine, Queen songs, ridiculous pubs, warm dinners, Bentley drives, nightingales.
Crowley and Aziraphale were never afraid of existing forever.
They were afraid of a dead eternity.
An eternity of endless Heavenly bureaucracy. Endless “Heavenly harmonies.” Climbing the same mountain forever and ever.
In season 2, Alpha Centauri still exists as an escape fantasy. A survival plan. A place where they could exist together forever, outside Heaven and Hell.
And Aziraphale never truly rejects eternity with Crowley. He rejects abandoning humanity.
That’s important.
Then GO3 does something devastating: they literally fly past Alpha Centauri.💫💞✨
Past the possibility of survival. Past the possibility of personal eternity together.
And eventually… they let eternity go.
That’s why the ending hurts so much for some of us.
Not because Aziraphale and Crowley “became human.” But because the show seems to suggest something even more tragic: that they ceased to exist as themselves.
And the reincarnation/multiverse interpretation honestly doesn’t comfort me much.
Because if Aziraphale and Crowley keep finding each other in every universe, every lifetime, without memory of who they once were, then that isn’t really eternal love.
It’s eternal repetition.
Not eternal happiness. Not eternal reunion.
Just endless versions of approaching each other again and again without ever fully reaching the original “us.”
And somehow that feels terrifyingly close to the very thing Crowley feared in season 1: another form of eternity without escape.
A different mountain. The same climb.
What makes it even more painful is that Aziraphale and Crowley never fully understood humanity to begin with.
They loved humans. Protected humans. Were fascinated by humans.
But they constantly observed humanity from the outside.
Crowley understands cruelty, violence, systems, fear, war. But ordinary human emotional chaos genuinely confuses him:
Jane Austen being both a smuggler and a romance novelist.
People turning tragedy into tourism (The story of Mr. Dalrymple, and the "Resurrectionist" pub).
Love is not working according to “conditions” or “ritual dances.”
Even Nina and Maggie prove that human connection cannot simply be engineered.
Humans are too contradictory. Too irrational. Too alive.
So if Aziraphale and Crowley really did reincarnate as humans while retaining fragments of their former selves — their love of books, stars, music, nightingales — then maybe they would always remain slightly alien inside humanity.
Always searching for connection. Always feeling incomplete. Always sensing some absence they cannot name.
Not angels anymore. Not demons anymore. But never fully human either.
And maybe that is the true tragedy of GO3.
Not death.
But endless becoming.
Endless searching.
Endless learning how to be human without ever fully understanding why being human hurts so much.
Maybe that’s why the ending feels less like a traditional “happy ending” and more like a cosmic elegy about memory, identity, freedom, and the unbearable weight of eternity.
art block is still here so im just substituting aziracrow into paintings lol. this is the lovers by emile friant, i figured i should put their names in these artworks too yehahahaha
(note: crowley w long hair yoohooo !!)
So, the official Good Omens store has Pride merch. I feel weird about it.
On the one hand, some of it is lovely. It looks thoughtful and aware of GO's queer audience and our enthusiasm. They're also donating all profits to queer charities. That's nice.
But this is all now tied to a show that killed its queer-coded protagonists, that never let them so much as hug even as human shadows of themselves. A show that gave us no answers about Maggie and Nina except that they lost the businesses they loved. A show that killed a queer man between seasons and left his spouse thinking he'd committed suicide. A show that took a fan-favorite nonbinary character and had them die while cheerfully insisting that they had always been an idiot.
Does the store have the right to sell pride merch after that finale?
The store is run by Terry Pratchett's estate and has no financial or business affiliation with Neil Gaiman. Can I take it enough on faith that they didn't endorse how the queer characters were treated in the end?
I did buy these pins, despite my qualms. They're the most overt acknowledgement we've ever gotten of Crowley and Aziraphale connecting with human queer identities. I found that, for all my heartbreak, I couldn't say no to that.
The package also came with a note.
What does it mean that a package that sold me a pin of Aziraphale with rainbow wings also includes a note that says he has no idea what those colors mean? What Pride is? "Aziraphale" thanks me for being me and tells me to love bravely, but can't say the word gay (let alone any of the other words).
Is this the intersection of good intentions and fear of corporate punishment? Or just an empty attempt to maintain ally points?
With a show that concluded with the death of every single character and an attempt to say that our real, nonmagical world was the real happy ending, why include this note that takes place in some whimsical non-time during season two? Maybe Rob Wilkins and the rest of the Terry Pratchett estate are sending little cues that we should ignore the finale. Maybe it isn't that deep and they just thought it would be cute.
My package also included a free bookmark.
And I think this is the best symbol of how Good Omens failed its fans. Saying "Love is Love" with romantic leads who aren't even touching.
I'm sure some level of good intentions went into this merchandise and its packaging. Under different circumstances I would be thrilled about all of it. But here, today, I just feel so tired.
They also have this beautiful print with the caption:
"To the world — exactly as you are."
But you know...
https://goodomens.com/products/print-a-sheltering-wing-pride-special-limited-edition