June 3 | got to spend some time out in the sun reading today! this book maybe isn’t what I was in the mood for, but it’s a great and very grounded read. fascinating.
🎧: anyways, i love you — wild rivers
🎮: I have no mouth, and I must scream
📖: on earth we’re briefly gorgeous
✍️: lesson plans, AAC notes and social media reviews
Good omens season 3 discussion below. Feel free to send in asks or comment w thoughts!
I know, I know that this is yet another thoughts on season 3 and that that’s all that everyone is talking about right now. I think I just wanted a place to write down all my thoughts? So consider this a brain dump of everything I thought about it, after kind of being out of the loop of the fandom ever since the allegations came out. Feel free to read it, or skim it if you want a break. I’ll bold the main points. I really liked s1, went crazy bananas bonkers over s2… and now we’re here. I kind of fell off after I knew season 3 was going to be crazy. So, I hope you enjoy my little nook of conversation as I process my thoughts (many of them I haven’t seen really talked about on here, but I think are still valid points). I wanna try and make this into a conversational space, so if there’s anything you wanna add or talk more about or ask me about, feel free. First, a few disclaimers:
Firstly, all of this is my current opinion and honestly there’s a high chance it could change. It’s only been a day since I’ve seen the finale.
Secondly, whatever I say is not meant to antagonize anyone that doesn’t share these opinions. I’d love to have a conversation about it! That’s what this is all about :)
Thirdly… I want to give a huge huge shoutout to the production crew, the artists and writers behind this show. I could tell from watching it that they loved this project so much and were so passionate about making something worthwhile. Anything I say that’s a potential negative about the show isn’t about them or directed at them, and I don’t really think going after them is a great move. They took an impossible situation and gave us something that was full of love and a passion for creativity. I think their efforts shouldn’t be forgotten here.
That doesn’t go for Neil Gaiman, of course. He’s a criminal. That shouldn’t be forgotten either.
Also! I feel like the one thing a lot of my thoughts doesn’t recognize is that the people behind the show were put in actual literal hell with the production of this season. There were rewrites, cuts and edits that I can’t even imagine how they came to, and impossible decisions after impossible decision to squish everything into 90 minutes. For what they did, I commend them. Honestly. So, any nitpicks have to kind of be taken with a grain of salt because… I don’t know if they would’ve been feasible given the position of the team.
Lastly… full spoilers ahead.
Alright.
Things i liked!
Let’s get it out of the way because I feel like this is what everyone’s talking about: the ending. **I remember coming on here and seeing people flinch away at the idea of Azi and Crowley becoming human. And… I was one of the few people that actually liked the idea.** I just thought that them becoming something that they already acted like, away from both Heaven and Hell, was a good fit. I also, like other people have said, didn’t quite see how another ending would’ve fit. I don’t really know how they would’ve gotten their happy ending otherwise, you know? There’s another argument kind of going around that the humans we see falling in love at the end aren’t Azi or Crowley, which I suppose is true because of their memories being wiped. **And I know a lot of people are attached to those characters (as am I), but I always saw them as more of ideas than characters as well.** Crowley very much represents someone whose trauma has made them question everything, question the purpose of it and fight to make a better world. Azi very much represents someone who is trying to fix things from the inside out, believing in the possibilities of a better world through the systems already in place. **Those ideas still live on despite the ending. In fact, I’d say those ideas really ring true because of their choice to create another universe, where people can be allowed to do both without judgement.** Additionally, Azi and Crowley wouldn’t be who they are now without the events of the previous seasons. It’s always tricky when you play with time, which is why Doctor Who does so well by just having basically no rules to time and what little rules they do have be flexible. Because this show relies so much on a specific timeline, it can be hard to see it messed with in such an intense way. So I understand why people are having a negative reaction to the end. But I thought it matched well with the vibe they were going for, and it didn’t make me mad or sad or question the queer representation in the show or anything. I think it’s very poetic, and very bittersweet to have them fall in love in every universe except their own. It isn’t the straightforward, happy ending that we all wanted, sure, but it really makes you think about what it means to experience love, to sacrifice and to be human. That’s what a good piece of art does.
**So yes. I like the ending… as an isolated event. We’ll come back to that.**
Otherwise, **I liked that it maintained a lot of the silly, goofy vibes of the original seasons.I liked the fact that it kept its emotional weight and had some form of consistent themes running through it. I loved the music and the find the lady motif, I thought that was such a great idea. I loved their little animations, which were incredibly stylized and unique to this season. And I really liked Michael and Jesus in this! Jesus was probably my favourite (or top three let’s say) side characters we’ve seen. Michael was a very good villain and her motive made sense to me.**
As for what I didn’t like…
They made some choice I wasn’t too sure of. **There were some lines here or there that were a bit choppy,** and you can see the distinct lines between where episodes would have been (I’ll actually say I neither liked nor disliked that, I just found it interesting). **There was a lot of telling instead of showing, especially in emotionally grounded moments that made it feel like they were trying to save on seconds but it felt less natural because of it.** Still, I liked what they talked about! Just not maybe how they talked about it.
Also, I wasn’t mad we didn’t get a kiss. They’ve never shared a romantic kiss imo :( but I did think the two finger kiss thing was awkward. I would’ve preferred a little natural like… cheek caress or a forehead touch, rather than that. Just came off a little awkward.
Bigger things now. **I didn’t like how they wrote Muriel.** Muriel is an awesome character and for the whole point in this season being them admitting they were mindless and stupid is so far off from the original character. I think it would’ve been better if they had pat themselves on the back and saw the value of their contribution to the case (even if everyone else had already figured it out). I just think they were sooo wonderful and charming in the second season, and I didn’t love a lot of the side characters. I was sad to see them sidelined.
**I think they should’ve kept it to just one storyline.** Right now, they have it where the first 45 minutes are spent running around trying to find Jesus. They find him, immediately forget about him and go to find the Book of Life for the last 45 minutes. And I’m like… as much as I loved Jesus and wouldn’t want to see him cut… he could’ve easily been. He isn’t a central character nor is he important to the plot. Any of the motivations that came from him disappearing could’ve also come from the book of life disappearing. So, if I were a writer being pushed literally to the end of my rope on time… I’d probably cut him, and focus on Michael going crazy and destroying the book of life instead. Just have any Second Coming plans be interrupted by the book of life going missing. Because, let’s face it, this isn’t about The Second Coming. It’s about Michael wanting to destroy the book of life to start war. Theo Second Coming is an important part of the story, don’t get me wrong… but I feel like little is done with it anyways. It gives Azi a tangible reason to try and fix things in Heaven. And the book of life is already established in this universe! I dunno man. Just seemed like they were pushing in too many plot lines for a 90 minute season. That time could’ve been spent on Azi and Crowley, because they needed it.
Boy, did they need it.
I had mentioned that, as an isolated event, I liked the ending. As an isolated event. But not… as an ending that these two characters, as they are in this show, would have. And it all comes down to the choice… the choice to sacrifice themselves for the sake of a new universe in which they don’t exist. Both of them, making that choice.
I’m not mad that they didn’t end up together in the end, at least not in the way everyone had hoped. What I am mad about (maybe mad isn’t the right word actually, but I just think their scenes would’ve been so much stronger) is that Azi never gave a real apology. He asks Crowley to forgive him. That’s it. Crowley never gets to talk about how badly he needs an apology, when clearly he needs one. I don’t like that the big emotional speech we get from Azi is about how Crowley is the best angel he ever knew, which feels icky towards someone that clearly has stated they don’t want to be associated with Heaven anymore. You’re telling me that the former demon who is so insanely heartbroken that he spent years insanely drunk in an alley, who in the previous season would undergo any form of punishment to just have a chance at a peaceful life, would sacrifice any chance of that for humanity? And that the angel that is holding on to the hope that he can set things right so tightly that he left behind any chance he had at a peaceful life to set things right upstairs would go right along with it? I had my doubts, and I still do.
So how could this happen? Isn’t the whole show about humanity, the love of humanity and living without judgement, shame or prejudice? Yeah, it is. But what you’re starting out with are very traumatized, jaded characters. Both of them are, as anyone would be in their positions. They needed more time. And I know! It’s only 90 minutes. But they needed moments to reconnect with that love of humanity. A single conversation just to say “regardless of how we hurt each other, let’s put that away for our true purpose”. A moment where Azi breaks down as he emotionally resists but finally breaks down over the inevitability of Heaven’s fall. A moment where Crowley finally shows how he truly feels, only to find out that there’s something fighting for that’s more important to both of them. Maybe not a reconciliation, but an acknowledgement that all they’ve ever loved has now been taken from them, and that they’re nothing without what humans represent: the ability to try again. The ability to love fearlessly. The ability to forgive, in a way that no angel or demon ever could. The reason why they can love in the first place. There are moments of it, especially with the conversation in the Dim Sum restaurant… but they always seemed to go nowhere or be interrupted by side plots. There’s more to be said there for sure… but I’ll leave it there for now. I think with enough fleshing out that ending could’ve been absolutely perfect. I just would’ve liked more of a roadmap from A to Z. How did we get to this point? If you get what I’m saying. I know I brought that up with my roommate and they thought that Crowley would make that choice, and I think there’s parts of him that would. I think who he is at the beginning of season 3 would not.
I dunno, I’m glad we got something and I’m happy with the ending. And I think it did what all good shows should do, and make me think about storytelling and creativity and why we tell stories. It’s so important that we have pieces of media that do that. And I love good omens for that, as it’s always done. I’ll always love it for that.
Anyways, I’m up to owning any mistakes in my interpretation. And I’m open to any conversation. Cheers!
