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humbledragon669 · 5 months ago

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So one thing led to another, and I’ve just paid a visit to the first (that we know of) confirmed Good Omens S3 filming locations. Due to the obvious sensitivity of this material, please tag it accordingly and share only with the fans consenting to know potential spoilers.

A fellow Good Omens fan has mentioned that residents of a certain Edinburgh area had unexpected guests recently, knocking on their door and telling them they are filming in their street soon. Imagine their surprise when a polite question about the details led to the offhand answer: “IT'S ONLY GOOD OMENS”.

For those unaware, the City of Edinburgh Council has been working really hard on promoting the city for film and TV industry for a few years now (the effects of which we saw in S2), and has a set of very clear and very publicly available guidelines regarding the modus operandi here.

The Good Omens production has both large scale and a high impact on a specific location due to the crew size, amount of technology used, and requirement for crowd control in most of the exterior and interior scenes (e.g., bookshop, pub, or coffee shop windows), which is why not only the local authorities, but also residents were informed about the filming with an at least 8 days notice:

Ironically, I just had happened to have a trip here planned and a hotel booked within walking distance to the locations on the attached TM and parking plan map, so it would be a waste not to use this opportunity for the greater good of the fandom. Can’t stay long enough to see the actual crew, so unfortunately the hair photos will have to be made by someone else. Disappointing, I know. But there’s still a lot to be excited about!

According to the provided notice, the filming will happen within one working day with the required set-up planned for the day before, mostly in the afternoon hours. The attached map shows planned parking suspension and SYL dispensation on two streets close to the chosen locations, which is where the trailers and equipment vehicles will park:

Location One turns out to be, rather surprisingly, a cosy corner bookshop. The shop — one of the Edinburgh’s oldest surviving secondhand bookstores — is very small, but crammed with a wide ranging library of beautiful books to serve readers and collectors, including antiquarian true first editions and signed copies.

It’s giving Muriel’s sweet and whimsical charm, but the bits and pieces of the unpublished Good Omens sequel point out not towards Whickber Street, where the angel currently resides, but more towards a new in-universe location. Maybe one that will be opened in the future post-Second Coming, maybe one that will remind one of the characters about a home base of operations back in the heart of London’s Soho (and theirs— wait, who said that?).

Notice that the road closure includes north and south sides of the pavement visible in the last photo, so both indoor and outdoor shots could be expected:

Location Two seems a bit more complex, since it’s basically a skewed triangle consisting of one longer street and a short side street diverging from it. Conveniently for the filmmakers, the architecture here is uncharacteristic enough that it could be easily presented as British, Scottish, or even American. I’m personally a bit partial to the last option since it would make sense story- and budget-wise, especially now with the two people previously adamant on shooting the US scenes only on location there not on the production team anymore.

The contrasting structures and materials visible here easily offer background for multiple potential contexts and scenarios, so much in fact that it’s easy to imagine more than one scene being shot here for cost- and time-effective reasons. Some of the buildings along the cobbled road have the right look and feel for historical flashbacks, as you can see below. I find the two separate entrances next to each other particularly lovely:

A considerable part of the buildings in the area, however, belongs to a more modern complex that communicates a very different personality and function. With a bit of camera and post-production magic, it could transform to a wide range of settings — please let me know your thoughts and ideas if you have any!

Specific filming times and more detailed information are consciously not shared out of concern for the crew and cast members who clearly don’t want them to become public knowledge. Those of you who live in the area and might visit the set anyway, please don’t forget to make sure that your presence won’t bother them as well as other locals. And remember to keep any new photos and information contained with tags so that you won’t spoil it to the people who would rather wait for the movie itself!

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humbledragon669 · 5 months ago

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Aziraphale, Walking

I know we talk a lot about Crowley's saunter, but may I present:

The careful way Aziraphale walks?

The way he looks so solid and strong?

So sure?

He seems to like his body (corporation)

And that's so sexy

He appears to be ten steps ahead, on a particular, precisely calculated path at any point

Anyway, I love the way he holds himself

And Crowley definitely appreciates that too:

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humbledragon669 · 5 months ago

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Beautifully put together, some really lovely insights!

Powell and Pressburger easter eggs in Good Omens.

I gathered all of those mentioned within the trivia section of Prime. I also added all the possible behind the scenes posters, even went ahead and looked for the grave inscriptions on the tombs of Powell and Pressburger. Go on and read them, they’re beautiful. “For love is heaven and heaven is love”.

There is an extra slide I’ll add in the reblogs because I can’t put it here.

Who were Powell and Pressburger?

The British film-making partnership of Michael Powell (1905–1990) and Emeric Pressburger (1902–1988)—together often known as The Archers, the name of their production company—made a series of influential films in the 1940s and 1950s.

Their collaborations—24 films between 1939 and 1972—were mainly derived from original stories by Pressburger with the script written by both Pressburger and Powell. Powell did most of the directing while Pressburger did most of the work of the producer and also assisted with the editing, especially the way the music was used. Unusually, the pair shared a writer-director-producer credit for most of their films.

#good omens #easter eggs #powell and pressburger

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humbledragon669 · 5 months ago

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S2E3 - I Know Where I'm Going Write Up P3 - Aziraphale’s road trip and Crowley’s (friendly) conversation with Jim

This may well be another short(er) instalment, for similar reasons to the last one - ultimately this episode just breaks down into nicer chunks if I tackle this “present day” section on its own. That said, we should all be familiar with my tendency to ramble by now so let’s see how I get on.

The very first thing I wanted to comment on is the cut between the past of Edinburgh into the present of the Bentley. It’s entirely visual/audio so describing it is likely not to come out too well, but I’ll give it a go. At the end of the previous scene, the camera pans up and then appears to move, extremely quickly, towards the sky. At the same time there is a noise in the soundtrack, a “whoosh” that suggests rapid movement. On the opposite side of the cut there’s a tiny movement that suggests the end of the movement which ends on a close up of Aziraphale’s face. I hope that didn’t come off as too laborious. Not much I can do about it if it did anyway. Anyway, all of that to say that this cut between scenes suggests to me that, just like with the previous episode, the scenes that we see of Edinburgh are actually Aziraphale’s memories, his flashbacks. Which in and of itself, doesn’t really seem important. It does however lend credence to the theory I raised in the last section (that the minisodes show us epiphany-inducing moments specific to the angel, rather than being simple retellings of events that have occurred in his history).

I don’t think it would be inaccurate to say that the scene that follows in the Bentley is something of a fandom favourite for the Clues it gives to the state of the relationship between Aziraphale and Crowley, and for a couple of neat media references that can be found in it. I won’t be going over well-trodden ground too much in this write-up, and I’ll try and keep it as brief as possible. With that said, I want to touch briefly on the changes we see on the Bentley. I’ll start with the music, which, as is explicitly stated, is classical (Danse Macabre by Saint-Saens to be exact. I looked for a potential Easter egg here but couldn’t see anything obvious) and “stays classical”. This last point is pretty obviously a reference to the fact that all music in the Bentley inevitably eventually changes to Queen, not dissimilar to the music in the jukebox Aziraphale is seeking out (artist and song differences aside). There is something here I find interesting though:

So, we can see that the radio has been tuned to BBC Radio 3. For those of you outside the UK, this particular radio station does play whole programmes of classical music, though they do play other genres. He would probably have been better of choosing Classic FM if he had wanted an uninterrupted schedule of classical music. Perhaps there was a rights issue. Anyway, that’s not what I find interesting. If I understand correctly, the fact that Aziraphale is using the radio is what facilitates the conversation that is about to take place with Crowley. I think I actually recall that communicating using existing radio waves was something that Crowley had suggested to Hell as a precursor to the mobile phone. So, radio in use = possible communication. So far, so good. Here’s the “but”. It’s typically static sources of music that are prone to changing when left in the Bentley - in the book it was cassette tapes, in the show it’s updated to CDs. I have a feeling it may even be possible to use the cassette/CD player in an attempt to stop communications coming through (no radio waves = no communication) - I think this may even be why Crowley inserts a CD when trying to get through the wall of fire in the first season. So we have a bit of an inconsistency with the lore here. In all likelihood, I think it’s probably another instance of scriptual convenience - we need to have the conversation; we also need to be told how the Bentley has adapted to Aziraphale’s preferences. You can’t have both things whilst maintaining the previously established elements of Omens legend. There might be some other things to be said about whether the angel chooses to use the radio in order to ensure communication with Crowley was possible, or whether he’s actually not aware of how the music tends to change, but I think it might be overkill in this particular instance.

Looking at some of the other changes we see to the Bentley itself - there’s the horn (now delightfully camp) and of course, the colour. Looking first at the former, I was trying to recall a time when we hear the horn when it’s not Aziraphale driving but I’ve come up empty (even after watching some of the scenes where it might most likely be used), so if anyone has an example I’d be grateful - that way I can make a direct comparison. As it is, we only have Crowley’s word that the Bentley’s horn doesn’t sound like that all the time, though I will agree that it’s hardly the mean sound you might associate with a demon’s car. The colour though, we can be in no disagreement as to the huge change that has been made there. And it would be remiss of me not to highlight the commonly accepted fandom trope that Aziraphale has chosen yellow because it matches the colour of Crowley’s eyes.

(Image shamelessly lifted from a Reddit post by r/goodomensprime - if you’re here on Tumblr, let me know and I’ll credit you properly)

It’s quite a sweet little tribute really, and gives us a huge insight into Aziraphale’s feelings. It’s no wonder he looks so put out when Crowley tells him it’s unacceptable.

There’s something else about this exchange though, and (combined with the demon’s comments about driving at the speed limit) should tell us a lot about Crowley’s link to the Bentley, which is that this vehicle really is like an extension of his own being. The horn he could hear, maybe even the travel sweets (that’s quite a distinctive noise it makes when Aziraphale removes it from the tray), but the colour? And he doesn’t just know that the colour has changed - he knows what colour it’s been changed to. At this point I feel like it’s worth noting the phrase that Crowley uses about the changes to the Bentley:

CROWLEY: What are you doing to it?

So here’s the insinuation that the changes to the Bentley are being intentionally caused by Aziraphale. The fact that it “doesn’t seem to want to” drive above 30 miles an hour would further suggest that the changes are not being resisted by the Bentley, if there is to be an element of sentience applied to the car. I feel like there is something to be said here about Aziraphale presuming tangible changes to something that isn’t strictly within his (moral) power to do - we’ll see that presumption raise a very ugly head in the Final 15. And just as with the Final 15, status quo with the Bentley is returned by force and threat, albeit in a slightly less devastating way.

When I was first writing my notes for this episode (which seems like a very long time ago now), I made a comment about the presence of tartan and the loch ness monster in this shot. Now that some time has passed, I have been made aware that this is a direct reference to a Powell and Pressburger film that this episode shares its name with. I also now understand that this is one of many references to the work of the British duo. @captainfantasticalright made a beautiful post about it here and rather than rehashing the lovely work they’ve already done, I’ll direct you there. It's really beautifully put together. The only thing I now find odd about this tableau is that it’s a really “breaking-the-fourth-wall” sort of reference. As much as I can remember, the Easter eggs I’ve seen up to now are subtle - they blend into the background, and look absolutely natural. This one, sweet and comedic as it is, sort of screams that there’s something to be found. I think the tartan is supposed to look almost like sedentary rock, and I feel like it almost does. The Loch Ness monster is somewhat harder to argue about on that point, though you gotta love the addition of the bagpipes to that awesome rock treatment of the theme tune as this scene plays out.

I don’t think I have an awful lot to say about the next scene with Beelzebub, other than perhaps we should have realised there was something more going on with her than he run-of-the-mill Hellish responsibilities. It’s pretty clear she’s very worried about Gabriel’s absence, especially as we actually haven’t had any indication that she’s been issued with any instructions to find him from higher-up. I do quite like the throwback to the conversation she had with Crowley earlier on in the season when she asks the crony if they ever wish they were told they were doing a good job, and it makes me suspect that part of her mental crisis isn’t just about finding Gabriel, but that she has started to sympathise with Crowley’s point of view when it comes to doubting those that exert power over you.

That book that Gabriel is using to try and understand the concept of gravity is another Powell and Pressburger reference. Again, I’d encourage to look over that blog post if you want to find out more about this particular Easter egg (or the whole set of them).

Those two GIFs are there for no other reason than so that everyone can watch Crowley showing his fully domesticated self, stalking around the bookshop, looking sassy whilst he does it. Do I need any other reason that that? I mean, those bicycle clips around the arms are a slightly strange choice, but I can understand the logic for them being there. And I know I’m nowhere near the first person to want to know exactly what it is that the demon is doing here. Tidying? That seems like a sensible solution.

Ah. Not tidying then. Or perhaps intending to tidy and getting bored. I can only assume he’s trying to keep himself busy here, as opposed to being bored without Aziraphale or stressing about the state of the Bentley. I have seen a lovely little catch somewhere that there are an awful lot of fire extinguishers on the second floor of the book shop (which we’ll see in episode five), and that this is likely to do with the fire that consumes the store in the first season. With that in mind, it would be nice to think that Crowley is at this point covertly making space for those extinguishers by moving books. That said, if the fire deterrents were in response to the previous fire, you’d think they would have been installed long before now. And then there’s that sneaky little suggestion that the people involved in the aversion of the Apocalypse in the years prior don’t actually have any memory of the events as they took place. Whatever Crowley’s reason for his “tidying”, there’s another suggestion about the demon’s behaviour that I really love, which is that he brings an organised chaos to Aziraphale’s disorganised chaos, and with that in mind I think it’s a real shame we don’t get to see what books it is that he’s carrying. I guess we maybe shouldn’t be surprised at his actions here; according to the book has sorted his CD collection meticulously, so it stands to reason that he might want to bring order to another collection (especially if, like me, you believe he’s actually living in the bookshop with Aziraphale at this point).

Leading on from that bracketed point in the last paragraph, I think it’s probably worth noting that Crowley is sans sunglasses at this point. On the one hand, I can absolutely see that this is likely because he’s comfortable in his environment and feels physically and emotionally safe there. On the other hand, we know that his feelings towards Gabriel are, and will continue to be, very guarded. He still doesn’t trust this ex-archangel, not one little bit. Nor is he particularly comfortable with Muriel, who may or may not be in the book shop at this point. And yet, these are the only beings with which he can interact with during this scene. It just strikes me as a little odd that he would go without them, particularly in Aziraphale’s absence, but it does at least really highlight how comfortable he is when he’s at home in the book shop. And if you don’t think that relaxed attitude is evident from the lack of eyewear, it’s blatantly obvious in the way he speaks with Jim about his plan.

I mean, it’s so conspiratorial. Again, remember how much Crowley hates and distrusts Gabriel at this point. Even Aziraphale hasn’t gotten comfortable enough with Jim to speak to him with that level of comfort, so I find this friendly tone from the demon very peculiar.

And on that bombshell (not really a bombshell at all, it’s just something that Brits say when we get to the end of something thanks to a popular television show), that’s the end of this section. Again, not exactly short, particularly as it was less than 5 minutes of film, but shorter as far as these write ups go. More of the same for the next one I think, but I guess we’ll see when I get there. As for now, and as always, questions, comments, discussion, always welcome. See you for the next one!

#good omens #episode analysis #aziracrow #ineffable idiots #aziraphale #crowley #ineffable husbands #head canon #good omens soundtrack #good omens bentley #good omens book #good omens gabriel #good omens jim #good omens beelzebub #good omens music #easter eggs

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humbledragon669 · 6 months ago

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S2E3 - I Know Where I'm Going Write Up P2 - Edinburgh (1827)

I have a sneaky feeling that this might be a short one - if I try and do the first Edinburgh section as well as the next “present day” section, this is probably going to come out way too long, but let’s see.

There’s something missing for this introductory Edinburgh scene - have you noticed? This is the first time we’re introduced to a new time period without a banner on the screen to announce when and where the action is set. We do of course have Aziraphale’s voiceover to provide us with that information, so it’s not like there’s any confusion caused by the lack of a banner, I just find the absence of one interesting, particularly if you consider that the opening for the scene from 1862, likely the next time they meet after 1827 (not counting the alleged meeting Crowley calls in 1859 according to the Script Book), also differed from its flashback counterparts in Hard Times (it was the only banner to be incorporated into the scene - appearing below the surface of the water in St. James Park).

Moving on to this delightfully teenage-girl side of Aziraphale that we get to see with him writing in his diary. First thing’s first - the voiceover tells us this is volume 603 of his diaries. My first thoughts about this were along the lines of “where the hell are the other 602 and what do they contain” and “how many more were there after this one”, but the significance of the specific number used here is likely to be much simpler, and a Good Omens favourite - Strong’s Concordance. According to my research, the number 603 in the Greek version of the Concordance translates to “eager expectation, earnest longing”, which seems very fitting for a chronicle of Aziraphale’s adventures with Crowley. But wait! There’s more…

So Aziraphale is writing in his diary about the journey to Edinburgh on the 10th November (he goes on to add the year as 1827 but you can’t make out the beginning of the date very well once it’s been added). I found myself wondering if there was anything special about this date, and honestly what I found blew my mind a little bit. I cannot believe that this is a coincidence, and once more my hat is well and truly tipped to whoever discovered this gem and found a way to work it in. Because on the 10th November 1827, there was an article published in The Lancet about the lack of available anatomical subjects to work on for medical research. The article even references the high prices paid by “the resurrection men”. Don’t believe me? Here’s the link. Very sadly I could not attribute a name to the author, but I kind of don’t care. Fucking chapeau of the highest order for this little treat, honestly. As to the diary entry previous to this, I was unable to decipher it myself but I was able to figure out enough of it to Google some of the phrases. Turns out the content has already been confirmed to us by the author:

This sounds like a very exciting adventure for Aziraphale to have undertaken on his own! I love the insinuation that an attempt has been made to seduce him previously, which he rigorously objected to using a line that sounds similar in subtext to the one he utters upon Shadwell’s accusation that he’s running some sort of brothel in his book shop.

Whilst I appreciate the statue of Gabriel will be used later in the episode to provide a link between the past and present-day scenes in Edinburgh, I struggle to find any narrative purpose for it. In fact, I just end up with a long list of questions about its presence, for instance:

What is its purpose?

Why has it been built in this particular graveyard in this particular city?

Who built it?

Is Gabriel aware of its existence?

Assuming that Gabriel is aware of its existence, what is his interest in it? Did he commission it, or was it commissioned for him?

See what I mean? So many questions for an object that doesn’t really have any purpose whatsoever. I know we’ll hear Aziraphale refer to it later in the episode, but even then I don’t really see a reason for him to return to the statue when there are far bigger fish to fry in his Clue hunting. Perhaps its only real purpose is to find a reason for them being in the graveyard in the first place, though that feels pretty weak: building an entire statue as a prop for it to be used in less than 30 seconds of film just as a way to justify their existence in a particular place. There is one thing that it might be good for though:

What’s that look from Aziraphale when Crowley mentions the word “beauty” in a sentence about Gabriel? It looks a little like jealousy to me. Silly angel! I have no doubt that Crowley is just using words he believes Gabriel would associate with himself but I can understand how the angel might perceive it differently, especially given that both he and Crowley lack the ability to understand the other’s subtext when they’re not in immediate danger. I really don’t think he has anything to worry about.

I love how amused Crowley is that Elspeth shows such disgust towards Aziraphale’s clear Englishman status:

Here we have another opportunity for him to get really mischievous, and I’m not just talking about Crowley. Speaking as a fellow Celt (of the Welsh variety), I can genuinely say there’s something very satisfying about English people being shown disdain. I think it’s an ingrained, from-birth thing, because I’ve never really had to work on it, it just comes naturally. With that in mind, I’m sure David must have had a lot of fun indulging his Scottish nature in both accent and attitude towards the English. Which is all pretty ironic considering how public-school-boy Crowley sounds when he’s not speaking with a Scottish accent. I find it interesting that Crowley adopts the accent so early on in this scene - it’s immediately after he hears Elspeth speak. I suspect he does it because he understands that there’s a lot of bad blood directed towards the English from the Scottish natives, which demonstrates how much further on he is in his journey towards understanding human nature than Aziraphale is.

I also find it interesting that the angel makes no attempt to stop Crowley assisting Elspeth, instead trying to reason with her directly about the perceived “wrongness” of her actions. Presumably he knows that an argument with Crowley is doomed to failure, not least because he technically still has to file reports with Hell about his Earthly achievements. What’s also notable about Aziraphale’s attempts to stop Elspeth’s bodysnatching is that he shows absolutely no understanding of the trials that real-life people face.

ELSPETH: It’s not an easy job. If the Watch catch you, you’ll swing for it. AZIRAPHALE: Well it’s not the danger of what you’re doing. Don’t you know that it’s wrong?

Of the two reasons for not doing a spot of gravedigging, personally I’d prioritise getting caught and killed over and above it being “wrong”. Not so Aziraphale; he prioritises morals over life itself, which I suppose might come from his being immortal. And when you consider the lessons he learned in Uz shown to us in the previous episode, you might think he would have some understanding for extenuating circumstances when it comes to the lives of humans. However, there is an important difference between the actions he campaigns against here, and the ones from Uz, and that’s the originator of the actions. See, in Uz he rebelled against actions he perceived to be unjust and unfair taken by Heaven. Here he asserts the moral high ground against actions he judges to be morally wrong taken by a human. I will likely do a post specifically about the minisodes when I have completed the write ups for the three episodes containing them, but for now I’ll just say this. I think these minisodes, and perhaps the entire season (I have some more work to do there), are keyed towards showing us crucially important moments, specific to Aziraphale. Epiphany creating moments you might say. In Uz he learned that the actions of Heaven cannot be said to be Good simply because Heaven is the originator. He will come to learn in this episode that actions taken by humans cannot be categorically defined as either good or bad. In 1941… well, let’s do that one when we get there, and leave this topic for a separate blog specifically geared towards the subject, because I think I could wax lyrical about it quite a bit.

Anyway, back to the theme that things don’t have to be explicitly good or bad, but can in fact be both:

Beautifully put, and subtly done. Even this poor creature Morag can understand that you can be described as something bad whilst also having good intentions and a good nature, it’s really all about the context. Unfortunately Aziraphale will need to have the point made to him in all the more explicit terms later on in the episode before it sinks in with him, despite the fact that he specifically states he sides with Morag on her view of the situation. Some foreshadowing there perhaps.

Little side note, and this one because I haven’t mentioned anything about the sound in this part so far. If you listen beneath the dialogue in this scene, you can hear a woman coughing, pretty badly, in the background. This is another one of those little elements I so love about this show. That coughing has no relevance to the immediate narrative, most people won’t even hear it, but its presence reiterates how awful the living conditions are in the “piss-drenched patch” that Elspeth and Morag call home. The scene would be poorer without it, but you’d never know why - it’s so subtle, yet so effective. And knowing that someone out there, a sound editor and an actor at the very least, had to proactively do something for it to be included makes me feel very appreciative that we have such a committed cast and crew for this show.

Here we have an explicitly stated outline of Aziraphale’s (somewhat oversimplified, IMHO) view. To sum up:

Heaven = (unconditionally) Good.

Hell = (unconditionally) evil.

Humans = can only be considered Good if they actively choose not to be evil.

Note particularly that last point - his view doesn’t extend so far as to say that humans could be considered Good if they themselves chose to be good. No, there must be an active shunning of evil for them to fit the criteria. Pretty one sided, don’t you think? Though I’m sure none of us are surprised by this. In applying this condition though, he has automatically applied the label of “wicked” to Elspeth, purely based on her choice to do something he considers to be wicked. I think Crowley’s facial expression speaks for us all in his reaction to this exclamation:

And his counter argument to Aziraphale is rather good, isn’t it? So much more biassed towards the nuances of humanity, showing us, yet again, how much further along in his journey towards his own humanity he is when compared to Aziraphale.

I’m so glad that Crowley tries to call this out with Aziraphale, because the idea that poor people have more opportunities because of their poverty is one of the most aristocratic and arrogant things I’ve ever heard. Honestly, I’m a little ashamed to hear those words come from the angel, but playing devil’s advocate (no pun intended) I can see how these views help us as an audience appreciate how much of a change this episode causes in him. And let’s just take a quick look at his use of the term “ineffable” here. To be clear, the definition of the word I refer comes from the Oxford dictionary:

What exactly about Aziraphale’s pompous ramblings would fit with this definition exactly? It’s my belief that he knows exactly how weak his argument is at this point, and his use of this word in particular is used simply as a way of bringing a close to the argument with the (false) assertion that he’s in the right. Sort of an “agree to disagree” statement with an extra pinch of righteousness.

And so we come to the end of this section. Told you it would be a short(er) one, didn’t I? In fairness, when I started out most of the sections were around this length, and there were less of them per episode, so either I’m getting better at this, or I’m getting more pedantic/more waffly. I’m sure it’s probably one of those latter, so I am incredibly grateful for those of you that actually take time out of your day to read my ramblings. Honestly, I don’t deserve you (though I hope that Lancet Easter egg has made this one worth your while!). As always, questions, comments, discussion, always welcome. See you for the next one!

#good omens #episode analysis #ineffable idiots #aziraphale #crowley #good omens soundtrack #good omens season 2 #good omens elspeth #good omens morag

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humbledragon669 · 6 months ago

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S2E3 - I Know Where I'm Going Write Up P1 - up to the credits (present day)

Tiny bit of trivia about me that I’m sure nobody really cares about - as of Christmas just gone, I own my own version of Jim’s mug. It’s definitely one of the top three presents I got (one of the others is a GO themed long-sleeved t-shirt), and I absolutely have been using it to drink hot chocolate out of. I LOVE it.

Anyway, it’s Easter egg time! Yeah, that’s right, this one appears right at the beginning of the episode. And I suspect that many people will already have noted this one, but as I’ve said before, you never know. So here it is:

That’s the music instrument shop across the road from the bookshop, called “Arnolds”, presumably for the soundtrack composer for Omens - David Arnold. Obvious though it may be, it’s a bit “blink-and-you’d-miss-it”, so I felt like it was worth drawing attention to, just to reiterate the level of care and attention on display in this show that we all know and love. And whilst I have my attention-to-detail hat on, I have a brief point of speculation to make about Jim’s location in this opening shot. Given his view across the street, and the limited view we get into the room behind him (I’m thinking mostly about the lamp you can just about make out over his shoulder), this would appear to be Jim’s bedroom. In front of him is a tray with his mug and a container of hot chocolate on it. There’s even a trail of hot chocolate powder in between the mug and the container, as if someone has been a bit careless when spooning the cocoa from the pot into the cup (no judgement, I do this ALL the time). Before breaking away from this shot, we see Jim pouring boiling water into the mug from an electric kettle. All perfectly understandable actions for a set-up to show a man looking out over his neighbourhood, right? So my speculation is this, and I am jumping ahead a little. Why is it necessary for Crowley to leave the room when offering to make Jim a cup of hot chocolate in a later episode? It would seem that all the equipment required is right there in Jim’s bedroom. Sounds like another instance of scriptual convenience to me, albeit a small one. Anyway, enough pedantry, let’s move on.

It's taken me ages, but I’ve worked out what the music is playing in the background of the coffee shop. Unsurprisingly it’s another Queen tune - “Radio Ga Ga” this time. Given the lyrics, which speak of a fond farewell to a medium that no longer has relevance given more modern offerings, I wonder if this might be a reference to the state of Nina’s relationship with Lindsey at this point? Aside from that potential insight, I can’t really say there’s an awful lot about this scene that I like. Obviously Nina is still being her unlikeable self (checking her phone whilst she’s in the middle of serving someone? Not being funny, I would genuinely walk out of a coffee shop if a barista did that to me), but now we’re “introduced” to another fairly abrupt character, but this time we don’t even learn her name. Poor Mrs. Sandwich, she turns out to be an incredible likeable addition to the show, but in my opinion, she really doesn’t get to shine here. And what’s the point of this scene really? So that we can get a long shot of Muriel’s arrival and have it hammered home that their appearance is visible and noted as odd by the people in Whickber Street? If that’s the case, honestly this whole scene feels pretty unnecessary, but perhaps that’s just me.

Now. I did a little bit of digging about the way that Muriel introduces themself, because this stereotype is familiar to me, but I have no idea where it comes from. There’s a lovely bit of hive mind research been done here, which suggests the origin of the phrasing is over 100 years old but personally my money is on this being a nod to Monty Python (as detailed in that forum post), particularly as it wouldn’t be the first time we’ve seen a Python reference in the show (NIAT RUC, I’m looking at you). I think there might be another little homage here though, and this one if a bit more niche. It’s to do with the whistling in the soundtrack, heard here:

It rang bells with me, and unlike the backing music in the coffee shop earlier, this one didn’t actually take me very long. Back in the mid-90s, there was a sit-com show here in the UK called The Thin Blue Line, which followed the personal and professional lives of a group of policemen from an English town. The policemen in question were of both the uniformed (commonly called “bobbies”, or “on-the-beat”) and non-uniformed variety. Muriel is most definitely dressed as one of the former. Here’s the theme tune from that show:

Not too dissimilar, are they? I couldn’t find any evidence for whether the theme we hear in the Omens soundtrack is an homage to the theme from The Thin Blue Line or not. Perhaps it wasn’t even a conscious thing, though I highly doubt that. I would so love it if this was an intentional reference to that little copper comedy from the 90s - it ran for only 2 seasons, but I remember watching every episode when it aired and finding the whole thing really funny. I don’t know how well it will have aged, but I do remember that (bearing in mind this was the mid-90s) its casting was progressive - an Asian woman and a gay man both playing lead roles and part of the police force, with the characters most commonly ridiculed for being wrong and unreasonable being the middle-aged white men. It was perhaps a little slapstick in places, and intrinsically “British” in its humour, but I still feel like it was a delightful addition to our televisions, so if this is a tip-of-the-hat to the show, I feel it’s well placed. Right, time to move on, this is supposed to be a write up of a Good Omens episode, not an appreciation post for long-dead British TV shows.

It's pretty difficult to say with any certainty, but I don’t think Aziraphale recognises Muriel when they arrive. Granted, he wouldn’t have seen or spoken to them in quite some time (since his defection from Heaven at the latest, though the only time we see them interacting is in the Uz flashbacks), but given the conversation he had with them during the Job debacle, you’d think he might at least realise he’d seen their face before? Particularly given the memories he has so recently lived through. Don’t get me wrong, he clearly knows they’ve come from Heaven, but that outfit pretty much gives the game away on that front, and he has been told to expect a visit from an auditor. Doesn’t take him long to decide to play along either.

I really love this moment - I’m pretty sure that this is where he decides not only to pretend he doesn’t know Muriel is there to check up on his miracle claims, but to be gentle about his interactions with them. He's recognised the joy that Muriel is getting out of the situation and decided that the nicest thing to do will be to let them enjoy the ride, which can only happen if the pretence is maintained. Subtle as it is, I actually think this is one of Aziraphale’s clearest indications of his Good nature - faced with a similar situation, many people (Crowley included, as we’ll come to see shortly) would openly mock Muriel for their apparent lack of intelligence, and given their visit’s true purpose I don’t think anybody would have been too displeased if Aziraphale had just closed the door in their face. It’s such a selfless act of kindness, and in not shunning Muriel, we are treated to some truly beautiful comic moments throughout the rest of the season.

Oh hold up. Was I just waxing lyrical about how kind and considerate this angel is? I take it all back. I almost feel like Crowley has suggested this to him, it’s that mischievous. And not the first time he’s done it either, except the last time he tricked another angel into sullying their body with a liquid intended for human consumption, that being was suffering from complete amnesia. Vulnerable you might say. Which is actually not that dissimilar to Muriel, who is clearly in a very precarious position and not doing a particularly good job of hiding their discomfort and mild panic in trying to maintain their cover whilst staying in character. He even manages to sound as if he’s trying to coach them on proper human responses with no hidden subtext. At least he has enough of a conscience to show pity for his visitor and the position he’s put them in:

Bit of a tangent here - why doesn’t Aziraphale recognise that the fact that Crowley is bringing his plants into the bookshop gives the game away that he’s living in his car? Don’t get me wrong, I am in no doubt that the reason Crowley removes them from the car at all is because he wouldn’t trust anybody else to look after them, not even his angel, so I do understand the reason for them to be removed. As far as I can see, there are four possibilities for this:

Aziraphale doesn’t make the connection between Crowley having his plants in the car and what means for his living situation.

Aziraphale does make the connection but, perhaps due to the current awkward situation panning out in the bookshop and his plans for his Edinburgh road trip, doesn’t mention anything about.

Aziraphale already knows that Crowley is sleeping in his car.

Crowley isn’t really living in his car at all, and the plants are simply kept there to maintain the cover story.

I think Aziraphale is smarter than the first option, even with his innate inability to pick up on Crowley’s cues. And I can’t really comprehend that Aziraphale would have taken the revelation that Crowley is living and sleeping in his car without any sort of protestations (let’s not forget that Crowley openly offered Aziraphale a place to stay when they thought the bookshop was gone, and that was before their respective defections). The third possibility has legs, but it doesn’t sit right with me - I just can’t see that Aziraphale would tolerate this living situation for Crowley, even if it meant buying or renting a place somewhere else for the demon to call home. The last of those possibilities is where my head canon lives, as I think I’ve mentioned in previous write ups. We’ll see Aziraphale “reacting” to the confirmation that Crowley has been sleeping in his car in a future episode, so I’ll hammer this point home one last time when we get there. And regardless whether you agree with my ideas or not, you can’t deny that Crowley’s confident swagger when he bursts into the shop really goes to show just how comfortable he is in this environment, and that he has no qualms about asserting himself there. Almost like it was home in fact…

See? No problems asserting himself at all. The subtext here is pretty glaring - his joining Aziraphale gives a clear message to Muriel about the fact that they’re a team (a group. A group of the two of them), and despite the fact that there surely must be A LOT of body contact going on here, Aziraphale’s expression doesn’t change at all. Not a muscle moved. It feels to me as if this is the sort of close proximity contact that the two of them are very accustomed to when not in the presence of other beings that might see it for what it is. And not only is Crowley comfortable with his position, he’s really enjoying himself:

I’ve mentioned it before, about us not getting to see much of Crowley’s mischievous side in the present day in this season, but this is it on full display. I’m not sure why I love more about this interaction with Muriel - Crowley’s cheeky grin or the fact that Aziraphale does absolutely nothing to reprimand him over his behaviour. That angel is having just as much fun partaking in the mischief as Crowley is, and I find it really adorable to see him indulging his playful side, even if it does eventually result in another one of those pitiful compassionate looks he throws Muriel’s way.

There’s a potentially interesting use of pronouns in the conversation that follows in the back room:

Interesting, see? Crowley refers to Heaven as “your lot”, despite the fact that Aziraphale has openly admitted that he no longer works for them. Not only that, the angel takes the baton up with his reply, grouping himself together with his former workplace using the “we” pronoun. Perhaps it’s just the habit of the previous multiple millennia, it just strikes me as odd, not least because Crowley’s questioning of them being “in charge” would appear to imply that he feels Heaven has the upper hand in the Heaven/Hell power play. Semantics aside, there’s something about this conversation that I really love. They’re both actually listening to one another, the tone is congenial, and they’re engaging in teamwork, and it all feels so natural. There’s no emotional stress going on, no arguing, just two people working together to try and achieve a common goal. I think this is probably the closest we come to seeing them in their normal relationship state, and it feels so relatable.

Well, it looks like Crowley’s plan has changed somewhat following his streetside conversation with Nina - now it needs a “fabulous kiss” for it to be successful. Considering his previous plan was so obviously a retelling of the love story between he and Aziraphale, I find the addition of a kiss at this point to be a notable one. Yes, my head cannon has our hero couple very firmly established in a relationship in the present day, but no, I do not believe that they kissed during either of the two “shelter-under-an-awning” moments that they have shared. Not to mention that I feel like there’s an element of heartbreaking foreshadowing going on with his throwaway comment (though to be fair, I don’t think there’s anything “fabulous” about that kiss in the Final 15, but I’m getting ahead of myself). What is it that makes him add the need for a kiss for his plan to be successful? Consulting my head cannon again, I suspect there might be some further revelations to be had about when he and Aziraphale shared their first kiss, and that this might tie into his updated plan somehow, but whether we’ll get to see that in the space of our final 90 minutes, I don’t know.

Oh I love this. Like, so much. It’s such a MARRIED COUPLE mini spat. It’s so obvious that Aziraphale takes the role of the stereotypical wife - there’s no negotiation, just the thinly veiled threat of extreme rage if his wishes aren’t complied with. And just as obvious is Crowley’s adoption of the stereotypical husband role - downtrodden, with the resigned knowledge that he’s been beaten and can’t worm his way out of a situation that whilst he knows he doesn’t like, he has no logical argument to counter. It’s so lovely. Beautifully delivered and excellently timed. The more I look into the episodes for this season, the more I seem to find that feels stilted and somewhat unnecessary, but moments like these are most definitely not one of them, and in fact I think they’re probably largely responsible for our intense love of the relationship between our hero couple. There’s another one coming up, but I’ll get there in a moment.

Despite being at the tail end of a spat, and that Aziraphale is clearly both disappointed and distracted not to have put his hands on the car keys, we’re about to see a lovely example of Aziraphale and Crowley showing a sixth sense for knowing their roles in the relationship. Regardless of the fact that there is no verbal communication between them following Muriel’s entrance to the room, Crowley knows instinctively that this is his cue to step up and perform a mini rescue, and Aziraphale knows to simply let him do his own thing. He doesn’t say a word once Muriel bursts in on them, just allows Crowley to do all the talking, with the instinctive knowledge that they will be in a better position soon. Which of course leads to this OUTRAGEOUS look from Aziraphale:

There it is, another one of those moments I was just discussing! I remember the first time I caught this look from Aziraphale, it was like a bomb had gone off in my head. It’s… well it’s pure filth, isn’t it? We all thought the look Crowley drew in the Bastille was the best example of a mental undressing we would ever see, but this just blows it out of the water. And why wouldn’t Aziraphale be feeling particularly enamoured of his demon at this point in time? There he is, doing his little rescue and invoking feelings of his knowledge of love (“love”?) at the same time. It’s pretty clear to see how much Crowley’s little speech has affected him, because he barely manages to catch the keys that the demon throws to him mere seconds later. He doesn’t even argue when Crowley continues to assert that the Bentley belongs to him alone, and even manages a wink, which I can only assume is supposed to be reassuring that he’s on the same wavelength about the current situation, and that he appreciates the olive branch just offered to him by way of Crowley’s accepting of the mission he’s been given.

Apart from a quick note to say that Aziraphale’s driving looks worse than Crowley’s, and that Crowley’s reaction to seeing his beloved car driving away speaks (to me, anyway) more of boredom than it does of worry or possessiveness, I think that’s all there is for this instalment, seeing as we’ve arrived quite neatly at the opening credits. As always, questions, comments, discussion: always welcome. See you for the next one!

#good omens #episode analysis #aziracrow #ineffable idiots #aziraphale #crowley #ineffable husbands #head canon #good omens soundtrack #good omens muriel #good omens season 2 #the thin blue line #aziraphale loves crowley

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humbledragon669 · 6 months ago

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Did you know that the church scene in 1941 was the last scene they filmed in S1

Did you know that Michael Sheen had to excuse himself immediately afterwards because he needed to cry

Well you do now

Cry with me, people

#im not crying you are

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humbledragon669 · 6 months ago

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S2E2 - The Clue Write Up P6 -Land of Uz: from the final return to present day onwards

I am sure I can get this episode wrapped up with one last section so let’s jump on in. I suppose the first thing to note is that the double spread we see Aziraphale staring so intently at is different to the one that started this flashback sequence off. Presumably he has, in the present day, been reading through the pages as he been reminiscing. There are a few figures missing from the drawing we can see on the plate, most notably Crawley himself. The figure in the background would appear to be Aziraphale, though the features are vague and make it difficult to say with any certainty. I find Crawley’s absence interesting in particular, seeing as the presence of his adopted character of Bildad the Shuhite is documented in the Epilogue of the Book of Job, and it makes me wonder if Aziraphale was intending to ask Crowley about this when he emerges from his reverie (only to find the demon gone of course). I have so many silly little questions about this turn of events in the book shop: what was Aziraphale going to ask? Was he simply confirming that the footsteps he heard did in fact belong to Crowley? When did Crowley leave? Why did he leave? Where did he go? Was there a one-sided conversation where he announced his intention to go? Did he speak to Jim before he left? I don’t know why this bothers me so much that Aziraphale comes back to the present to find himself alone with us having no explanation as to where Crowley has gone, and perhaps it wouldn’t bother me so if Aziraphale didn’t clearly have the start of a conversation on his mind. I doubt we’ll ever find out the answers to these questions now either ☹

There is something to be said for Aziraphale’s character assassination of Gabriel at this point in the storyline.

AZIRAPHALE: You know, you really used to be… awful. I mean… SO awful.

He’s not wrong, by any stretch of the imagination. It’s clear that Aziraphale is confident with his evaluation, and I do believe that there is a part of him that says this both to help him try and muddle through the oddities of his situation and to provide some background for Jim himself. I also believe that his making this statement, out loud, to someone other than himself, should signal to us just how far his character has come since the days from Uz that we’ve just seen. It’s fairly clear to see how uncomfortable he is with Gabriel’s attitude and actions in the Land of Uz scenes, but he manages to reconcile this discomfort with the assurances that it was all for the will of God that things had to be so. Nothing has changed in the present day - Gabriel’s thoughts and actions have already happened and the reasoning for them is constant - and yet Aziraphale’s evaluation of the situation is entirely different. No more the compliant angel that can forgive any unpleasantness by attributing it to God’s will; he has seen the vile being for what he was and, perhaps due to his present company (or lack thereof), does not fear the wrath of God (or the Heavenly host) by pointing it out. Not only that, his perspective on the entire incident has changed. Where he previously showed discomfort with the actions being taken by Heaven, his focus now lies of the behaviour of a particular individual. In short, it’s a much more human-like response; judging thoughts and emotions rather than actions and outcomes.

Remember all those questions I had earlier on about Crowley and his whereabouts? Well, the next scene doesn’t really help to answer a single one of them, and may in fact just create new ones to add to the list because we see him walking back towards the book shop. So, wherever he went, he went on foot. And given the way the scene unfolds, it looks like he’s on his way back to the car to… what? Leave the Soho area? Without saying anything to Aziraphale? Perhaps it was simply to get something from the car and take it into the book shop. Whatever the reason, the car isn’t parked in its usual place. Usually I might say there’s something to be said for this but in this instance I think it’s just a convenience for filming as it could have made the conversation between him and Nina a little difficult if he hadn’t had to walk past the coffee shop before arriving at the car. Talking of subtle inconsistencies though, there’s this tiny detail:

Not getting the basis of reference? Alright, here’s a little comparison conversation from the previous episode:

So, despite the fact that Crowley is very capable of understanding and using sarcasm (as explicitly stated during the previous episode), that piece of subtext appears to have gone completely underneath his radar in this conversation with Nina. Personally, I think this has something to do with his personal stake in the topic of conversation - the likelihood of success of his rainstorm idea as a surefire way for people to fall in love. He does look genuinely disheartened that Nina doesn’t seem to consider his grand idea for romance to be all that love-inducing at all. This observation aside, the biggest thing this streetside conversation does for me is further cement my dislike of the Nina character (it’s the contemptuous “Mister-Six-Espressos-in-a-Big-Cup” line. Seriously, what’s that about?), and I don’t think that’s the intention. The entire exchange doesn’t even feel particularly natural to me - Nina’s contempt, the sudden rainstorm questioning that leapfrogs into an unspoken probing about Maggie, the defensive conclusion about Nina’s partner. It just feels so stilted to me. Perhaps it simply goes hand-in-hand with the Bentley’s unusual placement on the street - as a scriptual stepping stone to get us to THAT conversation about the Bentley. Speaking of which…

I think this is Aziraphale at his most adorable. Just look at his little face, so excited! If we ignore for a moment the fact that we can actually see him crouching down behind the car if we look through the passenger side window, there’s a little something that might be worth mentioning. There’s a little music “sting” we can hear as he pops up from behind the car:

Now, this could be just a sweet little noise inserted into the soundtrack for comic effect. In a really sickly sweet and fluffy way, it could also represent the feelings invoked within Crowley when he sees Aziraphale (*simultaneous “ahh” and gagging noises*). There is another possibility though, because it sounds a little like a miracle noise (hence why we have to ignore the fact we can see him crouching down beforehand). It is entirely possible that he miracled himself into position to greet Crowley, something which we have seen him do before (albeit at a time when Crowley might have simply turned and walked away if he had spotted him). And I actually feel like there would be more questions about his behaviour if he doesn’t miracle himself into position: how long has be been there for? Why is he hiding? Why does he wait on the passenger side given he’s about to talk to Crowley about the possibility of driving the car? How does he know Crowley is going back to the car in the first place? Just another batch of questions I doubt we’ll ever have the answers to, although these ones I feel less bothered by. I do love Crowley’s assumption that Aziraphale just needs a lift to go somewhere, and I find the idea that the angel just conveniently miracles himself next to the passenger door if ever he needs a lift to be highly entertaining.

This angel 100% knows he’s crossing a line, doesn’t he? He’s hilarious, honestly. And for once, has actually managed not only to read to cues he’s getting back from Crowley, but has pre-empted them, having already constructed a counter argument for what he knows will not be a receptive response to his suggestion.

I’m sorry, what’s that now? What sort of “use” are you both getting out of it with that facial expression, Mr. Fell? I don’t think there’s a single person in the world that would watch that and feel like the sentence was devoid of double entendre. Regardless, and skating over the comedy that is so delightfully crafted into this scene, there’s a clear statement here about the state of their relationship - that Aziraphale no longer considers the two material objects that they hold dear to one another no longer belonging to just one of them, but are shared. And it’s nice to see that the ability to read cues from one another has returned to business-as-usual so quickly - I love watching Aziraphale arguing that he can of course drive the Bentley because he has a license. I don’t really think that’s what Crowley meant when he said the angel couldn’t drive his car! And yet, the end of this conversation has also been carefully crafted by Aziraphale; he presents the care of the book shop to the demon as a sort of an exchange of trust between them (you can trust me with your car, and to prove it, I’ll entrust the book shop to you in my absence), but really he just needs someone to watch Jim, which I don’t think Crowley would have been happy to do in any circumstances. Honestly, this demon really did just get the bum end of the deal. This entire exchange, apart from being hilarious (especially that little hand slap that we sadly only get to hear and not see), is actually a lovely insight into a side of Aziraphale’s character that we really don’t get to see very often. He’s cunning and crafty, and mischievous with it. And confident. This isn’t him stuttering his way through a problem he doesn’t know how to get out of - there’s no hand wringing, no flapping. Just calm asserted application of plans. And it’s clear to see that Crowley knows he’s been utterly ambushed by it. Delightful.

Back inside the bookshop, we’re treated to an array of book titles. It’s been a while since we had such a richness of potential subtext, so I’ll break them down into a table and try and keep it brief. Here’s the shot of the bookshelf that Jim is “sorting”:

And the table below contains their details with possible links to the Good Omens storyline:

Link to @fuckyeahgoodomens post about The Crow Road.

There are another two books added to the shelf after the shot of it leaves our screens:

Pride and Prejudice, which follows the turbulent relationship between a young couple, who must overcome their pride and prejudices before they can be free to fall in love. Possible connections: too obvious to write down.

Good Omens. Meta-as-fuck. ‘Nuff said.

Jokes aside, I’m sure I have but scratched the surface here. I may come back to do a more thorough deep dive if I have time before the finale drops. Or maybe not if I think it might involve actually reading some of them - as I’ve said before, I find classic literature beyond dull. If anybody wants to take up the mantel on that one, have at it.

This last trip to Uz is one I think we all know and love dearly, and I don’t want to really spend a lot of time simply retelling what you can all see on the screen with your own eyes. Instead, I’ll just highlight a couple of poignant take-aways, for me at least:

Devastated as he clearly is, Aziraphale has resigned himself to his fate of being cast out of Heaven completely. No fuss, no mess - he intends to simply allow himself to be taken to Hell.

It would seem that, ever since the Garden of Eden, Aziraphale has been dispatched to Earth on a full-time basis. How much of his upset is caused by his sadness at being removed from Earth, rather than his removal from Heaven? Granted, this angel has proved incapable of separating “who/what he is” from “where he comes from”, which would present something of an existential dilemma to him, I just don’t hear an awful lot of regret specifically over the possibility that he could no longer be associated with Heaven.

We know from Crowley’s brief retelling of his fall that it involved a very long, very painful, descent from the Heavens and into the bowels of Hell. Presumably Aziraphale would remember the details of how the rebellious angels were originally cast out of Heaven, yet he appears to believe his descent will be somewhat more dignified.

Aziraphale openly says that he knew it would be Crawley sent to escort him to Hell. Why would this be? If he genuinely believed that his rebellious actions had been discovered, would it not be more sensible that he be summoned back to Heaven to face trial and punishment?

Crawley’s response to Aziraphale’s tearful please is simple - I’m not taking you to Hell because I don’t think you’d like it there. I think this speaks volumes about Crawley’s state of mind towards Aziraphale at this point - he likes this angel just the way he is, and even given the chance to place them on an even keel, allowing them to spend more time together, he wouldn’t do it.

Despite the fact that he has just had a hand in saving the lives of three innocent children, Aziraphale is still incapable of understanding that being good or evil isn’t as simple as being one of the other, that there is something of a spectrum involved. Not only that, the action he believes that has tipped him over into demon territory is simply lying, the insinuation being that if he had done what was expected of him, he could still call himself an agent of good. So, to sum up: lie to Archangel Gabriel = evil demon; allow three innocent children to be killed without reason = good angel. I don’t suppose it takes much of a genius to comprehend why this particular moral dilemma might have sparked a severe identity crisis in him.

Crawley’s actions towards Aziraphale (aside from laughing at his clear distress!) are (sorry Crowley) extremely kind. He understands what Aziraphale is going through, having gone through his own crisis of faith (and suffering the consequences) thousands of years before. And he’s not just kind in what he says, but gentle with it. He leads the angel to the only conclusion that feels truly justified and offers an olive branch of friendship between them with a veiled confession of his own loneliness, planting the seed in Aziraphale’s mind that perhaps they don’t need to be alone in their own individual lonely states.

Phew, that was a lot of subtextual stuff in that little scene (it’s less than three minutes long), and I don’t think it’s a surprise to any of us that the acting between Michael and David here is stellar. There’s one last thing about the scene that I think is worth noting, and it’s to do with the soundtrack.

Sound familiar to you? It’s no secret that there are musical motifs that run throughout David Arnold’s score for both seasons. This one (a particular treatment of the main theme tune for the show) can also be heard in the final episode of season one, as we see Adam running through the orchard:

There are some subtle instrumentation and tempo differences, sure, but the motif is the same. And why do I think this is important? Well, the subtext for Adam’s final scene in season one is one of personal growth - the events of the previous episodes have forced a change in his perspective that triggers the beginning of his movement from childhood into adulthood. Where he starts to understand that good and evil can’t always be simply defined by labels, that there are subtleties are play. And isn’t this exactly what is happening with Aziraphale in this final Uz scene? I think this is Aziraphale’s metaphorical “leaving the garden” scene. And, just as we saw him do in the final episode of season one, he goes through it with the guidance and support of Crawley. It’s a really beautiful parallel between the two seasons, and an excellent way to end the episode.

And there we have it, the end of this episode. Looking ahead to my notes for the next episode, it looks like I might manage to get that one done if a few less parts (and that is likely to do with the fact that the Crowley and Aziraphale are largely apart for present day parts of the episode!), but we’ll see. For now though, and as always; questions, comments, discussion, always welcome. See you for the next one!

#good omens #episode analysis #good omens season 2 #aziracrow #ineffable idiots #aziraphale #crowley #ineffable husbands #good omens soundtrack #good omens music #good omens nina #good omens gabriel

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humbledragon669 · 6 months ago

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S2E2 - The Clue Write Up P5 -Land of Uz: from a little alone time in the cellar to the return to present day

I’m hoping to get to the end of this Land of Uz segment in this part so let’s get stuck straight in from the beginning of the scene after the kids have been transformed into lizards. There’s a bit of Aziracrow backstory confirmed here, which is that Crawley is already drinking alcohol at this point in the chronology. We don’t see Aziraphale drinking alcohol until 42AD, some 2500 years later. I’d love to know when and what changed his stance on this one, seeing as he’s very clearly anti-alcohol at this point in the history.

Crawley on the other hand is very comfortable not only with the consumption, but also with the possibility of the side effects of human wine. His ability to assess the quality of the wine on offer would also suggest that he’s been doing this for a while, and even though it would seem Aziraphale has never seen him do it before, the demon doesn’t think twice about pouring and offering a cup to him - there’s just an assumption that it’s a perfectly normal thing for them to do. I do wonder if Crawley’s decision to drink alcohol evolved from whatever fall-out there was following the flood, seeing as we don’t have any indication that this is behaviour he engaged in prior to that. Whatever his reasoning, he can clearly see he’s not going to win this battle, deciding to try his luck instead with getting the angel to eat.

Now, we all know that what follows in this scene is probably one of the fandom’s favourite scenes across both seasons, so true to fashion I am not going to delve deep into it. What I do want to make a little comment on is how Crawley manages to persuade Aziraphale to give the food a try, because it’s pretty clever. First off, he anticipates the protests and uses the angel’s own justification about alcohol by positing that food should be considered differently because it doesn’t cause drunkenness. After all, that was the only argument that Aziraphale really gave for not trying the wine just seconds before. Ergo, no drunken consequences theoretically means no argument for not imbibing. What really tips the scales is that he presents Aziraphale with the ability to partake of the food of his own free will. He literally presents the gift of “choice” to the angel on a silver platter. He even makes the situation explicitly clear to him as he does so:

CRAWLEY: You’re free to try the food.

Given we identified Aziraphale’s desire for the ability to exercise personal choice in the scene in the courtyard a short time ago, this is a really smart card for Crawley to play. So smart in fact that Aziraphale doesn’t really put up much of a fight about it, even if he tries to make a big song and dance about how repulsive the whole thing supposedly is.

And there really is no mistaking how pleased Crawley is with this turn of events, is there?

The only thing I wonder about here is whether the demon had any idea about what feelings he was about to set fire to in getting to see Aziraphale eat. He is a demon after all, so I have no doubt that there is a part of him that talked the angel into consuming human food because it would be a lovely little victory to add to his collection, at least in the lead up to the event. I don’t think that motivation is what keeps him staring whilst Aziraphale gorges himself though, most definitely not, despite the fact that this is some of the sloppiest eating I’ve ever seen somebody do (and I’ve watched every episode of Adam Richman’s Man vs. Food). When did he know that the enjoyment he got out of watching Aziraphale eat wasn’t actually driven by a desire to turn another being away from their standards? I’m pretty sure he knows by the time we see them at the Ritz after Adam was born, but there are 3000 years between these two events. He may know as early as Rome, given his not-so-subtle hints about never having eaten an oyster before paves the way for he and Aziraphale to go for dinner together. Whenever he comes to the realisation, I don’t think there’s a person on Earth that could argue that watching the angel eat in the cellar has Crawley thirsting for something other than wine.

Well despite Crawley’s assurances about not being able to get drunk on food, Aziraphale has more than a little hint of intoxication about him going on here. And where exactly is he putting all of that food?! There’s barely more than bones left. IT WAS AN ENTIRE OX. In fairness, he must have been at it a while, because even Crawley looks bored by the gluttonous display going on in front of him.

There’s something about this little exchange that really tugs at my heart strings, and I think it’s because Aziraphale’s words suggest that this is him making an effort to understand Crawley. Not just knowing him, or liking him, or whatever else, but actually understanding the demon. Not only that, it’s pretty clear that he feels that a lonely state of mind isn’t something he wants for this being, despite the fact that they’re supposed to be mortal enemies, and he doesn’t look particularly convinced at Crawley’s insistence that he’s misread the situation either.

I don’t think I’d be breaking any ground in saying Crawley’s challenge to Aziraphale’s oath of allegiance to God, and the response to it, remind us that the angel has been teetering on the edge of being able to rationalise said allegiance for quite some time. It’s an interesting thought process to witness though - the staunch assertion of loyalty so quickly cast into doubt with Crawley’s reminder of the cruelty in the side Aziraphale is aligned with. It’s no wonder he looks so devastated when he considers the reality that his side could in fact be responsible for an act that he has been so painfully trying to stop Crawley from doing because it’s so inherently awful.

I find it interesting at this point to see Aziraphale effectively admitting defeat by returning to the food. He has no response to Crawley’s gleeful acknowledgement of the doubt he’s planted. Nothing. Not even an “I forgive you”. It got me to thinking whether we see Aziraphale accepting that he’s lost an argument anywhere else. And I don’t mean acceptance that they’ve reached an impasse or losing control of his emotions and saying something he’ll regret later, but actually realising that his point of view has fatal flaws that cannot be reconciled in the face of reason. In previous discussions of this nature, he’s usually been successful in justifying the terrible acts done in Heaven’s name with some sort of meaningless reasoning (God is going to make a rainbow afterwards for example, or the ever-faithful “ineffable plan” motif), but here, challenged with the notion that his side has seen fit to endorse the killing of innocents for no other reason than to win a bet, he’s lost for words. Uncomfortable as he might have been with casting Adam and Eve out of the garden, or the Great Flood, this particular cruelty looks to be something causing something of a revelation for him.

Quick note on Crawley’s challenge to Aziraphale’s apparent blasphemy.

CRAWLEY: Blasphemy, angel? That’s not like you.

It wasn’t 24 hours prior that Crawley was making it very clear to Aziraphale that they didn’t know each other at all. Yet this line is delivered with such familiarity, it’s impossible to think that the relationship between the pair is anything other than convivial. Leading on from that, I do find myself wondering how the rest of that night in the cellar panned out. What did they talk about? Did Aziraphale eat the rest of the ox? Did he perhaps try some alcohol? The use of the banner declaring that we’re now looking at “the next day” just feels like there’s a real emphasis on the amount of time that’s passed between these two scenes; the possibilities feel quite vast.

There’s that line: the one that started this whole flashback process off in the first place. And as previously noted, as far as we can see the only beings present for it were God, Job, Crawley and Aziraphale. It’s possible Gabriel was with God in Heaven whilst she spoke to Job I suppose, but I like the possibilities that open up if we consider that the line Jim utters that turns his eyes briefly purple is a line that he shouldn’t have any knowledge of even if he had his Gabriel memories.

I love the return of the whale motif in Job’s recanting to Sitis, even though we don’t actually hear God saying anything about them in her speech. I did some light research about the reasoning for the whale appearances and couldn’t find anything concrete, but there’s a fair amount of speculation that it might be in homage to Douglas Adams, whales featuring heavily in the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy books There is this though:

A quick note on pronouns here (something which I seem to finding more and more of note about as the show goes on). Sitis refers to God here using they/them pronouns. We heard Aziraphale using the she/her pronouns that we’ve become accustomed to hearing as recently as in the cellar, and the voice we hear in the previous scene remains feminine. I think the use of they/them might just be a scriptual loophole - I think both Job and Sitis would have been harbouring under the concept that God was a male figure, and that the knowledge that God is in fact feminine appears to be something that only agents of Heaven and Hell are privy to. Perhaps it’s just a quirk of the script - was it considered too confusing for Sitis to use he/him pronouns at this point? Settling instead for they/them as a compromise? That’s the only reason I can really come up with, because it feels slightly awkward to me.

There’s that devastated angel look again, and this time it comes with a little gulp as Aziraphale bears witness to the overwhelming grief that Heaven has inflicted so nonchalantly onto God’s most faithful servant. The juxtapositioning of his devastation against Gabriel’s cheery obliviousness, not to mention the music and the sounds of Job weeping in the background, makes it all the more painful for us to watch.

Whilst there’s no mistaking the relief on Aziraphale’s features (quickly followed by a look of guilt), I think it notable that none of the other angels from Heaven recognise Crawley, either as a demon or a former angel. Considering he has already been referred to (in the present day, which is in the future from where we are in this episode. Confusing much?) as part of a group of demons that were cast out, and that he is the one carrying out the orders from Satan that would see the bet with God settled, it seems likely that they might recognise him. I suspect this is simply one of those times when storyline convenience won out over the need to ensure that the script was plothole-free. I also think it worth noting that the moment Crawley enters the scene is the very moment he knows things are about to turn very ugly for Job and Sitis, choosing to step in and try to rescue to situation. He’s just a natural rescuer, isn’t he? Could this be the moment Aziraphale’s love of being rescued by him started to form? It certainly speaks to the demon’s true character if nothing else, which is that deep down, he really is quite a nice person…

Well, if we weren’t aware of Aziraphale’s frustrations with Heaven and its agents, he makes it painfully obvious when Michael decides to give an explanation of the origin of Crawley’s fake name. How he gets away with this eye roll in the presence of so many other beings, I have no idea: not even Crawley seems aware of it, concentrating on Michael’s irritatingly accurate debunking of his cover story as he is. There are two things about this scene at this point that I think are worth noting. For the first, let’s take a high-level overview of everything that’s going on here - a renegade demon and angel are trying to bluff their way out of trouble with some high-ranking angels having low-key thwarted the will of God. The soundtrack has some delicate pizzicato (that’s plucked, for those who aren’t musically minded) strings in the background, providing a comic feel to the scene, whilst in the background we can hear Job sobbing uncontrollably. The dialogue content feels perilous, but the delivery and subtext make it feel mischievous, seeing as Aziraphale is using his knowledge of the ignorance of the rest of the Heavenly host against them. All of those things brought together in one place makes the whole thing feel so… I think the word is uncomfortable. I think this is really clever - bringing tension into a scene using the juxtaposition of opposing elements means that we as an audience feel uncomfortable but can’t necessarily identify why.

The second of those two things I want to comment on here is that this scene is a good example of what happens when Aziraphale and Crawley have gotten their unspoken communication on point. They’re working together so effortlessly here - both taking cues from the other’s improvisations and instinctively knowing what the next play is supposed to be. They even manage to come up with some coded verbal communication for each other on the fly, and for it to be successful. If only they had been this switched on for the final 15, I suspect season two would have ended very differently.

See now, wouldya just look at that? Aziraphale knows exactly what to do with little more than a look and hand gesture from Crawley. Something else of note here is the appearance of the “trust me” theme we see running through season two, this time with the prompt coming from Crawley. Granted, Sitis does look rather perplexed about what exactly is going on, but didn’t she figure out the “Bildad the Shuhite” was the one responsible for all of Job’s misery earlier on the episode? I find it a bit of a stretch to think that she would just go along with the façade, rather than identifying Crawley as the troublemaker to the others in the room at the time. I do love that the demon sounds so earnest in his plea to be trusted - he would know very well that he’s not supposed to be trustworthy (he even tells Aziraphale that’s the case twice in this episode), so his desperation for Sitis to go along with him should tell us (not that we needed telling) that this is his true character.

The contact between Aziraphale and Job looks to be the first (chronologically speaking) sleight of hand trick that the angel has done, just a couple of millennia before he repeatedly demonstrates that he’s actually very bad at it. Except when it really counts, as this instance (and one later on in the season) shows. And those bones that appear from Job’s robes are the proof that Aziraphale has well and truly given in to gluttony - they are PICKED CLEAN:

Quick note on the noise used for Aziraphale’s miracle as he turns the lizards back into children - it’s very close to the ones we’ve heard in this season from his already, the ones which are driven by need rather than intent, so I’m still not ruling that possibility out.

Alright last note about this section of the minisode, and then I’m calling it for this part. There’s something that goes unspoken, but is definitely implied, in Aziraphale’s choice to lie to Gabriel about the children. He actually gives his word “as an angel” that he’s telling the truth. I mean, does that not speak volumes about his mindset here? He verbally surrenders the very nature of his being in order to save a couple of children and maintain Crawley’s cover, the former of which supposedly goes directly against God’s wishes, despite the fact that he is so adamantly on her side. He’s earned Crawley’s respect though, so maybe it was all worth it in the end.

Alright, that’s the lot for this part. I think I should be able to get this episode wrapped up in the next one, which puts me one episode closer to being able to finish my WIP fic! For now though, and as always, questions, comments, discussion, always welcome. See you for the next one!

#good omens #episode analysis #good omens season 2 #aziracrow #ineffable idiots #aziraphale #crowley #good omens soundtrack #aziraphale loves food #crowley loves watching aziraphale eat

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humbledragon669 · 7 months ago

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S2E2 - The Clue Write Up P4 - Land of Uz: Crowley speaks to Job to a little alone time in the cellar

I’m going to start with an incredibly quick note, just in case there’s anyone out there reading this who doesn’t know/hasn’t realised that the actor playing Job is Peter Davison, who is not only linked to David Tennant by way of having played the fifth Doctor, but is also his father-in-law (in real life). I think I’m probably preaching to the converted with that little nugget, but it pays to be cautious with these things.

Alright, let’s get going proper, shall we? And I want to give a little nod of acknowledgement for the camera work we see going “through” the book page into the scene beyond. Not the first time we’ve seen this technique used to transition the audience from one place (in time, mood, or location) to another, but it’s pretty smooth nonetheless, and achieves its desired effect effortlessly. There’s something utterly ridiculous about some of the script for this initial scene too - some random dude shows up in your newly destroyed barn asking for your children and you don’t stop to ask who he is and what he wants? In fact, why not direct him to your wife to be as helpful as possible? Don’t stop there though, why not start pouring your soul out to him in a keenly ironic speech about being delivered to demons. Sure. Very convincing. Still, I don’t suppose there’s much in the way of official records of this conversation to base the scene on, is there…

Miracle noise alert! This one definitely originates from Crawley and definitely differs from the one we most recently associated with Aziraphale.

This one is… “flatter” is the word that springs to mind when I hear it. I think it’s intended to sound closer to a snake hiss; of textural note we are missing the little choir vocalisation that we heard in earlier miracle noises. Swinging back around to the theory about miracle noises relating to intent rather than caster, this particular noise would prove both theories. I guess what I really want to hear at this point is the noise from a miracle definitely cast only by Crowley with good or neutral intent. That might put this theory to bed for me, but I think we’ll have to wait a while for that (off the top of my head I can’t think if we get one of those in these season, but I’ll be on the look-out).

I find the choice of words used in the opening arguments between Aziraphale and Crawley interesting:

Aside from the opportunity to revel in Aziraphale admitting he was wrong about something, I think the different uses of don’t have to/couldn’t/can/will in this wordplay are worth noting. To avoid this getting too wordy, I’m going to break this down into a table to demonstrate:

And all of this hammered home with a final plea from Aziraphale, returning to his original point, and making an explicit statement that he believes that being a demon involves the ability to exercise free will (let’s face it, it kinda doesn’t - Crawley has little official choice than to follow orders, just like the angel). This point of view will become interesting as the season progresses and we see Aziraphale’s beliefs about free will and how it ties in with humanity morphing - after all, it wasn’t all that long ago that he was trying to convince a bunch of archangels on the street that the whole point of being human (not a demon) is to exercise free will (at least in our chronology - this conversation with Crawley and the one with the angels on the street are actually separated by some 4500 years…). What’s interesting to me about his beliefs at this particular point in time, is that they suggest at least part of his understanding of the differences between the agents of Heaven and Hell isn’t to do with morality or intent, it’s the presence/absence of free will. Ergo, the opposite of “Good” isn’t “Evil”, but “Choice”. Oof, that one hits pretty deep, doesn’t it? I could get into a big discussion about how this does or doesn’t resemble major religions even today but I feel like that goes a bit beyond my qualifications, so instead I’ll just make one more point about this handful of lines between our hero couple, this one on another more word choice for Aziraphale:

AZIRAPHALE: Crawley… You don’t have to destroy Job’s children.

Notice the word “destroy” and not “kill”. I’m not sure why this distinction has been made, not least because Crawley has already told Aziraphale 500 years previously that killing kids is not something he can get onboard with.

Maybe the word choice has been swayed somewhat by Crawley’s supposed disposal of the goats, where they simply disappeared in a puff of smoke. Perhaps “destroy” was thought to be a stronger word than “kill”, though that’s not a stance I would agree with, and I actually feel like it offers the opportunity to distance the “destroyer” from their actions somewhat.

Before we get too deep into the weeds with the next mini-section of Aziraphale pleading, there’s something I want to lay on the table. The last time this pair saw each other was 500 years ago. We saw that meeting, and earlier in this episode they even went so far as to confirm that was the last time they saw each other. That meeting, filled with shocking revelations about Heaven’s actions as it was, was very friendly. VERY friendly. We’ve gone from Crawley looking at Aziraphale like this:

to this:

I mean… What happened? No, seriously, what the actual fuck happened? The tension between this pair is palpable in both scenes, but they are very different types of tension. I’ve always thought that there’s something off about the way their conversation starts at the beginning of the minisode: it feels like that awkward conversation you have with someone when you bump into them after having had a blazing row and neither of you has apologised and despite time passing, you’re both still sore about it. Almost like… unexpectedly bumping into your ex? I realise that was all really wordy, when all I’m really trying to say is that I’m not clear on why the relationship feels so strained at the beginning of the minisode, just like I’m not clear on why Crowley is so grumpy when we see him in Rome. It occurs to me that we don’t see the end of their encounters in Mesopotamia and Golgotha (the previous meetings to Uz and Rome, respectively), and once again I say: what the actual fuck happened?

If we consider the possibility that the meeting in Mesopotamia potentially did not end as amicably as it began, Aziraphale’s desperate pleading with Crawley to do the right thing in this Land of Uz scene feels perhaps a bit more understandable. And let’s just be clear about Aziraphale’s plan of attack at this point - he’s no longer asking a demon not to the “bad” thing, he’s appealing to Crawley to be the being that he has fallen in love with come to know in the years before - one that is incapable of doing the unspeakable things he’s been tasked with.

Wait, wait, did I say understandable? Because this is truly unbearable for me - I can’t watch this without choking back a sob, for real. The little gulp as Crawley’s words hit home, the slumping shoulders, the slight wobble in his bottom lip, the rasping breath he takes (OH BUT THAT INTAKE OF BREATH WILL KILL ME). He is absolutely, and completely, devastated. And who can be surprised, because that speech from Crawley (complete with background hiss noise as he removes his glasses) is pure venom (no snake pun intended). Everything the demon says at this point is said with the sole purpose of hurting Aziraphale (and I say again: WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED?!), prompting Aziraphale to use his ultimate weapon - it’s the forgiveness line. There is something particular about this usage though - on this occasion he doesn’t forgive Crawley personally, he asks for forgiveness on his behalf, which we’ve seen once before: on the bandstand. That encounter was very definitely a break-up and for a second it looks like this one might have been going the same way, and I think I speak on behalf of the entire fandom when I thank those goats for not being able to keep their mouths shut here.

As much as I am fully onboard with Aziraphale’s smugness in his response to finding out that Crawley was indeed the being he thought he was, I can’t help but feel like it’s slightly misplaced, and here’s why:

CRAWLEY: Doesn’t mean we’re on the same side. AZIRAPHALE: No, no!

You see, I don’t think Aziraphale has realised that his actions have actually gone against Heaven’s wishes at this point. So as far as he’s concerned, Crawley and him being on the same side (which is clearly what he thinks, given the vocal delivery) means that Crawley is also on Heaven’s side. Which he most certainly isn’t, and even though the demon has a much clearer idea of how things are progressing, it’s obvious that Aziraphale thinks that Crawley’s point of view is just a cover story for him actually being on Heaven’s side. I think this is the first time that the idea of third “side” (i.e. not for Heaven or Hell) is introduced, chronologically speaking, even if it was thought to be a temporary arrangement and not specifically termed as “their side”. I find myself wondering if Crawley’s acknowledgement that they are “temporarily not on different sides” is the reason he doesn’t protest being called an angel by Job’s eldest daughter (Keziah), but perhaps that’s just because he wants to lull them into a false sense of security for the grand finale coming up.

I will be preaching to the converted for the second time in this write-up now I know, but as I said, it pays to be cautious. The young man playing Ennon is David’s in-real-life son. This episode is quite the family affair! Having that little bit of knowledge makes Crawley’s reaction to this self-important, arrogant little shit all the more funny too.

And whilst we’re on the subject of Crawley’s reactions, I love this facial expression we see in reaction to Aziraphale deciding to throw his weight around:

I slowed it down a bit, but you can see his face twitch ever so slightly just after Aziraphale starts bellowing, like it actually took him by surprise. Pranked or not, I think it’s pretty obvious to see that he does not think this new strategy from the angel is a good one. The background acting doesn’t stop here either, with an adorable little squeak from him in response to Jemimah’s charming nature. It makes me feel a bit sorry for the kids in the scene really, who are (I hope) acting their little socks off being the most repulsive versions of children they can be whilst David just stands there pulling a few faces/making some noises and manages to steal the scene.

There’s no reason for that gif other than to watch a loop of David winking (extremely careful typing required with that sentence).

Alright, maybe there was a little reason, other than pure aesthetics. I know I’m not the only one to say I find the interaction between Crawley and Jemimah adorable, but outside of just being really cute, this relationship does serve a narrative purpose in the context of the storyline. This playful banter he establishes with the young child is what lays the road for some mischief. I’ve talked about it in earlier write-ups, but we don’t see an awful lot of the mischievous demon in this season. Well, all that’s about to change, and I’m pretty relieved because up to now everything Crawley has done in this minisode has felt very serious. I love seeing him getting joy in causing harmless mayhem.

I also find it interesting that this side of the demon has only been allowed out now that he and Aziraphale have found some common ground - the dislike of the two older children - which suggests that their relationship is getting back on track. On that note, it occurs to me that he hasn’t been wearing his sunglasses for any of this scene, which had been firmly glued to his face right from the beginning of the minisode, even when he was alone of the top of a mountain. Whatever happened to cause the angry tension between our hero couple (if anything happened), I think the lack of eyewear would suggest that Crawley is already well on the way to forgetting about it by this point.

I find this blustering from Aziraphale interesting. He refuses to name Crawley as what he physically is, choosing to believe that because the demon’s intentions aren’t malign, his demon nature is simply a technicality. By that same logic, that would mean Aziraphale himself is only “technically” an angel, yet you never hear him refer to himself as such. Ultimately, his motives behind this are honourable, desperate as he is to believe that Crawley is still one of the Good guys, and I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that there’s a double standard being applied here - that’s one of the motifs we see being applied to Heaven throughout the show (“one rule for us, another rule for everyone else”). He’s right in the end of course (at least as far as Crawley’s intentions anyway).

He knows Crawley has absolutely no desire to kill children, despite the fact that the house is blazing around them. The demon told him he couldn’t kill kids, remember?

There’s something about this exchange that niggles at me. On the surface it seems like we’ve gone back to an angry Crawley, challenging Aziraphale on his character judgement. I think there’s maybe a bit more to it though. There is a vague suggestion of Crawley asking Aziraphale if he really trusts him here, even though it’s not explicitly stated. And that trust theme is something we see developing, chronologically, throughout the minisodes of this season. The Agreement is a long way off into the future (about 3500 years in the future in fact), but I find myself wondering if this challenge from Crawley is its first iteration, because I think this is actually him asking Aziraphale if he’s sure he wants to be part of the plot to save the children. If that’s the case, and the angel understands the subtext, it would explain why he makes his declaration of surety so assuredly. And look at him making way for Crawley to deliver his coup de grace, united with the demon, and sure of his decision:

Side note: I love the fact that everything in that room falls through the ceiling to the floor below completely intact, including the table which is already laden with a whole ox carcass. The only sign of anything being disturbed is the noise of a metal pot settling.

Aziraphale’s response to this latest turn of events reminds me of what we see from him when he embarks on his journey to Edinburgh.

He’s so contented - he’s turned the whole thing into a game. One with a trail of clues he had to work out to solve the mystery of how the evil demon could still be an angel underneath it all. And he’s figured it all out, even though he knew it all along anyway, which Crawley is clearly not thrilled about. There’s another layer going on here though I think, because (if I’ve got my chronology right), this is the first time the demon has “rescued” the angel from a perilous situation. Never mind that the perilous situation was created by the demon in the first place. Besides, that might have been part of the game for all we know because it’s only now that Aziraphale starts to give Crawley a bit of slack for him to actually use the cover he’s trying to create for himself. And hold on, what’s this?

Is that a wink? Certainly looks like one to me. He also starts to use collective pronouns from this point, suggesting that he, just like Crawley, is getting comfortable with this relationship again.

We get some miracle noises in the cellar to have a quick look at here, although they are somewhat obscured by the soundtrack. Brief tangent: I’m not sure there are any miracle noises to be heard in the scene a moment ago where Crawley sets fire to the house, with the exception of the last one he does, opening up the floor to the cellar. That one, which is even more difficult to make out that the lizard-transformations, sounds more like the ones we heard from Aziraphale’s miracle in the pub, with that swelling noise that gets used so often in epic soundtracks. If that was the case, that definitely points towards the noise relating to the mindset of the caster, because that one would either have been driven by need or by the caster having good moral intent. The sounds we hear on the cellar on the other hand; they sound more like the snakelike versions we heard from Crawley earlier, although there’s something about them that sounds less ominous than previously.

In the last point of this part of the write-up, I find it notable that Aziraphale doesn’t try to interfere with Crawley’s transforming of the children, even though it’s clear he disapproves.

Perhaps it’s because he realises he’s pushed Crawley too far already to chastise him further for showing his true colours. Maybe it’s because there’s not really any harm being done in his actions. Maybe it’s because the angel was as disgusted with Ennon and Keziahs’ attitudes as Crawley is. Or maybe, just maybe, it’s because he’s actually pretty happy to be able to spend some time with the demon alone. I know which one of those theories I like the most.

This seems like as good a place as any to wrap up this part of the write-up, not least because we’re about to get to a pivotal moment of Aziraphale’s personal development and a fandom favourite in the relationship development, and I’ve already written far too many words on this tiny section to be normal. For now, and as always, questions, comments, discussion: always welcome and see you for the next one 😊

#good omens #episode analysis #good omens season 2 #aziracrow #ineffable idiots #aziraphale #crowley #head canon #good omens soundtrack

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humbledragon669 · 7 months ago

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S2E2 - The Clue Write Up P3 - London (Present Day) the Dirty Donkey meeting up to Land of Uz (Crowley speaks to Job)

Alright, so it’s been a minute. As I write this, it’s been two weeks since I posted the last of this episode’s write up instalments. My apologies about that, I’ve been pretty nose to the grindstone trying to get a Uni assignment finished so that I could enjoy a few weeks of socialising in the lead up to Christmas without worrying about getting it done in time. I finished this afternoon, a little over two weeks ahead of the submission date, which I am over the moon with. Honestly, it’s been pretty intense. I’m not ashamed to say that the first thing I did after I hit the “Submit” button was open up all the bits and pieces I use to write these posts, and I am definitely not ashamed to say that I was quite emotional as I did it. I’ve missed these goofballs. Like… a LOT. And I’ve missed engaging with the fandom with anything more involved than doomscrolling. I still have some reading for the trimester to catch up on, but I am largely free of Uni work now until mid-January (did someone say filming will be underway by then? Not me…) and I intend to throw myself into this beautiful little community wholeheartedly whilst I can. Who knows I might even manage to some more fic writing done/completed… So. With that self-indulgent waffley intro to this post out of the way, let’s get started, we have a pub to get to.

I didn’t think there was any point in delaying the inevitable, we all know that this is the moment that everybody wants to squeal about in this scene. There are a couple of bits and pieces (and they’re all pretty small) I just wanted to point out before I talk about it proper, and even then I probably won’t talk about it all that much because it’s been covered by just about everyone already. Firstly, I just wanted to give a little nod to the sound editors (who knew the first thing I would be pointing out after a short hiatus would be a sound thing. Oh that’s right, everyone did) for the donkey braying noise we can hear in the lower layers of the soundtrack when the camera focusses in on the pub sign. I don’t know why it’s there (I think we all know what a donkey is when we see one), but I think it makes it sounds like the sign is roaring. I don’t think it’s important, I just appreciate the effort.

Next up I want to say how much I wish there was an alleyway of space that leads directly from the door of a pub to a table in every busy pub I went to. There will be a bit more to talk about in regards to our hero couple having an “aura” of free space around them in a little while, but here I think it’s probably there for logistics more than anything.

Last up, I can’t help but feel like there’s something to be had in this little exchange:

CROWLEY: Ah, we’re going to the pub. You never go to the pub. AZIRAPHALE: We’re in the pub now. CROWLEY: What’s wrong with the coffee shop?

So, we hear Crowley moving from the collective “we” to the singular “you” in the first line, followed by Aziraphale immediately reverting to the collection “we” (which is in and of itself notable - I think it points to his not being able to think of himself as a “singular” where Crowley is involved). I actually wonder if this might be a reference to 1967 - we know that Crowley uses this same pub to conduct a covert meeting. Did he choose a pub knowing full well that Aziraphale doesn’t frequent them, supposedly safe in the knowledge that he could remain in the angel’s vicinity without the risk of bumping into him? I think it’s likely this would have factored into Crowley’s choice of meeting place, but what I find curious about the delivery of these lines in the present day is that he firstly sounds amused about this turn of events and then immediately asks Aziraphale why they can’t just do what they normally do. Don’t get me wrong, I love this little exchange, partly because we get to see a little of that mischievous Crowley that I mentioned is a little lacking in this season (at least in the present day scenes), I just can’t quite fathom Crowley’s thinking processes at this point.

Alright. Here we are at last.

I’m going to try and make this short and to the point. Three things about this:

Crowley does not respond to this touch at all. It’s quite rare for us to see this pair consciously touch one another, so if this was out of the ordinary for them, you’d expect to see some sort of shock from him but that is most definitely absent.

Aziraphale doesn’t just stop at putting a hand on Crowley chest, he actually strokes it a little, in a downward motion, and that’s not a response to any movement from the demon, who is completely stationary. That little downward stroke is all sub-conscious Aziraphale (or totally conscious and mischievous Michael, as we came to find out).

There is a little flash of shock on Aziraphale’s face in the split second after he strokes Crowley’s chest. I think this is him realising what he’s just done. Distracted as he was trying to find a table, he’s revealed the true nature of their relationship in a room full of people.

There. That’s it. That wasn’t too drawn out now, was it? Well, if that was a little too shallow for your tastes, shall we have a look at the miracle noise we’re about to hear?

OK, so this is very familiar territory for us by now, and just to prove that point, let’s compare this noise with the one from episode one:

Almost exactly the same, I think. Perhaps some slight difference with the levels, but that could just be the recording I’ve produced. As a reminder, I’ve started playing around with the idea that the miracle noises are more to do with need than the person who casts them - see this take from the episode one write-up:

This would stand up for the scene in the pub too, seeing as the miracle has been cast out of a “need” for somewhere to sit (and for that “aura” of space I mentioned earlier, this time around the table), rather than to achieve something with a moral aim. On the other hand, if you’re still of the camp that believes that the sound is tied to the caster, this would almost certainly drive the hammer home for my theory that Crowley didn’t do anything for the miracle in the book shop - these two miracle sounds are exactly the same, and the one in the pub is definitely only cast by Aziraphale. On a non-sound related note, it has not escaped my attention that the angel is incredibly nonchalant about performing a miracle here, despite how cautious he has been in previous scenes about doing “a very minor miracle”. How does one go from not wanting to perform half a miracle to hide someone in need to openly performing a full one just to guarantee yourself a seat? I suppose it’s possible that he thinks he has little left to lose now that he has Heaven’s attention, but that doesn’t sit right with me. Perhaps this is just another one of those instances, like with Aziraphale’s comments about the arrival of the Heavenly hosts, where the writing is perhaps a little thin in order to provide convenience for filming.

There’s a little Easter egg here in the headline on the newspaper (there will be another one shortly):

It’s not easy to make out the top bit, it looks to me like it reads “Modern, efficient, healthy and pleasant living accommodation in Milton Keynes”. To those of you who don’t know about Milton Keynes, it’s a town that was deliberately developed from scratch in the 60s to try and help address the housing shortage in the UK. It’s one of a handful of so-called “new towns” in the UK. Its most notable feature is that it has a lot of roundabouts. It’s also the one place that neither Crowley nor Aziraphale would take responsibility for, according to the book:

Crowley had been allowed to develop Manchester, while Aziraphale had a free hand in the whole of Shropshire. Crowley took Glasgow, Aziraphale had Edinburgh (neither claimed any responsibility for Milton Keynes*

The footnote for the town in the book also provides us with the text for the headline:

It was built to be modern, efficient, healthy, and, all in all, a pleasant place to live.

Lovely little Easter egg that one. Here’s the other:

This one comes from the book too, this time as part of Newt’s dialogue:

Daily Mail. ‘Letter from America.’ Um, August the third,” said Newt. “Just after the story about the woman in Worms, Nebraska, who taught her duck to play the accordion.

You really have to hand it to the prop and design team - they know how to sneak in those cheeky treats into newspaper headlines, don’t they?!

Alright, let’s jump into another oft-discussed moment.

As with so many of the moments in this show that are highly treasured and talked about by the community, I’m not going to talk about this a great deal, I just want to touch briefly on the vibe I get from this little moment. The bottom line for me here is that this is another Crowley rescue going on. I’ve talked about this aspect of their relationship quite a lot already I know, it’s just that I think it becomes so desperately important later, to the point that it’s explicitly stated. But I’m jumping ahead of myself. Breaking this rescue down, we can see how quickly Crowley becomes aware that his angel might need rescuing - when he looks over at the table to observe the odd man that just sat down. We also see how quickly Aziraphale is to signal to the demon that a rescue is required - with his look back to Crowley at the bar. This little moment is so beautiful to me - it shows how completely aware they both are of the other’s presence and role without a single word. And that position Crowley takes up when he does get to the table? It’s so very territorial, isn’t it? Reaching across Aziraphale to put the glass down, rather than just placing the glass down. It’s like a proverbial shield. And that you really can’t pretend not to hear the “what the fuck are you doing in my seat” in that “hello”, can you?

There are two additional minor points I want to point out here. The first is to do with one of Aziraphale’s tells - his hands.

You can see that as soon as he starts to feel seriously uncomfortable, he starts fiddling with his hands. We’ve seen him do this on multiple occasions before, so it shouldn’t be news that this is something he does subconsciously, I just think it’s worth noting that this behaviour comes into play even with situations where the risk of peril is low. The other thing of note is this tiny lip and eye movements we see when he takes a sip of his sherry:

The lip movement is tricky to read and interpret. I have seen a post that suggested this is a bit of non-verbal communication from him to Crowley, where he says “thank you”. I don’t think this is an unreasonable suggestion, and certainly plays to the non-verbal theme that runs through this entire season. It would also tie in nicely with the eye flick we can see, which makes it seem like the words are being projected at Crowley with his eyes. What’s important is that this gratitude isn’t for the drink (otherwise it would be spoken aloud) - this thanks would appear to be for the rescue.

There’s something about this line I really love, almost like he thinks he’s speaking from a wealth of experience. Which he blatantly isn’t, but you gotta love him for trying claim some knowledge in the area. Crowley looks as convinced of that as the rest of us though:

I also love this little insight into Aziraphale’s character:

AZIRAPHALE: I told them I made Nina and Maggie fall in love. CROWLEY: Why? AZIRAPHALE: It was the first thing I could think of.

To me it shows that ultimately he’s always instinctively drawn towards love. When you compare that mindset to the one shown by Gabriel earlier on in the episode when talking about Job’s children, it really shows how wide the gulf between Aziraphale and the rest of Heaven actually is. Here’s a little script thing I do have an issue with though:

AZIRAPHALE: Oh, miracles don’t work like that.

Um. OK. So why would you have gotten away with telling the rest of the Heavenly host that your miracle worked? This feels like another moment of flaky writing, it just doesn’t really hold up to any sort of scrutiny. But as quickly as I have a moment of doubt about this show, a little moment comes in to bring me back in line:

There’s something so showy about this. Like he’s giving Crowley the gift of “we”. There’s such emphasis on the “we”, with a set-up and a pause. This is interesting to me, because it almost sounds as if the suggestion here isn’t that they “fix” a problem, but that they rescue it, except this time it won’t be Crowley doing the rescuing on his own, this time it’s a “we” thing. Really cute.

There’s another fandom favourite coming - the fall-in-love-in-a-rainstorm speech. As usual, I won’t go into huge detail here, just highlight some of my favourite aspects. It goes without saying that the scene described is essentially an exact description of the events of the wall scene from the Garden of Eden, and what makes that particularly interesting is that it suggests (or perhaps confirms) that this was the moment that Crowley fell in love with Aziraphale. More than that, it suggests that he believes that the same can be said of Aziraphale. I am not unaware of the similarities of the description with the Before the Beginning scene, but if we’re talking actual watery rain, there is only one scene of the two that we can apply it to. The layers of subtext in this micro-scene are what really engage me, because not only do I love that Crowley’s speech says that he truly believes the way he fell in love to be the only and best way it’s possible to fall in love (and can we say “made for each other”? Swoon), the way that it’s delivered suggests he’s completely unaware he’s talking about himself. And it definitely hasn’t registered with Aziraphale either:

I also love how Crowley stands his ground on this one.

And just when you think this demon couldn’t get any more saccharine, he pulls this out of the bag:

There’s a tiny hesitation before the “Richard Curtis” that tells me everything I need to know about his little speech - this is the moment where he realises what he’s just said. Whether this is a realisation for him about exactly when he fell in love with Aziraphale I don’t know, largely because his eyes are covered and we don’t get to see his face for long enough, but I find something really charming in this idea. I’m sure there are some that would say that hesitation is because he’s about to give away the fact that he watches Richard Curtis films (Notting Hill is hardly demon-worthy content now, is it?), but I am not one of those. As a point of note, has Crowley’s description ever actually happened in a Richard Curtis film? Personally I haven’t watched an awful lot of his work, but I’m pretty sure it hasn’t happened in any of the stuff I have seen.

Final note on Crowley’s side of this discussion goes to this expression, the response to Aziraphale telling him that they should “invoke fiction … properly”:

I mean, he’s pissed at this point isn’t he? And rightly so I say. He’s just recounted his incredibly romantic tale of how he fell in love, and he’s told, by the recipient of that love, that he hasn’t done it “properly”. I think it’s fair to say that the non-verbal communication that was working so effectively earlier in this scene has well and truly gone off the rails by this point.

Quick side note about this 1810 Clerkenwell diamond robbery - not a real historic thing by all accounts. I find this interesting because so many of the historic things referred to in this show were actual events, or at least loosely related to one. This one seems to have been entirely created though. What I will say is that, from Crowley’s description and the way he says her name, it seems he may have been on a first name basis with her. Now wouldn’t that whole thing make for a fascinating spin-off/minisode?

I love the complete opposites we see in Aziraphale’s description of the perfect way to fall in love, the most obvious being that we haven’t ever seen this particular scenario play out between them in the way that we say Crowley’s. Perhaps this is meant to reinforce the difference in the types of personalities between them - the angel being the fantasist, the angel being the realist (which in of itself would open up a huge can of worms for discussion). At the heart of his speech is the only common aspect between the two descriptions:

AZIRAPHALE: …and then realise they had misunderstood each other and were actually deeply in love.

Essentially the two descriptions boil down to the same thing - two people coming together and, based on apropos of nothing but being in close physical contact with one another, fall deeply and desperately in love. How ironic that Crowley feels the same way about the Austen-scenario as Aziraphale did about the “Richard Curtis” one:

Right, I think that just about covers the pub scene, let’s see if I can get to the start of another flashback scene without too much trouble.

Tiny thing, but does anybody else find the idea that Crowley has never heard “Everyday” before highly unlikely? With his broad music tastes and the fact that he would actually have been around to hear the song when it was released, this seems like a really strange thing to claim, even if it sounds convincing. Maybe it’s just a me thing.

Next tiny thing (aside from noting that, despite the fact that Aziraphale is hiding a much sought-after archangel inside the shop, the door isn’t locked) - how is it that Crowley knows exactly where to find the Jane Austen books? Maybe that particular bookshelf is the start of an A-Z of fiction by author (I highly doubt this, as it would mean customers can actually find books they’re looking for). Even if that was the case, it would mean that Crowley has paid enough attention to the system at hand to know where to look. Given he himself claimed he doesn’t read books (see season one, episode two), there’s something about his familiarity with the shop layout that says more about the amount of time he spends there (and helps out there?) to me. What I do find interesting here is that he doesn’t instantly remove his glasses when he enters the shop. This might just be a set-up for their removal in just a moment, but it may also be that he’s less comfortable there now that Gabriel has set up camp. Talking of the removal of the glasses, there’s another one of those hiss noises here, just to really hammer home how threatening he wants to be to Jim. Lovely bit of subtextual sound editing.

Alright final point here - I’m sure there’s something to be said about Jim’s eyes turning purple when he remembers things. Maybe it’s just a special effect to show the audience that this is a genuine moment of remembering, but if not, it raises questions for me around what the purple eyes signify, which is emphasised by the fact that the words Jim recalls were not only not spoken by him, but he wasn’t even present to hear (at least as far as what we see can testify to). Some things to ponder on there for a later time perhaps.

I think it’s time to call it a day on this part. It’s run a little longer than intended, but that’s what happens with Aziracrow-rich content I’m afraid (so… all of season 2 then?). As always, questions, comments, discussion: always welcome! See you for the next one 😊

#good omens #episode analysis #good omens season 2 #aziracrow #ineffable idiots #aziraphale #crowley #ineffable husbands #head canon #crowley loves aziraphale #aziraphale loves crowley #good omens soundtrack

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humbledragon669 · 7 months ago

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Oh I'm not sure mine says anything about me that helps me maintain my (small amount of) coolness...

birmingham symphony hall classic fm

Yeah that's right, I rock hard when I got out for the evening... I did buy tickets for Snow Patrol earlier today. Is that any better? It's better, right? ... It's not any better is it? *sigh*

@rada-76 @sonkitty @mtmom @possibility-left

last google search, go

um. Tag four people.

what do they make sewer tunnels out of

@ncc1701ohno @affixjoy @the-magpieprince @twinkboimler

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humbledragon669 · 8 months ago

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S2E2 - The Clue Write Up P2 - London (Present Day) post credits up to the departure of Michael et al

I’ll jump straight in, seeing as that’s what happens in this episode as soon as the credits are finished, and I have a couple of things of note about this short scene in the record shop. Let’s have a little look at the background music first, shall we? Just in case you weren’t aware, it’s a Dusty Springfield song called “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me”, and it’s really the lyrics to the first verse that have my interest:

When I said I needed you You said you would always stay It wasn't me who changed but you and now you've gone away Don't you see that now you've gone And I'm left here on my own That I have to follow you and beg you to come home

There’s something desperately heartbreaking (to me anyway) about these lyrics if you take them as potential foreshadowing of the Final 15. I feel like that might be a bit of a reach, though that’s largely to do with where it’s been placed in the timeline, and that we don’t really hear those lyrics very well unless we’re really paying attention. I think it’s more likely a nod to the way Maggie is feeling at that point in time, though the lyrics for the second verse are perhaps more appropriate for that:

You don't have to say you love me, just be close at hand You don't have to stay forever, I will understand Believe me, believe me, I can't help but love you But believe me, I'll never tie you down Left alone with just a memory Life seems dead and so unreal All that's left is loneliness, there's nothing left to feel

It’s not just the lyrics that make me feel that this subtext isn’t (for once) driven towards the hero couple. This particular verse kicks in good and proper (with a tiny uplift in volume so that we can make those lyrics out) exactly when we get a close up shot of Nina across the road, as Maggie is explaining her reason for not crying. And whilst we’re on the subject of crying, we’ve heard a very similar version of a snippet of this conversation before:

There are quite a few similarities between these two conversations - a male character observing a female one crying on their own territory, both of whom openly acknowledge that they have been crying, and accepting the social taboo that holds, whilst the male character appears unaware that acknowledging tears can cause a breaching of that same social taboo. With all that said, I don’t know what purpose that mirroring serves. I was asked not so long ago if I have ever noticed parallels between episodes in this very fashion, but this particular parallel ends with the themes - the timing of both conversations are in different episodes of each season and at different times in each episode. Parallels aside, I feel like Aziraphale’s reaction to Maggie’s tears is an interesting one - I mean, has he really never seen a human crying in his 6000 years of existence on Earth? The realisation that dawns on his face when Maggie has to guide him through the etiquette of the situation suggests that this really is new territory for him:

His face just keeps giving his inner thoughts away, because there’s quite the look of surprise on his face when he hears that Maggie and Nina were locked in the coffee shop together the previous evening, so Crowley has clearly forgotten to mention that particular faux pas to him (or perhaps “forgotten” might be more appropriate). And look how delighted he is when he finds out Maggie is in love:

Slight plot hole here, and we’re going back to season 1 again to see it.

AZIRAPHALE: There’s a very peculiar feeling to this whole area. I’m astonished you can’t feel it. […] Love. Flashes of love.

It’s a long way back I’ll grant you, but there was a time (in the second episode of the first season) that we were made to believe that Aziraphale could feel love. So why can’t he feel Maggie’s love for Nina? Perhaps she hides it too well? Or maybe she’s not really in love, or if she is, it isn’t that strong? Alternatively, does it have something to do with Aziraphale’s angelic abilities? Happy with his personal circumstances as they are, has he become less attuned to them? Or maybe even less able to use them? I don’t really have a feeling about which of these theories (if any of them) is most likely, and I’d be happy to hear any others that people are harbouring.

I also find Aziraphale’s reaction to Maggie’s request for advice pretty interesting.

MAGGIE: What am I going to do? AZIRAPHALE: (stammering) Can I get back to you on that? I think, right now, I’m a bit out of miracles.

Chill out mate, the poor woman just asked you for some advice, not for you to interfere using your Heavenly abilities (that she knows nothing about). I mean, I get that he doesn’t want to perform any miracles because he doesn’t want to attract any attention. Perhaps it says something about the way he deals with problems, believing that performing miracles is the only way that he can offer a solution? And that wording isn’t exactly the most empathetic thing to say to someone asking for love advice is it? I mean, if you take away the fact that he is referring to miracles in a very literal sense, what you’re left with is a sentence that sounds an awful lot like “you’d need a miracle to sort all of this stuff out, you’re in a right mess”. At least he manages to sound like he wants to help I suppose.

The address we see for The Resurrectionist pub is an interesting one, particularly in the context of this particular episode:

So let me just point out - “Goat Gate” is a fictional address in Edinburgh. Not just that number on Goat Gate, that entire street doesn’t exist at all. Which makes the choice of it being Goat Gate interesting, given how important goats will become later in this episode. I feel like there might be another subtextual link given the goat as a symbol of Satan, making the “66” part of the address pretty significant. I think this might be a rabbit hole that would be all too easy to fall down, so if anyone wants to take that and disappear into the void, please be my guest - for this blog, let’s just say it’s something of interest and move on.

Last item of note for this scene - I find Aziraphale’s reaction to the announcement of the arrival of the angels on Earth uncomfortably out of character. Sort of. Not that he reacts that way as such; I find his panic pretty appropriate. It’s the fact that he openly tells Maggie “they’re here”, and then goes on to ask he if she can “feel them”. She’s human. Why would she be aware of their presence? And why would he involve her in his distress? It would have felt much more appropriate to me if he had just bumbled some excuse and left in a hurry, there’s just something about these couple of lines of dialogue that don’t sit right with me.

Quick little point - how much of the panic on Aziraphale’s face when Jim declares it time for the bookselling to begin is because of the Gabriel situation and how much because Jim is actually trying to sell books?

I’m sure narratively it’s all the former, I just love the idea of the latter because we all know just how much worse that would have made everything; first the archangels arrive and now somebody has SOLD A BOOK. We wouldn’t need Armageddon or a Second Coming, this would probably have been the end of Aziraphale’s world right there.

There are a couple of things to note about this exchange regarding the “plume”. Firstly, Aziraphale doesn’t seem to be aware that there is such a thing. It makes me wonder what methods he thought Heaven were employing to detect miracles in the first place (after all, we know he’s been reprimanded for being too frivolous with them from his comments in 1793), and clearly he’s never been privy to witnessing one of these plumes in the past. Secondly, he appears to be surprised at the strength of the miracle that was performed. This stands to reason if we take the story as read - that he and Crowley have performed a miracle together. It would certainly be a surprise to know that the two of them could perform a miracle of such strength when performing it together. And that little scoff shows Seraqael certainly doesn’t believe that Aziraphale is capable of casting such a miracle himself. These last two observations do mean my meta about Crowley not doing anything takes a bit of a knock. Unless you include the possibility that Gabriel’s power was somehow tapped into and used during that miracle casting (which I do still consider a possibility, given the colour of the plume matches Gabriel’s archangel eyes). What is absolutely clear about this interaction between the Heavenly entities is that none of the visitors believe Aziraphale had anything to do with the miracle - they believe Gabriel did it and that Aziraphale is hiding him.

Easter egg time! Feels like it’s been a long time since we had one of these.

Another one of Terry’s books making it into the show, this time it’s the first in his Discworld series. I’m going to put my hands up here and admit to never having read them. I have tried, more than once, reading The Colour of Magic, but for whatever reason I just can’t get into it. Don’t hate me.

I feel like there is a special layer of lying being employed by Aziraphale in his rebuttals here - he’s just been told that the miracle that was cast was of phenomenal power. His response? “Oh yeah, I did that so a couple of humans could fall in love”. And it’s so obvious that he knows he’s on really thin ice here - we have some really classic mannerisms that tell us Aziraphale is panicking HARD. The stuttering, the exaggerated hand gestures. I’m pretty sure that if he didn’t have a record in one of his hands, they would be wringing away like the clappers - you can actually see that he repeatedly tries to bring his hands together but that darn EP just keeps getting in the way. Quick note: I find it interesting that he feels the need to explain to his guests what love is - whether this relates to what I was pondering earlier and the abilities of angels to feel love, or whether it’s more an indication of his personal opinion of their abilities as compassionate beings I couldn’t say.

Another Easter egg (sort of):

Alright, so this is probably less of an Easter egg, more of an interesting morsel of information. “The Wicked Bible” is the book that Jim uses to try and kill the fly with. This is a real edition of the Bible, so called because of an unfortunate typo that states that the seventh commandment reads “Thou shalt commit adultery”. I don’t know that it has any subtextual meaning to the storyline, but it’s a cool little piece of religious trivia - shelve it away, it might come up in a pub quiz one day 😉

Whatever you believe about the miracle that was performed to hide Gabriel, it’s obvious that Aziraphale is far from convinced that it worked:

This is the face of an angel who is genuinely in fear of what’s about to happen. This expression actually got me to wondering how different Aziraphale’s reaction to the arrival of Michael et al is to Gabriel’s arrival. For a start, he tries to send Gabriel away, yet this three he invites in, without any sort of prompt or threat. He even has a very compelling reason for not allowing Michael, Uriel, and Seraqual into the bookshop at this point - Jim. I made the argument that Aziraphale didn’t really seem to be frightened of Gabriel when he arrived in episode one - I’m of a mind that his contrasting behaviour with the three visiting angels in this episode backs that up.

I’m going to end this part (and yes, this has been a little on the short side for me, but we have THAT pub scene coming up, and I just don’t think I can tag it on to the end of what I’ve already done in this section) with a little chapeau, and this one goes to the lovely Mickey Ralph, who I understand is responsible for the article we see Aziraphale reading. Here’s the original:

As I understand it, Mickey was responsible for the translation of that article into multiple different languages, using the translations to produce authentic-looking newspaper articles from other counties. There’s a little write up that you can read about it here. I don’t think I’ve talked about my love of the level of attention to detail specifically in this season just yet, but this tiny detail absolutely reminded me of it. These newspaper articles must have taken a fair amount of time and effort to produce, are only seen for a fraction of a second, and yet make the scene feel so much richer for their presence. Amazing work Mickey, thank you.

And on that positive note, I’ll wrap this part up. I had hoped to get to the next chunk of the minisode but I should know better than that by now, shouldn’t I? As always, questions, comments, discussion: always welcome. See you for the next one! 😊

#good omens #episode analysis #aziraphale #good omens season 2 #good omens gabriel #good omens maggie #good omens soundtrack

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humbledragon669 · 8 months ago

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S2E2 - The Clue Write Up P1 - Land of Uz (2500 BC) and London (Present Day) up to the credits

Ooh it’s been a while since got to use an in-screen caption as one of the headers and I am delighted to be able to do it again! I may well just use the same two headers as we switch between the two time periods in this episode, just for simplicity. Sue me.

There’s a tiny detail that’s been applied to this opening shot that I absolutely love – the video here has had an of effect applied to it to give it a vintage film feel. Sorry, that’s as close as I come to describing it with any sort of eloquence – I’m referring to the “fake” black marks and scratches that appear on the image briefly (you can see a couple on the header above). It doesn’t last long (only until Crawley finishes his first line), but I think this subtle little effect sets us very firmly in a cinematic (cinematographic?) context. I also feel like the colouring of the image has been altered for the same purpose – it puts me in mind of one of those historical films from the 50s and 60s, like Ben Hur and Spartacus (which I suspect is probably the whole point).

There’s something else interesting about Crawley’s appearance in this scene – his sunglasses. Cast your mind back to episode 3 in the first season (Hard Times), in which we saw him appearing without sunglasses all the way up to (and including) 33AD. I did comment on the appearance of the sunglasses in the 42AD scene in the write up for it:

I’m not sure I actually find this sudden appearance of sunglasses some 2500 years earlier all that interesting. There’s a part of me that feels that they have probably been included here because we, as an audience, have come to expect Crawley/Crowley’s costume to include a pair of stylised sunglasses by this point. I’d actually be strangely satisfied with that if it was the case – I feel like the reason behind his choosing to wear them could be so much more interesting if this was simply a “continuity error”.

Just wanted to include this because I am thrilled Aziraphale finally gets a really bad-ass entrance. How many times have we seen Crowley sauntering his way into a scene, looking like the coolest thing on Earth (and knowing it)? So glad the angel gets a turn at that here. That said. Why exactly is it that Aziraphale has happened to show up at this place and time? As we will come to find out shortly, Crawley is actually acting with Heaven’s authority so I don’t think the angel would have been sent there. It would present an interesting parallel to Crowley’s supposed knack of knowing when the angel is in trouble, but also resurfaces the suggestion about them being aware of the other’s whereabouts more often than not. I have to say, based on the conversation between them here, that seems unlikely – this exchange feels nothing but businesslike to me, cold even. Aziraphale even goes so far as to apologise (unapologetically) for having to do his job. We do learn that it has been about 500 years since they’ve seen each other, which is a nice little piece of backstory to have. I also consider it interesting to see Crowley providing a prompt to Aziraphale on how to complete his task, which provides a loose mirror parallel to what we saw Before the Beginning, that time with Aziraphale prompting his newfound friend that the incantations (for want of a better word) were not complete.

Side note: don’t you just love those little goats for staying exactly where they’ve been put? Pretty sure most animals would have scarpered extremely quickly when a huge flaming ball appeared above them, never mind having another being literally appearing from thin air in a really spiky portal of light. They must be some very calm goats.

Given the light show that Aziraphale has brought with him to make an imposing entrance on a demon, I’m pretty impressed with the restraint Crawley shows when he responds here – I mean he’s not exactly known for his patience is he? I also wonder if Aziraphale’s comment about jokes is meant to be a throwback to Hastur’s vehemence that he doesn’t like them, but the line is so throw-away that I can’t see what relevance it would add at this point. What I do find interesting is that, now we’re no longer in the “present day” of this season, we see Aziraphale struggling with his preconceived notions of right/good and wrong/evil. It’s something we saw quite a lot of in the first season, in both historical and “present” timelines. In the second season though, what with Aziraphale no longer working for Heaven, we tend to see it a lot less. We saw it in the first episode in the Before the Beginning segment, and we’ll see it again in the coming episodes, but predominantly in the historical scenes. There’s something about the fact that Aziraphale appears less conflicted about morality once he has been removed from the morality-defining authority, become more connected to humanity, and is found to be exercising his free will that I find deeply profound. No wonder the poor guy took 6000 years to realise that being Good isn’t just about following orders, especially when you consider that instruction is tied to his very existence. That whole thing is a big concept, and I struggled to put it into any words that made sense, so I hope I’ve at least been kind of clear. Basically, what I wanted to say was that I love that the historical scenes are being used as a way to remind us of the character development that Aziraphale has gone through over the millennia – they show us where he came from. And it’s not just the angel that gets this treatment:

We haven’t seen this version of Crawley/Crowley for quite a while, have we? The one that takes such delight in his mischief. And in case you missed it, we really should have known what he was up to – you can see two birds taking flight in the background behind his head, with an accompanying “caw” to draw attention to their presence.

I’m including that gif for no other reason that I find it Muriel’s impersonation of a goose adorable. I do wonder what exactly would have been deemed important though, if Job’s farm, camels, goat, oxen, children, and geese are all disposable. I’m not going to go into the underlying subtext of the bet that has been made between God and Satan here – the story itself is little changed from its original biblical source so I feel like it’s a bit out of scope for an episode write up. What is interesting to see is that the item on the list that Aziraphale balks at is the same as the one that Crowley has previously demonstrated (on more than one occasion) is his “line in the sand” for unacceptable acts – killing children. This will also be the first time, chronologically, that we see Aziraphale take his doubts to other angelic beings (some of whom are his superiors). I’m assuming his way of doing things is a little more diplomatic than Crowley’s was when he was in his angelic state, even if it is just as (un)fruitful.

This attitude towards Sitis and Job keeping their existing children rather than having them replaced with new ones says a lot about the Heavenly standard when it comes to understanding humanity and its eccentricities; his reasoning here being that it shouldn’t matter if Job’s existing children are murdered senselessly, as long as they’re replaced with an equal (or greater) number of different children. There is no appreciation of the complexities behind human relationships, desires, or emotions. I feel like it makes the fact that both Gabriel and Michael claim to understand the difference between the subtle technical differences between “killing someone” and “not stopping someone from killing someone” pretty ironic, particularly when they are taking advantage of this technicality to maintain their stance of being the good guys. And all said in such a convincing (and convinced) tone. Gabriel’s stance really only makes sense when you take it out of humanity’s context, which I think is why it’s just not something Aziraphale would ever be comfortable with.

Alright, we’ve jumped back into the present day to find Aziraphale apparently deep in thought about something. My take on it, and I think it’s a fairly common one, is that the whole Job sequence up to this point is a flashback as seen through Aziraphale’s eyes. (Side note: a cash register ringing noise is an interesting sound effect to employ to highlight the placards here, seeing as we all know the angel never willingly sells a book) There are a couple of things I picked up on during this delightful little scene, the first of which is this line:

AZIRAPHALE: I just didn’t see you coming.

I don’t think it would be a huge leap of faith to say that this line is probably not meant to be limited to this scene, but to Gabriel’s appearance on the whole. I don’t think it’s a huge revelation, I just love that it’s dropped in there so casually. And just as a quick note, I had previously wondered where Gabriel had been that he was able to sneak up on Aziraphale so easily, but it turns out that he would have been in plain sight as he approached the desk:

I love the way Aziraphale is bothered that somebody is bringing order to his chaos. It’s my belief that those books are likely arranged in such a way that only he knows how to find anything. After all, customers can’t buy books if they can’t find them, can they? The idea that somebody might actually be bringing some order to that must be distressing. It’s alright though, seeing as nobody will ever find anything they’re looking for using Gabriel’s sorting system anyway.

We also have the first reference to the Buddy Holly song “Everyday” in this scene. I’m really pleased that it was included in the second season – apparently it was something Terry was really keen to use as a device in the first season. The script book even includes stage directions that the soundtrack for most of the end credits should be stylised versions of the song. The story goes that when David Arnold presented his version of the theme tune for the first season, it was deemed to be so appropriate that the “Everyday” theme was dropped. I do absolutely love the theme tune we got. I also love that “Everyday” was brought back in for the second season. Both things can be true 😊

Last point of interest for this scene. The book that Jim reads from is “A Tale of Two Cities”. I will confess I haven’t read it, and used Wikipedia to summarise the plot, which as I understand it revolves around a central character who is compelled to disassociate himself from the wrongdoings of his family. There’s a drunken man that testifies on behalf of the main character and helps to get him acquitted of a crime. There’s a trip to Paris in 1792 that sees the main character imprisoned in the Bastille and the same man that helped acquit the main character travels to Paris in 1793 in an attempt to rescue him. There’s also a character called Gabelle, whose request for assistance in a prison escape leads to the capture of the main character.

It’s vague I’ll grant you, and I am sure I have missed a lot of the finer plot points. With that said, I don’t think I’d be alone in feeling like there are more than a few similarities to the 1793 Paris scene from Hard Times. Paris, the year, a prison rescue, and that name that’s awfully similar to Gabriel… It makes me wonder if this might be a Clue as to Aziraphale’s true purpose in Paris, and I suspect there might be a nice little project here to look at parallels between the novel and the 1793 storyline, but that would probably involve reading the original novel. In case you had missed it, time is not something I have a lot of right now, and classics bore the living shit out of me so it’s not something I can commit to so if anybody wants to take up that mantel, please feel free.

Don’t you just love that this is the first time we actually see Crowley sleeping in the show at all? There was a scene that didn’t make it to the final cut in the first season that saw him sleeping (in a bed/against a wall/on the ceiling), and one from just after he got out of bed. There is also explicit mention of his love of sleep in the book and we as a fandom have taken that cannon well and truly to heart. Yet this is the first confirmation we have in the show that he does in fact sleep. It’s a nice little touch for us to have – there really is no denying that this demon sleeps from this point on.

I made a note of Michael referring to Aziraphale as a “former angel” at the end of the first episode, and commented on how this feels like an inaccuracy. Interestingly Crowley makes an identical inaccuracy here in referring to himself as a “former demon”. To recap:

I feel the same way about Crowley and his status. I also note that Shax doesn’t correct his use of the past tense, but perhaps that’s because she’s confused at his use of sarcasm. What’s also of note is that she appears not to have any knowledge that Beelzebub and Crowley have already discussed the matter of Gabriel, likely because the former is trying to keep that under wraps. It makes me wonder if Crowley might have noticed that discrepancy had the discussion not turned to talk about the miracle that was performed in the bookshop the night before. And now we can briefly turn to the controversy that I raised from the last episode about whether Crowley actually had anything to do with said miracle:

SHAX: A miracle of enormous power happened last night. The kind of miracle only the mightiest of archangels could have performed.

So from her perspective, it looks like she believes Gabriel (as Supreme Archangel) performed the miracle himself. My theory about Crowley not playing his part in it gets pretty shaky at this point, because Aziraphale supposedly wouldn’t have been able to perform a miracle of that strength on his own. There is a “but” here. Or rather, an “unless”. What if Gabriel contributed to the miracle that was performed, but unknowingly? Possibly even unwillingly? His power, either alone or being added to that of another, might explain the colouration of the plume we see originating from the bookshop on the globe at the end of the episode. Yeah, that’s right, I’m not dropping this theory yet! It’s such a shame we don’t see any other example of plumes, because that would really either lend weight to it or completely discredit it. Shax clearly doesn’t think much of Crowley’s claim to the miracle regardless – she doesn’t even respond to him when he offers the possibility that it was him that did it.

It's also notable that Crowley makes no protestations about Shax’s label of “friend” when referring to Aziraphale. Unfortunately, we don’t get to see his face when she says it, but we do see that it’s unchanged when the close up returns to him. I’m not saying this is a denial of his true feelings, merely pointing out that this would have been hotly refuted prior to the body switch incident. Whether Crowley doesn’t care that Hell knows about his “friendship” or just can’t be bothered to argue isn’t clear at this point. What is clear, is that Shax’s threats are convincing enough that the plants are frightened – you can see (and hear) them shaking in the background:

I’m sure Crowley probably starts the car in a pass-agg response to his being threatened, but there’s a big part of me that believes he really does it because Shax has had the audacity to frighten his beloved plants. I don’t have any evidence to suggest that’s the case, but I won’t be swayed on that regardless. As a final point of note: this will be the second time Crowley has been offered the “opportunity” to help Hell and refused. He clearly has no interest in helping them – his bridges are well and truly burned as far as he’s concerned.

And with that, we’ve arrived at the credits, which feels like an excellent place to wrap this part up. I don’t think this instalment has been quite as controversial as the last one but as ever: questions, comments, discussion, always welcome. See you for the next one! 😊

#good omens #episode analysis #good omens season 2 #aziracrow #aziraphale #crowley #head canon #good omens gabriel #good omens shax #crowley's plants

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