#underneath it all crowley is an optimist

[nickydraws]

You know how sometimes you just have to get through November, and to do it you need one particular demon with a bottle of wine. Happy December everyone I guess!

[anthonycrowley]

Haven’t read the book. How different are they?

well there’s actually a great way of finding that out and that is to read the book. please read the book. how are you following me if you have never read good omens. have i failed that spectacularly in my mission.

[hoshioyoo]

in which crowley tries to convince himself that all is not yet lost, because underneath it all, he is an optimist…

[hallo-spaceb0y]

I'm just so sad because

[friendlyneighbourhoodanon]

wild how Aziraphale is the one warning Crowley not to question God in the beginning of season 2

yeah yeah Crowley’s asking questions whatever, oh no, but he wholeheartedly believes it’s fine, he won’t get into trouble

Aziraphale is the one who doubts God’s goodwill, you can see it in his hesitancy of Crowley asking any questions, he’s such a baby and so painfully afraid already

so sure yeah Crowley’s an optimist underneath it all and whatever, but Aziraphale’s a fucking cynic, and they’re both just pretending that they’re not exactly that: an Angel who doubts and a Demon who believes

[bertoyana]

because, underneath all, crowley was an optimist. [in/sp]

[books-and-omens]

Okay okay, so I really want to talk about S2 Crowley.

I’ve been thinking about who Crowley is in the book and who he is in the show, and the gap is significant. (@tbutchaziraphale has fantastic meta over here which I think is spot on.)

Book!Crowley is an optimist, yes? I mean, we’re outright told this:

“Because, underneath it all, Crowley was an optimist. If there was one rock-hard certainty that had sustained him through the bad times—he thought briefly of the fourteenth century—then it was utter surety that he would come out on top; that the universe would look after him.”

Honestly, what a thing for a fallen angel to believe! And to me, it’s powerful, yes, but it never quite answers the question: where is he getting that certainty?

Tv!Crowley, in the meantime, is emphatically not this. He’s never been an optimist, not even in S1—although in S1, it might have been easier to look at A & C and consider them essentially similar to their book selves if a little out of sync.

In S1, Crowley gives the whole “don’t test them to destruction” speech. He cares about humanity deeply, even if he won’t admit it. He will try to stop the Apocalypse.

And there is still a moment when he feels helpless. When he has no innate optimism to carry him through, no deep belief in the universe looking after him or anyone. When his instincts tell him to run, and he tries to follow them. When he despairs. Aziraphale pulls him back out of that despair; they make a stand together. As we know, it works.

But the thing is, the thing is. I find tv!Crowley’s lack of optimism so very relatable.

I find despair so very relatable, too.

We live in an age of deep anxiety. (Climate change, anyone? Just for starters! The promise and wonder of the Moon landing and the end of the Cold War are far in the past; day to day, we deal with the effects of capitalism, of reactionism, of continued exclusionism. It’s far too easy to feel helpless.)

So in S2, Crowley is very much the same character as he was in S1, except we see it even clearer.

He is not an optimist. He wants to run; he wants to escape when faced with Gabriel’s arrival; he wants to protect Aziraphale and himself, and believes that the best—perhaps only—way to do that is by them retreating as far away from the problem as they can.

In Heaven, Crowley finds out about The Second Coming. His need to escape and to keep his angel safe become overwhelming. But he doesn’t tell Aziraphale about the Second Coming, does he? And his repeated offer to run away together doesn't even make sense to Aziraphale. (Not that Aziraphale would want to run if he knew. Quite the opposite, in fact, which Crowley must know.)

Anyway, Crowley already knows that the clock is ticking. Aziraphale is about to find it out. (Do you notice how often, in the last fifteen minutes of S2, we hear nothing in the background but the ticking of a clock?)

And just—the despair, the desire to retreat and escape when you are faced with overwhelming odds, with a fundamentally broken system, are so relatable.

And yet escape has never been the answer.

I hope, of course, that this is what we’ll see in S3 if there is a S3. Crowley deciding, emphatically, that running away is not the answer. 

We didn't get there yet. We were dropped out of the story at the darkest point.

But I think being at this point is precisely what makes Crowley’s confession at the end of S2 transcendent.

Because it’s the same conflict, isn’t it, except on a personal scale. Despair in the face of overwhelming odds, followed by the decision to not give up.

Crowley, who’d been ready to confess, sees what is likely to happen. He sees the way the deck is stacked against him, sees that he is unlikely to get through. He feels the coming loss. 

And then he does it anyway. 

He confesses anyway. He says what he has set out to say, gasping and clawing for every word. He does it at the point when everything appears lost.

And no, we don’t see the effects of it, not yet. We don’t see what he has launched, the hook that sank into Aziraphale, the change it has wrought in Crowley himself.

But his bravery won’t be lost.

We live in a dark timeline. I maintain that this is precisely what makes this story so compelling.

Be brave. Do the difficult thing anyway. Do it anyway. Do it anyway.

Even in the face of overwhelming odds. Especially in the face of overwhelming odds. While not being an optimist in the slightest.

This is what hope is.

This is what we have to do.

(And to all of us who’d lost a comfort story: I’m so sorry. I, too, am still grieving for it. I know, I know.

Emphatically: all is not lost.)

[queer-reader-07]

do i think crowley is gonna be a hot mess in s3? yes. do i think he’s gonna be sad beyond anyone’s comprehension? yes. do i think he’s absolutely fucking devastated and angry? also yes.

but do i think he’s for one moment gonna think that aziraphale isn’t coming back? FUCK NO.

a little book quote for you all

“Because, underneath it all, Crowley was an optimist. If there was one rock-hard certainty that had sustained him through the bad times then it was utter surety that the universe would look after him.”

now aside from how much i adore the distinction that he believes the universe has his back, not god, not hell, not heaven, the universe. i want to talk about his optimism.

it’s described as being a rock hard certainty. need i remind you that the only reason the Bentley didn’t explode with crowley in it is because he believed it was fine. that’s how much being an optimist is a part of crowley’s character.

i don’t think he’s at all content with aziraphale leaving, but i do believe that he has hope. that he knows azi is coming back eventually, one way or another. he won’t lose hope. not ever. because the universe has his back, and the universe wouldn’t let him live out eternity away from his angel.

[saglaophonos]

good omens things that always knock me on my ass no matter how much distance i get from them:

1. because underneath it all crowley was an optimist

2. age cannot wither him nor custom stale his infinite variety

3. and i would like to spend—

[dee-morris]

Aziraphale Is Crowley's Universe

"Because, underneath it all, Crowley was an optimist. If there was one rock-hard certainty that has sustained him through the bad times-he thought briefly of the fourteenth century-then it was the utter surety that he would come out on top; that the universe would look after him."--from the Book

Right, let's look at a few facts, shall we?

In the book, Warlock gets a hold of a secret service gun and aims it at Crowley. Aziraphale turns it into a water pistol just as he accidentally pulls the trigger.

In the Land of Uz (I see what you did there), Aziraphale lies about the identity of Job's "new" children to hide the fact that Crowley hadn't killed the old ones. Aziraphale hadn't broken any rules up until that point, but Crowley had.

In 1941, Aziraphale pulled a miracle-free sleight of hand to protect Crowley from Furfur's snitching.

In season one, Aziraphale refused to flee the earth, setting off a chain of events that led to them helping Adam save the world.

Also in season one, Aziraphale said "We can't give up now" and effectively snapped Crowley out of his hopeless panic in order to "come up with something" and help Adam.

Someone's looking after Crowley and making sure he always comes out on top, but it's not a big impersonal vast expanse of space and dust.

And now an extrapolation: Aziraphale tries to convince Crowley to come back to heaven with him and be an angel again. We don't know exactly why, or why Aziraphale left immediately with the Metatron without him, but looking at past behavior, it's easy to make an educated guess.

"Why?" Love.

[anthonycrowley]

oh my god if they pull out that line in season 3 finally like they did with the fucking everyone should start out the same then conversation i'm never recovering ever ever ever

[eviebane]

"Because, underneath it all, Crowley was an optimist."

"If there was one rock-hard certainty that had sustained him through the bad times—he thought briefly of the fourteenth century—then it was utter surety that he would come out on top; that the universe would look after him."

"It was all a matter of being in the right place at the right time."

the universe didn't look after you this time Crowley

[generalmoony]

‘Because, underneath it all, Crowley was an optimist’.

[freerangewhales]

nah cause I'm not gonna shut up about this

The fact that crowley looked so fucking desperate through the entire confession despite thinking in his head "this is it, this is the end of us" and still going through with it, trying to swallow all that he's felt for 6k years cause "it's always too late" and despite being an optimist underneath it all, he can tell that aziraphale was going to leave, he just didn't expect it to be now.

Also idc what people say, but the entirety of s2 is mostly about how much aziraphale loves crowley, and i fully believe that without metatron he wouldve confessed at the end cause every single event leading up to that has been the path paved to something perfect (which is why he wasn't listening to crowley, he wanted this to be so perfect)

but the thought of him finding meaning once again within his role and existance as an angel was so wonderful that he wanted crowley to feel it too but he doesn't know how much crowley enjoys even pretending to be human

[thatskindarough]

Crowley and Optimism (kinda short)

I often see people mention Crowley being characterized as an optimist, and a lot of times they’re referencing Show Crowley. Although I dont think this is entirely inaccurate, I think it would be inaccurate to translate the book’s specific optimist characterization of Crowley onto the show. In fact, the show contradicts this characterization in an incredibly direct way.

This passage here—this is the part I’m interested in. This happens as Crowley is driving to Tadfield just after he’s left the burned down bookshop. There’s a numbered list of all the reasons the situation is hopeless and it ends specifically with the lines:

“7. He might as well find a nice little restaurant and get completely and utterly pissed out of his mind while he waited for the world to end.

8. And yet…

And that was where it all fell apart. Because, underneath it all, Crowley was an optimist.”

And then, fully believing Aziraphale was dead, or at the very least out of commission for the time being, Book Crowley drove to Tadfield to stop the apocolypse anyway.

But what does our Show Crowley do when he thinks his best friend in the whole wide world is dead? Well, he gets pissed at a bar and waits for the world to end.

This tells me two things

1.) Crowley is not as much of an optimist in the show as he is in the book.

2.) Show Crowley is far more dependent on Aziraphale than Book Crowley is.

I believe this decision was made, along with the addition of flashbacks, the bandstand breakup, and breakup pt. 2, to highlight how much closer Crowley and Aziraphale are in the show. That’s not to say Aziraphale and Crowley are not close in the book—they are very close. Just that they’ve developed a dependence in the show I don’t see in the book.

This difference in dependence is also illustrated in how they go about actually stopping the apocalypse. Mainly: Book Crowley does not try to run off to Alpha Centuri with Aziraphale. He only tries to run away when Satan is coming (and it’s not a ‘run off with Aziraphale’ type thing.) Aziraphale in the book convinces Crowley to stay and try to help by saying:

“[…]we shouldn’t let this happen to them […] I mean, when you think about it, we’ve got them into enough trouble as it is. You and me. Over the years. What with one thing and another.”

Book Azirpahale convinces Crowley basically by saying, this is our fault, and we’ve got nothing to loose.

Of course, Show Azirapahle says the iconic:

“Come up with something or — I’ll never talk to you again!”

It could be argued what trigged Show Crowley’s response to stop time and stand up to Satan was in fact Aziraphale’s plea. It was the thought of never talking to Aziraphale again, wherein the book, it was more of a general, yeah, we should probably try to save humanity. We’re gonna die if we don’t, anyway.

Then again, the stakes are much higher in the show. Satan doesn’t actually appear in the book so there ends up being no imminent threat.

I wouldn’t consider Show Crowley to not be an optimist, exactly. In 2x06 he waits by the Bentley and watches Aziraphale until he’s in the elevator and gone. He’s still hoping that maybe, just maybe, Aziraphale would turn back. So he is an optimist in some sense, but it’s not as core to him as in the book.

[blugerine]

“Because, underneath it all, Crowley was an optimist.”

Because yes, Crowley pulled out all the stops, laid himself fucking BARE to get Aziraphale to stay, to runaway with him, to leave everything behind and start anew. And yes, Crowley was the first to go, to not take Aziraphale up on forgiveness, and "leave" the bookshop "for good".

But underneath it all, Crowley is a believer that love will triumph over all that is bad, and if love is Aziraphale, then maybe, just maybe, Aziraphale will come around and realize he's making a big mistake.

So when he leaves the bookshop, he’s still standing outside, by the Bentley and just noticeable enough if you were to take one step out of the bookshop. And he just remains, and waits, and hopes, and hopes, and hopes. And if there's ever an excuse to just have Aziraphale right there by his side again, it's an opportunity an optimist like him could never waste.

…

And then there’s Aziraphale, doing the same damn thing.

He’s an optimist just like Crowley, and he’s a believer that love will prevail above all else and that his love for Crowley will ultimately make Heaven a much better place than it currently is. He wants, needs, to make Heaven in Crowley’s image, because it was wrong of Heaven to cast Crowley out in the first place, wrong for Crowley to have experienced the trauma of the fall at all. And if Crowley is love to Aziraphale, then shouldn’t Heaven reflect exactly that?

So, he too pulls out all the stops to get Crowley to come with him. He tells Crowley that he is necessary to be by Aziraphale’s side, because Crowley would be his best right-hand man, his muse for everything Heaven will henceforth stand for under Aziraphale’s command.

But when Crowley declines and leaves, Aziraphale remains, and waits, and hopes, and hopes, and hopes, that that the day when Heaven’s been made perfect, like a bed for them to lay comfortably in together, he could go back to Earth and change Crowley’s mind. And then maybe, just maybe, the two of them can finally be up in Heaven again, except this time, they can be forever in peace and in love.