Good Omens – Chapter 1: The Arrival

By: Kelly Kearney

Everyone’s favorite Angel and Demon are back and with a new expanded story that takes what was beloved about the late Sir Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaimen’s work and turns their outline for a sequel into on-screen delight. We will never get another Pratchett novel, but this might be the next best thing. After thwarting God’s end times plan last season, we find the ousted angel Aziraphale and retired demon Crowley’s lives upended by a surprising visitor who arrives on the doorstep of Mr. Fell’s bookshop. It’s a pop-in that sets off a series of investigations from above and below that could erase the existence of anyone involved. So, buckle up and get the Bentley roaring because we’re heading back to London for some Biblical level adventures with our favorite opposites who always attract.

Before the Beginning…

We open on two angelic protagonists floating in the abyss of an empty universe. Crowley (David Tennant), long before he fell from the heavens and started wearing leather and shades, is airborne and following the creator’s orders to grant the universe an epic light show. The angel Aziraphale (Michael Sheen) is right beside him questioning his fellow miracle worker  on what the light is for and Crowley answers back with a lesson in astronomy. His creative buzz is killed when Aziraphale mentions a little rumor swirling around heaven that could make his big moment moot. He tells Crowley not to get too attached to the light because in about six thousand years the big man is shutting it all down. The news really bums Crowley out. Six thousand years is nothing in the scheme of things and he asks, “What’s the point of creating an infinite universe with trillions of star systems if you’re only going to let it run for a few thousand years?” He gets even more outraged when Aziraphale tells him that the entire point of the stars is so that humans, not yet created, will have something to bask under while they marvel at their boss’ creation. Considering Earth doesn’t even have the best viewing angle to the stars, Crowley is shocked and dismayed by how wasteful it all seems. And for what? To entertain some creatures with a light show? It’s too bad the big man isn’t taking complaints because Crowly has a few and he wonders if he could slip the creator some notes before he ruins a good thing. Wouldn’t questioning God be a sin? Aziraphale, always on the straight-ish and narrow, tries to talk sense into Crowley for even tempting to question their boss but he’s not listening because they’re talking about the all-loving God here. It’s not like he would get into much trouble for a simple suggestion, right?

After avoiding the end times in season one, we are back to present day London where Mr. Fell A/K/A Aziraphale gets an urgent note from his tenant, the record shop owner Maggie (Maggie Service). The sweet woman is eight months behind on rent now that the lockdown spiked online sales and took customers out of her shop. She breaks the bad news to him that she’ll have to close up shop in the next two weeks. Aziraphale can’t let that happen so he casually and kindly brushes off her tears as easily as he does her debt and flips the conversation to his favorite composer, Shostakovich. He relies on Maggie’s shop to keep his record collection full and that’s more important to him than any rent. He offers to trade her eight months of payments for a few more albums and the shocked and grateful Maggie can’t turn him down. She calls him a real angel, and he is, even if he’s still on the outs with heaven and calling himself “retired.”

On the flip side of good we find the demon Crowley on the outs with his boss but still enjoying his day in the park. Cue Shax (Miranda Richardson)-who is now acting as Hell’s representative and Crowley’s evil replacement. Shax pops in to tell the wayward demon he is still on the outs with Beezelbub and, unlike his forgiving friend, Hell is not going to forget what he owes them. Crowley doesn’t seem too concerned, but her other update is far more intriguing. Apparently there’s a rumor going around that “Something is going down in the up” and she wants him to use his connection to Aziraphale to find out what it is. If he can find out what’s going on, maybe those debts he owes can be erased?

What’s in the Box?

Back to Maggie who stops into Nina’s (Nina Sosanya) coffee shop to chat with the owner. The interaction feels charged and flirty until a naked Gabriel (Jon Hamm) walking down the street captures everyone’s attention. In front of the whole town the simple and very nude Archangel makes his way to Mr. Fell’s shop. The second the angel opens the door and Gabriel launches into an intimate hug. It’s apparent that Gabriel has no memory of who he is or the man he’s nakedly embracing and also has no idea where he is or where he came from. He just knows that he’s supposed to deliver a box to Mr. Fell – clothing optional. The second Aziraphale picks up the box Shax drops in on Crowley to tell him Gabriel is involved in whatever is going on “upstairs.” When Aziraphale opens the box it’s as empty as Gabriel’s head who, by the way, is all out of answers and instead starts flirting with Aziraphale who doesn’t appear to hate it.  All Gabriel knows is that whatever was in that box the world is depending on it. As he does whenever he needs help, Aziraphale calls Crowley and introduces him to their guest, Gabriel, who is now going by his undercover name Jim. The minute Crowley arrives the chemistry between the two is as sparky as ever and it only partly has to do with them both being pushed out of their jobs and only having each other to rely on. Immediately, Crowley wants to get rid of Gabriel but Aziraphale is too pure for that and can’t possibly leave this confused and very simple creature to his own clueless devices. The man might be mentally checked out but he did prophesize trouble heading their way and that shouldn’t be ignored. Crowley sees that as an even bigger reason to stay far away from the Archangel who last season tried to cast Aziraphale into the fires of Hell. The Archangel’s forgetfulness is probably a good thing. Regardless of the fact of how dangerous he is, Aziraphale wants to help him – with or without Crowley – who refuses and storms out of the bookshop flaming mad. He might be stewing in his demonic rage over his friend taking such a risk, but he also can’t shake the feeling Azirapahle is right. That truth angers him even more until he sets off some sort of EMP surge that knocks out all of the electricity in town. The two women in the now empty coffee shop across the street spot him smoking and excreting electrical currents that somehow manage to zap their electronics and trap them in the shop and this romantic subplot together.

Amber Alert: The Supreme Archangel is Missing!

Up in heaven. Gabriel’s absence is noticed. Archangel Michael (Doon Mackichan) and Uriel (Gloria Obianyo) are debating about what to do now that they have an important opening in the ranks that needs filled. “Someone’s gotta give the orders,” and suspiciously, Michael volunteers to step into Gabriel’s role. Enter Murial (Quelin Sepulveda), a low- level heavenly assistant who interrupts the conversation with news of an earthly object she found near Heaven’s elevators. How did this thing find its way up there? It’s not like that elevator goes both ways. After further inspection the two angels determine it’s an earthly matchbox with a clue on the cover that could point to their boss’ whereabouts. It’s a resurrection logo pointing to the bible verse: “Out of his mouth go burning lamps, and sparks of fire leap out.” The Book of Job is all about a bet God and Satan made–wrecking Job’s life for their own entertainment. It’s another instance of the dark and the light mixing things up for fun while humanity pays the horrible price for their endless competition–basically, the entire theme of this show. How Gabe is linked to that story is unclear, but the matchbox itself is a clue that Heaven should be looking for him amongst the humans–a world where none of them outside of Aziraphale are familiar.

Back in London, Crowley gets a buzz in from Beezlebub (Shelley Conn). Literally the odorous fly-covered being swarms his car and transports the demon back to Hell for a job offer. Beezlebub is willing to forgive and forget his disobedience and welcome the outcast home with a promotion if he finds the missing Gabriel and drags him down to Hell. Heaven is concerned that someone is hiding him, and who knows Earth better than Crowley? Beezlebub trusts he is the right choice to sniff out Gabriel – having no idea the demon already knows where to find him. This job must be done quickly and quietly because the rumor mill is churning with a heavenly plot to order “extreme sanctions” on anyone who is caught hiding the escapee. If Crowley does manage to bring Gabriel to Beelzebub, he can have whatever his dark heart desires, which seems like a win for him until he finds out those sanctions are a total erasure from the book of life. This means if Aziraphale is caught with Gabriel, he would have never existed. No more Shostakovich, no more books and meet-cutes at the beginning and end of the world; it’s a total annihilation of existence and Crowley can’t have that. Where he would normally choose the selfish path, his relationship with his better half means more to him than whatever security his dark Lord is offering. The threat sends Crowley racing his Hell on wheels Bentley back to the bookshop to save his friend from his own kindness.

Speaking of London shops, Maggie and Nina are having no luck freeing themselves from the locked doors and even the passer-byes wont even help. At least being in lockdown together means the two have a chance to talk – something Nina must be missing in her current relationship. We learn that her partner, Lindsey, is overbearing and Nina is worried the angry texts are piling up on her dead phone. That awkward truth leads to a change in subjects and that’s how we learn that Maggie’s record shop is a family-owned business that her great grandmother started in the backroom of Mr. Fell’s grandfather’s bookshop. The families have been intertwined for decades and that’s why she assumes her back rent was easily forgiven. Mr. Fell is loyal to a past that Maggie has no idea he was present for. Their conversation is cut short when the two women spot Crowley – the man they thought was struck by lightning, walking towards the bookshop and they desperately signal for him to help. With a flick of the wrist the electricity comes back on, the doors unlock, and Nina’s phone blows up with worried texts from her controlling partner, but neither of them question how he did it.

Across the street at the bookshop Crowley does the “I was wrong” dance for his earlier meltdown and then fills Aziraphale in on his plan. They need to work together to hide Gabriel from Heaven, Hell and humanity until they can figure out what to do with him. They need a small and barely noticeable miracle to mask him from anyone searching him out. The problem is, both Heaven and Hell get memos when either of them performs a miracle. Maybe if they each do half of one it won’t set off any alarms? Crowley agrees that’s their best bet and since Gabriel is already itching to get outside, they need to get to the miracle making before he wanders off. On the count of three, they mask the missingAchangel’s existence with a hefty assumption they flew under their bosses’ radars. No such luck; the alarms ring out in Heaven and stand-in Archangel Michael surmises that they might not know where Gabriel is, but they do now know a certain angelic bookshop owner is up to his wings in this. So much for teamwork is the dreamwork, guys! Now Heaven, and we can assume Hell, has been tipped off to their involvement, making these extreme sanctions less of a threat and more of a promise. It’s a good thing these Ineffable Husbands always have a plan!