Good Omens and the Small Joys of Becoming Oneself

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My revived blog completed 2 years of staying active on the 16th of last month and I was unable to put up a post because, well, it has been a chaotic few weeks. Happy Belated Blog-Anniversary to me and to everybody reading this, because without you I would just be talking to myself which I do quite a lot anyway, but it’s more fun with you. So Thank You.

I’ve lately been in love with Good Omens the show. And I’ve been giving some thought to why that is, and have come with the two primary reason why I love the show (and the book) so much. One is the philosophy it embodies, and second, the absolute joy with which the story is told, the love that is the soul of this screen story. Which is why, two thousand memes and fan videos later, it still resonates. Because honestly, all one needs in life is somebody to love, and some good sushi and books, and maybe throw in a houseplant or two.

What is going to follow is my long, rambling declaration of undying love for everything Good Omens and if you haven’t watched it and are planning to watch it, this might include SPOILERS.

For those who don’t know (although, where have you been?)- Good Omens follows the misadventures of an angel and a demon trying to avert the apocalypse, to the great displeasure of their respective bosses who had been looking forward to the fight. Y’know- the war to end all wars- One Big Avocado flamin’ in the sky- my gang is better than yours- that sort of thing.

Seriously, what’s with divine beings and their great plans to end the worlds they supposedly build? I mean, what kind of creator does that? I panic when I forget to save a single sentence and my Word Processor decides to shut down… which reminds me, Ctrl S! But can you really destroy something you create? Continuous editing, I understand, but deleting?

In the Gameworld trilogy by Samit Basu, the world is a board game with pieces being moved around by a bunch of gods, and to make the game compelling, the pieces are given free will, and divine intervention is forbidden (the gods cheat, of course). This makes the game rather more interesting, but also ends up hurting the egos of the gods who would rather contend with puppets they can control with strings. As a solution, a new world is created where the living inhabitants of the gameworld are whisked away while the divine players are left with a board of zombie pieces who live and die and live again, as the gods will. A myriad great plans in action while the ineffable plan allows the actual world to disappear from divine supervision and live their own free lives- the good and the bad. And supposedly, Zibeb, the creator god of gameworld is secretly in on this whole vanishing act, but we never find out for sure, because gods and their mysterious ways, you know…

Returning to the subject at hand, you know of course that some people took umbrage at the subject matter of Good Omens and went on to petition Netflix to cancel the show. Here are the words from that petition:

“This type of video makes Light of Truth, Error, Good and Evil, and destroys the barriers of horror that society still has for the devil.”

These guys are annoyed that the Antichrist is “a normal kid” and an angel and a demon are good “friends".

Unwittingly, these clueless killjoys have managed to touch the spiritual core beneath all the ‘schoolboy humour’- as one offended reviewer from Liberty University termed it- the lesson as it were beneath all the comic accidents.

Life is easier when you can pinpoint your enemy, project all the darkness and evil onto somebody else. It allows you to feel good about yourself, but it also traps you into a rather narrow way of being. Imagine if Aziraphale had chosen to remain a proper angel like his pompous, self-assured superiors. He would never know the joys of crepes or Mozart or for that matter, the joy of loving Crowley. (Because, let’s face it, you cannot not love Crowley, I mean, that supposed evil lullaby? That’s what he calls bad influence?) He would never know how to choose to be who is, and as he explains to Uriel, how does one know what is good or evil if one is not allowed to choose? And honestly, if you’re only right because you’re meant to be and not because you’ve thought and felt things through, how right are you, really? On that note, there’s this gem from Neil Gaiman’s Tumblr account- a quote from Robert Green Ingersoll:

As Aziraphale says, good thing his bosses downstairs aren’t into reading that much because a demon could get into a lot of trouble for doing the right thing. Knowing good and evil, knowing that choices exist and making those choices according to our own private values and moralities and then shaping our lives based on those choices define the essence of who we are, without which life is frankly meaningless. I mean, I am sure Eden was perfectly lovely, but it must have been just a little bit boring, perhaps a less celestial version of the future that Crowley envisions for Aziraphale in that glorious drunken scene if Armageddon is allowed to happen unimpeded. No literature, no music, no fine cuisine. All great art, every inspiring thought that has helped us evolve as a species through history arise in conflicts. When you take the conflicts away, you’re left only with absolutes, creating a perfection that neither encourages nor allows dissent, or thought, or growth. A stagnant eternity of automated, repressed existence where there is no release from unhappiness because it is undifferentiated from happiness. In short, eternity is a dystopia. There are many works of literature that deals with such a potential future through the lens of one socio-political ideology or another, but Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast does it by stripping all the signifiers away, and I look forward to Gaiman’s take on it when he finally gets around to producing the new series. When every choice has been pre-made for you without you knowing there were choices, individual emotions become immaterial. Good Omens the novel is a celebration of those individual feelings and choices, and the love permeates to the making of the show, through those behind and before the cameras, then, it permeates to us, the viewers. And we are meant to love it because it is made with love, the same love that surrounds and protects Tadfield because an eleven year old child loves it.

In the final episode of Good Omens, an exasperated and incredulous Archangel Gabriel (played with comic aplomb by Jon Hamm looking very dapper and punchable in his Armani suit) tells Adam Young, the Antichrist- “You just can’t refuse to be who you are.”

It’s an interesting statement, and one that drives the show, along with one made at the very beginning in episode 1, this one in the Voice of God- “… most of the great triumphs and tragedies of history are caused not by people being fundamentally good or fundamentally bad, but by people being fundamentally people.”

The great thing about Good Omens, what actually makes it click is it is about people who are trying to be people, not particularly good, not particularly bad but people trying to be people by using their desires and their free will. This is something that Gabriel and his order fail to understand, as do Beelzebub and his fiendish host. Heaven and Hell have that in common, each defining themselves by one end of the spectrum. But what happens in any instance where the opposite values are imposed upon a visible enemy is that winning becomes more important than the values in question. And winning involves unthinking, uncaring obedience. What makes Aziraphale and Crowley such renegades is that they both “think too much.”  Why didn’t God put the apple tree on the moon? Was it really necessary to drown so many people? Aren’t people supposed to choose Good over Evil and how can they do that if the world is destroyed? In this, they are closer to the human beings who are given free will and the capacity to make their own choices, free to act and free to love irrespective of what the rules are.

An appropriate response to Gabriel would be that one of course cannot refuse to be who they are, and an essential part of being oneself is to make the choices that one wants to make. Or to put it simply, what one truly is isn’t set in stone, but is merely one of the many options that one chooses to become.

Adam chooses to love his world, his human family, his friends and his dog. He chooses to be a kid rather than the Antichrist. Anathema chooses the freedom to make her own decisions in the end. And at the heart of it all, an angel and a demon choose to be best friends with each other, despite being hereditary enemies. And they make this choice early on- right in the very beginning, drawn together by their shared doubts and questions.

And thus, Crawley, having caused enough trouble in the Garden, instead of making a quiet exit slithers up to the angel who was supposed to prevent the very trouble he has caused and strikes up a conversation. And Aziraphale, ever so polite, bless his celestial soul and invisible halo, instead of banishing the wily serpent decides to participate in a philosophical debate about right and wrong. What this scene reveals is that neither of them are particularly good at thoughtlessly obeying orders. Aziraphale, as the angel is more prone to hide his questions than Crowley, but the fact remains that of the two, it is Aziraphale who breaks the rules first. Case in point- the flaming sword which he has given away before Crowley’s provoking questions about first offences and appropriate locales for apple farming. Crowley’s incredulous, almost delighted expression at the angel’s confession is a hint that he may have found a kindred spirit, paving the way for a friendship that flourishes across millennia, with a few hiccups along the way.

A Tumbler post by ‘mwagneto’ – remarks on the comic irony of Aziraphale and Crowley of being the main characters of the story when they don’t do much to avert apocalypse. This is true, but the real plot of Good Omens is not really so much about the Great Plan or the Ineffable Plan but about how people interact with each other within the scope of these supposed overarching plans.

 Aziraphale and Crowley are the soul of the story, because even more than the book, the show is less about the Apocalypse and more about their relationship. Together, they embody the essence of being human- stumbling along, not knowing the end, making free choices and a few mistakes that makes life all that more interesting. It is about each of them learning to become who they truly are, and not what Heaven or Hell dictated they should be. It is a story (as Rachel Sharp on Twitter says of Sir Terry’s fiction) about “man trying to navigate being good”, as all good stories should be. No wonder Aziraphale and Crowley identify themselves with humanity in the end- “All of them versus all of us…. Heaven and Hell against humanity.”

And now a brief note on the lead actors. I shall endeavour to keep the exuberant expression of love (a.k.a. absolute bonkers fangirling) to a minimum. One reason why Aziraphale and Crowley work so well (other than being two great characters created by two brilliant writers) is that they are played by two brilliant actors.

Listen, when everything that needs to be said about free will is said and repeated multiple times, the fact still remains that I was destined to like this show. I love everything written by Terry Pratchett. And I love everything written by Neil Gaiman. So naturally I love the novel that they co-wrote. And I was absolutely prepared to love the show. Remember in Pride and Prejudice when Elizabeth is travelling with the Gardiners and Darcy, Bingley and Georgiana are visiting, and Lizzy is absolutely flustered because she is afraid she will fail to please her guests, but really, all that was unnecessary, because- “Georgiana was eager, Bingley was ready and Darcy determined to be pleased”? That was pretty much me when I heard we were having a Good Omens adaptation. Then the trailers began to drop, and honestly, in a summer of highly anticipated trailers, the Good Omens trailer has been my favourite. Aziraphale desperately failing at nonchalance –“I don’t even like you” and Crowley’s almost hiss of a “We’re on our side” had all the promises of greatness in the making. The reason I am saying all this is the show, when it finally dropped surpassed all the expectations of somebody who already had high expectations. I knew I would love the show. I didn’t expect to fall in love with it, which is exactly what happened. And a large part of that is due to the actors Michael Sheen and David Tennant who bring a whole lot of personal panache to the roles they play.

It will be of course unfair to not admit that every actor in every role in this show is a joy to watch- from Miranda Richardson shifting character and tone with absolute ease to Anna Maxwell Martin’s supremely in-control Beelzebub (love the headgear), Elizabeth Berrington’s eagerly malicious Dagon (‘lord of the files’ sounds about the right kind of infernal torture master) to Michael McKean’s frustrating and funny in equal measures Shadwell, Ned Dennehy and Ariyon Bakare who give us the perfect mix of creepiness and clueless hilarity, the smite-first-and-ask-later Paul Chahidi, the humourless Gloria Obianyo and the delicately conniving Doon Mackichan making up the trio of nasty rude angels working under Jon Hamm’s pompous, overbearing Gabriel. John Whitehall, Adria Arjona, Simon Merrells as the utterly unfazed delivery man, Mirreille Enos as the deliciously blood-lusty War, Bill Paterson as the kind of disapproving, ever-complaining neighbor you want to get away from, the lit as hell Josie Lawrence who shakes up things properly in the second episode, Sam Buck Taylor, Amma Ris, Ollie the dog … look, I could go on forever and this list still won’t be completed so maybe you should go over to IMDB page and check out every name and know that everyone was fabulous. And this includes the people in charge of sets, costumes, music… can I talk about the delightful animated credit sequence by Peter Anderson, the amazing soundtrack by David Arnold- I freaking adore all of it!

But, there are degrees in love, so please forgive me for loving Sheen and Tennant most of all. Michael Sheen plays Aziraphale with a sort of naïve innocence and understated love that is so charming and endearing that I wanted to hug him in the scene where the “bad angels” rough him up. Aziraphale is in a way very relatable- give him books, music, good food and he would rather not put too many toes across the line or do things that would involve paperwork (I hear you, angel, I really do), always hoping against hope that things would right themselves and the worst won’t come to pass. Not that he isn’t sneaky in his own way. And it is an absolute joy to watch Sheen’s myriad expressions around Tennant’s demonic Crowley- the struggle to keep feelings hidden at vulnerable moments, the indignant primness at Crowley’s outrageous suggestions, the childlike glee at simple pleasures such as good sushi or the chance to brush up his card tricks. And then of course there is that glorious, moronic, idiotic grin in that scene where he dances the gavotte which should alone qualify for acting nominations.

 David Tennant on the other hand, oh my God, David Tennant- first of all who designed those trousers and secondly who told you to walk like that, sir? Also, what was that ridiculous mock-courtesy thing you did when Beelzebub arrived at the airbase? In short, Tennant plays Crowley with a sort of no-holds-barred gusto that is simply a delight to watch. I have been reading the Target novelization of The Day of the Doctor (I only became a Whovian after Good Omens so I am still catching up) where the 11th doctor keeps referring to his predecessor as Captain Swagger which sounds about the exactly right definition for Mr. Anthony J Crowley. And I don’t know in which scene I love him the most but “I won’t even think about you” is a close favourite. Then there is “Oh lookee here it’s Lucifer and the guys” or “Nice is a four letter word” or “Great, pustulent, mangled bollocks to the great blasted plan” or the simple “Make you disappear”… okay, right, so I don’t know which of his scenes I love the most. Yet, despite this blustering portrayal there is this whole host of underlying nuances in his performance that makes his softer moments all that more tender.

In conclusion, thank you Mr. Sheen and Mr. Tennant for playing these roles the way you did, and Mr. Pratchett and Mr. Gaiman for writing them in the first place, and Mr. Douglas McKinnon and everyone else for coming together to make this absolutely beautiful beautiful show. It’s one of the best things I’ve ever watched. 

This article may appear to be a little disjointed because I have been writing this review for a whole three weeks, in differing moods and with differing goals. I wonder what Agnes Nutter would say to that. If you like this despite the patchwork nature, then don’t be tardy with your shares and likes and comments, good people.

Thank you for reading.

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