#Nazi Zombie Flesheaters

[cobragardens]

Red & Yellow Can Hurt a Fellow:

Color Symbolism in 1941 (Part 2)

So in Part 1 I held forth about how the use of red in and yellow in this minisode continues its symbolism from elsewhere in the show for romantic love and fear of head offices, respectively. From the moment of Aziraphale's realization that he is in love with Crowley, all the backgrounds become saturated with the vivid passionate red.

Then, in the dressing room, after the Bullet Catch, the walls are slightly more orange in comparison to the true crimson featured in the rest of the show, foreshadowing the intrusion of fear (symbolized throughout the show by the color yellow) into Aziraphale's romantic feelings for Crowley. This yellow becomes discretely visible the moment Furfur enters the dressing room, and it remains visible around Aziraphale and between Aziraphale and Furfur as Furfur menaces Crowley through the rest of the scene.

In the final scene of the "Nazi Zombie Flesheaters" minisode, after Aziraphale reveals (offscreen) that he has stolen the photographic proof of Crowley's fraternization with him from Furfur, Aziraphale and Crowley celebrate, sharing a bottle of wine by candlelight.

Pretty romantic, right?

Hmm.

Aziraphale and Crowley are each sitting on a red velvet chair, sharing red wine from a bottle with red paper at the top. The passionate romantic love is still there. But it's fragmented, isolated in small islands surrounded by yellow. Yellow backgrounds indicating fear are used in "A Companion to Owls" and "I Know Where I'm Going," so we've already been primed for what a yellow background means by the time we hit "Nazi Zombie Flesheaters." After the scare with Furfur, the background of Aziraphale's existence becomes once again saturated with fear.

Remember, this is Aziraphale's memory, so it's his feelings that are coloring these walls. Here's the same room in S1, looking toward where Crowley sits in 1941:

Now look at S2 again.

The walls are yellow in both (which fits the fear Aziraphale feels and must hide in the S1 scene as well), but the clarity and intensity of the yellow--and the fear--has been turned up and illuminated around Crowley.

@vidavalor proposes in "The Blitz, Part 3 Theory: The clues that suggest what it might be about & how it's affected what's come after it" that the story of the husbands in 1941 is likely to be a triptych, given that a literal Chekov's gun has been established (Aziraphale keeps a derringer in a hollowed-out book in the bookshop) and given that Aziraphale clearly references "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square" in the conversation in the Bentley in 1967 but the song has not been established as one either of the husbands are aware of as significant to them by that year.

I agree with @vidavalor that a third part of the story is likely for two other reasons: firstly, the Nazi zombies are still shambling around London, another Chekov's gun; and secondly, because Aziraphale says, "You go too fast for me, Crowley." 1941 is the last record of a meeting between the husbands we have before Aziraphale says that, but...we haven't seen Crowley go fast with Aziraphale. At all. He's been responding to what Aziraphale wants, what Aziraphale decides to do.

So what happened between

and

? (Notice how this is still backlit in the pink and red or romantic and passionate and/or romantic love.)

How does "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square" become a song Aziraphale references and Crowley picks up in 1967?

And, most importantly: Why does Aziraphale have to do the apology dance in 1941?

***

A Few More 1941 Observations

Do these curtains in 202? look like this--

(Note the symbolic Metatron head!)

--because Aziraphale wants this to be a romantic night and he's re-creating the most romantic night he's ever experienced?

***

Look who's hanging around next to Crowley even when he doesn't take off his sunglasses.

It's not just a passing shot, either: the dark horse stays in frame and visible the entire scene.

***

There's a post running around on Tumblr somewhere about how contemporary slang would interpret the language of the Bullet Catch (e.g. "never fired a gun at someone before") to mean that Crowley is a virgin (which I absolutely believe to be true) and Aziraphale is not (which I would find pretty surprising). Tumblr's search function being what it is, I have been unable to find it, so if someone would drop a link in the comments if they run across it so I can add it to the information here, I would I appreciate it deeply.

***

And finally, let us take a moment to appreciate Furfur's beautiful hair.

The wigwork in this series makes me sigh with happiness.

I think it's a telling choice that some of the angels have some dreadful visual qualities (Sandalphon's grille, Gabriel's jogging sweats) and some of the demons have beautiful visual qualities (Furfur's hair, Shax' 50s style).

[inezrable]

John Finnemore really said "What's the best way I can fuck with canon?" And added zombies

[vidavalor]

Hi I'm curious who do you think Jim let in the shop in Ep 2? He says 3 people were in there and then Crowley disappears but we never find out where he went. I read your thoughts on The Book of Life being fake so I know you don't think that Az has it and someone was trying to steal it. Who do you think Jim let in?! It's driving me nuts. 🤣🤣🤣

Hi there. 💕 Help yourself to some chocolate cookies. My theory on this is a little out there but I actually think it fits pretty well. You can let me know what you think. 😊

What might who was in the bookshop & to where Crowley disappeared in 2.02 have to do with this Maggie & Nina moment?

What trio of people being in the shop while Crowley & Aziraphale were in The Dirty Donkey would be a problem that could send Crowley rushing down the street after them when he realized what Jim was saying... but then also result in Crowley not being especially concerned in the moment about the fact that he couldn't locate them?

Who would be a problem early in S2 that could wait to be dealt with until S3? Whose story kind of needed to be set up through Gabriel in 2.02 but for a payoff way, far down the line-- all the way into the next season?

If you look at it as characters trying to get into the shop, you quickly realize that all of the characters in the present in S2 are trying to do just that for most of the rest of the season, right? So, if three of them working together already could... the rest of the season's story doesn't hold up very well. It has to be a separate plot from the present events in S2, so...

...what if Jim didn't let three people in? He never actually said he did...

What if he actually let three beings out...

Don't ask me how this might come to be but all I can think is that Jim is so literal that he would have said if he let these people in and he didn't-- he just said three people were in the shop...

If that's the case? There's only one trio of characters who make sense to me: it's (somehow) Greta, Glozier & Harmony.

They couldn't show us what happened in the present in 2.02 during S2 because that would spoil what happens in 1941, Part 3 in S3. Somehow, as a result of whatever other plot happens, The Nazi Zombie Flesheaters-- now, likely ghosts-- have been trapped in part of the bookshop since 1941.

Jimbriel's a fallen angel and the first person other than Crowley & Aziraphale to spend any real time in the bookshop basically ever. If he's able to be possessed-- as he is during S2 at times-- I'd imagine it's not beyond the realm of possibility that he can see dead people. When Crowley & Aziraphale go to the pub, Jim is in some room looking for more books for his project and the Nazi Zombies Ghosts are shocked to realize that he can see them. Jimbriel mistakes them for customers who were locked in the shop after Aziraphale left and grants their wish to allow them to leave. He sees them out the front door.

A few minutes later, while Aziraphale is flashing us back to the Job minisode, Jim saying twice that "just now" there were three people in the shop hits Crowley and he rushes upstairs to wake him up and get more information, as he's panicked thinking that angels or demons were in the shop. Jim explains that he didn't let anyone in since they told him not to-- the three were just already there. Two men and a woman and yeah, she had a fabulous hat and, yeah, they were covered in ash and blood, come to think of it...

Crowley finds out which way they went and apparates out of the shop after them, prompting Jim to refer to this to Aziraphale by saying that Crowley "went away", as opposed to "left" or "went out", which he probably would have used if Crowley had left on foot. Crowley searched around down the street near Mrs. Cheng's a bit and didn't find them. He figured, well... they're ghosts. How much harm can they really do and don't we have enough other problems going on right now? Probably not that big a deal. Would be nice to sleep without worrying that Greta is going to get out of the attic and try to make the gramophone play Wagner at 2am again...

Might not be a big problem in S2 but the whole prophecy of ...and the dead shall leave their graves and walk the Earth once more... would mean that could change in S3. It would only work if they had already been let of the shop in S2 and Gabriel's the only one who could unknowingly make that happen.

From a writing standpoint? Undead Nazis roaming the streets in the 2020s as symbolic of the fascist creep in this era-- and how it's never very far away-- is good stuff.

If there's somethin' strange... in your neighborhood...

...who you gonna call?

Ghost! Busters!

[nerdalmighty]

Gif Request Meme

Good Omens + 14: Favorite Ineffable Husbands/Aziracrow Scene

Requested by @anntickwittee

"It's perfectly simple: Aim for my mouth, but shoot past my ear."

[glitterypin]

Good Omens 30 Day Challenge! (x)

Day 22: Least favourite episode

Season 2, Episode 4: The Hitchhiker (featuring the minisode "Nazi Zombie Flesheaters")

I can almost smell the pitchforks coming to get me from here...

I know, I know, 1941 Crowley and Aziraphale, the whole "friends" thing, Furfur being amazing blah blah blah, everyone loves this episode except me, I KNOW.

I have two reasons not to like it.

The minisode is a big chunk of story that doesn't progress the main event at all. At least the other two minisodes were sort of interwoven with the main story, so they felt like less of a distraction.

I DON'T LIKE ZOMBIES AT ALL.

AT ALL.

NO.

So, yeah, I agree on all accounts, very nice Aziracrow, the magnificent Fell, the great Siân Phillips as Mrs Henderson etc etc, but out of all twelve episodes, this is the one I am always most likely to just skip, I'm so sorry.

[dyketennant]

crowley’s finger shaking over the trigger during the bullet catch act is my roman empire genuinely. he knew aziraphale wouldn’t technically *die*, he’d most likely be back after he filled out the paperwork, and hell probably would have even promoted crowley for shooting an angel. still, though, he’s shaking, because imagine how fucking horrifying it would be to see such a gory sight, how traumatizing the image of blowing out the love of your life’s brains (literally) would be especially knowing that you did it, you messed up and now you’ve discorporated the one being you’ve spent so long trying to protect. crowley would never ever forgive himself if he had hurt aziraphale, betrayed him like that, even if it was only an accident. we all saw how he reacted to the bookshop burning. he never would have recovered.

still, though, aziraphale asked crowley to trust him, and he did.

[iamnotcreativeijustplayitontv]

In another "is it just me or is this a thing?" question, does anybody else notice that the design on Crowley's tie is like an f-hole in wooden string instruments?

(GIF by gothamstreetcat from this post)

(photo from this stringsmagazine.com article)

Perhaps an indication that he would be performing with Aziraphale? The f-holes are also where you can see into the instrument and see the soundpost, so maybe it has something to do with vulnerability, especially during the magic act? Everything in this show has meaning, and while unbuttoning the coat and straightening the tie is a normal action, they also seemed to make sure the tie was visible, so it seems important.

I feel like there's probably some deeper symbolism to find, but I need to get to bed, so I'll try to do a deeper dive on this later this week and update on what I find.

[mywingsareonwheels]

More "Good Omens" s2 joy

The way in which each of the minisodes gives context for one or more of the flashback scenes in 1.3 is just... *chef's kiss*

"Companion to Owls" bridges the gap between an Aziraphale still trying(ish) to justify heaven's worst actions, Crawley still being shocked by them, Aziraphale not entirely trusting Crawley's motivations (in the Flood flashback) to Crowley's bitter resignation and Aziraphale's weary sadness at the Crucifixion. That "it was your lot put Him up there" is still one of my favourite lines, and Aziraphale doesn't dispute it. Crawley's intervention on behalf of Job's children gives that scene so many more layers, and is a beautiful (and in context heartrending) mid-point on that emotional journey for both of them.

"The Resurrectionist", oh man. It's implied I think that Crowley being dragged down to hell for helping/saving Elspeth is the last Aziraphale sees of him until their meeting at St James's park a few decades later, and I think we can be certain that whatever Crowley's punishment was, it was pretty intense. In 1.3, we went from the lighthearted, suave rescuer of late 18th century to someone who seemed very low and rather traumatised a hundred or so years later, and I think we all knew that something had happened to him. Sounds like that was it. :( So that all gives more context to Crowley wanting "insurance" against hell, so that he has some means of defending himself. But meanwhile, Aziraphale's remembering that the last time they saw each other, a young woman nearly took her own life with poison, so of course he's going to be concerned that Crowley is at risk from a similar action. They're both coming from a very understandable point that "The Resurrectionist" set up. <3

(Also, who is "The Resurrectionist" in the title? I love games like that. Is it Dalrymple? Is it Elspeth? Is it Crowley in saving Elspeth? Or all three? <3 Technically/historically it's both Dalrymple and Elspeth, but in the show? Oh it's all three. :D ) And then "Nazi Zombie Flesheaters", which I admit I wasn't a huge fan of on first watching (I liked it more on rewatch, but I muted/averted my eyes for the brain-eating etc. bits, not at all a gore fan ;-) ) did nevertheless set up the 1960s scene brilliantly. That was perhaps the first time that Aziraphale really sees, in person, just an inkling of how dangerous hell is to Crowley. And it always takes things a while to percolate with him, but I think that's a large part of why he does eventually give in and give him the holy water, as well as adding layers to his protectiveness of Crowley in some of the "now" scenes in both seasons.

And all four (especially in combination with "Before the Beginning") give so much more context to the rest of series 2. Aziraphale's long (and still incomplete, which is understandable <3 ) journey in learning his own sense of morality separate from heaven's. Crowley's terror of the word "nice" as it applies to him. The compromises each of them has to make with the ideals of their bosses in order to function in the world and be true to themselves and the humans around them - and the danger that puts each of them in. The growing mutual loyalty that - make no mistake - hasn't been in any way put aside in their falling out at the end of the series. The way in which the solution to the loneliness they identify in "Companion to Owls" is each other. <3

And of course the fact that more people need to know John Finnemore's writing, given he was not merely the co-writer of the whole season, but the main writer on "Companion to Owls", bless him, and my goodness does he need more love for all of it. <3 I'd love to see Cat Clarke getting more credit for "The Resurrectionist" too!!

[shipaholic]

Episode 4: “The Hitchhiker” / “Nazi Zombie Flesheaters”

Good Omens S2 Episode 4 liveblog. Like many, I am especially excited for this one. Let us begin!

(Spoilers, because it’s a liveblog.)

- Oh. That is some weather. Amazing how just reversing some footage of fog rolling in can look spooky as hell.

- I love Aziraphale puttering along in the Bentley with those fucking bullet decals prominently displayed on the window.

- I know this music! It’s Marge Simpson’s mum’s favourite song!

- GAH the hitchhiker fucking jump scared me.

- This whole sequence is pure Welcome To Night Vale vibes for me. Ghost Stories, specifically.

- I have read spoilery speculation that the hitchhiker is God in disguise. That’s a cool idea! I can’t wait to see if it’s r   FUCKING SHAX NOOOOOO

- Did she just call the Bentley a heap of junk?? I’m not even outraged, this is just fascinating given how behind the times Hell appears to be. I thought Crowley’s whole thing was that he was unique among demons for being a flash bastard with all the latest tech. Hastur and Ligur would have barely understood what a car was. I think Shax might be a... Millennial (a demon who’s only been torturing humans for about a millennium) (TM The Good Place).

- You can cut the tension with a knife, but Aziraphale’s knowing little look to himself when Shax says he doesn’t seem Crowley’s type... ha. He knows he is.

- An Item !!!

- Oh NO “You didn’t. You have now”

---

- Yes... YES... we got a replay of Aziraphale dumbstruck by love after Crowley saved his books. And the music changed a little! It’s still beautiful, it just resolves on a different chord.

---

- “Oh no, it’s perfect! I just spent all morning processing fifty-two men called Otto.” lmao

- Shax’s whole deal really is being as helpful as possible to her colleagues. Huh. I hope she gets exemplary performance reviews. Also her hair is cute.

- You know what? Her teeth are cute too.

- (Is she a termite demon?)

---

- Aziraphale. This is the most smitten anyone has ever looked. Oh my god.

- “There must be something” *bats eyes* “I can do for you in return” angel is thiRSTY

- I haven’t forgotten about Crowley vanishing into the earth at the end of The Resurrectionists last episode btw, still waiting to learn what happened to him down there.

---

- OK, we’ve hit the point in the book show where Aziraphale gets homophobic slurs lobbed at him. This is obviously to get the metaphor across, since A/C are about to be dobbed in for fraternising.

---

- An Official Miracle Blocker -? OK I’m laughing, that is such a macguffin that obviously can only exist for this one adventure and then never be mentioned again. If Hell or Heaven could block miracles any time they wanted they’d be doing it constantly. I accept the zombies, but not this!!

- It is genuinely, gleefully ludicrous that zombies are now a canonical part of the Good Omens universe.

- Oh, and these zombies are also incidentally Nazis. Clearly Furfur has never heard the term ‘hat on a hat’.

---

- This series has truly been a boon to the David Tennant Does Various Accents fanbase.

- I have a confession to make. I find the sequences where Aziraphale does magic really hard to watch. Like Crowley, I am cringing in contact embarrassment, but willing to see it through out of deep and abiding love. But also, I wish this part was shorter.

- The swelling strings of romance while Crowley encourages him are pretty dope tho <3

---

- Crowley cracking up at the snakes in a tin can trick... his sense of humour is so Dennis the Menace sometimes

- ...THE ANGEL HAS A GUN. I REPEAT, THE ANGEL HAS A GUN

- Aziraphale can shoot and Crowley can’t, this is amazing. He keeps a Derringer in a hollowed out book -!!

---

- Oh my god poor poor poor Crowley, he looks like he’s having to shoot Ol’ Yeller

---

- I’m looking out for random signs of demons being vampires now. Furfur only came into the dressing room when invited, just saying

- “We did loads together! You said jump on my back like the monkey in the waistcoat!” lmao glad Crowley was still Crowley as far back as the war in Heaven

- I see yoooou with your little sleight of hand Aziraphale <3

- ...UM??? So the Nazi zombies are just allowed to leave? Are they still out there?? Are they lying in bits on a staircase somewhere like the ending of Death Becomes Her? (they still probably got a better deal than the eternal spider faecal matter thing, tbh) Are... are Aziraphale and Crowley going to check up on them? .....Are we never going to be rid of the funny zombie Nazis. Are they going to star in Good Omens Christmas specials, years after S3 gets released. Neil. Neil I just want to talk.

---

- ......................oh, Dagon looks cute

- Shax’s little face at Furfur was not all that unsympathetic, which makes sense since she didn’t screw up his mission and now she’s lost leverage to ask him for a favour later. She’s still a good co-worker!

---

- I love that Aziraphale got to save the day with real (fake) magic, and Crowley got to tell him how impressed he was, while also delivering the sadly needed honest feedback that he sucks at magic and should quit forever.

- After all that, there was no Tragic Rift of 1941 to explain the “you go too fast for me, Crowley” of 1967. Shame, that was a solid bit of spec.

- I’m pretty sure the shot from the trailer of Aziraphale shyly sipping his wine got cut from this scene in the end. Glad it got some use elsewhere.

- Ultimately, this was a fun shippy little minisode, but I still prefer the Job one. I’ve mostly preferred the main plotline of S2 to the minisodes, which is a shame, because they’re a fun idea. They’re basically the GOmens version of Doctor Who episodes that are just the Doctor dicking around in history, which I know are considered thee classic format, but ehhhhh... personally those eps are never my favourites.

---

- HMMMMMMMM Beelzebub what are you up to. I do not trust anything about this scene. Shax has apparently used her own initiative to discover where Gabriel is and come up with a plan to capture him, and I don’t think Beez is happy about it. I think they are using Shax as a cover here. I suspect Shax is being set up to fail. If I’m right about the bookshop flies, then Beelzebub knows about the miracle Aziraphale and Crowley performed on Gabriel, and that miracle ensures Shax cannot find Gabriel even if she were to walk right up to him. Shax might well destroy the bookshop or Aziraphale or Crowley (all outcomes Beelzebub would probably be fine with) without touching Gabriel at all.

---

- LINDSAY HARDCORE SUCKS OMG

---

- Crowley is shoving plants back into Aziraphale’s face. You know what, I only just realised they have never had a single conversation onscreen about Crowley living in his car. Clearly it’s not a point of contention between them, from either side. Which is weird AF, but whatever works for these crazy kids I guess!

---

Ahh WW2 jazz band theme song! I can’t pick a favourite arrangement so far, they’re all so good.

[lickthecowhappy]

Masterpiece!

[tartanbowtie]

The Good Omens Noir we didn't know we needed

(I am completely normal about this)

Good Omens 2 Unit Stills by Robert Wilson

[rosalie-starfall]

Shax

Good Omens - The Hitchhiker featuring the minisode Nazi Zombie Flesheaters

[justhereforthemeta]

S1 Re-watch Musings: E2 "The Book"

Random, silly, and very likely inconsequential question, but...does anyone remember whether the book mentioned who in particular was contacting A.Z. Fell & Co. seeking a copy of Agnes Nutter's Nice and Accurate Prophecies in S1E2? I've been flipping through but not finding anything. I don't think the show addresses this, but I could be forgetting something.

What Show Omens does mention is the Nazis looking for the book in 1941...and S2 insinuates that the Nazi Zombies might still be shambling about in the 2010s-2020s. Not that I imagine they'd be picking up the phone and dialing Aziraphale directly, or even that they'd still have any fingers left to dial with. But on the nth rewatch, one does wonder.

[jotun-philosopher]

I don't have anything to add to this excellent and heartbreaking analysis, except the comment that it just makes me want to wrap Aziraphale in soft blankets and deliver him directly into the arms of his wily old serpent... ;_;

"Without knowing or perceiving any danger" except that the Metatrash is a murderous lunatic whose organization has repeatedly put Aziraphale in great danger and who Aziraphale knows collaborates with hell, and therefore could put his husband in great danger as well.

"How would he go about listening in?" First of all, NG literally put in that moment with him hearing Michael from outside the bookshop, to make it so obvious that it's like he's practically hitting us over the head with a 2x4 to make sure we get it. But frankly, I almost wish he hadn't, because the real issue here is that Aziraphale can't afford to assume he's *not* listening in.

(Oh and also he (Metatrash) popped up right after Crowley disclosed the secret of the giant miracle. After 6000 years of forced paranoia, I guarantee Aziraphale picked up on that. You get soooo used to noticing the smallest clues as to what your ab*ser's up to. Hypervigilance, and all. Just because we don't see Aziraphale drink as often as Crowley does, doesn't mean he doesn't have the angelic equivalent of C-PTSD, and probably PTSD too. It's that tired male PTSD stereotype rearing its ugly head again.)

[hydrolunamens]

Aim for My Mouth

The implicit shenanigans of S2E4 of Good Omens

The first viewing of The Hitchhiker (Nazi Zombie Flesheaters) confused me. I didn’t understand why the events of 1941 were unfolding the way they were - surely Crowley could find more whiskey to peddle? surely Mrs. H wouldn’t accept an understudy magician as a replacement for bootleg booze?? surely Aziraphale could have helped Crowley in some useful way rather than this silly stage performance??? (Also, zombies, really?)

But after viewing it several more times (yes I know I’m obsessed) this has become my favorite episode. It has a whole lot of what my nasty little heart desires from the Aziraphale/Crowley relationship, by which I mean a whole lot of implicit sexiness. I love the juxtaposition of this adorable story about our favorite ethereal/occult partners against the ridiculous zombie element - the zombies balance the tone so this does not feel exactly like a Richard Curtis film. Because if not for the exploits of hell and the undead, this episode would be more obviously the point in the romantic comedy where the main characters show the audience how good their chemistry is, making you itch to see them get together in the end.

The first thing to realize is that after Crowley rescues Aziraphale from the Nazis in the church, everything else that happens has been expressly planned out by Crowley in order to take Aziraphale on an amazing date, bespoke entirely to the angel’s whims and desires. One imagines Aziraphale has expressed disappointment at not being enough of a conjurer to visit the professional magic shop, so Crowley plots out this whole scenario to give the Angel the chance to actually perform, presenting the opportunity through a thin layer of “coincidence.” Sucks to be the magician who gets arrested for desertion, but the humans were probably going to do that sooner or later anyway, right? Why not simply fix it so it happens on the night Crowley knows he will meet up with Aziraphale? Chalk another one up for hell with that move too… which is another thing Crowley has to layer over this evening.

So at the theater the Angel is offered another temptation he simply can’t resist (and it’s not selfish at all! he’s helping his friend, not indulging in a fantasy, dontcha know) and now our beings are really dancing. This is where the sexiness ramps up… if you don’t count that moment in the car where Aziraphale asks Crowley if there’s anything he can do to return his favor, a line which is delivered like the flimsy setup of a scene in an adult film after the repairman fixes the housewife’s washing machine.

They go back to the shop, where they get to engage in a bit of roleplay and Crowley especially gets to live out a voyeur scenario while he watches Aziraphale perform. This voyeurism is humorously echoed by the zombies watching them too… again, if it weren’t for these zombies, we might go into insulin shock from how sweetly sexy this plot is. While Aziraphale shows off to Crowley, we learn another motive for why Crowley chose this particular activity for their big date night - he’s going to make Aziraphale forget all about this loser Professor Hoffman. Who got you on the west end stage, Angel? That’s right, your demon husband, not the mortal you were spending too much time with a decade ago.

Crowley starts letting his guard down in the shop scene, though he still has to put on a performance of his own as a “lonely American G.I.” to stay comfortable while he praises Aziraphale’s tricks. At least he can take off his glasses. He is really lavishing Aziraphale with words of affirmation (if Crowley’s love language is acts of service, Aziraphale’s is words of affirmation), and then he finally gets to suggest the big treat - visiting the exclusive magic shop, which he absolutely knows is just over the road as he sniffs and glances out the window. Like he’s asking his partner if he’s sure there’s nothing more in a box of chocolates in which he’s hidden a ring - which now as I’m writing it out, there’s definitely a point being made about a ring being used against them in this story.

Anyway, we get to the magic shop, and Aziraphale is absolutely giddy, to the point where he’s making sexy sounds over sets of rings (more rings!) and Crowley is basking in it. Throughout the whole scene, a snake statuette is sitting on the display case… forgive my absolutely filthy mind, but is this rising snake statue not a perfect symbol of the attraction Crowley is feeling right now?

Then Aziraphale finds the gun trick. Not only is shooting a gun a metaphor for dangerous sex, but we get a glimpse into Aziraphale’s hedonistic desires to try everything this world has to offer and Crowley’s lack of experience with explicit violence. This mutual surprise lights up their chemistry even brighter - Aziraphale couldn’t let himself be attracted to Crowley if Crowley actually hurt people (though he’s hanging onto that idea until Crowley finally tells him he’s never shot a gun) and Crowley wouldn’t be so interested in Aziraphale if he wasn’t just enough of a bastard to be worth knowing. (This also really screams to me that Aziraphale has probably had sex but Crowley has not, another dynamic I especially adore, but anyway)

Crowley did not expect the involvement of firearms in this grand gesture date, but he cannot resist Aziraphale’s enthusiasm, and agrees to do it as long as they stay safe. Which of course, they won’t. Though Crowley had taken some care to make sure this looks above board to both heaven and hell, this entire night is a wildly risky display of the partnership between him and Aziraphale.

When they actually get to the stage, the dramatic tension builds and builds - you can hear it especially in the music. Is it because they’re about to get caught? Yes, but damn if it doesn’t also feel a bit like the tension that builds before… release. I feel like there are a few lines that highlight the idea that this stage performance is a sex analogue. “Aim for my mouth but shoot past my ear” is both an innocent instruction and utterly debauched, and Crowley asking “I squeeze this bit here, do I not?” has the same double entendre feeling. Mrs. H shouting “Get on with it already!” feels like the Greek chorus of Good Omens fandom crying-screaming-throwing up over our desire to see these two smash. They are also the most human we’ve ever seen them in this scene, because their miracles have been blocked - and you know what humans get up to, right?

So Crowley aims, shows a lot of hesitation, they mouth things to each other, Aziraphale encourages him, and boom! Crowley shoots perfectly somehow (just good luck or proof of the special mojo he and Aziraphale have when they work together? Unclear) and everyone is elated, especially Crowley and Aziraphale. They did it! No paperwork! They can shoot at each other til kingdom come! Send out the sexy girls so these soldiers don’t notice they just watched two man-shaped beings smash!

Alas, we only get the briefest of afterglows as they’re hanging out (snuggling) backstage. Hell tramples in and spoils their moment, reminds them there are severe consequences to sexy little stage performances together, and Crowley is nearly ripped apart from Aziraphale forever - something Aziraphale is constantly anxious about anyway. Hell doesn’t send rude notes, you know. He’s always afraid of what hell will do to Crowley. Aziraphale perfectly performs the sleight of hand that saves them somehow (again, is it luck? Or is it their special powerful love magic?) and they get to retreat back to the safety of the bookshop.

Crowley has a bit of a jealous boyfriend moment where he tells Aziraphale to cut the magic act he learned from Prof Hoff (it still feels a little overly mean to me, but jealous boyfriends do be saying shit like that) and they talk to each other more intimately and directly than we usually see them talk. Of course, because it’s pillow talk. These two just had sex and got away with it. Let Aziraphale do his apology dance in the morning. They’ll always have this night.

[skuzzinfish]

“Come on Mr. British Man, WOW me with your miracles.”

Oh my god, GI!Crowley is the best thing to happen to this show.