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humbledragon669 · 4 months

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S1E2 – The Book Write Up P1

– 2 days before Armageddon and 1656

On my most recent rewatch of this episode, I felt like overall it was much more narrative in nature than the first one, so there might not be quite as much waffle in this write up. Then again, this episode includes both the jacket cleaning and the wall slam Aziracrow moments, so perhaps let’s not count our chickens…

Let’s dive straight in then. It find it interesting that Aziraphale doesn’t appear surprised to see Gabriel and Sandalphon (described in the script as “thuggish”) in his book shop at all. I do love this little scene though, it’s pure comedy which, considering where we left off at the end of the first episode, is a good way to remind the audience that this show isn’t meant to be all doom and gloom. It’s also nice to see the comparison of knowledge of human behaviours here; Gabriel completely clueless and Sandalphon feeding him information he believes to be appropriate - only Aziraphale has any hint of behaving naturally at all, though there is something to ponder on here. Is his obvious discomfort at the mention of pornography caused by genuine embarrassment or because he has learned the appropriate human behaviour during his time on earth? I think it’s the former. We’ll see this human etiquette dilemma echoed in the first episode of season 2, which has a more obvious reference to its connotations so I will address it properly there. Let’s just say that Aziraphale’s sensitivities here could be attributed to forbidden knowledge.

I also love the fact that Aziraphale does his best not to make his customers feel awkward in this scene. Almost as if he actually wants them there. Which would mean actually selling some books somewhere along the way… He must just be being polite because that is clearly nonsense. It makes me giggle that despite trying to maintain an air or professional distance, he calls the two angels by name in front of the whole shop, completely undermining any attempts he was making at pretending the two “men” in front of him are unknown to him. Silly angel. And just to round this mini section off, this is my favourite line of the scene, which could only be delivered by a being that has no idea of the social connotations of buying porn:

We human beings are extremely easily embarrassed. We must buy our pornography secretively.

For those who don’t know, Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Household Management (the book Gabriel has picked up) is just about the furthest thing from porn you could possibly have – it’s a guide to running a household in Victorian Britain, written for married ladies of the time.

There’s a pretty delicious irony shown in the back room here – Gabriel marvelling at how easily humans are fooled whilst simultaneously being fooled by Aziraphale. The irony is further driven home by the fact that we, the “easily fooled” can tell Gabriel is being duped.

I would just like to take a moment to truly appreciate this beast that sits on a desk in the back office:

I work in IT (cyber security to be exact) and this thing gives me chills, of both the good and bad varieties. I do really love the way that there are so many little details hidden around the sets of this show, and this one goes to show how stuck in the dark ages Aziraphale is with “modern” life. I’d wager he only bought it because it was suggested to him in the first place. I’d be hugely surprised if he had used it more than once in its lifetime - probably turned it on, decided he didn’t like it and turned it off again.

There’s a lovely bit of character development here for Aziraphale, and it’s something we don’t get to see very much of with him – his ability to stay calm in difficult situations. He deals with the unexpected arrival of the two angels in a very skillful way; inventing a (believable) reason for why Sandalphon is able to smell evil in the shop, conversing with the two intruders in a polite but appropriate way, managing to lie to them without any hint of a fluster. I am guilty sometimes of thinking of the angel as a bit of a flake but scenes like this really help to remind me that actually he can be a total badass when he needs to be, after all Gabriel and Sandalphon both leave appearing to have no concerns about Aziraphale’s behaviour whatsoever.

From Aziraphale’s homely, cosy, cluttered book shop, we’re transported straight to Crowley’s sparse and cold-looking apartment where everything clearly has its place – another clever way of reminding us that these two characters are polar opposites in a lot of ways.

Interestingly the script describes Crowley’s apartment as being starkly white but I feel like the series realisation of it is much truer to his tastes. I also feel that seeing the demon in his own completely separate space is meant to serve as a reminder to the audience that he and Aziraphale are, supposedly, nothing more than good friends. As such it makes perfect sense that they should both have their own “home bases”, though I find it interesting that we never see Aziraphale at Crowley’s flat – in fact I don’t think there is evidence to suggest that he ever goes there at all (body swap incident aside). I’m pretty glad about that – Aziraphale is far too “soft” to be anywhere near comfortable in that apartment in my opinion. Coming back around to my own head canon (in which Crowley and Aziraphale are very much together at this point in the timeline), it does seem rather fitting that the flat is so sparsely furnished – I don’t really think Crowley spends that much time there (the script actually describes it as feeling “unlived in”), though it’s a good thing he wasn’t at the book shop for Gabriel’s visit in this particular instance. Regardless of whether or not Crowley really “lives” in this apartment, he’s clearly comfortable there as we see him prowling around without his glasses on.

The presence of the Mona Lisa sketch behind Crowley’s throne of a chair (why does he have such a grand chair anyway?) is explained in a deleted scene from the script – he bought it from Leonardo da Vinci himself during an evening of drinking (obviously).

I’m pretty sure that Crowley was about to call Aziraphale in this scene but for what purpose I have no idea – I don’t feel like there is anything more to be said about Armageddon at this point. I also don’t know why he decided better of it and stops himself. I’m not convinced there is anything in this as the interaction with the phone isn’t given in the stage directions of the script, I think it’s more likely part of the setting of the scene for the communication we’re about to see take place through the television.

I want to talk a little bit here about noises that are used in the soundtrack for when a miracle is performed as it’s something I believe will become important in season 2. Like REALLY important. But I’m getting ahead of myself. For now, let’s just note that at this point we’re introduced to the sound we will be hearing that signifies a demonic miracle taking place (which Crowley does to turn on the TV – either he’s being incredibly lazy or it’s a deliberate attempt to introduce us to this noise. I vote the latter). You can hear it in the clip below, immediately after the noise of Crowley clicking his fingers, underneath the talking from the TV:

I can’t quite place it as a sound, the closest I get to describing it is that it’s like the noise you get when you use a brush on a cymbal, or maybe sleigh bells that have been sped up. Either way, it’s distinctive. I’ll visit this concept again later, but for now we can just shelve the concept of the show giving a clear indication that a demonic miracle has just been performed for later reference.

I love the way television communique subtly strengthens the idea of communication over human broadcast mediums (like the radio in the Bentley) – this is mentioned in the book as being Crowley’s idea originally that has now turned sour for him. It’s worth noting the discussion prior to the arrival of Hastur and Ligur around the increasing of international tensions, which provides another device to lay the groundwork for the method of execution that Heaven has chosen for Armageddon. When I pick up on little things like this, I really am astounded by the amount of thought gone into this show.

Side note about Crowley’s chair:

I got a bit sidetracked on this, partly because I realised Ligur mentions it. I was actually able to find a couple of instances of the chair in various places online. It’s almost always described as a throne, and on one particular (Indonesian) website it’s described as a “King Chair”.

Can we just show some appreciation here for David’s top lip? With the most perfectly timed sneer, he conveys just how much contempt he has for his Hellish colleagues. Blink and you’d miss it:

If you missed the sneering, you can’t miss the undertones in the conversation he has with the two other demons – he has absolutely no appetite for Armageddon whatsoever, and next to no respect for what we are led to believe are his superiors. We do get a gem of a piece of information in this exchange though, which is that Hastur and Ligur are also fallen angels. Not only are they “fallen”, Hastur tells us that their collective falls were caused by an organised rebellion. We’ll learn a little more about the circumstances surrounding the fall of the rebellious angels later, and how Crowley came to be mixed up in the whole thing but for now this just makes me wonder how many other “fallen” there are currently waiting for Armageddon in Hell.

We’re treated to another lazy switch off of the TV here, with a repeat performance of the demonic miracle sound, so if you didn’t catch it the first time around, you really should have caught on by now.

We can’t leave this scene without mentioning Crowley’s take on his own fall:

I didn’t fall. I didn’t mean to fall. I just hung around the wrong people.

If that line doesn’t break your heart a little, you have no place here. The idea that Crowley’s fall was entirely unintentional and unwanted is something that we’ll come back to later, so for now we’ll just make a note of his true feelings about what is likely the single most defining event of his existence. It is interesting that Hastur does not appear to feel the same way about his own fall – 6000 years later he’s still standing by his actions and fully expects his accomplices to feel the same way. Seeing Crowley deliver this heartfelt sentiment to an empty room makes me wonder if Aziraphale has any idea how he feels about it. I highly doubt it but it’s a question I have nonetheless.

And so, we’re introduced to our delivery man. I really like this character because he feels incredibly relatable – he’s just a guy following instructions so that he can keep his job, put food on the table, go home to his loved ones. I feel like what happens to him throughout the series is so very unfair, and in this opening scene we hear that he is also being laden with the “blame” of calling the Four Horsemen when God refers to him as “the summoner”. Poor guy. Maybe that’s the point though, having the most relatable human character suffering the most because of events that are beyond his control. Maybe he’s meant to represent all of us. Deep…

Time for another appreciation take, and this time it goes to David Arnold’s amazing soundtrack. The sheer range of musical styles we hear across both seasons is incredible, and every incidental piece of music used does its job perfectly of helping to set the tone of the scene. The epic setting of the theme tune used in War’s introduction scene is nothing short of brilliant and I think it’s a real pity it can’t be found on the OST. Caveat: I was brought up on Queen, so any music (usually in a minor key, with plenty of broken scales and chords) that sounds even vaguely like rock with a prominent yet mournful guitar solo will have me weak at the knees any day. It’s why I currently sprint finish every run I do to the GO end titles theme (“The Theme That Got Left in the Car”). Honestly I sometimes think if my soul could make a noise, a wailing guitar is how it would sound.

We are now introduced to the namesake of the subtitle of the Good Omens universe – Agnes Nutter. The choice to use the surname “Nutter” for this character was not a random one. Alice Nutter was a woman executed for being a witch in Lancashire (where we find ourselves at this point in the story) in 1612. As much as I would like to believe that Agnes is perhaps a direct descendant of Alice, I have been unable to confirm the names of her descendants past sons and daughters, all of whom would have been too old to be our Agnes (and none of whom are named Agnes!). Anyway, Neil himself confirmed the link as a simple inspiration in a tweet all the way back in 2016, before season 1 was even filmed:

Nevertheless, this is another one of those instances where Neil and Terry have brilliantly woven together factual and fictional parts into a single story, which makes the whole so much believable, not to mention it gives you an appreciation for how much work must have gone into the writing of the book.

There are a couple of minor things of note in the following scene:

Agnes declares herself to be the last true witch in England. I’m not sure what purpose this serves, or what basis the claim is made on (perhaps another of her prophecies?), or if it’s even true.

You can actually hear the noise of the nails hidden in Agnes’s skirt as she walks if you listen. I only picked up on this after I knew they were there. It’s another example of clues being given for those who pay attention. I dare say Adultery Pulsifer should probably have picked up on it but he was obviously too busy being a pompous dickhead to notice.

Agnes’s book of prophecies has received a review from Ursula Shipton, comparing her to Nostradamus. Mother Shipton was an actual historical figure, known as a soothsayer and prophetess. She also died in 1561, almost 100 years before the publication of her Agnes’s book, which makes her review either meta-satire or proof of her own legitimacy. I’m going with the latter.

There is another reference to an apple here, this time of the Jobs variety. I understand its placement serves as a way to explain the Device family fortune in the pre-Armageddon timeline, but I do not think that the returning mention of an apple (regardless of its form) is a coincidence. In this instance, the suggestion is that future generations should partake of the aforementioned apple in order to flourish – not so dissimilar to another apple in another ancient location is it?

Well, I think that’s as good a place as any to finish this part. What was I saying about not being so much waffle? I am trying not to analyse every line, it’s just that in a script that’s this well written, every word and phrase seems to have been so carefully chosen so as to carry its own meaning. Or maybe I’m just being pretentious.

Comments, questions, discussions welcome as always!

#good omens #episode analysis #good omens season 1 #good omens gabriel #good omens ligur #hastur good omens #head canon #good omens sandalphon #agnes nutter #adultery pulsifer #virtue device #soundtrack #ost

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humbledragon669 · 2 months

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Script to Screen comparison: Episode 2 – The Book P1 – large changes

Standard Intro

Having followed the episodes through with the Script Book, I've tried to break the differences between the original script and the end result on screen into a couple of different categories:

Large changes (whole scenes/multiple lines of script). This blog post will cover these only (for brevity) – the other categories will be covered separately.

Things that are in the original script but not in the finished episode (I'm calling these deletions).

Things that aren't in the original script but are in the finished episode (I'm calling these additions).

Things that have been changed (I'm calling these ones amendments).

Not all of the changes fit neatly into one category or the other (there are shades of grey...). The first three of the differences will be presented within bullet lists, with a description. The last of the categories will be presented in a table. I'll make comments about anything I find particularly notable after each category.

Large changes

Scene 204 has been cut from the finished episode. This would have served as an additional introduction to War, and provides details of the paper that she works for (which is apparently a very trashy supermarket tabloid), as well as the opinions of other journalists about her writing, which is mysteriously “a la minute” when it comes to global conflicts.

There’s a small exchange between Crowley and Ligur (with the latter communicating through the television), where Crowley points out that there shouldn’t be trust between demons. Ligur threatens Crowley with some of unnamed methods of the Spanish Inquisition that Crowley has identified in his reports to Hell.

Scene 207, the signing of the peace treaty, was originally set to take place in a hotel conference room (with the participants seated at individual tables), instead of a tent in the middle of the desert (with the participants standing in front of a single table). The participants are described as being “happy and at ease”.

A small handful of lines about the process of the signing of the peace treaty are missing from the finished episode.

An exchange between the peace treaty participants about the credibility of the newspaper that War writes for have been cut.

The ordering of the scene showing Agnes being burnt has been changed for the finished episode. Originally, there was a scripted to be a shot of Adultery Pulsifer realising that things were about to end badly before Agnes’s second pyre speech. This was to be combined with the shot of the barrels of gunpowder and nails, which has been relocated to the middle of the following scene. Lastly, Adultery’s cursive was originally placed before Agnes’s knowing smile.

There are two lines from Anathema (as a child) where she expresses her disgust at having to “do kissing” (including the prophecy this takes place in – 1401) that have been cut.

Scene 220 showing Anathema (as a grown up) and her mother discussing Anathema’s packing and saying goodbye before she leaves LA is missing from the finished episode.

A small exchange between Newt and Tompkins (the office manager) where Newt is fired in front of the whole office has been cut.

An exchange that Shadwell has with a passer-by during his evangelical rant has been cut. In it is a thinly veiled accusation that the passer-by is a witch.

The original script covered a lot more detail of Anathema unpacking at Jasmine Cottage.

Part of Scene 107 (from episode 1) has been inserted after the scene where Crowley terrifies his houseplants. The only part of the scene that remains, which is of a telephone conversation Aziraphale has with an unknown customer, details the history of Agnes Nutter’s book.

The original exit from the scene showing Newton’s induction into the Witchfinder Army included a shot of a “gentleman caller” arriving for Madame Tracy, and some preparations she was making for his arrival.

Aziraphale’s assertions that there will be records available are missing from scene 233 (the journey through London in the Bentley).

There is a short exchange between Aziraphale and Crowley in scene 233 that have been cut. In it, they discuss the possibility of claiming asylum with the other’s side should they be unable to find the Antichrist.

Scene 238 is missing several components from the finished episode:

Anathema was scripted to be wandering from the village green towards Hogback Wood.

She is also supposed to be scribbling in a notebook.

She was described as annotating a map.

Pepper and Wensleydale were seen walking past her.

Scene 240, showing Aziraphale and Crowley approaching Tadfield Manor is considerably different in the finished episode:

It was scripted that the Bentley would be seen pulling up to the Manor (not already parked).

There are three shots described as taking place through a rifle sight: one without Aziraphale and Crowley, one with both, and the final one focussing in on Aziraphale (there is only one in the finished episode, focussing in on Crowley).

Crowley and Aziraphale were only afforded a single footstep towards the Manor in the original script.

The paint spatter on Crowley is described as being on his shirtfront, not his bare chest.

Crowley and Aziraphale both hit the floor in the original script (as in the book).

Crowley both sniffs and licks the “blood” before realising it’s actually paint.

Scene 242, showing Tompkins coming to, has been repositioned to cut into the previous scene. It was originally placed after God’s voiceover speech about the history of the Manor.

There is a small exchange between two of the office workers about the “people from Purchasing” that is missing from the finished episode.

Scene 245, an exchange between Tompkins and an IT man, has been cut.

Norman’s battlefield speech has been cut considerably. It’s largely more of the same bitter tripe he’s spouting about his colleagues.

Scene 246, containing Norman’s battlefield speech, has been repositioned to cut into the discussion between Crowley and Aziraphale about the morality of the demon’s actions in giving the conference attendees real guns. Its original position was immediately before the same discussion.

There is a chunk of police activity, including sirens, flashing lights, and an announcement made over loudhailer, that has been cut from the finished episode.

Crowley’s dismissal of Aziraphale’s insistence that he is ethereal (not occult) and the following shot of a policeman realising that the gun he’s holding is fake are both missing.

Scene 254, showing Anathema taking observations by moonlight, has been repositioned to take place after Crowley’s proclamation about the consequences of failing to find the Antichrist. It was originally placed immediately before the conversation between him and Aziraphale in the Bentley as they drive through Tadfield’s country lanes.

Scene 256, showing Anathema cycling along a dark country lane, has been repositioned to cut through Aziraphale’s statement about flashes of love. It was originally positioned immediately before his assertion that there’s something “very peculiar” about the area.

The stage directions in the script provide a lot more detail about Anathema’s belongings and how she sits with them in the Bentley.

The script suggests Anathema’s exit from the Bentley should have been a much more chaotic affair, with her trying to scoop all of her belongings up from the seat. The camera panning down to reveal the book left on the floor has been added to the finished episode.

There are a few lines from Mr. Young about his trying to report Dog as missing to the relevant authorities that are missing from the finished episode.

A small exchange between Mr. and Mrs. Young about what she is doing getting out of bed late at night (checking on Adam, which she covers up) that have been cut.

The beginning of scene 267, showing Adam settling down to sleep, has been repositioned to the end of the scene showing Mrs. Young’s POV into his bedroom as she checks on him. It was originally placed after Mrs. Young has returned to bed. There are differences here too – it was originally scripted that we would see him close his eyes, and that Dog would be lying on the pillow beside his head. We also get an additional shot where the camera pans over the shelves in Adam’s room.

Scene 269, showing Anathema returning to the site of the accident to look for her book, is missing from the finished episode.

A miniature spat between Crowley and Aziraphale about whether they should have taken Anathema’s address after the accident has been cut.

There are several details showing Aziraphale’s preparations to read Agnes Nutter’s book in the script that didn’t make it to the episode: making cocoa, getting a pad of paper and a pen, and repositioning a lamp.

Scenes 272 and 273 have been cut. The former of these is a simple establishing shot of the outside of Crowley’s flat, but the latter showed his dishevelled emergence from his bedroom after sleeping.

There are a few of Crowley’s lines missing from his telephone conversation with Aziraphale, recapping Hell’s current position with the Antichrist, complete with his insistence that the angel “chill” after calling him “dude”.

There are quite a few major sets of changes in this episode, with some of the larger ones consisting of the restructuring of entire scenes or scene sequences. With both instances of the restructured scenes, I feel that the revised structure is hugely effective in delivering the desired tone for the respective scenes: maintenance of mystery for Agnes’s burning, and a general feeling of chaos for Tadfield Manor. I really enjoy the change of venue for the signing of the peace treaty – there’s something cheeky about the idea that something as important as a peace treaty would be signed in those conditions, but it’s probably closer to the truth than a hotel conference room is. I’m also quite glad that so many of the supporting lines about the peace treaty have been cut – the shorter scene sequence is really successful in showing how quickly the shit can hit the fan, and that might not have been conveyed so effectively if the dialogue had been more extensive.

There are two of these changes that I am very sorry we lost (no, it’s not Crowley calling Aziraphale “dude”, I’m incredibly pleased that one didn’t make the final cut). The first is the exchange between Crowley and Aziraphale about seeking asylum of the other’s side.

CROWLEY: I suppose […] your people wouldn’t consider giving me asylum?

AZIRAPHALE: I was going to ask you the same thing…

These two lines speak worlds to me about their respective state of minds, not least that they’re both prepared to give up what they have to switch sides, which would of course make it much easier for them to spend time together. Ultimately though, whilst I think Crowley probably would consider seeking asylum from Heaven in order to save his own skin, I don’t feel like Aziraphale is in a place where he would ask the same from Hell, so I wonder if these lines were cut because they didn’t fit with the angel’s character development at this point in the storyline. I also wonder if the two of them would have considered the possibility that the other was thinking the same thing, and whether that would have changed their mind on the whole thing.

The second of the list that I very desperately regret not seeing is the removal of this scene:

Aside from the fandom having missed the opportunity to see the house plants trying to look impressive for the demon, who wouldn’t want to see a dishevelled Crowley freshly roused from bed?! Why, why, WHY did this get cut?! I’m really hoping it finds a place in season 3, because it genuinely feels like a delightful piece of characterisation that we were robbed of.

I was intending on only doing one of these posts per episode in these script to screen comparisons, but this one is already running pretty long, and I don’t want these very wordy posts (i.e. not many pretty pictures of GIFs) to run to epic novel length. I was actually quite surprised to see how many more notes I made for this episode (50% more than for the first) as I thought it might be the case that the first episode of the series would have had a lot more background/scene-setting information that would be ripe for cutting, but that didn’t prove to be the case, not for any of my so-called “categories”.

As always, questions, comments, discussion: always welcome. See you in the next one!

#good omens #episode analysis #good omens season 1 #good omens script book

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