#gomens 2 meta

[applestorms]

GOOD OMENS.

CLENCH UP BITCHES WE'RE DOING THIS. SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS READ WITH CAUTION my hands are still shaking from finishing season 2 approximately 13.420 minutes ago so everybody clam the fuigk up/down. we're getting IN to this one. 10 sections.

okay, before i get into anything specific, i just wanna say: this series has had some of the best writing i've seen in a tv show & it's really fucking gratifying to watch. this season in particular had some really clear, distinct themes that were evolved upon and executed pretty much perfectly imo, to the point that i almost feel like i can guess what a good deal of season 3 is probably gonna look like (see section 12). this is great!! it means the writers are really paying attention to what the story is doing & what the characters are feeling/going through at any given moment in the story, & it just makes the series that much stronger on a rewatch. this season in particular really hits that sweet spot for me of being overt & clear w/ its themes w/o treating its audiences like idiots, it just. works.

i'm not going to touch on season 1 as much here since it's not as fresh as s2 for me rn, but hopefully this post can help bring some additional analysis/reflection to the new season. not sure how much of this will be totally crazy wild & new, but perhaps some interesting points will come outta the process. hope you enjoy the read!! there's 13 sections so feel free to skip around.

1. aziraphale as the beautiful execution of a flawed protagonist (ft. crowley's pining)

one of the best parts of this season by far comes from the character writing, particularly for the main two & especially for aziraphale. aziraphale was my personal favorite to watch for this entire season actually, he & crowley are both such a fucking mess but aziraphale in particular hides it in such a fascinating way to me. it's not just like watching a car crash, it's like sitting on a park bench watching a man drive a bus into a stoplight, like full on crunch the vehicle in half squish, and then just get out & carry on walking like nothing is wrong & he isn't dripping blood & scraping broken bones across the concrete.

on a broader scale, there is something incredibly appealing about how aziraphale & crowley are presented, even at a very base level. even w/o the fantastic acting of michael sheen & david tennant specifically, it's a pretty common thing that fandom will default to shipping Narrative Foils, & these two are the epitome of that. a demon who can't stop being a nice guy & an angel who keeps cutely being an asshole- this is a great base to work off of, & again the execution thus far has been excellent.

what i like about aziraphale in particular is how complex his character ends up being while still fitting into a very particular role. while crowley to some degree fits into an already pretty popular & well-loved character model (that of the grumpy nice guy), aziraphale has to hit a couple of very important & precise traits, being both outwardly very likeable & endearing while simultaneously constantly fucking up & doing increasingly egregious shit. i really can't commend michael sheen enough for his acting in helping to get the balance right- it would be STUPIDLY easy to make aziraphale the most obnoxious character to ever grace the screen if performed or written incorrectly, the kind of outwardly-kind asshole that does horrific shit w/o reflecting since the show runners seem incapable of seeing the character for what they are & it all just ends up driving viewers up the wall (e.g. emily in paris).

what i think makes aziraphale work is the fact that he is just genuine enough in his actions that when he does something legitimately horrible, it's both so subtle you almost don't even pick up on it, too distracted by the emotions you feel in following his perspective, & just motivated enough that it's easy to write him off w/o thinking any deeper. as much as crowley calls aziraphale out for being a bad magician, i think it's spot on that the one thing he is quite skilled at is misdirection. you spend a lot of time in this show following very closely with either aziraphale or crowley's POV, but in s2 especially the contrast between those two views is quite overt. while crowley's perspective is often a lot quieter, more reflective & also overtly anxious as he throws himself into stressful situations purely for the sake of supporting az, aziraphale's POV is always very loud & chaotic as he runs around, finding pubs & fighting demons & doing whatever the fuck else he wants to at any given moment.

the main flaw of aziraphale in this season is, imo, selfishness, a direct contrast to crowley's continual self-sacrifice when it comes to aziraphale. in both cases though, this is (pushed to become) a flaw that i think ultimately leads to their inability to connect at the end of the season. but in order to understand that more, we're going to have to take a closer look into the circumstances that have thus far shaped both aziraphale & crowley's characters.

2. denial as a defense mechanism: heaven & hell as life threatening danger

if there's one thing s2 has not forgotten when it comes to a&c, it's the circumstances of s1 that led them to their current emotional/mental states.

slight tangent to lead back into this point: in my work as a librarian, i end up dealing w/ a very particular set of clientele when it comes to the kinds of people that regularly use a public library. parents w/ young children, older gentlemen & ladies looking to escape the more extreme weather, and (for my city, at least) lots and lots of people who no longer have stable housing. since an often forgotten about goal of a public library (well, to the general population) is social services, as a part of my training i've recently been working through a book on what is essentially trauma-informed customer service, which has led to a lot of insight.

one point in particular that i want to highlight here is the idea that traumatic instances are both common & intensely significant in how they can change a person's behavior. defense mechanisms that may make sense in the context of a traumatic event will often stick w/ people even as the context they're in changes & the instincts are no longer useful, instead making the individuals' life even more difficult.

if there is one trauma that defines a lot of the current problems that a&c are going through, it's the fear that originates from the constant surveillance and, in turn, threat of complete eradication that comes from both heaven & hell.

significantly, crowley & aziraphale both respond to this threat in distinctly different ways: where crowley clings to the idea of escape, of creating a place where it's him and aziraphale against the world (alpha centauri), in part idealizing aziraphale as both his only friend ("friend") & the only person he could ever truly trust (crowley also likely has some trauma from the fall but we'll get to that), aziraphale viciously denies that they even have a relationship, all the while simultaneously relying on crowley heavily to do a lot of his dirty work for him. (see this post for the endgame twist on that idea.) it's significant to me that a good chunk of aziraphale's earliest morally dubious actions involve lying- since he's been doing it for so long, it's probably one of the easiest things for him to write off as not that bad, so it's natural that he would default to it as a defense mechanism here too.

to clarify, crowley does engage in denial too, though it's obvious from the emotional climaxes of both season 1 & 2 that he is much less committed to it, likely doing it for the sake of easing aziraphale's mind and/or giving himself something to fall back on so he doesn't attract too much attention from the people that can really hurt them. overall though, these are both basically just fight/flight responses- crowley ultimately wants to run away from or fight everyone that can hurt them (& betrayed him by letting him down in the past) and aziraphale ultimately just wants to deny that the problem even exists.

if we see aziraphale's later stated goal of, "Let's change heaven for the better," as an evolution off of his earlier mindset, this is also basically what their final argument in ep6 comes down to: crowley wanting to run away and aziraphale wanting to go & fight for change. what's so aggravating about this conversation is that they also want the exact same thing: EACH OTHER. (idiots.) (maggie & nina were spot on, of course. it's not just nightingales missing in that silence.) this is not even to mention the fact that they are utilizing these defense mechanisms not just in an attempt to protect themselves, but ultimately to protect one another. think about that one late at night if you wanna get up the motivation to key mr. gaiman's car.

it's also interesting to note that in s1 crowley basically wins this argument, getting the chance to settle down (albeit, still under pretty questionable circumstances) as he & aziraphale (supposedly) create their own little corner of the world away from everyone else. it still doesn't work though as neither of their solutions really get at the core of the problem, which is 1. the horrific bureaucratic systems of heaven & hell that Don't Give a Shit about People at all, and 2. their own unspoken fears & feelings (romantic & otherwise).

3. good, evil, & narrative foils: crowley edition

since i extrapolated on aziraphale's character in section 1 and a&c's relationship in 2, i think it's only right that i look into crowley more for 3.

for all the pain & agony & tears that it brings, i really do think that ep6 is the best ep of s2. specifically, i think that ep6 is the one that shows the primary issues of a&c that have been plaguing them throughout the season (& even previously in s1) the most overtly, and this is especially true of crowley.

there are two things that aziraphale gets wrong about heaven in their final argument: 1st, the idea that heaven is necessarily better than hell, & 2nd the idea that crowley would ever want anything to do w/ it again.

i've seen some people talking about crowley like he's the voice of reason this season, but i don't necessarily agree, or at least not entirely. he's completely right when he says that heaven & hell is toxic in their final argument, yes, but i don't think his motivation in saying that is purely from observation either. remember that point i mentioned earlier, about crowley also having trauma from his initial fall? where aziraphale naturally trusts people to a fault (see: gabriel, but also picking up shax, the graveyard, etc.), crowley is plagued by a complete inability to trust anyone around him, & it's my opinion that a lot of this comes from the trauma of his initial fall.

the one exception to this is, of course, aziraphale, who we can see attempting to be a friend to crowley both before & long after his fall, but aside from him crowley Does Not trust anyone else around him & honestly for good reason. while we can write off hell as just being Like That, even if crowley didn't initially want to fall (as is heavily implied in a few flashback scenes), he certainly doesn't want to be dragged back into a supposedly great position that he knows he could lose again at any wrong comment. this is also (in part) why i think crowley reacts so strongly to aziraphale's "Nothing lasts forever," comment- after going through the horror of losing his divinity & all the stress of the last few seasons, the one thing crowley probably wants is stability, & he's been relying on aziraphale as the source of that. you're both doing the dance for this one, boys.

to reiterate: don't forget the graveyard scene when it comes to crowley doing absolutely anything for aziraphale to the point that it hurts him, both in terms of the supposed punishment he got from hell (that az skips over real fast in his narration) & how aziraphale continues to deny both the reality of their relationship & how much his denial hurts crowley.

4. beelz & gabe the weirdest couple imaginable. good for them. good for them. also: heaven & hell as two equally controlling/toxic sides of a bureaucracy

the Big Bads of the last few seasons took more of a backseat for this one which makes sense considering the focus on a&c and all of the parallel couples, but i do think the one point that was emphasized for them is very important, and that's the ways in which both heaven & hell parallel each other as shitty bureaucratic pyramids of power.

if we consider this meme to be true, i think crowley really is right when it comes to his analysis of heaven & hell, though we're probably just gonna have to wait until s3 to see the exact route the show decides to take.

a big running thread w/in either of these two groups is the fight for promotions, both in terms of people clawing their way up to get more power & in terms of people being replaceable. crowley & gabriel getting kicked out of their positions is just a vacancy of power to the companies that are Good Omens Heaven & Hell, and there is a very clear parallel between shax & michael & their desire for control. what's notable is how that parallel might also now extend to aziraphale what w/ his new promotion. all very fitting concepts to cover in a post-covid, writers-strike context, which i have seen our resident mr. gaiman posting about.

5. yuri on ice, hannibal, & the beauty of acknowledged romantic tension

if there is ONE thing i am disgustingly grateful for in this show it's the fact that we finally have some concrete follow-through on the romantic tension between a&c that permeated through s1. there's only so many times a man can call his best bud "Angel" completely unironically before it gets fucking stupid (cough cough dean winchester cough). but also, to put it in the words of another text post around here: I love how the kiss was awful.

even if there wasn't a kiss, the fact that this fucking entire season fucking revolved around love & featured all kinds of parallel couples should be enough to clue you in on the romantic tension between a&c, if you somehow were blind enough to miss it before. that being said, i'm really glad that the kiss was executed the way that it was, essentially summarizing all of the tension & anguish that had been built up over the last few seasons in an explosion. the state of aziraphale & crowley's relationship hurts more because they kissed, because the tension finally overflowed & it still wasn't enough to stop him from getting in the stupid elevator & running away again.

sorry had to take a break to aggressively listen to the better call saul theme song again. anyways, while i know there are some other shows that have set precedent for this in acknowledging the romantic development between their leads, i can't stop thinking about two in particular in comparison to good omens: yuri on ice, for the literal cinematic parallels between the kiss, and nbc hannibal, for the creator acknowledgement & slow lead up to the climax.

what i am desperately hoping & praying for w/ good omens is season 3, since it feels like all too often when we finally get a good, Gay:tm: show it's always this big, flashy thing right at the end that everyone freaks out about & adores (around these parts, at least) but is never evolved upon. i think gomens has a good chance since we've got more precedent now, the creators/actors/etc are more open about it, & the season is clearly unfinished w/ a ravenous fanbase, but something something supernatural trauma i'll trust it when i see it. can't always believe these corporate fuckers. at the very least though they probably wouldn't write this kind of ending if they didn't think they had a good case for another season, so.

ok, a couple shorter sections cause i'm undoubtedly gonna run out of space if i keep at this pace:

6. the resurrectionists was a really good arc that i enjoyed a lot

exactly what it says tbh, the writing for this arc in particular really stood out to me.

i mentioned earlier that s2 has some really good character writing & i think that's in part because it's necessary as a kind of transition season, reflecting on the chaos that happened w/ the first go at armageddon & setting up for the next apocalyptic event that is likely planned for s3. it's for this reason that i think the resurrectionists arc is really strong, establishing in particular all the flaws of aziraphale's character that i went over previously in a very interesting way that still manages to weave into the previously established, albeit quite sparse flashback timeline established in s1. the morally dubious nature of grave robbing for the sake of science & medicine is the perfect context to put characters like a&c in, and the more overt look into class w/ a character like elspeth works really well in helping to ground the more abstract social commentary associated w/ heaven & hell.

7. ramblings about sequels & whatnot

it can be really difficult to write a sequel, especially when the first go at the story cleaned up its plot so well by the end, but where s2 is strongest imo is in establishing the ways that crowley & aziraphale still need to grow.

i almost think that this season had to end horrifically tragic, in a similar way that i think book 2 of the simon snow series wayward son had to end on a pretty dour note. in order for 1 & 3 to have decently high notes, 2 just often has to be pretty miserable to balance it all out.

this is also why i think the maggie/nina storyline is so important overall. not only do those two establish the most overt romantic parallel to a&c, helping to transition the story from s1 & set up for ep6, but they also end on a distinctly hopeful note that's in direct contrast to the scene that comes immediately after they leave. the parallel plants at least the tiniest seed of hope that a&c can sort their shit out if given some time & communication, similar to maggie & nina. it also makes a lot more sense in establishing why crowley chooses that moment of all times to bother w/ a love confession- i genuinely don't think the kiss would work if m&n didn't have a little sit-down intervention w/ him beforehand.

8. SPECULATION: aziraphale vs. crowley apocalyptic fight, dissolving of the current organization of heaven & hell, affirmation of the beauty of humanity & morality?

a list of my speculation about what may or may not happen in s3:

apocalypse part 2 only this time aziraphale & crowley are actually gonna be fighting each other & it's going to be fucking agonizing to watch especially in direct contrast to s1

there's probably going to be some sort of attempt to get crowley into an equal/parallel position to aziraphale in hell. whether or not he actually decides to take this position is kinda up in the air, but either way he's going to fight it at first out of a hatred of both sides. if he does eventually agree it'll be under some sort of condition to save aziraphale, and/or a fake out trick that also is to save aziraphale.

i just don't think i can see a happy ending where heaven & hell stay in their same structure. w/ such big characters as gabriel & beelzebub just fucking gone into the middle of nowhere there's gotta be some kind of re-establishment of the two sides & their relations. the only way it might not change is if the Religion Lore gets in the way, but w/ the established politics of this show & mr. gaiman i can't see an ending that just allows the status quo to continue on exactly as horrible as it's been.

crowley back in his apartment? (plsplspls.) also something really heart-wrenching & emotional related to the car & the bookstore after a&c have been separated from them because of course. personally requesting additional exploration of the car as a symbol of crowley himself/able to be influenced by aziraphale e.g. scooting towards az, yellow is so pretty, etc. etc.

more flashbacks, maybe more from crowley's pov this time? like something to do w/ that period where he was supposedly being punished for helping aziraphale, more about his experiences w/ hell & the fall, etc.

something something affirmation of the beauty of humanity & the world, ft. a&c bonding over their mutual love of it again. they were each others only real friend for how many thousands of years, if they're gonna be fighting OR attempting a romantic bond that's going to be significant.

when the actual romantic reconciliation happens is kinda up in the air, but it depends on what the Big Bad ends up being, an external force of heaven & hell or a&c themselves. personally, i think that heaven & hell are just gonna keep getting weaker but w/ aziraphale in charge maybe that'll change (or maybe it'll be the catalyst lolol). if it's external they'll probably get together earlier in the season, if it's more internal probably not til the end, though there might be a momentary reconciliation for the sake of fighting something else.

i'm a bit more up in the air about this one, but maybe something more w/ satan & god as the top of the pyramid when it comes to heaven & hell? good omens is all about that kind of contrast so it might make sense. this also assumes that s3 is the presumed end of the series, which may or may not be the case.

if this does end up being the end of the series: i really, really, really, would not be surprised if crowley & aziraphale end up fully human. it's quite the obvious answer but it just makes so much sense for their characters, w/ their love of the world & whatnot. then again a lot of their relationship has also been related to immortality, but also then again there's a lot of stories out there about immortals hating their long lives & wanting to just settle down like normal people so. ehh. oh speaking of settling down,

9. they're NOT married, that's the PROBLEM: thirteen seconds.

thirteen. full. seconds. of the Most Awful Kiss. known to contemporary tv.

they're not married that's th eentire fuckigngggng proble m.,,..,,..,.

10. "I forgive you."

this is such a nonsensical line it makes me so absurdly angry. what the fuck are you doing aziraphale. well, presumably the exact same thing crowley was trying to do by kissing you, but i digress.

bonus edit, i thought of this literal seconds before falling asleep & now i can’t get it out of my mind: crowley needs aziraphale for stability, aziraphale needs stability to have crowley. mic drop

[corancoranthemagicalman]

Just read through @noneorother 's brilliant Good Omens Soundtrack Meta And it brought me back to listening to the soundtrack again.

When I first started listening to the soundtrack, there was one particular track I was looking forward to listening to. And that's the music that plays while Crowley is straightening the Bookshop in e6. The chord progression (to my untrained ear) in the beginning sort of reminded me of Hallelujah, and despite it being a short track it was so magical sounding.

Cut to my surprise when Crowley and Muriel, the track that happens right before the Kiss track on the soundtrack list, sounds nothing like it. I listened to Crowley and Muriel over and over, and still couldn't ear-pick what I had heard in Crowley's Cleanup. I figured that I must have been mistaken.

But I've just gone back and watched the episode again (at the inspiration of noneorother using the scenes as reference.) Crowley and Muriel opens up with the ominous strike of Metatron leaving with Aziraphale (and isn't that choice?) Then it ends right as we cut to Maggie and Nina talking about coming over.

Maggie and Nina decided to come over, and then we cut to Crowley straightening the Bookshop. The chord progression and a chime (again, untrained here) begin, and the track lives as long as it takes Maggie and Nina to come over. It stops when they enter.

Is this a reprise to a song that I missed?? Wouldn't the reprise be listed as its own track??

Then I wondered what else might have been missing between Crowley and Muriel and I Forgive You.

When Aziraphale walks back into the Bookshop, that same track plays again!! Only this time, it has a chorus to it and the progression sounds even lighter. I hadn't noticed it the first time at all. And what I can say is that—well, there's been enough analysis of the Opening Title and actual Discussion of what Went Into the Good Omens Theme. That it is their character themes (because they're a unit!!) BUT there are PIECES of that theme!!! That become those characters!! The lower, more somber sounding tones versus the angelic choruses! And this track (which I'mma just call Straightening Up) has TWO versions. Versions of them separated.

But Straightening Up (Aziraphale's Version) lasts quite a bit longer, I think. It lasts up until Crowley says "I've got something to say." Which, for reference, mean the track includes: Aziraphale entering the Bookshop, Maggie and Nina leaving the Bookshop, Nina passing the Metatron, the Metatron conversing with Muriel, and then landing its final death note on Crowley and Aziraphale in the Bookshop.

With the thought that perhaps this was a reprise, I went hunting.

There's a similar chord progression, I think, in Maggie and Nina (0:32), but otherwise there isn't a lot of similarities. I'd mistake the chords here as just an artist's signature rather than a music theory analysis point.

[Sidebar: But do you know what I did find in Gabriel's Love Story (0:57-ish)? That I remember hearing on my first listen, but am only now committing to memory when trying to purposefully listen for pieces? Not Kind!! Not Kind is in Gabriel's Love Story!]

Anyway, I'm continuing my hunt for what might be another missing soundtrack, but so far I've come up empty. If someone who is more musically inclined than I knows where it is, let me know! Or maybe it's just another missing song from the track. :,)

[bandomfandombeyond]

aziraphale is a centrist who saw metatron's offer as the perfect way to get everything he wanted: returned status (among angels who mock him) & protection (from demons who see him as the reason Crowley turned), Crowley (subordinate to him, and an angel again, so Az doesn't have to question Heaven/his own morals anymore)

meanwhile Crowley is a marginalized person who thought he had a life partner who would choose him over the status quo, only to discover that was not the case and the christian hegemony will always protect itself first.

also aziraphale is just. not a good partner tbh. he never listens to Crowley, things always have to go his way, and he stomps all over Crowley's 'no's repeatedly while dragging him along for misadventures. (and Crowley goes along with it because love)

[ineffablyruined]

This is the face of an angel who is disappointed his ruse to get his boyfriend to move in with him didn't work.

Look at him! Look at him being so happy to see Crowley only to get a box of plants shoved in his face.

And then he just looks confused for a second, and then his face drops with disappointment.

This face screams, "WHY ARE YOU HANDING ME A MOVING BOX WHEN YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO STAY FOREVER!"

[hell0mega]

I'm very normal about the fact that Crowley said he "didn't really fall" that he "sauntered vaguely downwards" and being damned is "not so bad once you get used to it" but then also when he's lamenting alone talking to god he says "i only ever asked questions" "that's all it took to be a demon" and then when he's alone drinking and grieving over his murdered best and only friend he says he "never wanted to be a demon" and that he "took a million light year fall into a pool of boiling sulphur" I'm normal about the fact that he lies to Aziraphale about how badly he feels about being a demon

[televised-eyes]

i love how easily crowley could’ve just said “he’s my best friend” to nina but instead he practically chokes out “he’s just an angel *gulps* i know”

he spends the all of s2 referring to aziraphale as his friend yet the one moment he’s directly asked about the nature of their relationship, he panics and overreacts because the word “friend” doesn’t even scratch the surface of what they mean to each other

crowley’s revelation as he walks away: aziraphale isn’t just his friend or an angel he knows. they’re best friends, they’re hereditary enemies, they’re soulmates. their relationship reflects the closest thing to what humans would call a “love life”

[writingdinosaur]

Aziraphale was wrong this. He’ll come crawling back that. I want him to do the apology dance blah blah blah.

You know what I want? I want him to succeed.

I want him to give Heaven hell.

I want him to be a problem of the Metatron’s own making.

I keep seeing a take floating around that the Metatron was obviously lying when calling Aziraphale a natural leader and a good choice for Supreme Archangel and just trying to butter Aziraphale up so he’ll be more open to the idea of rejoining Heaven, but I think there is an important distinction to be made in this regard.

Aziraphale IS those things. He IS a natural leader. He was the first being to ever wield a weapon on earth. He is a high ranking member of Heaven’s army and was in charge of a platoon in the first war EVER. HE WAS FULLY EXPECTED TO DO SO AGAIN IN ARMAGEDDON. We can see this leadership both in Season 1 when he insists to Crowley that they don’t run away and in Season 2 when facing the demons. And if Heaven actually was everything it was meant to be, everything it still proclaims that it is, Aziraphale WOULD be the obvious choice for Supreme Archangel, because when faced between making the right choice or making the obedient one, or even between making the right choice or the comfortable choice, he has always picked the right one.

Give up the sword and lie to God or let the humans suffer? Welp, there goes the sword.

Lie on my word as an Angel or allow three human children to be killed? Guess who’s lying again!

Go back to my abusers in order to make things better for everyone or run away with the love of my life who just confessed his feelings for me? Up I go.

Here’s the kicker. The Metatron ALSO thinks he was lying to Aziraphale. In the Metatron’s eyes, Aziraphale is none of those things. The Metatron and the Archangels are nothing but condescending pricks to the Angel they see as a bumbling, incompetent, slightly insane fool who chose Earth over Heaven.

I don’t want Aziraphale to come crawling back. I don’t want him to realize it’s a lost cause. I don’t want him to give up.

What I want is to see the Metatron’s face as he watches Aziraphale succeed.

[krummholz-go]

The Final 15 - Aziraphale’s Perspective

I see a lot of empathy for Crowley’s experience during the final 15 minutes of season 2 and it makes sense that we feel deeply for him. What he is experiencing is very human - acknowledging the depth of his own feelings, plucking up the courage to say something, having it come out all wrong, feeling utterly rejected, and then walking away in a mix of pain and anger. Who among us hasn’t been there?

But Aziraphale is experiencing something more complicated, something fewer of us have analogs for. Aziraphale has internally acknowledged his feelings for Crowley for some period of time, probably at least since 1941. Michael Sheen confirms this mental state in a NYCC 2018 interview:

“I decided early on that Aziraphale just loves Crowley. And that’s difficult for him because they are on opposite sides and he doesn’t agree with him on stuff. But it does really help as an actor to go, ‘My objective in this scene is to not show you how much I love you and just gaze longingly at you.’”

Unlike Crowley, Aziraphale’s struggle isn’t acknowledging his feelings. His struggle appears to be two-fold: 1) believing that Crowley could ever love him back and 2) even if Crowley did love him, believing a future for the two of them together could exist within the restrictions of his larger world view.

Can Crowley love?

Angels are, traditionally, beings of love. We see Aziraphale embody this time and again, showing kindness and support to almost everyone he meets, including the amnesiac Gabriel who has treated him abominably in the past. He is attuned to love, remarking on how the area around Tadfield “feels loved” twice in Season 1. As for how Aziraphale personally understands and expresses love, he shows his love to others through verbal affirmation and, to a lesser extent, physical touch. There are many examples of Aziraphale expressing his love for Crowley through positive verbal affirmation, typically by praising him for instances where he has been kind, nice, or good. And on the rare occasions when Aziraphale receives verbal praise, he absolutely interprets it as an expression of love, blossoming with happiness.

But from Aziraphale’s perspective, it may be unclear if Crowley can feel love in the same way. Can demons love? Did he lose that capability when he fell? Crowley can’t feel the aura of love in Tadfield that Aziraphale remarks on, and his reactions to Aziraphale’s praise are always to shrug it off, tell Aziraphale to “shut up,” or in the most extreme case to physically slam him against a wall and get in his face about it. In this last instance he tells Aziraphale, “I’m a demon, I’m not nice. I'm never nice. Nice is a four-letter word.” A four-letter word, like love, that is not in Crowley’s self-defined vocabulary.

If Crowley can feel love, does he love Aziraphale?

Even if Aziraphale believes Crowley is capable of feeling love, he does not always recognize how Crowley expresses it in the moment. Crowley shows his love for Aziraphale through actions, but Aziraphale often misconstrues Crowley’s motivations. In 1793 when Crowley rescues him from the Bastille, Aziraphale initially assumes Crowley is only there because he is responsible for the Reign of Terror. Similarly, in 1941, Aziraphale’s reaction to Crowley’s appearance is to assume he’s just part of the Nazi gang, saying,“I should have known. Of course. These people are working for you!”

Crowley doesn’t help matters in this regard because he is constantly muting and undercutting his signals to Aziraphale. Every time Crowley expresses his love for Aziraphale through actions - rescuing him, saving his books, even taking him to lunch - he does so in a nonchalant, dismissive manner, indicating he ascribes little value or importance to the actions he has performed. “I just didn’t want to see you embarrassed,” he says when he appears in 1941. And when Aziraphale positively glows with happiness about his books being saved, Crowley tells him to “shut up."On top of these confusing signals, Crowley is almost pathologically incapable of expressing his feelings in the verbal love language that Aziraphale can understand. This is heartbreakingly demonstrated in this scene after the bookshop fire:

Crowley can’t even say “I lost you.” Instead he speaks of Aziraphale in the third person while sitting in front of him, saying, “I lost my best friend.” The little hitch on Aziraphale’s face when he hears this is just devastating. Who is Crowley talking about? The last conversation they had before this scene was when Aziraphale called while Hastur was in Crowley’s apartment and Crowley said, “Not a good time - got an old friend here.” Aziraphale is left to wonder - is that who Crowley means when he says "best friend?" Crowley is everything to Aziraphale, but what is he to Crowley?

How Would It Even Work?

Even when Aziraphale does get flashes of the possibility that Crowley may care for him he immediately runs up against his second mental block - there is no world he can imagine where they could be together. When Crowley first suggests running off together in the bandstand scene in S1E3, Aziraphale collapses under the thought: “Friends? We aren’t friends. We are an angel and a demon. We have nothing whatsoever in common. I don’t even like you.”

While he is obviously in denial, Aziraphale is also under tremendous stress in this moment and is desperately trying to hold onto some stability by falling back onto his world view and ideology. In this state he backpedals all the way to “I don’t even like you.” In his understanding of the way the universe is supposed to work, he and Crowley are hereditary enemies and should not even be friends, much less in love. Aziraphale expresses this core belief throughout the series. What kind of existence could they ever have together in reality?

The Final 15

With this as a background, we can better understand what Aziraphale experiences in the final 15 minutes. Even before the Metatron enters the scene, Aziraphale begins to have his fundamental beliefs challenged which puts him off his footing. The revelation that Gabriel and Beelzebub are in love is deeply impactful. When Beelzebub says “I just found something that mattered more to me than choosing sides” and takes Gabriel’s hand, Aziraphale immediately reaches out to make contact with Crowley, a look of incredulity on his face. Here is proof that demons can feel love and that an angel and a demon can carve out a space together. The road may be difficult, but it is not impossible.

Before Aziraphale can digest this revelation the stakes are ratcheted up: Michael threatens to erase Aziraphale from the Book of Life due to his part in hiding Gabriel. The future that Aziraphale has just barely glimpsed is already under siege. It is at this point that The Metatron enters, offering Aziraphale not just survival and protection, but a version of everything he has ever wanted.

If Crowley is reinstated as an angel, Aziraphale will no longer have to wonder whether Crowley is capable of feeling love. And if they are both angels, there will be no conflict inherent in having a life together. In one fell swoop, the Metatron entices Aziraphale with a future where there are no remaining blockers to an eternal, loving existence with Crowley. It will be “like the old times, only even nicer” because they now have millennia of their shared history to build on together. Of course this logic is horribly flawed and does not take into account at all what Crowley wants, but in the moment it must feel like an enormous gift to Aziraphale.

Unfortunately, not only is Crowley’s reaction to this “incredibly good news” not what Aziraphale expects, the conversation quickly takes a baffling turn for him. Crowley shuts down the talk about returning to heaven and attempts to say what he wants to say. Sadly he once again utterly fails to speak in a way that Aziraphale can understand.

The audience knows what Crowley is trying to say because we have the context of his earlier conversation with Maggie and Nina. But Aziraphale lacks that and thus can’t understand where this is coming from or what it means. Rather than expressing his feelings as Beelzebub and Gabriel did, Crowley recites facts: we’ve known each other a long time, we’ve been on this planet a long time, I could always rely on you, you could always rely on me. He can’t even say the word “couple” when he describes them, referring to them more as colleagues with words like “team” and “group.” And the one time he does try to express his feelings and desires he is physically unable to get out the words: “And I would like to spend—.” He then retreats into his old plea to turn away from heaven and hell and run off together. Nowhere in Crowley’s confession does Aziraphale hear “I love you” or even “I want to be with you.” What he hears instead is what he’s heard multiple times before - Crowley wants to abandon both heaven and hell and default to just the two of them. From Aziraphale’s perspective this will not solve anything for them. They will still be an angel and a demon, at some level fundamentally separated by their very natures.

Having failed in his speech, Crowley then does two things in rapid succession that must be excruciatingly painful for Aziraphale. First, he does the opposite of verbal affirmation by calling Aziraphale an idiot. We have seen Aziraphale become physically radiant in the rare instances where Crowley has praised him, so a direct insult like this must feel poisonous. Then Crowley makes a last desperate attempt to communicate through Aziraphale’s other love language - physical touch - by initiating the kiss. But without context or understanding of what is behind it, Aziraphale can initially only experience it as forceful, angry, and shocking. With more time to parse it I think Aziraphale will come to understand Crowley’s meaning, but in the moment it must feel manipulative and borderline cruel.

The Results

In a very compressed time frame, Aziraphale has to move quickly and radically through multiple mental and emotional states. For 6000 years he has believed he and Crowley cannot be together. Suddenly, with the revelation of Gabriel and Beezlebub, that foundational belief is challenged. Before he can work through what that could mean for him and Crowley, the Metatron offers an even cleaner solution - they can be protected from retribution and be on the same side again. When Crowley rejects reinstatement wholesale, it makes Aziraphale feel that he and his loving offer of a life together have been personally rejected. Then that rejection is further confused through the shocking experience of the kiss which Aziraphale does not have adequate context for or time to understand and integrate. In his emotional turmoil, Aziraphale falls back on his default crutch for dealing with sadness and anger - forgiveness - which further cuts him off from Crowley. Taken all together, this is a tumultuous rollercoaster of whiplash emotions that pull at every part of Aziraphale's self- and world-views.

Compared to what Crowley is going through, I think Aziraphale is going to have the tougher road in Season 3. Crowley may still need to better reconcile and integrate his feelings for Aziraphale, but Aziraphale has 6000 years of foundational ideology to challenge and evolve to reach a place where he and Crowley can be together as their authentic selves.

[rainbowpopeworld]

Ok so Aziraphale’s pause and deep audible inhalation here gets me verklempt for two reasons.

This scene in s2e5 “The Ball,” where Aziraphale and Crowley walk into the magic shop to ask Mr. Mutt to attend, is the very first scene David and Michael shot together for season 2, according to Amazon x-ray’s trivia. They are back together and it’s like a savoring of the moment.

Also, it’s likely the first time Aziraphale and Crowley have been back together to the very same magic shop when they had their romantic 1941 visit. It looks so much the same and I can only imagine what feelings that brings up for them.

I need a deep breath🥺😮‍💨💕

[corancoranthemagicalman]

No for sure!! They're such integral parts of one another!!

I think the other beautiful thing is that their story is so clearly a love story. Just when we think that they've only had each other since their time on Earth, we learn that they've in some way always had each other.

They're so intertwined with one another that even their existence as, essentially, different people are so defined in a SHARED MOMENT. And, God, isn't that profound? To SHARE moments like that?

Let's talk about the Job Minisode just a smidge. They're both clearly having two separate moments, and it's at different points in even their relationship with one another (Crowley goes too fast; Aziraphale is trying to lie to HIMSELF and to Heaven. Having moments while they're both on two different pages is their modus operandi—), and yet still. YET STILL. It's a moment TOGETHER. And that is ALL OF THEIR MOMENTS.

They're on two different sides of the tracks! They're not even in the same car! They're sharing a bus bench!!! They're holding hands to save the world and in the after! They're TOGETHERNESS is so fucking profound that it's beyond words.

And that's what it is, to me. That they are so together. So intertwined. That I couldn't think of Aziraphale without thinking of Crowley. Or think of Crowley without thinking of Aziraphale.

it's so fucking insane to me that it's impossible to discuss crowley without also discussing aziraphale and vice versa. their existences are so intertwined that you literally cannot separate them because so many things that defined and shaped them have included each other. that's at least part of why i feel so much about them.

like have you considered they've had nothing and everything but each other for 6000 years? they've only had each other, they're constants in each other's lives, and at the same time they have been able to indulge in music and sleep and food but not each other because it's too dangerous. they are all each other has and they can't have each other.

they rely on each other to a degree that's definitely incomprehensible to the human mind but at the same time, they can't rely on each other because if they get caught it's curtains for both of them. have you considered they live and breathe for each other, that they're absolutely essential to one another? just. fuck, man.

[gotholdladywithadhd]

Unpopular opinion, probably.

So I've read many metas, and thought a lot about it and have come to my own personal conclusion about the final 15.

I'm taking it at face value.

Because it was the most human Crowley and Aziraphale have probably ever been and I think that is at least part of the point. Love makes people stupid and they are navigating a very human thing in very unhuman circumstances, and it's hard enough to do as a human in human circumstances!

I think Aziraphale believed the Metatron about Crowley bc he was expecting the worst when TM mentioned Crowley but instead got the one thing he wanted most (him and Crowley together and safe, not Crowley being an angel. ) Crowley was absolutely the carrot here. (and no I do not think Crowley would have been safe or happy, but that's besides the point.) I can't tell you how many times I've believed patently ridiculous things because I wanted to believe them so badly even though if I was looking at the same situation objectively from an outside POV I would see how ridiculous it was, so I totally get it. This isn't to say I think Azi had a real choice to go to Heaven or not and I think he did understand that as well, but I get the temptation the Metatron threw out to him, I really do.

As for Aziraphale literally saying all the wrong things to try and get Crowley to come with him? Um yeah been there done that too, the nerves take over, the brain shuts off, the mouth goes into autopilot pulling stuff out its ass, and "WITAF did I just say?" happens.

Crowley not taking any of it well and only hearing what he expected to hear (I'm not good enough for you bc I'm a demon and you only really want me if I can be an angel) *and* also being more able to see through heavens bullshit bc he has lived it, and can see it from the outside, *and* all whilst being the most honest and vulnerable he has ever been with Aziraphale in 6,000 plus years (or in fact possibly to anyone, ever. the closest before this admitting he was lonely to Azi during the Job minisode,) *then* hearing what he took to be the same Heaven will save us line from Azi was enough to trigger a massive bout of RSD and a broken heart. Everything was supposed to "vavoom and sorted! " and instead the stupid awning broke and everything went wrong. I think I've said it before that at this point Crowley can't hear anything over the sound of his heart breaking into a million pieces.

That's a whole lot to pack into the brief moments before Azi has to leave with the Metatron (who let's be honest was rushing him before he could change his mind) esp when neither of them are used to discussing their relationship openly. They didn't have time to think, to ask questions, to share information, (like hey guess what really happened to Gabriel?) Crowley tried to communicate as much as he could about his feelings with the kiss but Azi didn't have the time to properly process all that and said the wrong thing again and Crowley was rejected (he thought) again and it all just went so very wrong. You can't fix a 6,000 year relationship in 15 minutes, you just can't no matter what the story books say.

It's about two people wanting the same thing but not being able to get it (yet) because of circumstances and personalities. All of S2 was about them seeming to be closer than ever (and in many ways they were) but really they were opposed at almost every turn. (in RL not the minisodes, those actually showed them working together and coming out okay mostly, if you don't count wee Morag or Crowley getting dragged to hell) The way they both handled the Gabriel situation, how they both worked to solve the mystery, even how they tried to make Nina and Maggie fall in love were all either done alone, or in opposite ways. I've said it before and I'll say it again, as it was pointed out right in ep1, their exactlies aren't the same and until they are, they aren't going to be able to be together. The one time they did work together in the season, they produced a 25 lazuri miracle. That is the point of the final 15, and the whole season 2 in my opinion.

They'll get there in the end though!

[mwagneto]

i think it's fascinating how crowley has never ever actually forced or even pressured aziraphale into anything.. like he knows exactly which buttons to push and how to well. tempt him but he's always playing a very careful game, knowing full well how far he's allowed to go and how far aziraphale wants to go. vs the entire confession scene where their whole dance goes out the window and he begs and pleads and kisses him because he's given up on the slow and safe games and it's all so desperate and uncalculated and human

[onceuponapuffin]

I just....something that bothers me from time to time...Crowley knows that Heaven doesn't do choices, right? And that no matter what they agreed to after the botched execution, they still think of Aziraphale as Their Property, right? I just...he knows, doesn't he? Heaven. Doesn't. Do. Choices.

Not for angels anyway.

Re this:

Screenshot by @di-42

He is SO BRILLIANT. Especially under pressure. He knows, right?? Right??

[ineffablyruined]

Okay, this post has me thinking.

What if those totally Aziracrow-coded suits are a Clue for not only what's coming at the end of S2E6, but I'm hopeful that it's about their future, too. Because look at them. LOOK AT THEM.

They are even separated by the window pane! The art department is so crazy for this.

We've got a beautiful black suit, perfectly tailored, absolutely stunning, and ready to go. Then we have Crowley. Beautiful, knows who he is outside of Heaven and Hell. Knows what he wants (Aziraphale, obviously). He's ready for the garden, ready for their cottage in the South Downs.

And we've got a light colored suit, that still seems to be in-process of getting ready. Hard to tell from this image, but it looks like it still has an unfinished collar, and is waiting for a sleeve to be sown on? It's not finished yet, but it's getting there. If that's not Aziraphale, I don't know what is. He knows he wants Crowley, but he can't quite separate himself from Heaven. He needs to go back and learn more about himself, to realize he doesn't fit there, that Heaven isn't the place for him any longer. And then maybe he'll be ready, too.

The suits are a METAPHOR.

This show kills me with every single detail.

[mononijikayu]

whenever i watch the end credits for ep 6 s2, all i could see was quiet anger being masked by the reminder of why he has to be strong. aziraphale is a very angry angel. perhaps truly the very first time that we've seen that contempt in the purest form.

and with good reason.

aziraphale has just discovered that all his feelings of love for crowley were VALID and POSSIBLE. they were all possible to be aired out, to mean something. this is anguish at the grief never before felt in this magnitude, never this fully understood. gone, in one sweep.

and now, all aziraphale has is a duty he wishes he didnt have. he's angry because he knows he cant run away and it hurts, it burns beyond understanding. he grieves it because when love was possible in all its directions, thats the moment he cant have it.

metatron did too well with his trap. now holds aziraphale hostage with the threat of the world ending, with the promise of a world where crowley is harmed.

and all you see is anger, that he has to be in this moment. not in his eden, not in the arms of his beloved. but here, a willing prisoner that now carries a duty.

i CANNOT WAIT to see that anger manifest to action. for aziraphale to lash out, to break — to let the dam break into a force. because truly, aziraphale has had enough of heaven, of what he has lost and what he is forced to gain.

and i cannot wait, to see him take charge of that anger and let those who deserve it to drown in that pent up dam to drown in the grievous waters. because this time, i dont think aziraphale can be good at forgiveness.

[lorelai-thecoffeeslayer]

I think that Crowley and Aziraphale’s “home” settings say a lot about their relationships to heaven/hell and morality.

Let’s start with Crowley’s flat. He’s more of a minimalist in terms of style.

In the original description it was described as all white, and I believe @neil-gaiman once answered a tumblr question and said it’s because of all white was the height of chic interior design in the 80s, but it was changed to reflect a more modern chic design.

But I think it’s also related to the fact that Crowley didn’t “fall” and instead “sauntered vaguely downwards.” The minimalism is a lot more like the style of heaven than it is hell. And maybe it’s not all white anymore, but it’s still keeping the minimalist design. There’s a little piece of heaven still sticking around.

This analysis gains more traction when compared to the design of Aziraphale’s bookshop/hell.

The bookshop is cluttercore. It’s warm and full of personal things. No one would ever describe the style as minimalist.

And while the set of hell lacks the warmth and love, it IS full of stuff and things and items that don’t quite have a place to be but are there anyways.

I think the similarities between Crowley’s flat/Heaven and Aziraphale’s bookshop/Hell perfectly illustrate where Aziraphale and Crowley find themselves in terms morality.

Crowley may have fallen, but this is just one more way that he hasn’t succumbed to the ways of hell.

Aziraphale may still be an angel, but he can’t help forming attachments to earthly objects and is perfectly fine to “sully the temple of [his] celestial body.”

They really are on their own side. And this is just one subtle way of showing that visually!