#maybe it's because I couldn't think of a more clever title LOL

[apocalyp-tech-a]

Tech-ology: Vol. II, Chapter 4 - Cu Next Taungsday  Tech and Wrecker find themselves at the mercy of a shady copper part merchant.

I’m a little behind on Tech-ology entries, but I finally got inspired by the world's oldest customer complaint, a cuneiform tablet from Ancient Mesopotamia circa 1750 BCE over some low grade copper sold by one shady merchant, Ea-Nasir, to a very disgruntled Nanni.  Well, I think it’s hilarious and I love ancient history so thought it was a good story, but no one else did, lol.  *shrug* :D

[orionsangel86]

Good Omens S2 Episode Review - 201 The Arrival

You know how here on tumblr we often voice our grievances about modern film and television? Everything is too dull and washed out, too dark and grimy, too muffled to the point we can barely hear, and the writing seems to be done in such a way that you can almost feel the contempt oozing off of the writers for their own fanbases?

Maybe Neil Gaiman came across those posts and had a good chuckle, before nodding in agreement and taking notes, because at least so far in episode 1, GOS2 makes none of these vital mistakes! I can already tell I'm going to fall headfirst into obsession over this series again, and I've only watched one episode!

Spoilers for episode 1 only under the cut. Safe for anyone who hasnt watched any further (because I haven't either at this point!)

Gods its gorgeous isnt it? To the extent that I think gifmakers wont have to spend hours and hours doing colour corrections for once! The opening scene blew me away. I wonder if we'll ever find out who Crowley was before he fell? Seeing as he was clearly a high ranking angel. This is where the Crowley-was-Raphael truthers are throwing a party lol.

From that first scene its clear they are going heavy handed on the AziraCrow romance. Zira's little double take when he thinks Crowley is calling him gorgeous before realising he was talking about the nebula was already less subtle than anything they gave us in the entirety of season 1. So we are off to a good start!

"How much trouble can I get into just for asking a few questions?" Oh Crowley, my poor naive little angel! :'(

It's interesting how already there seems to be a general mockery of creationism and creationists (which I love btw) because of how idiotic these beliefs are. Crowley is asking all the right questions of course. Creating the universe just to center everything around a little planet called Earth just seems a bit, well, silly doesn't it!

The title sequence is an absolute ball and I consider it sacrilegious to skip it!

This episode sets up an interesting new dynamic for Aziraphale and Crowley that raises questions. If we consider where things were left off at the end of season 1, you would think they would be on very good terms, happily enjoying their retirement together (whether as friends or something else) but that doesn't appear to be the case. It was already something I picked up in the promo scenes, but seeing the full episode now it really isn't subtle that something has gone sort of wrong or at least somewhat disjointed for them. There is a tension between them which is completely new.

"There's only three reasons why you ever call me.

You're bored.

You have to tell someone about something clever you did before you pop.

Somethings wrong."

Do I detect a hint of bitterness there Crowley?

That plus the clear jealousy towards Aziraphale's "naked man friend" and the anger with which he responds "SO DID I!" indicates that Crowley is very much not happy with the current state of their relationship. Why would Crowley not be happy with their relationship when he should have everything he wants? Freedom from Hell, relative safety in retirement... okay so he's living in his car which isn't ideal (but something tells me that's more because he's waiting for Aziraphale to invite him to live at the bookshop than that he couldn't find another apartment if he wanted to). What else could Crowley possibly want thats causing this tension? Hmmmm.

I love how with Crowley, there is at least consistency in his motivations to do anything. In that if it's something that he doesn't want to do, but Aziraphale is in danger if he doesn't do it, he'll leap head first into the fire just to protect Aziraphale. Beelzebub's threat about "extreme sanctions" is clearly a horrible thought, and what would Crowley even be if Aziraphale was erased from existence? It raises the stakes beyond the threats of the first season. Destruction is bad enough, but at least you'll have your memories of your friend/6000 year old life partner, but to be erased from the book of life completely? Ooof that's worse. Far FAR worse. Poor Crowley.

So he returns. Of course. The catty bitchiness between them when Crowley returns though and has to grovel with that silly little dance (and I do hope I see at least a dozen gifsets of that silly little dance when I eventually remove my filters!). OMG Aziraphale you are such a bitchy gay I love you! But does Crowley tell him about the threat? No of course he doesn't. Because draaamaaaaa babes!

I have to scream about Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy being the first Queen song to play. You gotta hand it to Neil, he clearly knows his fanbase well!

Moving on to Maggie and Nina, I find their dynamic lovely and awkward, though I do think the narrative parallels are more heavy handed than in a season 8 monster of the week Supernatural episode (which is an impressive feat of brick-wall-to-the-face obviousness believe me). Still, I love narrative parallels as a storytelling device, so I am of course gonna eat all this up and gorge on "the grumpy one is soft for the sunshine one" tropeyness to my hearts content.

Clearly Maggie is the Aziraphale and Nina is the Crowley (the twist being that Maggie fell first, whereas we all know Crowley has been holding a flame for Aziraphale since the Garden - then again, that opening scene puts Aziraphale's feelings in a new light!) so I am looking forward to seeing how else their budding relationship compares in future episodes!

Re the central mystery around Gabriel, I've gotta hand it to John Hamm, he's hilarious. I love him. I have absolutely no idea where this is going after only 1 episode, other than to giggle at the fact that if all of Soho didn't already assume Aziraphale was "as gay as a treeful of monkeys on nitrous oxide" then they certainly do now!

"You're funny. I love you." Amazing. No notes. Keep making Aziraphale squirm lol. Though doesn't it also pose an interesting question? Gabriel is still an angel right? Beings of love. They are supposed to feel love and I think part of the point of the beurocracy of Heaven is that the angels have forgotten their original purpose - to love others. Right? Maybe I'm just making that up, but I found it interesting that as soon as Gabriel found himself enjoying Aziraphale's company, he was so comfortable just expressing his feelings like that.

(side note that I love how in GO, they always give a fairly accurate representation of the streets of Soho, too many films and TV shows filmed in London underestimate just how bloody crowded the city is. You can't move without bumping into someone in the West End at any point and GO has gone all out on filling their film studio with extras which is a nice touch.)

So whats in the box? What's in the matchbox? I'm calling it now there is a connection. I also don't think either are actually "empty". Gabriel said his arms were heavy from carrying the box around, but if it was empty then it wouldn't have hurt his arms to carry it. A trick of some kind perhaps? Something invisible perhaps?

The Book of Job quote on the matchbox "Out of his mouth go burning lamps and sparks of fire leap out" Probably important. Isn't one of the episodes coming up about Job? Still, I am in no way a bible scholar I haven't even read the thing, so I'm not gonna attempt to analyse all this and I am sure some other very intelligent person on Tumblr has already done so!

It was a really good really enjoyable episode with some laugh out loud moments. I like the mystery, and all the new characters are interesting. So far nothing has bored me and I really am gagging to watch the next episode ASAP. Its wonderful having Aziraphale and Crowley back on the screen again, like coming home to see some old friends, but this time for some reason its all a bit awkward and the tensions a bit off and so I am sitting here wondering if maybe they got really drunk one night and almost fucked but then didn't go through with it and refuse to discuss it so now i'm going to have to subtly get them to talk about their relationship drama. Lmao.

I'm a slut for other peoples relationship drama though, and Neil Gaiman just handed it to me on a platter. ;-)