I finished the second series yesterday and I’m ready to share what I thought of it.
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The cold openings, the mini episodes within the episodes are not as interconnected as Gaiman might have thought. Why does Crowley seemed to know everything and Aziraphale flutters like a leaf for telling a lie. Didn’t he, against God’s will, give his flaming sword to humans, which inadvertently became humans’ first weapon, and then became War’s sword? And where was the Crowley that changed the paintball guns into real guns? Why is he always so nice all of a sudden?
It’s a shame that it was filmed under Covid restrictions, but then why produce what was basically a “bridge” series? A little bird told me that the storyline Pterry and Gaiman discussed back in the days was about The Second Coming, that was teased in the final moment in the final episode of this series. Well. I wish that was what we’d had gotten instead.
This series is the Aziraphale & Crowley show and that’s okay. So why on earth were they separated for whole episodes midway through? And I like the kiss, though I found the way it was cut was cheesy.
This is not to say I didn’t like series 2, I laughed a lot, it’s entertaining enough, but to me it’s no where near as good as the first series.
If I have to give it a rating out of ten, ten being perfect, one being not only technically bad but also morally offensive, this is a 6,9. I liked it enough, but series 1 was an 8,8.
I felt a Finnemore touch in the Aziraphale changes, the overall idiotic quirks of the angels (Gabriel’s first scene is 100% Finnemore) and the inbalance in the Crowley/Aziraphale relationship. It’s not bad but, there’s definitely a tone shift.
I agree with you, I was so excited to have a second season but after a couple of episodes I realized that what I mainly enjoyed was the complicity between Tennant and Sheen.
And I wonder if the purpose of that season
is to develop the relation between the two main characters (like the episode in Scotland).
Overall it was really fun, actors are again fantastic, plenty of laughs, and a very British atmosphere. Even without season 1 I believe that I would have really enjoyed it. I want more!
The actors are fantastic! At times, I did have the sinking feeling that the actors were too good for the script.
spoiler
And that maybe Shelley Conn as Lord Beelzebub wasn’t very comfortable with the material?
I forgot which episode it was, perhaps the Scotland episode? Where I suddenly thought, hmm, if only this had been directed by Edgar Wright.
I missed Pterry’s voice in this more than I thought I would.
My wife and I enjoyed it, though I agree with you about Aziraphale approaching a caricature.
I view Good Omens 2 as fan-fiction.
Did it help you enjoy it more, or were you feeling defensive while watching it? In hindsight, I might have had my defences up high when watching series 2, that was why I couldn’t go with the flow
I was very frustrated with it when I started it, and had to put it aside for a while. Got myself into the mindset that it was “fan fiction” and then was able to watch it.
I certainly didn’t enjoy it. I tolerated it. I watched the acting skills: Hamm getting to really run with his character was a treat. I admired the costuming and sets.
It cemented my opinion that I like, not love, Good Omens. It was nice enough and I’m glad it didn’t have more episodes. I’m just not into it that much, as much as I wanted to.
Do you like the book, if you’ve read it?
I only read it in English, so I like it without loving it so much as Pratchett’s other books (I’m not a huge Gaiman fan), but it might just be because it’s not my native language. I do feel like I’m just over most TV shows, so that might influence how I feel.
Ah, I see. I love the book. Just reading the first page gives me a fuzzy, happy feeling. Having said that, I’m also not a fan of Gaiman’s solo works, despite giving them another chance, again and again.
I thought this was the century of the golden bat and TV shows are awesome. What makes you feel like you’re over most TV shows? (This is not me throwing shade, I’m really curious)
I don’t know! I think the main issue is that since 2020 my work, which was always computer heavy, has starting revolving more and more on video calls. And now, staring at a screen and watching a video is a chore, not a pleasure at all anymore. I’ve found myself going back to reading good old books in the past couple of years!
