u/tamsui_tosspot

And if so, what does it look like?

I admit the finale struck me as far from satisfying at first, but it does make sense the more I think about it.

Throughout the show, God (in)famously never answers questions (except for Job that one time, and Crowley and Aziraphale at the very end). She is evidently intent on having all of her creations learn things for themselves -- all of her creations, including the beings who took up roles as angels and demons in the first universe. Once that was done, the universe could be restarted with humans able to take care of themselves without the need for overt intervention from either side.

The lessons that angels and demons had to learn were basically the same: that they weren't superior to God's Johnny-come-lately humans. Satan states it most explicitly at the end, that the whole Rebellion was to defend angels' "pride" and "honor" and refusing to acknowledge humans as "superior."

The finale also showed that the angels weren't any better, going through the motions of serving God while treating her creation with contempt. The futility of this course was shown by Michael going insane and murdering all of creation with the destruction of the Book of Life.

Meanwhile, the apparently hapless demon/angel pair of Crowley and Aziraphale were down on earth learning what it meant to be human, rather than using humanity for their own ends. They each learned empathy, imagination, and forgiveness, and became passionate advocates for humanity in the very last instant of the original creation. And God acceded to their request to restart everything, without angels and demons but the true element of free will. She acceded because that's what she was going for the whole time.

Furthermore, the experiences of the first universe weren't going to waste. The beings who learned hard lessons in Universe v1.0 were reincarnated, probably not with full memories, but just enough to remember the importance of giving humanity a nudge here and there when needed; and this time with no other purpose but to help them along. Maybe they've been reincarnated several times in history. (Meanwhile, we can see that some kind of imprint of created beings and their memories persists even after they have been erased from the Book of Life, as shown by the phantoms of Metatron, Uriel, and others who still haunt Michael). And Crowley and Aziraphale were rewarded with a nice retirement together.

I remember the husband raised an objection at least twice, and each time the wife looked intently at him while intoning, "Dan, she checked it out." I think the commercial actually ended on those words.

It has always stuck in my memory for the [to me] obvious psychological manipulation, almost like it was coaching them: "Ladies, it's only your husband's suspicion and arrogance that's standing in the way of the wonderful new house provided by your friend at XXXXX realty!" And of course, it was in the immediate run-up to the 2008 financial crisis.

They showed it to us in school for some reason. After stealing and running away, I remember the guy shows up at a gentleman's club and tries hobnobbing with a friendly rich kid there, but is eventually overcome with imposter syndrome and throws himself under a train. The final scene was outdoors in the winter, and the guy started inexplicably scrubbing his face with snow before throwing himself on the tracks.

I mean, Marlon Brando could get away with it, but he's no Brando. Even among the SNL original class, he's hardly top-tier.