r/goodomens

One of the things I hated about the 90 minutes (besides the ending, we all know there were 1,000 ways that could've been done better, screw you Gaiman...) is that we only got a small snippet of the Great War. That opening scene was probably one of my favorite flashbacks, even though it was so short. I adored Aziraphale's long hair and battle outfit, you have no idea how much I loved seeing his BAMF look. I know he hated fighting, though, sorry buddy. At least he looked awesome while doing it! And I loved Crowley's look, too. In a bts picture you can see he has crimped hair with red streaks and I just think that's SO extra of him lmaoo.

I wish we could have spent more time there. Maybe with the full season we would have seen some fighting or the actual moment of surrender. More BAMF Aziraphale on my screen, please and thank you!

I think above all I wanted WINGS!! We do see Crowley with his wings out at the very beginning as the camera zooms in, the feathers are turning black (which is a great detail). But then after that no one else has their wings out and I was so bummed!! I understand that was because of budget but it was still disappointing. I would have loved to see even a small snippet of Aziraphale flying and landing at the Eternal flame, Michael and Uriel close behind. Wouldn't that have been cool? One of the things i was hoping for in the finale/last season was to see Azirpahale or Crowley finally fly. They never took their wings out anywhere else in the 90 mins, either. No final "wing umbrella" or anything, either...sigh.

Back to the opening, I loved the confirmation that angels bleed gold. That was cool. And I like to think, like others have mentioned, that the tie Azi uses on Crowley's leg turns into his necktie he wears in modern day. I wish it would be confirmed as canon. The little nods to other moments in the show, "should I say thank you? Better not," "good luck," those were nice. I'm glad they were included, otherwise the flashback would've felt too pointless imo. Does anyone think a lot of their budget went to the graphics for that one scene and they could've used that money elsewhere? If so, where? I liked the scene so I'm not too mad at it but I want to hear your opinions.

What else could have been done with the Great War scene that you would have liked to see? I would have been so happy if they showed Crowley's "vague saunter downwards" and the moment he gets his snake eyes, since he doesnt have them in that scene. Oh, what could have been.

Again, screw you Gaiman. A pox on you for eternity for not only being a predatory piece of crap, but messing up this beloved story and ending it like that. And screw Amazon for trying to cancel the show. Just weather the storm and give what was promised, dammit. Gaiman gets money regardless, Amazon would make money regardless, maybe even more than they made with the 90 minutes. I'll never fully get over how this all went down. Posting here is helping me cope a bit, I think.

I’ve been toying around with a fic idea in which Crowley is God (as in, the God we hear during S1. He is Her, and he is Her like. Self-insert demon?), and following pre- and post- fall. Like, it’s canon-compliant* to the end of season 1, and Crowley accidentally reveals the truth at the airbase. I’ve written a few scenes for it, and I think it has potential.

But mostly I just wanna know if there are any other fics with the premise of Crowley being God? I tried looking, but couldn’t find any, which is wild given how old the fandom is, I woulda thought someone else had already done it by now.

*As in canon happens as it does, but with more of Crowley fighting himself internally, and gauging what is a Good or Bad decision based on how Aziraphale reacts, and being pissed that Aziraphale isn’t questioning God more because he Wants Feedback, Damnit.

Hello to everyone here in this gorgeous fanfom. I've been a Good Omens fan ever since 2019, not long after season 1 came out. I'd just become an atheist, and when I watched GO for the first time (as a David Tennant fan, I initially watched because of him), I was in love with it within the first five minutes. Then I read the book and ended up actually falling in love with the book even more! Both it, the show, and the fandom (in which I mainly have always lurked to a degree that would make Hastur and Ligur proud, due to being an introvert with social anxiety) helped me through some very dark days since almost everyone I'd ever known was still devoutly religious. I grew up in a high-control, cultish, fundamentalist Christian denomination, and I was so afraid of the fallout from coming out as an atheist. But with Good Omens, I had a place that felt safe. I had a story I connected with so deeply because it helped me laugh and feel safe with themes and beliefs that had terrified and traumatized me my entire life. Needless to say, Good Omens, the book, became my favorite novel, and still is; Good Omens, the show, became my ultimate comfort show.

Well, cut to a few years later (2022), and I slowly begin to realize that not only am I an atheist (and from the deep south American "Bible Belt"), but also a lesbian. 37 years old, and I'd been so repressed all my life I'd never realized my actual orientation until then! Then GO season 2 came out, and though the final 15 left me devastated, the cozy queer world the episodes painted made me feel SO seen and so accepted. I was sort of surprised and disappointed at how different the vibe was from season 1, but I thought, hey, they want A and C together romantically? I'm not gonna knock it! And I enjoyed many parts of the second season!

However, some personal context now. I've had lifelong chronic depression, anxiety, and OCD (originally caused mostly by severe religious trauma). Well, suddenly my little neurodivergent brain began its pattern of obsessive fixation on fictional things. This is normal for me, and it's usually fine, until it's not. I started dwelling more and more on the angsty season 2 cliffhanger. And the more I fixated, the more depressed I became. It got to the point that not only could I not watch season 2 anymore; I couldn't watch season 1 anymore either, which was still my main "comfort" season because I prefer the book events and characters the most. I felt SO distraught and felt silly for feeling that way. But I kept reading my beloved book and listening to the audiobook to hear David and Michael's voices as Crowley and Aziraphale. Then the allegations came out, and, of course, we were all devastated and obviously angry again at those! But then, when Amazon FINALLY greenlit season 3 later, I thought, "This is it! I'll get my onscreen version of the story back, and my comfort show will be there for me again!" Meanwhile, I guess you could say real life kept on being a bit of a crap show with a lot of things happening in quick succession.

Cut to May 13th, and a bit more brief context for the horrible headspace I found myself in when I watched the finale. Two nights before, one of my siblings had called and basically said they'd thought about cutting ties with the family. In the end, they decided not to, but I realized that my sibling sounded like a stranger to me. This sibling and I have always had a very special bond. We were the ones who just always "got" each other personality-wise. We'd also (unknown to each other for a while) both journeyed out of religion at the same time, which only made us closer. So the other night, to hear my sibling imply that because the family reminds them of their past and the trauma, they just didn't know if they wanted any of that-- or us-- in their life anymore, broke something in me. Even though they said they're not breaking ties, I can already tell it's never going to be the same. I feel the disconnect with them, with the bond we had before, already in my heart and brain. To know that for all intents and purposes, I've been replaced by their found family where they live, their new support group, has felt like such a betrayal of the love and closeness we've always had. I'm so, so happy for my sibling that they're being able to move on from the trauma, but I guess it hurts SO MUCH that they see me as one of the things "holding them back" from moving on with their life. My heart feels so broken.

So, two evenings later, and with a lot of trepidation and excitement, I sat down to watch the finale. And when it was over, I sort of just sat numb and weeping. And I feel like I've been numb and weeping ever since. Because it felt like another betrayal. Let me explain.

First, my horror of the finale is in absolutely NO WAY a reflection of my feelings for all the beautiful, brave people who fought to get us some kind of resolution after season 2! Can you imagine many other casts, crews, and others sticking with a quirky, niche show through scandal and everything that went down like all those involved in GO have? I think they all deserve freaking MEDALS, LOL! It was an amazing feat that they and the Pratchett estate were able to finagle that finale. And that's why I'm so heartbroken that I. Absolutely. Abhor. It. Please, don't be angry, beautiful GO family, and let me explain why!

First, yes, I think many of us can agree (whether we hated or loved it or in-between) that the budget cut, time crunch, allegations, and SO many other factors affected the quality and continuity of season 3. And, well, that just simply couldn't be helped, and I think everyone involved did the absolute best they could with what they had to work with. But that wasn't the reason I was heartbroken with it. Because it still had gorgeous moments that made me smile and laugh out loud! No, it was the ending that did it.

The thing is, if the finale's ending had been the end of ANY other show or story, I would've liked it.

No, scratch that: I would've LOVED it! Really, truly loved it.

I mean, what's not to love?! Muriel and Eric getting their flirt on?! Jesus being the sweetest little cutie patootie ever to hand out pizza? The Metatron as the kindly old bookshop owner Derek (I see what they did there 😉) who actually pushes our beloved ex-angel TOWARD Crowley instead of away from him again?! Asa and Anthony having one of the simplest, sweetest meet-cutes in the history of sweet clichè meet-cutes?! And in a bookshop, which would be my little bookworm heart's perfect "meet moment" if I'm ever lucky enough to find my own soulmate?! 🫠 The bar at the end where Adam and Jesus and all the happy people are sitting without a care in the world, just enjoying each other's comany?! Asa and Anthony watching the stars from their cottage on the South Downs?!

If this had been the end to any other show, I'd have butterflies in my stomach, not a pit. Because , for me, it's a GOOD ending...just-- not a Good Omens ending.

I've only read a handful of STP's Discworld books so far (just did a three-month Kindle subscription so I can read more!). But, I've already noticed a pattern with his work. No matter what dark themes his stories hold, the characters don't succeed because they keep striving without supernatural odds; they strive IN SPITE of them. In their fantasy worlds, the supernatural beings are important because they make the regular folk feel even more human to me as the reader. To quote Good Omens, "They're (dark forces) abroad all the time. They're everywhere. They always are. That's the whole point." But his books end, not with annihilation or despair for a whole previous universe. They end with hope for the one they already have, "slouching hopefully...toward Tadfield...Forever." 🥲 He was a satirist and social commentator, yes--- but also a fantasy comedy writer at the end of the day, with the darkest scenarios still able to make you laugh your head off.

On the other hand, I've also read several NG books. And the finale? It's the kind of ending he writes SO WELL--- in his solo works. The last few paragraphs of The Graveyard Book make up one of the simplest, most beautiful, most powerful endings of any book I've ever read. Regardless of NG as a person, that book will always hold a special place in my heart. It's also, like the finale of the GO show, bittersweet. And that's okay! Because TGB is supposed to be bittersweet. The story was never framed as anything but bittersweet. No failed or misframed expectations of fantasy or romance: just quiet, believable resolution.

And that's where the disparity comes in (at least for me; I COMPLETELY respect other's different perspectives!) Because Good Omens, the book, and then Good Omens season 1 have the perfect magic of NG's dark themes and Sir Terry's eternal optimism. It's fantasy comedy at its finest. And it STAYS fantasy and comedy. The humans save the day, not by eliminating the way their world works and the entities that pull the strings. They do it by simply defying them, on their own terms, come hell or high water. They don't fundamentally change their universe; they change themselves and their relationship to the supernatural beings threatening it all. And that changes-- and ultimately saves-- their world. They don't exercise free will because there's no one to punish them for it anymore; they exercise it because that's already just who they are. Because they want to. And that's what confounds the powers that be so much that they leave them alone!

Then the finale (only in my opinion, of course!) rips that narrative up and lights it on fire. No hope for their universe. No humans saving themselves against all odds. Just a desperate Angel and a Demon who, through a much-contrived plot line, are the ones who have to do the very un-human, and, I think, un-Pratchett thing, of annihilation for all. A literal 180 from the point Adam made with his own sacrifice of power bit preservation of his world in the original story.

I finally realized this is why it's hit me so wrongly. If the Good Omens book had just been a NG story, it would likely have not been a comedy to begin with, though it would definitely have had the whimsy he's often capable of. It would've been a drama, probably with a lot of horror which he writes so well. So the kind of gentle but very bittersweet ending the show finale gives human Asa, Anthony, and the rest would've made sense in that context. It would've felt earned, and right, and beautiful.

But, well, Good Omens WAS a comedy thanks to Terry Pratchett. And not a romance. Don't get me wrong: I loved the way A and C developed into that dynamic throughout the show, but in the end it gave me false expectations and finally despair, becasue without TP's direct influence on season 2 and 3, the comedy and assurance of a happy ending for the romantic show versions of the characters devolved to the point to where it just wasn't to be anymore.

I know my obsessive brain is rambling, and I'm so sorry! I know terrible, truly horrible things are going on all over our crazy world right now, and feel so selfish for being in despair over a show of all things. 🫣 But, that's the thing: it's NOT just a show for me. It's the comfort that's gotten me through some of the worst moments of my life: the small-scale, terrible, horrible things the last few years have brought personally. The last of which was, of course, feeling abandoned by my closest sibling. I feel this now as another abandonment. And I'm grieving it. Grieving it so deeply.

Please let me say that I am SO HAPPY for all the people who loved or are at peace with the finale; I think that's wonderful, and I'm sorry if some of our comments on reddit have made you feel like you can't express your joy comfortably. 😥 I appreciate you all and your diverse perspectives, because that's what makes a fandom so layered and interesting!

And I'm lucky: I love the book/audiobook even more than I do the show (which is saying a lot). Some people love the show more, and my heart breaks for them as they don't even have the original to ease their minds if they felt the same as I do about the finale!

But, I guess the thing I need help with is this: because of my OCD and other mental health triggers, I'm the kind of person whose silly brain won't let me block out or deny or headcanon enough to watch season 1 again. And I want to-- desperately! I want my comfort back after not being able to have it since the end of season 2. I need it. Especially right now. But I just can't block the finale from my mind. The OCD, depression, etc, reminds me that it ends in annihilation and an alternate human incarnation that I like but simply cannot connect with. (And don't want to; because my brain wants MY Aziraphale and Crowley).

And, usually, the book and audiobook have been enough these last few years. I still get to hear the voices of the two actors who embody these characters so perfectly! And the book has the depth and richness I crave that no adaptation can capture.

But, what about the times when it ISN'T enough? What if I want to see Crowley (unnecessarily 🫠) rescue Aziraphale from the Bastille? What if I want to laugh at Anathema and Newton both scrambling to get their glasses off while they have hilariously awkward sex in the middle of the Apocalypse? Or watch Michael Sheen's face say something as absurdly funny as "lick some serious butt!" Or see Aziraphale-as-Crowley ask hell for a rubber duck? What if I want to, not just read or listen to, but SEE our Angel and Demon toasting to the world-- their world, safe and intact, not because of them, but because of US, of humans-- while A Nightingale Sang In Berkley Square plays over the credits? What if I want my other half of Good Omens back-- that is, the show-- that comforts me while my real world falls apart? How can I get it back when my own brain and mental issues aren't wired to get past the cognitive dissonance and let me?!

Im so sorry that this is such a downer! And I hope this doesn't make anyone who loves the finale feel bad, or invalidated, or weary because of all the negative comments about it right now. It really isn't you: it's me! Whatever I think about the finale, t the end of the day it's my brain, not the finale itself, that won't let me reconcile myself to it like I've been able to with various other TV shows in the past. Because, for me, Good Omens is a specific, special kind of story that had themes I feel were crushed in season 3 to the point I don't even recognize it anymore. An on-screen version that, like the book, has always felt so personal. It feels like a literal part of me, having helped me through so many events in the last several years. And now, though I can separate the book and keep it as the golden "original" canon forever in my mind, I just can't do the same thing with "show" canon, because I know that even though Sir Terry Pratchett had no direct involvement asidefrom maybe a few loose ideas (or if he did that, which I sometimes doubt because I don't know whether to trust NG on the matter, and it seems like any contribution of his has been distorted into a more "Gaiman-esque" version anyway), season 3 is still the official canon now. So, I feel like my beloved season 1 is gone for me forever. And I just don't know what to do.

And to anyone who was actually kind enough to read this demented, "woe is me" sounding ramble, please feel free to tell me how ridiculously dramatic and silly I'm being. 🫣

Thank you all for listening. Even though I haven't been active for a while, due to depression over season 2, and I usually just lurk in the background, lol, I ove this fandom. Such kind, creative people, the sort of people that I know would step up and face off with heaven and hell itself if they had to in a way that would make the "Them" themselves proud! And certainly Sir Terry Pratchett, too-- the author who, I believe, was the true heart and soul and hope of the quirky little book that started it all. 🥲 I love you all, and can't wait to keep seeing your beautiful content and insights in this fandom. 💙

Lots of interesting points in this piece. What do you think? Excerpts:

“What the new team should have done is rip up Gaiman’s scripts and start again from scratch, working from the original plot synopsis, to build something that was paced and structured like a feature film, since that was effectively what they were making. The finished episode feels less like a television film designed from the ground up than a brutal compression of something much larger.

“Maybe there wasn’t time. Maybe there wasn’t money. Instead they seem to have just highlighted key scenes from across the six scripts and scribbled out everything else, skipping huge amounts of necessary exposition and character development in order to gallop as fast as they can toward the finale.

“What story is left is about someone ripping pages out of a “Book of Life” and erasing things from existence, leaving the universe full of unexplained holes and missing people. That’s incredibly appropriate because it’s exactly what’s happened to the show itself.“

“couldn’t have been done properly. Amazon should have let the team shoot the whole thing as it was or else redeveloped it properly as a TV movie with the time and budget to start again on the script. Or else… not done it at all. Instead we got a patchwork mess that doesn’t do the original scripts or Pratchett and Gaiman’s original vision justice, full of visible scars and phantom limb syndrome from the uncomfortable amputations.

“The ending, as lovely a thing as it is, doesn’t redeem the rest of it. But it does mean the show ends honestly, which is more than most of us were expecting. We were, once upon a time, promised a Good Omens finale co-plotted by Terry Pratchett. Every failure here feels like a betrayal of that promise. It’s no coincidence that, on the rare occasion the finale works, it feels like it does so because someone thought about what Sir Terry would have wanted it to say.

“Still. A bitterly missed opportunity and a sad end to a series that shot for the stars and very, very nearly reached them.”

I could be wrong about the exact wording, but in S3, in the bookshop when Crowley and aziraphale were discussing, didn't God say something to Satan like "let's not and say we did"? if so, does anyone have any idea if this means anything/what it means?

This is my first time ever posting on Reddit (long-time introverted lurker), so I hope that this is ok to post.

I am meeting David at the convention on the 31st. I would really like to compile a scrapbook of letters of appreciation from Good Omens fans to give to him (and hopefully an extra copy to give to Michael) to let him (them) know that through everything, the love is still here.

If you would like to participate, I would need to have your letter by Thursday the 28th.

The place to submit your messages is lettersofappreciationgo@gmail.com or at https://groupcards.io/share/CDSFSRrYGOU Whichever you are most comfortable with.

Letters can be any length, a couple of sentences to pages, as long as they are filled with positivity. Letters can be included anonymously or with identifying information, whatever you are comfortable with, just please include a note to let me know.

I am not on many other social media platforms (I'm LiftingLatches over on Tumblr), so please, please, please share this with others so we can fill up pages and pages with gratitude.

Please, help me make this happen, for them and for us.

Actually I take issue with a lot of things in Good Omens 3 but there's one in particular that I really wanted to articulate because it just doesn't sit well with me.

Crowley choosing to end EVERYTHING, so that God could start a whole new universe.

I could kind of get behind the idea of Crowley and Aziraphale sacrificing themselves to save the world and inspire the other angels and demons of the choices they could make and lives they could live. Or of all of them were to just turn human and live out as humans. (I wouldn't have liked either of those but they would have made sense-ish at least).

Instead the message they chose to put out there was that the earth and humanity as it is (as we are) isn't worth saving. That somehow we are too far gone and it would be better if we were wiped out to start fresh. And that is just bleak and quite frankly, insulting.

Not only does that contradict, the whole message of season 1 (and the book) it contradicts Crowleys whole character and personality. He complains that God tests everyone and plays games with the universe but he played the ultimate game with humanity and removed everyone's chance as they were. Removed their choices.

He touched on free will being a part of his decision but it has been emphasised over and over again that people make the decisions that THEY want to make. Eve eating the apple, Adam, son of Satan, choosing humanity over his 'destiny', Anathema choosing to burn the second book of prophecies! Even Aziraphale choosing to give the humans his flaming sword. Gabriel and Beelzebub choosing each other. Just off the top of my head.

He touched on heaven and hell being too set in their ways, but again, Gabriel and Beelzebub changed. They also decided to leave humanity alone to be with each other. So he was wrong there as well.

I mean Jesus came back to earth and was met with kindness from nearly everyone he met. (And then that played absolutely no part to the story for some reason)

So the fact that they decided instead of placing it back and giving everyone who already exists (including themselves) a better chance, they decided to not only sacrifice themselves, they sacrificed the world. They sacrificed us. And that is fucking as bleak as it gets.

We weren't worth saving.

That is one of my biggest issues with the finale. Because what kind of message is that to give the audience. World is so fucked the only option is to end it. Not only is it awful, it doesn't fit with the narrative season 1 and 2 had set up.

"To the world!" Meant nothing in the end.