"Good Omens" Year Two

Mild spoilers ahead.

There may be nothing as infuriating as realizing that the sequel that you've been anticipating for several years is actually the second part in a planned trilogy - and that trilogy may never be completed.  It turns out that "Good Omens 2," which comes four years after the first "Good Omens" series, ends on a significant cliffhanger.  But we'll get to that in a minute.

It's good to see the angel Aziraphale (Michael Sheen) and the demon Crowley (David Tennant) again.  The two aren't facing the apocalypse this time, but the mysterious appearance of the archangel Gabriel (Jon Hamm) on Aziraphale's doorstep - buck naked and suffering from amnesia.  Both Heaven and Hell are looking for him, and send agents to investigate.  Heaven sends the very eager, and totally clueless youngster Muriel (Quelin Sepulveda), who is in disguise as a police officer.  Hell is keeping tabs through Crowley's replacement at the London post, Shax (Miranda Richardson).  Aziraphale and Crowley try to figure out what's going on by themselves, while hiding Gabriel (renamed Jim).  Also, a supernatural accident forces them to play matchmakers for a pair of local shop owners - Nina (Nina Sosanya) and Maggie (Maggie Service) - which prompts them to reevaluate their own relationship.

I like this season of "Good Omens" a little better than the first, because it's entirely about Aziraphale and Crowley, the stakes are smaller, the storytelling is more straightforward, and the number of characters is greatly reduced.  There's still some time-hopping and trips to other planes of existence, but our intrepid angel and demon duo are at the center of the story the entire time, and it's really about their relationship more than anything else.  In flashbacks, we get to see how they first met and how various encounters through the ages shaped who they became.  My favorite episode recalls that time that Aziraphale and Crowley got involved in the whole Job (Peter Davison) fiasco when God and the Devil had their famous wager.  Some of it feels indulgent until the last episode reveals what the whole season has been building up to - a big choice that will fundamentally upend their status quo.  

  

I'm very pleased that the whole season was devoted to so much character-building, because this is precisely the kind of material that usually gets skipped over or rushed through in other big fantasy shows.  Aziraphale and Crowley were what everyone liked about the first "Good Omens," and Tennant and Sheen continue to be absolutely delightful onscreen together.  So giving them a more intimate outing together makes perfect sense.  And without all the mayhem of so many subplots and side characters, all the actors get a chance to shine a little more.  The humor works better.  The emotional beats hit harder.  There's room for some shameless "Doctor Who" references.  An interesting wrinkle is that several actors who appeared in the first season are back in the second, but in different roles - almost all better ones.  Miranda Richardson gets to show her evil side as Shax, and Sosanya and Service are terribly loveable.  Hamm is essentially playing an entirely different character as the amnesiac Gabriel.  He gets to be positively goofy, and it's a joy.    

I still feel like some of the episodes run a little long, despite the variable episode lengths, and there are some dead moments here and there.  Still, this feels like the right size and the right shape for "Good Omens."  I want a "Good Omens 3" as soon as humanly possible, but since it took four years for this latest installment, and there are multiple labor strikes going on, it's going to be a long wait.  And this is assuming that a third season is even economically feasible, given that the streaming content boom looks to be turning into a bust.  We're probably lucky to have had the second season at all.

So thank the deity of your choice, and give this a watch with my hearty recommendations.     

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