Amazon released “Good Omens” on May 31.
Well, after the Internet went crazy with the release of Good Omens, a six-part miniseries based on the book of the same name by Terry Prachett and Neil Gaiman, I decided that I had to check it out. I’m a big fan of Michael Sheen and David Tennant, so I decided to watch the first episode and see whether I liked it enough to watch the rest.
And, because I have no self control, I looked up the plot of the book (and therefore the miniseries) ahead of time.
A quick synopsis: Good Omens is about various humans and supernatural beings (angels and demons) either trying to bring about the Apocalypse or to stop it from happening. The show centers on Aziraphale (Michael Sheen), an angel, and Crowley (David Tennant), a demon, who have both been on earth since humanity began and have been hanging out there ever since. Now, they’ve gone ‘native’ and don’t necessarily want the world to end, which seems inevitable after the Anti-Christ is born.
So, after watching all six episodes…
Would I recommend Good Omens? Yes, although I will admit it’s not for everyone.
The good:
Overall, it’s a well-made show with a talented cast, high production value, pretty good effects for a TV show, and well-written episodes. Sheen and Tennant’s on-screen dynamic is, without a doubt, my favorite part of the show, and I enjoyed their performances both separately and together. There were several moments that made me laugh out loud, and — while the Internet spoiled some of the show’s bigger plot points for me — I was excited to continue the show from episode to episode. I was tempted — no pun intended — to watch the show all in one night, but ended up watching all six episodes over two days. It makes for a pretty breezy watch, despite being more than five hours long.
I will also say that this show has similar themes and messages with one of my favorite shows, The Good Place, which also deals with morality, the afterlife and the eternal consequences of one’s actions, the ability to redeem oneself, etc.
I’ve never read the book, obviously, but from what I’ve seen from those who have, the show seems to do a good job of staying faithful the intricacies of the source material and all its characters and interconnected plots, while adding things in and expanding on Aziraphale and Crowley’s characterizations.
The bad:
Empirically, there aren’t a lot of bad things about this show. There are a few times, I think, where the writing style shifts dramatically without much rhyme or reason. For instance, in the third episode, there’s a 20- or 30-minute long sequence of Aziraphale and Crowley bumping into each other during various points in human history. I liked the sequence, but why place it there? Why not have it earlier in the course of the show? Perhaps there’s some logic to it, but I don’t know what it is off the top of my head.
There are also a few times where God (voiced by Frances McDormand) has little asides to explain what’s going on. The first time, which is at the very beginning of the show, introduces the audience to the creation of the world and the human race, which makes sense. However, there are a few other times later in the show where these little asides pop up somewhat randomly and the subject matter is never really touched on again. There’s an aside about the Anti-Christ’s hellhound and there’s another one about Crowley and the question of ‘How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?’ Without going into spoilers, the information that’s brought up in these little asides is never addressed again at any point during the show by any character, which ideally should be to keep the story feeling cohesive.
Now really, the biggest reason I say that it might not be for everyone is that — as is to be expected from a show written by Neil Gaiman — Good Omens plays fast and loose with Christian theology. For instance, God is voiced by a woman and Aziraphale refers to God with female pronouns, despite the traditional texts of all the Abrahamic religions using masculine pronouns and titles when referring to God. It also introduces the idea that angels are not purely good and demons are not purely evil, and that under the proper circumstances, they could actually be friends. This is an idea that contradicts Thomism, which several branches of Christianity have incorporated into their belief system:
[St. Thomas Aquinas, paraphrased:] The knowledge of the angels comes through ideas infused by God. They do not naturally know future contingents, the secrets of souls, or the mysteries of grace. The angels choose either good or evil instantly, and with full knowledge; hence their judgment is naturally final and irrevocable.
This approach of projecting human morality onto supernatural beings also takes center stage in another Neil Gaiman-written show, Lucifer, and is also touched on in the Mike Schur-created The Good Place. These are things that I personally don’t mind, as I realize it’s a part of the narrative, but I understand that other people might take issue with it, were they to watch the show.
And, really, to be fair, the genre overall might not be someone’s cup of tea. There are a few places where it meanders into soap opera-type territory, which not everyone enjoys. To be honest, there are two characters whose interactions bore/annoy me, so I sometimes fast-forwarded through their scenes because I genuinely didn’t care about them.
So, in answer to the question “Should You Watch Good Omens?” I say: Yeah.
Watch the first episode, and if you have problems with it, don’t watch the rest because you’re probably not going to like it. If you watch the first episode, and you do like it, than keep going because it’s a fun show to watch with a well-done conclusion.