Good Omens Season 2 Review: Neil Gaiman Takes the Series “Beyond” The Novel
Cast: Michael Sheen, David Tennant, Jon Hamm
Creators: Neil Gaiman, Douglas Mackinnon
Streaming Platform: Prime Video
Filmyhype.com Ratings: 4/5 (four stars) [yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]
Good Omens Season 2 is available from today, Friday, July 28, 2023, on Prime Video with all six episodes between 40 and 58 minutes of the finale. The following review, which will not contain spoilers except minimal considerations on what has been seen, is however enough on the first 5 episodes that have been sent to the press. But since there are no spoilers and we don’t have to tell you the ending, this won’t change the overall impression of the series. Still directed by Douglas Mackinnon, it was written and created by Neil Gaiman – who is also its showrunner – starting from his 1990 novel composed in four hands with the adored and late Sir Terry Pratchett, which in Italian had the title translated into Happy Apocalypse everyone! and in the original language as Good Omens. The premises of the book, as regards the first season released in 2019, had been fully respected. The whole irreverent line, and at the same time light, with brilliant entertainment, was the basis on which every episode, every turn of the plot, and the whole circle of characters have always moved together, crowned by the off-screen voice of God, who in English has the sardonic tone of Frances McDormand.
It’s still bizarre, at least for us, to hear about Good Omens Season 2, let alone see some preview episodes. And it’s not so much a question of time as one could easily imagine, since after all, with streaming services we are now used to waiting much longer between one release and another compared to the traditional television calendar which spaced the seasons by a few months or maximum one year. In short, certainly, even for the current world 4 years are not at all few, but similar expectations do not represent such isolated cases – much more bombastic names than Good Omens, primarily The Mandalorian, have made fans wait almost 3 years (by the way, don’t miss our review of The Mandalorian Season 3). Nor do we intend to take sides on a somewhat partisan position, which would never want the sequel to the fantasy series starring Michael Sheen and David Tennant regardless because a sequel to the book from which it is based was never made.
Good Omens Season 2 Review: The Story Plot
The story is about the angel Aziraphale (Michael Sheen) and the demon Crowley (David Tennant) who befriend during Adam and Eve’s expulsion from the Garden of Eden. Immediately they experience an unusual and secret harmony, combined with a marked softness in adhering to the rules of belonging to their respective factions of origin. This aspect, in addition to providing countless pretexts for comedy, will be the main engine of the plot that will also give continuity to the second season. The subject of the first, which matches the events presented in the novel, sees the two who, having completed their tasks in the genesis of humanity, are assigned to the supervision and mediation on earth of the objectives of their respective “employers”: the execution of the divine plan for the one, and the introduction of havoc for the other.
But with the passing – it must be said – of the centuries and millennia, Aziraphale and Crowley become attached to the world and men, to their lifestyle, and to the pleasures of the table and of art (which is especially valid for the angel, of course) and will therefore try to do everything to ensure that the so imminent Apocalypse does not destroy the universe and, with it, also their very pleasant routine. The events of the second season, on the other hand, have tones of greater recollection around the relationship between the two protagonists and, in always being correlated to the precarious and tragicomic destiny of humanity, generally deal with a few characters and a couple of narrative lines. Even the actors who return are limited to the three archangels who keep the same role: the wonderful Jon Hamm, Doon Mackichan, and Gloria Obianyo, and the actresses Miranda Richardson and Nina Sosanya who completely change their interpretation.
Good Omens Season 2 Review and Analysis
You’ve already had to wait four years, so let’s skip any preamble and avoid going around it further: yes, Good Omens Season 2 manages to revive the magic of the first season and the novel, and everything works in the best way. Coming home, however, may feel less familiar than expected. For obvious reasons, the last cycle of episodes was animated by the pressure of a threatening countdown, to say the least, and the narrative was marked by very sustained rhythms. With a truly courageous choice, the screenplay of Good Omens Season 2 instead decides not to try to replicate the magic formula of the first act, but to try a completely new recipe. The decision is certainly a winning one: it was not possible to continue playing indefinitely with the theme of the Apocalypse, because the risk of losing credibility and falling into what has already been seen would have been just around the corner. Forget, therefore, the Antichrist seen in last season and the frantic races against the time of our favorites: at the cost of using an expression that is already too familiar, the Good Omens Season 2 is a perfect slow burn, i.e. a “slow cooking” television product, which takes its time to create a curious and gripping mystery.
The new cut may not appeal to everyone, and perhaps it will leave the most impatient of viewers unsatisfied: we can assure you, however, that if you wait, it will pay off. And here we are at the most obvious chapter of all, which however could not be missing from this review. Yes, we have to dedicate a few words to the “dynamic duo” formed by Michael Sheen (Underworld, Prodigal Son) and David Tennant (Doctor Who, Broadchurch, Jessica Jones), a combination that also in the second season proves to be portentous and irresistible. Even four years later, the couple hasn’t lost a single drop of the charm that animated the first cycle of episodes: Sheen and Tennant are incredibly at ease in the role of Aziraphale and Crowley, and support the script with vivacity, charisma, and lightness.
It doesn’t matter whether it’s a race against time to avert the end of the world, a romantic scene (yes, you read that right!), a solemn sequence set in Old Testament times, or a sharp repartee in the name of British humor: wherever you place them, Sheen and Tennant steal the show and capture attention. They make us laugh, they fascinate us, and they give us all kinds of emotions: their duo is the true soul of Good Omens, and their confirmation is already sufficient in itself to establish the success of the new season. With their performance, Sheen and Tennant rightfully enter the history of contemporary seriality and give us another six episodes innervated by a very rare acting alchemy. Isn’t that enough for you? The excellent Jon Hamm also returns to their side, interpreting the Archangel Gabriel, who in this season finds himself playing the role of a forgetful and unaware bookseller’s helper. In short, the cast is truly formidable!
If your memories of catechism time are a bit clouded, before embarking on the vision we strongly advise you to give a quick re-reading of the Book of Job. For the uninitiated, yes of one of the most problematic, absurd, and paradoxical texts of the Old Testament, dedicated to the eternal problem of evil. In the first chapter, God and Satan (it is doubtful whether it is the devil as we understand it, or a simple angel of the celestial court) stipulate a wager which authorizes the latter to torment Job, one of the kindest and most devoted men in the world. planet. After losing his livestock, lands, and even his children, Job turns desperately to God in search of answers, but he harshly scolds him, asking him where he was while he was laying the foundations of the Earth and creating the wonders that populate the cosmos. The moral? Man must never question God’s plans, even when they seem cruel and unjust.
At the end of the book, Job’s suffering will be rewarded with great joy: he will receive twice as much land, his livestock, and even twice as many children. The story, if taken, confronts us with a dark and cruel deity, and over the millennia has given rise to all kinds of interpretations, including that of the “malevolent demiurge” of the Gnostic gospels. But what does Good Omens Season 2 have to do with it? We’ll leave it to you to find out, only anticipating that in the second episode, an authentic flashback mini-episode is staged that revisits Job’s crazy misadventure through the eyes of Aziraphale and Crowley. It is an authentic “jewel in the jewel”, a sharp and hilarious short film that will intertwine with the most ancient origins of our history. Get ready for an irreverent masterpiece of biblical revisionism!
And we want to say right away that our fears, our doubts were not completely unfounded. But let’s proceed in order: the Good Omens Season 2 begins a few years after the conclusion of the first and we immediately find Aziraphale (Michael Sheen) and Crowley (David Tennant) continue to live their comfortable and beloved life among mere mortals after having thwarted the Apocalypse, a deed that alienated them respectively from Heaven and Hell. Everything then seems to flow in delightful serenity, until a naked Gabriele (Jon Hamm) appears at the door of Aziraphale’s bookshop, seized by a profound amnesia, who however claims to remember an immense and imminent catastrophic event.
As already mentioned at the beginning, we have not suddenly become biased just as Good Omens has not become a mediocre production overnight, on the contrary, it remains an extremely enjoyable telefilm led by a duo of protagonists who continuously pierce the screen with their charisma. It may seem like an exaggeration, but the truth is you could make an entire episode where Aziraphale and Crowley go shopping and it would be unforgettable. In this sense, the series has not lost any of its charm and still proves to be a unique force of nature in the current television landscape. It is the plot that seems to have suffered the hardest blow, because it presents itself and proceeds on tracks that are too indistinct and generic, using Gabriele’s amnesia as a pretext for not specifying anything.
We don’t know what we’re fighting against, we don’t know what we’re trying to avoid, we don’t know why Hell and Heaven are so nervous, and above all Good Omens sips too few clues to arouse suspense in the viewer. But is it a problem when you have such a prodigious lead duo? For this reason, we are convinced that for anyone the pleasure of the vision will not fail, which however cannot hide the structural weaknesses from a deeper analysis – there is also a subplot in which Aziraphale and Crowley have to make two people fall in love, inserted in a casual perhaps to mimic Pratchett’s style. Simply put, Good Omens Season 2 is still a good product, there’s no doubt about that; it’s just that, plot-wise and structure-wise, the lack of the mind capable of giving birth to a disc-shaped world held up by four elephants taking turns standing on top of a space-swimming turtle called A’Tuin feels and probably was inevitable.
Good Omens Season 2 Review: The Last Words
Four years after its debut, Good Omens returns in a big way with a story with much slower and more measured rhythms than the first act. As for the Sheen-Tennant duo, we can only wish for a shower of awards: their performance has very few equals in the contemporary television scene. The Good Omens Season 2 is built to enhance the characteristics of the two main characters and the qualities of the two actors. The two exist for each other, like good and evil: one without the other would not exist, and vice versa. The story is therefore only a background to life, to the bond of the two protagonists. No man is an island, not even if he is a demon or an angel.
