Good Omens 2: With Friends Like These, Who Needs Eternal Rewards?

By John Kirk

Rating: A

I love religious humour.

Of course, I’m not talking about the old “a nun, a priest, and a rabbi walk into a bar” riff, but the type of sophisticated humour that can only be crafted by two keen writers, observant of the human condition, namely the late Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.

Co-creators of Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agness Nutter, Witch, published in 1990, Pratchett and Gaiman were legacies of the timeless British sense of humour to make fun of that which is greater than themselves.

Think about it: Monty Python’s Life of Brian and The Meaning of Life, Douglas Adams’ The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and even Steven Fry got into making fun of the mysteries of life with his Making History. If there’s one thing the British are good at, it’s poking fun at cosmic sublimities.

Why?

Good question. It might just be a manifestation of the struggles of a class society struggling to find its identity through the frustrated self-expression in terms of faith-based questions going unanswered.

Or it just makes for good television.

Good Omens went on to become an incredibly successful television adaptation and now, the representatives of Heaven and Hell are back to meddle in all things Earthly for a second time in a new show.

Good Omens 2 is a new series based on characters from the last show. A bit shorter in scope than its predecessor, this six-episode series sees Angel Aziraphale (Michael Sheen) and Demon Crowley (David Tennant) retired and living off the fat of the Earth, which, if you’ll remember, they saved from the apocalypse through their divine yet devil-may-care intervention in the previous series. They’re entitled to their well-deserved rest.

But this sequel series has a much smaller, yet still equally entertaining ambition in mind. We see Aziraphale and Crowley revelling in their happy existence, loving literature, the culture of humanity and keeping up with things in both Heaven above and Hell below at their own leisure.

However, it’s that these immortal friends are able to enjoy it together. Eternity can be lonely if you don’t have likeminded friends and there’s an inherent happiness in seeing the two of these well-loved characters living a pleasant immortality together.

Yet when the Archangel Gabriel (Jon Hamm) mysteriously memory-wiped, walks nakedly into Aziraphale’s bookshop in Soho, then the interests of Heaven and Hell are once more engaged by the threat of something wicked coming their way.

Perhaps this is rooted in the real-life friendship between Tennant and Sheen who are fan-favourites in any story. Their work together during the pandemic lockdowns brought more than a smile to many and endeared them to fans in perpetuity. The chemistry between each other pays dividends and their irreverent attitudes towards the metaphysical relationships of the two unearthly planes of existence accentuates one of the hallmarks of British humour that has found ground with a North American viewing audience as well as its home one.

Then there’s the sub-plot of the burgeoning romance between the record store owner and the coffee shop keeper. Will they, or won’t they? While minor and a bit a trite, the fact that these two otherworldly entities even care about these two humans still plays to the core humanity of the show and reinforces the idea that the notions of Heaven and Hell are still closer to Humanity than believed.

Gaiman is an undisputed master storyteller in bringing cosmic concepts down to earthly levels. American Gods and The Sandman are both recent examples that have also found success on this side of the pond. Similarly, the late Terry Pratchett’s work is in the same vein. Maybe the friendship between these two creators is subconsciously connected to the thematic one between Aziraphale and Crowley. If not, then it’s still something that I’d like to believe.

But therein lies the joy in this series. Even by making fun of the nature of religious, albeit Christian, concepts, the humanistic ideals of friendship, discovering the meaning to existence, God’s plan, and the metaphysical puzzle of where we all fit into everything are all something that we don’t have to worry over.

It’s simplistic in idea but lends itself to considering the entire situation in a complicated way that eventually ends with a hearty chuckle. In fact, much like the Monty Python “Galaxy Song” anthem in The Meaning of Life, it’s refreshing to be able to dismiss everything and just have a good laugh at it.

Like the original purpose of mythology, the aim of looking at God, Satan and the activities of their assorted minions serves to consider Humanity more.

In the previous series, we saw what was wrong with God’s decisions and the futility of Satan’s efforts to foul them all up. We learned from Aziraphale and Crowley real values and that, in the end, it’s worth more to believe in Humanity than any silver-robed silly bugger with a couple of wings looking down on you from his cloudy throne.

We may make mistakes but we learn from them. In the end, the hope is that we get better. After all, if a demon and an angel can learn to be friends, be unselfish and see the value of a little lie for the common good every now and then, aren’t we at least capable of having a good laugh at them while they’re doing it?

Good Omens 2. Directed by Douglas Mackinnon. Starring Michael Sheen, David Tennant, Jon Hamm, Doon Mackichan, Gloria Obianyo, Miranda Richardson, Maggie Service, Nina Sosanya, Liz Carr, Quelin Sepulveda, Shelley Conn. Streams on Amazon Prime on July 28.