Some old Good Omens Drawings and a New Rant

(edit- added the scanned versions of the drawings. Have to say, I really like how Crowley turned out, he he xD)

Okay. I haven’t said anything about Good Omens in a while, but now is the time. Need to get this off my chest. Haven’t been feeling the best the last few days, so yesterday, I finally sat down and watched the finale of Good Omens, aka season 3 that came out on the 15th of this month. I filled up four pages in my journal last night about these long-awaited 100 minutes.

So, onto the episode. It was… interesting. I looked up the reviews ahead of time so I could get a little idea of the plot overall and be prepared, more than I was for season 2 anyway. The episode wasn’t that great. At least it had a plot and mostly stuck to that plot, but all in the same breath it still felt rushed, slow, flat and colourless. Sort of like biting into a fat, golden brown pastry with colourful icing that smells wonderful only to find it tastes like sawdust. I will elaborate. Beware that the rest of this rant will be full of spoilers, in fact the entire plot. So if you don’t want any, (or don’t care about what I have to say, which is totally fine) just skip to the end where I will talk about the art. Otherwise read on, as I need to work through this and writing is way I do that.

Here we go. Aziraphale is up in Heaven trying to bring about the Second Coming, but with peace and harmony in mind and no The End. Down on Earth, Crowley is sleeping on the street because he lost his Bentley in a game of chance. He spends his time drinking and gambling and is barely functioning, no longer a demon, barely a human. However, while the rest of Soho has fallen into ruin, he’s kept the bookshop safe, because he couldn’t bear to lose that, as well.

Meanwhile, alarms are going off in Heaven. The Metatron is missing and so is the Book of Life. Muriel, (the really cute, clueless angel from S2), suggests Aziraphale go ask Crowley for help. Oh, yes, and Jesus, (in a young Brit’s body), is missing and wandering around Earth with a bad case of memory loss.

So, the long and short of it is: Crowley is still very bitter, (duh), and Aziraphale is too proud to admit he was wrong, but as reality slowly disappears around them, they have to work together again to try and save something, anything. Turns out, the archangel Michael has the Book of Life and is slowly ripping out pages, erasing everything from existence, including angels, demons, Heaven, Hell, everything. Aziraphale tries to save her, but it’s too late. She throws the rest of the Book and herself into the Eternal Flame.

Crowley saves one page- the bookshop. The whole universe is then only the bookshop, full of empty books, Crowley and Aziraphale. Oh, yeah, and Satan. Who is the same actor who played the evil version of the 11th Doctor in “Amy’s Choice” AND the serial killer in the last episode of Sherlock that Epic and I watched- “The Lying Detective.” Is there no end to this man?!

Anyway, Aziraphale summons God- a black woman with an attitude (sorry lady, but it’s true)- and they all talk. Crowley finally asks his question. Why make humans and then get angry with them for being humans? Why make everything and then end it all? He doesn’t expect an answer, he just needs to ask.

Then Aziraphale asks a question of his own. Why give him Crowley and then take him away? Why make him complete only to break him? God smiles and said she enjoyed watching the two of them over the centuries, because they knew what love really was, and unlike humans, also knew they could lose it. And she also points out the flaws in Aziraphale’s character.

Aziraphale agrees that he lied, was lazy, gluttonous and the 2rd best angel. He then turns to Crowley and said that he was the best angel, because unlike the rest of them, he truly cared for everything- the universe, the people, all of it. Whereas God was just playing a game of solitaire with Satan as a pawn, Crowley was the only one who cared.

God goes to End the universe, but Aziraphale asks her to stop. Crowley and Aziraphale confer and reach a decision. They ask God to make a new universe, one with no angels, no demons, no Heaven, no Hell, no God or Satan, just a universe with Free Will. God smiles arrogantly and says of they really want it that way she’ll do it. Of course it means the angel and the demon will die. Aziraphale and Crowley hold hands and everything dissolves into nothing…

Then, big bang and 13.8 billion years later, we drift down to a new London and we enter a bookshop that looks vaguely like one we used to know. We see a few familiar faces- the angel and demon as humans- Asa Fell and Anthony Crowley. Crowley is an astrophysicist who comes into the shop looking for a book. Asa rather sheepishly asks him out to dinner and later in the pub we see dozens of other familiar faces of angels and demons, (including Jesus), all reborn human.

The series ends with an older and married C and A living on the South Downs. And there you have it. Well, the last season/ finale sure was disappointing. At least this time I was prepared to disappointed. Epic was right when she said she’d heard it had gotten mixed reviews. It sure did. The highest rating I saw was 7/10 and I think they were being generous. Most were either 5 or 3. As one reviewer said, it felt very flat. He compared the sets to the ones in season 1 and said it was as if they used half-empty soundstages in this one.

For what they had to work with, the Neil Gaiman mess aside, (and whether it’s true or not, I don’t care, it’s going to follow Mr Gaiman for the rest of his life unfortunately), they did okay, but nothing really worked. Even Michael Sheen and David Tennant’s acting couldn’t save it. There were a few old characters from the first season we got to see again, (angels), a few funny bits, (okay two- when Azria dressed up as a demon to “spy” in Hell and when Crowley put his foot all the way down in the Bentley and the angel’s screaming at the top of his lungs) and we got one more Queen song than in the second season. 2. We got 2 this time. Wee. And let’s not even mention how Aziraphale’s hair in the “prelude” after the Great War in Heaven makes him look like an elf warrior from the Hobbit.

So yeah, that’s the story. I had to go watch some clips of what I will now call the real Good Omens, (season 1), to cleanse myself. And some of the tenth Doctor, too, being his iconic, crazy, silly self. Good stuff that.

So, I’m still disappointed, but not like I was 3 years ago with season 2. I mean, this was a “good” ending on some levels. Everyone got to live, which is what Crowley really wanted. For everyone to have a chance at life. But, it was still sad to see A and Z no longer as the former angel and demon we love. And ultimately, the feeling I am left with after watching this is sadness. A sadness about how this is the best we can expect from the industry these days. Only 7 years ago the story, acting, characters, music, etc. was SO much better. But that is where art is these days. And art is always a reflection of the culture, and thus a reflection of the heart.

That’s all I have to say. Personally, I like the ending in my book better. Sorry guys. And in case you’re still reading this and wondering about these drawings I posted with this rant, they are from 2024. Just some sketches I inked, which is why they look a little wonky. I just coloured them yesterday and today for the heck of it.

I will end by quoting the verse I used on chapter 23 of Conflicted Omens: Of Life and Death:

“As the water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart.”

-Proverbs 27:19